FESRA

Assalamualaikum warahmatullah wabarakatuh,

FESRA is the abbreviation of Faculty of Education Students' Research Association created end of last year to gather all the research students in the Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge under one body that enable more dynamic, organised and collaborated students research activities being held in the faculty. The problem of the research students, i.e.: Ph.D., M.Phil & M.Ed. in this faculty is that there is a lack of interaction between them, not just between the different courses and modes (full-time & part-time) but also different years of matriculation. The lack of interaction is not healthy for the development of students research in the faculty. As a result, one of the professors in my faculty decided to call some active students of the faculty who are interested to help him in giving suggestions to improve the research environment. This call was way back in May 2007 when I was working on the Kaleidoscope 2007. I came to the meeting randomly partly because I am the committee of Kaleidoscope and also the Student Lunchtime Seminar of my faculty. After I have heard the problems, I came out with an idea to create a student association in the faculty so that the students here will feel attached to the faculty rather than the societies in the colleges or university.

This idea was later being crystallised by now the chairperson of the association. With 7 executive members, FESRA is a new born association that is hoped to be able to coordinate the research activities among the research students in this faculty, alhamdulillah.

Tomorrow, there will be the first social event organised by FESRA. The chairperson is a very tolerate person and decided to order HALAL food for the event. I was very thrill by her decision. But at the same time, she also wants to buy some mulled wine cos Cambridge cannot get away from alcohol in any social event. So I wrote her an email again to express my concern but not trying to be pushy as she has already trying her best to accommodate the muslim's needs. Alhamdulillah.

She then replied:

Dear Fatin

Of course and I completely understand. In fact I was waiting for it to be
mentioned but thought it better to wait to see if there were any
objections.

I think we should send a FESRA newsletter special but would then ask that
we limit the alcohol to 7.40pm onwards as I know that some people are
coming with children and they will most likely want to have a drink before
going home and will probably have to leave at 8pm. What I will do is
advertise for an earlier start time of 6.45 with alcohol made available
from 7.30 if that's okay.

More than happy to accommodate your needs!

Alhamdulillah. Though it is not the most ideal but at least it's yet another beginning to spread the understanding and tolerance towards multi-faith society. May ALLAH bless this association and help all the students who are doing educational research to prosper and contribute to the development of educational knowledge. Amin.

Wassalam.

Birthday

Assalamualaikum warahmatullah wabarakatuh,

Birthday is the day when you celebrate your mum's effort and hardship to give birth to you on that very day, if not for her, there will be no birth-day for me, so why celebrate myself? I love my mum, I wish she can hear this...

Thank YOU, ALLAH, for my birthday. Alhamdulillahi robbila'lamin.

Wassalam.

What do you think

Assalamualaikum warahmatullah wabarakatuh,

I need you to tell me if this is a good idea:

There is a 17-year-old English convert sister (since February 2007) who is going to do her A-Level this year, she got on the WYAN.com (Where are you now) and met this random Moroccan guy on the internet 1 year ago (before she converted, and no, she said she didn't convert due to this guy). In October 2007, she decided to visit this brother in Morocco. She stayed a few days at the house of this brother (with a mum and an elder brother). And then, they decided to get engaged (not the Arab style of engagement, not nikah but just a promise not to entertain any other proposal). This brother is 28 years old, unemployed (used to be a lorry driver) and is waiting for his brothers in Italy and France to get him paper work done so that he can move to one of these Europe countries. He can communicate in Arabic and French very well and fairly ok in English. His highest education is secondary school and he is hoping to get out of Morocco.

But, he told this sister that he is not a person that wants to get married to a girl from England because of the need of a visa. He said that it is normal for his family to marry out side of Morrocan. He has refused to marry to a German girl and assured this sister that he only love her. He is not a practising Muslim. He used to drink but not now and he is not praying five times a day until now. She thinks that through this relationship, he will become more practising.

Now, she is going to Morocco this Christmas holiday to get engaged to this brother and after a good few hours of conversation with her, she promises that she won't sign any marriage contract until she finishes her uni and he gets his visa to other country (not through marriage).

