Fearing Allah is obligatory; in fact it is one of the most important of religious duties, and the one who does not fear Allah is not a believer. According to Ahl as-Sunnah, the worship that is prescribed includes love and veneration of Allah. Love generates hope and veneration generates fear. The only reason why Allah created creation and sent messengers to them is so that people would worship Him, obey Him, fear Him and His punishment, seek His pleasure, ask for His paradise, and seek His mercy, pardon and forgiveness. Were it not for that, people would have nothing to deter them from committing evil deeds, and they would have no fear of Allah that would prevent them from committing immoral actions, and no faith to instruct them to do what is right.

Allah explained that the reason why we should worship Him alone is that He is the only one worthy of worship and praise, because of His perfect Essence and sublime attributes. The main motive for worship should be what Allah has of majesty, greatness and perfection, and what is unique to Him of the attributes of divinity and Lordship. The second motive is the blessings that Allah bestows upon His slaves and His kindness towards them, for hearts are inclined to love the one who is kind to them.

Calling upon Prophet Muhammad and asking of him, besides Allah, and seeking his help is a major Shirk (polytheism) that puts one beyond the pale of Islam.

Love in Islam may be divided into specific love and general love. Specific love may be divided into permissible love and prohibited love. General love is of three types: 1- natural love; 2- love based on mercy and pity; and 3- love based on acquaintance and friendship.

1- It is permissible for the supplicant to ask of his Lord by virtue of the Quran, because that comes under the heading of seeking to draw close to Allah by virtue of one of His attributes. 2- The most correct scholarly view is that it is prohibited to seek to draw close to Allah and ask of Him (Tawassul) by virtue of the Prophet. 3- Seeking to draw close to Allah by virtue of created beings comes under the heading of reprehensible innovation, and is objectionable according to what is commonly known among people and on the basis of the wording itself. 4- Seeking to draw close to Allah by virtue of the trumpet blast, and the progeny of Nuh, and the caliphate of As-Siddiq, and the courage of ‘Ali, and so on – is something that came about as a result of the supplicant’s attempt to be poetic and make things rhyme [in Arabic], without thinking about the meaning.