I need you to tell me, just by reading the facts, is this a good choice of husband for a new English convert sister? Anyway, no one can stop her if she has decided. Please make du'a for her so that she will be able to choose the right husband who can bring her into more understanding about Islam.

Wassalam.

Christmas Lunch

Assalamualaikum warahmatullah wabarakatuh,

Last Friday, Shaykh Faraz Rabbani came to Cambridge to give a khutbah and then a 1-hour Q & A as he is so famous of Q & A in the Sunnipath.com. I have been told by a few that it is haram to sit in a table with people consuming alcohol, but some of the brothers and sisters in Cambridge do not take this seriously. So I thought it might just be makruh and not haram. Cambridge particularly has this alcohol problem because it is part of the drinking culture and tradition in Cambridge that there are formal halls every week (if you watch Harry Porter, the dinner time is like the formal hall here) and everyone usually bring a bottle of alcohol. Cambridge spends too much money on alcohol! Formal Hall is when the students and fellows meet, it is not compulsory to go but some old colleges include the fee for formal hall into the college bill, meaning that like it or not you have to use the formal hall tickets every term or you are wasting your money paying for it. Alhamdulillah, my college doesn't impose such a rule cause it's a new college, only 50 years old. Basically, throughout my whole life in Cambridge, I only went to one formal hall in my college and one in Trinity Hall. This was because these two formal halls are non-alcohol! Woohoo! It's a long story why these two formal halls are non-alcohol formals. Anyway, my point is, it is really hard to avoid sitting together and have dinner with friends in Cambridge without the presence of alcohol. So, I asked Shaykh Faraz Rabbani regarding this and his answer is that both alcohol and haram food should not be present. But if it is for academic reason that we have to sit in one table, that is fine but it is best to avoid or explain it to the lecturer/supervisor for long term benefits.

This question strikes me cause one of my lecturers invited us to a Christmas Lunch. This lecturer was my viva assessor. After the viva, he invited me to join his monthly research group meeting where many issues are discussed and I have learnt a lot from this meeting. For the next meeting, we will be having a Christmas Lunch right after the meeting. So, the meeting is an academic activity but not the lunch that follows suit. This lecturer likes wine and of course for this festive event, it is going to spoil the atmosphere without it. I didn't know what to decide. Eventually, I wrote an email to him and explain my difficulty.

I don't know how to word this but I hope you can understand.

I appreciate Donna's & your effort in organising this Christmas Lunch. It would
be a fun get-together and I know I'll enjoy the company of everyone in this
group. I am reluctant to decide if I should go because it is strictly forbidden
for me to sit in a social gathering that serves alcohol (there is less benefits
than harms), unless it can be justified as a learning process, not merely a
social function. I don't know if everyone will be having alcohol in this lunch
and I certainly do not wish to spoil the traditional way of Christmas Lunch as
you have wanted. I certainly dislike to make thing difficult for anyone. I hope
you understand my principle. I will definitely come along if alcohol is not
served in this lunch.

Regards,

FATIN

It took me quite a while to compose such an email not sure if this is going to be a bad move. Anyway, he forwarded my email to all the colleagues in this meeting:

Dear All

Please see message below from Fatin. I'm sure we would all happily abstain on
this occasion so that we can have the pleasure of Fatin's company, so shall we
proceed on that basis?

By the way, more Xmas lunch related news - I have just heard that Maria will be
coming over to Cambridge again in that week, so she will also be able to join
us for the lunch!

Best wishes

I didn't expect that he will forward my email to everyone. Anyway, alhamdulillah, alhamdulillah, alhamdulillah, many of them are ready to respect my principle and be tolerant with my religious belief. These are 2 responses from among the colleagues:

Dear Fatin and All,
I will be very happy not to drink any alcohol. I love the term "less benefit
than harm", I certainly do agree with it, even if it's out of its original
context :)
See you all,

Great news about Maria coming to Cambridge!!!
And of course I don't mind the non-drinking rule as long as Fatin join us!
Looking forward to see you all in the lunch!

I nearly cried when I read these emails. Before I came to UK, many have warned me that it is not easy to practise your religion here. I thought it is true, but alhamdulillah, as Islam is becoming more popular (thanks to the media!), people are getting more 'understanding' about Islam (whether it's misunderstanding or understanding), there is always opportunity to tell them what is Islam about. This is also for the sake of long-term cause after this, if they want to have a dinner or whatever kind of get together, they will understand the 'cans' and 'can'ts'.

Also, in the next faculty's end-of-term party, the organiser is ordering halal food! Yay!!! I love Prophet Isa (as) cause his teaching of love and tolerance is still practised by his followers (though not all of his teaching is preserved until now).

Wassalam.

p/s: I bumped into the lecturer later today and he said that he is going to change the venue from the pub to a restaurant. Such an understanding person! Btw, he is a psychologist.

ASE Annual Conference 2008

Assalamualaikum warahmatullah wabarakatuh,


In relation to the previous post and just to prove how expensive it is to attend a conference. Alhamdulillah my abstract has been accepted to be presented in the ASE (the Association for Science Education) Annual Conference 2008. This will happen from 3-5 January 2008 at the University of Liverpool. Guess how much does it cost? It's GBP240.00 for 3 days. Alhamdulillah they give me 1 day free cos I'm presenting a paper, so it's GBP185.00, still! Now, I have to join the association which costs about GBP24.00 (quite cheap cause I'm a poor full-time student) but it will make my registration fee goes down to GBP100.00. That's not it. To travel from Cambridge to Liverpool by train and return, it costs GBP33.00 if I get the ticket early. Also, the accommodation! You think I'll be staying in a hotel room? No, it's going to be a room in the Halls that costs GBP54.00 a night. So, altogether, it is GBP100.00 (plus membership fee GBP24.00) + GBP33.00 + GBP108.00 = GBP265.00 x 7 (approx. Malaysian currency) = MYR1855.00!

I've just sent off 2 grant applications (one to my faculty, one to my college) to my supervisor to sign and then submit to them. Please make du'a that I got some money to go.

I'm not very excited to go to this conference not because of the cost, but I just think that I can't bear to waste 3 days there and not concentrating at my writing. I was planning to go for just a day to present my paper only. But then, my supervisor insisted that I should go for 3 days. Below are his reasons:

1. You will deserve a break - especially at that time of year!
2. Sometimes your brain needs time away from focusing on a particular issue
3. You can take some work with you if you feel uncomfortable
4. You should not follow your supervisor's example and become an
anti-social hermit
Wassalam.

p/s: He is not an anti-social hermit at all.

Published knowledge is out-dated knowledge

Assalamualaikum warahmatullah wabarakatuh,

Shocked by the title? Think about it again. I went to a seminar on publishing yesterday. They said that to publish a book, you need to write a proposal (obviously you have to have the knowledge first) to give it to some commissioning editors of some good book publishers. Then after 1-2 weeks (if you are lucky), they will either say, ok sign a contract and write us a book. So you take a few months (or even years) to write a book, then send it to proof read. Once done, they will send it to a few professionals and users to review the book. Depend on how fast they read it, then they will comment either reject, revise, resubmit or accept. If it's rejected, you will have to rewrite. If it's revise and resubmit, you will take a while to do it and then they will take a while to review again. So God knows how long it will take, probably 1 year or so. Then you got a contract, print the book and publish. Right, at least 1-2 years to get your knowledge published to a book.

Let's go to an easier route. What about publish an article to a journal. Let's say a high ranking journal. First you send your article to the Editor. The Editor will read it and select 2-4 professionals to do peer-reviewing, which is not an easy process. It has to be someone who knows the field, a professional and have time to do it. Also, there shouldn't be any bias in this. If the reviewer is a person who have an exact opposite paradigm to the writer, that's it, your paper will never get published. The Editor will ask an officer to change the name of the authors and anything in the article that can show the identity of the writer. Bear in mind that peer-reviewing is FREE, you don't get money but only CV to do that. It might take up to 1 month to get somebody to agree to do it. Who knows how long will the reviewer take to read your article. It is worse than a part-time job. Some may end up to 6 months or so before it is returned to the Editor again. So, you got marks from them and the Editor will decide. Again the same process as book reviewing. So, if correction is needed, a few months will be taken to do it. Finally it will get published if it's good enough. That's 1-2 years again. The quickest might be in 6 months but very rare. Some high profile journals have a reputable rejection percentage that they must keep (this is a regulation that the Editor must follow). A top rank might go to 80-90% of rejection percentage a year to maintain the reputation. This is to say that, they MUST reject 80-90% of the papers sent in. So, even if at the end, your paper got accepted by the reviewers, the Editor won't inform it to you until after a year and if the rejection percentage is not reached, the Editor will still reject your paper. So, it's a long 2 years of waiting for NOTHING!

Let's go to a quicker one then. Let's try a low profile journal. Yeah, but still a good 6 months. What about a newspaper. Yeah, good but no one is going to review it and you can imagine the quality. Blogs? Yeah, again same like newspaper but no ISBN number to let you put into your CV that you publish a piece of knowledge. What else? What about writing to many journals and books publishers at the same time. No no no, that's HARAM! Before you even start writing a book, they will ask you to sign a contract that you are not writing the similar thing to another publisher. Also, if you send a journal article, the Editor will ask you to sign a legally binded contract where you can't write similar thing to other journals until it is either published or rejected totally.

The worst thing is, you have an idea to do a topic in your PhD 10 years ago. Then it took you a good few years (well, at least 3 years) to get it done. Then it becomes a piece of knowledge. The research work is not done until you disseminate it. So, it took another 2 years to get published. So, it's like a life time process to tell people that, THIS IS A NEW PIECE OF KNOWLEDGE THAT I'VE FOUND! That's why the title is a FACT! Like it or not.

The other way to disseminate your knowledge is through conferences. It is the most updated knowledge but you can't reach a wide audience. It is updated knowledge because usually the dateline for submission of abstract is like 5-12 months before the actual date of the conference. So, even you don't have the result of your research yet, you will write an abstract telling that you will present blah-de-blah, hoping that by the day of the conference you really have some knowledge to present. That's the most updated one. However, it is very expensive to go to a conference because the registration fees can be quite costly. Don't forget travelling & accommodation expenses too and other unexpected stuff. There is always funding and grant for attending a conference but how many times can you apply and how many others are also applying it?

See, academicians are poor. You write for journal for FREE. You review journal & book for FREE. You get paid very low loyalty when you get your book published because you are not writing Best Selling fiction books like Harry Porter or Lord of the Ring. You pay for doing a PhD and to attend conferences. You even have to pay to buy journals or access journals online! So, why get yourself into academia?

You can see all the down sides. Hey, but the brighter side is that you get your articles and books reviewed by professionals where you can learn a lot of new things from the reviewers feedbacks, just only if you don't give up in keep on sending articles and books for publishing. It helps to polish your writing skills, thinking skills and increase your knowledge & experience. It is only from failure that comes success. When you review others works you learn again. When you attend conference, you learn new things, meet the real people and networking. When you do PhD, you learn again, for good 3 years. Now, the most rewarding thing is when you get the result. You get your articles published in high profile journals (which have 80-90% rejection precentage, hey you are the 10% of the cream!), plus you get a free copy of the journal too. You get your book published, get a few free copies for your ownself, family & friends. If you review books & journal, you get them free. When you go to conference, you travel and get to go to places where not many been to. You get to meet the real men behind the books and journals. You get to fill in the gaps in you CV. When you go to your PhD convocation, you can smile for your sweaty 3 years and make sujud to ALLAH for this gift, alhamdulillah. And most importantly, no matter how new or old the knowledge is, knowledge is always knowledge, once you've learnt it, no one can take it away from you. Imam Shafi'i said that knowledge is Light, Light of ALLAH. If we know something by-heart, are we not having ALLAH's Light in our heart?

Wa lILLAHIlhamd.

ALLAHU'alam.

Wassalam.

Love

Assalamualaikum warahmatullah wabarakatuh,

I've written this post quite a long while ago...

I remember once I asked this very funny question to this friend.
“Do you have a boyfriend?”
With a smile she said:“Yes, of course”
And with all the suspense, I asked for the name of that very lucky guy.
She gave me the coolest answer ever – ALLAH S.W.T.
HE is her boyfriend, subhanALLAH!
She gave me a very vivid picture of my Creator which has been so distance from me for all these years.

I don’t know how she felt the love of ALLAH but I’m definitely sure that ALLAH is the Most Merciful, the Most Loving and the Most Caring of all upon His servants, the followers of the Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w.). The love of a mother is said to be the greatest love of all, that she is willing to sacrifice herself for her children, but remember, the Ar-Rahim’s, ALLAH’s love to His servants is much, much more than the love of any human being can give.

These are just two Hadith Qudsi about how great ALLAH’s love would be to His servants:

ALLAH Almighty said: "MY servant draws near to ME with nothing more loved by ME than the acts of worship that I have enjoined upon him. MY servant continues to try to draw near to ME with more devotion, until I love him. When I love him, I will be his hearing with which he hears, his sight by which he sees, his hand with which he strikes, his feet on which he walks. When he asks ME for something, I will respond and when he takes refuge in ME, I will grant it to him. I do not hesitate in doing anything I intend to do as much as I hesitate in seizing the soul of MY faithful servant; he hates death and I hate hurting him. But death is a must for him".

~ narrated by Bukhari

Subhanallah! Do you like to be among one of the loved one?

Another Hadith Qudsi, hadith directly from ALLAH S.W.T.:

ALLAH Almighty said "I am as MY servant expects ME to be. I am with him if he remembers ME. If he remembers ME to himself, I would remember him to MYSELF. And if he remembers ME in a gathering, I would remember him in a gathering, which is even better. And if MY servant draws near to ME by a hand's span, I would draw near to him by an arm's length and if he draws near to ME by an arm's length, I would draw near to him by a fathom's length. And if MY servant comes to ME walking, I would go to him speeding."

~ narrated by Bukhari

MashaALLAH, HE is running toward you, if you just walk toward HIM, imagine how big HIS one step would be (you won't be able imagine it), and what if we run to HIM?

I don’t know anyone of you have a ‘boy/girlfriend’ or not, but surely you know how a couple works. If you have a boyfriend, or if you like it to be your husband, what would you do if he wants to meet you in any special occasion? Of course most of us will put on the best dress, best make-up, and best of presentation.

If it is a 'dating', will you be late? I doubt about that. Likewise when we want to meet ALLAH in every prayer, how would you dress if you are to meet HIM? What is your attitude towards each prayer? Or each dating with ALLAH? You are going to meet you Lover! The greatest Lover of all!

Have you ever seen a couple by the street? If they are dating and talking to each other, do you think they will ever notice any pedestrians walking by? As they are now in their own world.
Likewise when we are praying, this is the dating between you and ALLAH. If we love HIM so, will we ever be disturbed by anything when we are praying? Definitely no.

Have you ever received any love letter from anyone that you admire? Will, if you love ALLAH, you already have 30 Juz of Love Letters, the most beautifully written love letters by HIM. You will enjoy reading all those Love Letter, the Holy Love Letter and you surely will try your best to memorize them. Why? Because you would really like to understand what is HE trying to tell us and what HE likes or dislikes. You will always have the time to read it.

If you love someone, you will try to find out what are the things he likes and dislikes. And if you love ALLAH, you will surely just like to gain HIS pleasure by doing what has been commanded and avoid doing what has been told not to.

You will just remember HIM and miss HIM all day long that dhikr will always be part of your life. We are encouraged to remember ALLAH always as in the Holy Qur'an or the Love Letter says:

They are the whose hearts rejoice in remembering ALLAH. Absolutely, by remembering ALLAH, the hearts rejoice.

~ The Holy Qur'an, Surah Ra’ad (Chapter 13, The Thunder) verse 28

Now, just try to put your love to HIM and imagine what more you can do just for HIM? As I’ve pointed out, you will steadfast in your prayer, you will make better if not perfect prayers, you will recite the Holy Qur'an, you will try to memorise the Holy Qur'an, and who knows you might be a Hafiz, inshaALLAH. You will also try to learn and understand the Holy Qur'an as a very popular hadith saying that the best among you are the one that learn and teach Qur'an. You will be a very knowledgeable mukmin insyaALLAH because you know and you will practice the ‘amar makruf and nahi mungkar’. Plus you will always remember ALLAH in your life. That makes you a real muslim that truly doing what most of the people call – Islam is the way of life. See how just the love to the All-Mighty ALLAH can shape you into a better Muslim! I know there are more that you will do if you truly love HIM, I leave that for you to think of because it is your love to HIM that really motivate you to keep on improving yourself to become a better Muslim. I pray that we all may gain HIS Love, amin.

Now, how are we going to gain HIS love?

There are several verses in the Holy Qur'an telling us what kind of person does ALLAH loves.

ALLAH loves the one that love the Prophet Muhammad (saw):
[Surah Ali-Imran:31] Proclaim: "If you love ALLAH, you should follow me." ALLAH will then love you, and forgive your sins. ALLAH is Forgiver, Most Merciful. (the one that follow the Prophet Muhammad (saw))

ALLAH love the one righteous one:
[Surah Ali-Imran:76] Indeed, those who fulfill their obligations and lead a righteous life, ALLAH loves the righteous.
[Surah Maryam:96] Surely, those who believe and lead a righteous life, the Most Gracious will shower them with love.
[Surah Al-Maidah:93] Those who believe and lead a righteous life bear no guilt by eating any food, so long as they observe the commandments, believe and lead a righteous life, then maintain their piety and faith, and continue to observe piety and righteousness. ALLAH loves the righteous.
[Surah At-Taubah:4] If the idol worshipers sign a peace treaty with you, and do not violate it, nor band together with others against you, you shall fulfill your treaty with them until the expiration date. ALLAH loves the righteous.

ALLAH loves the charitable:
[Surah Al-Baqarah:195] You shall spend in the cause of ALLAH; do not throw yourselves with your own hands into destruction. You shall be charitable; ALLAH loves the charitable.
[Surah Ali-Imran:134] who give to charity during the good times, as well as the bad times. They are suppressors of anger, and pardoners of the people. ALLAH loves the charitable.

ALLAH loves who asks for forgiveness and purify himself:
[Surah al-Baqarah: 222] ALLAH loves the repenters, and HE loves those who are clean.

ALLAH love the steadfast:
[Surah Ali-Imran:146] Many a prophet had godly people fight along with him, without ever wavering under pressure in the cause of ALLAH, nor did they hesitate or become discouraged. ALLAH loves the steadfast.

ALLAH loves the good doer:
[Surah Ali-Imran:148] Consequently, ALLAH granted them the rewards of this world, and the better rewards of the Hereafter. ALLAH loves the good doers.
[Surah Al-A’raf: 31] O Children of Adam! Wear your beautiful apparel at every time and place of prayer; eat and drink; but waste not by excess, for ALLAH love not the wasters.

ALLAH loves the one that trust only on HIM:
[Surah Ali-Imran:159] It was mercy from ALLAH that you became compassionate towards them. Had you been harsh and mean-hearted, they would have abandoned you. Therefore, you shall pardon them and ask forgiveness for them, and consult them. Once you make a decision, carry out your plan, and trust in ALLAH. ALLAH loves those who trust in HIM.

ALLAH loves the kind and helpful:
[Surah Al-Maidah:13] It was a consequence of their violating the covenant that we condemned them, and we caused their hearts to become hardened. Consequently, they took the words out of context, and disregarded some of the commandments given to them. You will continue to witness betrayal from them, excepting a few of them. You shall pardon them, and disregard them. ALLAH loves those who are benevolent.

ALLAH loves who acts justly:
[Surah Al-Maidah:42] They are upholders of lies, and eaters of illicit earnings. If they come to you to judge among them, you may judge among them, or you may disregard them. If you choose to disregard them, they cannot harm you in the least. But if you judge among them, you shall judge equitably. GOD loves those who are equitable.
[Surah Al-Hujurat:9] If two groups of believers fought with each other, you shall reconcile them. If one group aggresses against the other, you shall fight the aggressing group until they submit to ALLAH's command. Once they submit, you shall reconcile the two groups equitably. You shall maintain justice; ALLAH loves those who are just.

[Surah Al-Mumtahana:8] ALLAH does not enjoin you from befriending those who do not fight you because of religion, and do not evict you from your homes. You may befriend them and be equitable towards them. ALLAH loves the equitable.

ALLAH loves who strive for His cause:
[Surah As-Saff:4] ALLAH loves those who fight in His cause united in one column, like the bricks in one wall.

And do you know whose the one that ALLAH hates? They are the:

the aggressors:
[Surah Al-Baqarah:190] You may fight in the cause of ALLAH against those who attack you, but do not aggress. ALLAH does not love the aggressors.

the disbelievers:
[Surah Ali-Imran:32] Proclaim: "You shall obey ALLAH and the messenger." If they turn away,ALLAH does not love the disbelievers.

those who inflict injustice:
[Surah Ali-Imran:57] As for those who believe and lead a righteous life, He will fully recompense them. ALLAH does not love the unjust.

evil dores:
[Surah Al-Maidah:64] Whenever they ignite the flames of war, ALLAH puts them out. They roam the earth wickedly, and ALLAH dislikes the evildoers.

corruptor:
[Surah Al-Baqarah:205] As soon as he leaves, he roams the earth corruptingly, destroying properties and lives. ALLAH does not love corruption.

those who are arrogant:
[Surah An-Nisa’:36] You shall worship ALLAH alone - do not associate anything with Him. You shall regard the parents, the relatives, the orphans, the poor, the related neighbor, the unrelated neighbor, the close associate, the traveling alien, and your servants. ALLAH does not like the arrogant show-offs.

those who spend lavishly:
[Surah Al-An’am:141] He is the One who established gardens, trellised and untrellised, and palm trees, and crops with different tastes, and olives, and pomegranate - fruits that are similar, yet dissimilar. Eat from their fruits, and give the due alms on the day of harvest, and do not waste anything. He does not love the wasters.

those who does not act upon what he has said:
[Surah As-Saff: 2-3] Glorifying ALLAH is everything in the heavens and everything on earth. He is the Almighty, Most Wise; O you who believe, why do you say what you do not do?

So, what should be do to win ALLAH’s love? There is a hadith narrated by Ibn Majah:

"A man came to the Prophet (saw) and asked him "O ALLAH's Messenger, tell me of something I do to win ALLAH's love and people's love". The Prophet answered "Do not love this world, would love you and do not have a longing for whatever people have, people would love you".

Or, you can just simply held the love upon ALLAH like a hadith that has been narrated by Bukhari:

"God Almighty said: If My servant loves to meet Me, I love to meet him, and if he hates to meet Me, I hate to meet him."

See, how simple we can do to gain His love?
Following are some more benefit of loving ALLAH:

A hadith qudsi narrated by Muslim:

"If ALLAH would love HIS servant HE would call Arch-angel Gabriel and tell him "I love this person, therefore love him." And Gabriel would love him and call out in the heavens "ALLAH loves this person, therefore love him." And the inhabitants of the heavens would love him. Then he would be embraced by the people of this world. But if ALLAH would abhor HIS servant, HE would call Gabriel and tell him "I abhor this person, therefore abhor him". And Gabriel would abhor him and call out in the heavens " ALLAH abhors this person, therefore abhor him." And the inhabitants of the heavens would abhor him. Then he would be abhorred by the people of this world."

You will be very famous among the angels!

Some more hadith:

"There are three characteristics whoever has them will taste the sweetness of faith: that ALLAH and HIS Messenger (saw) are more loved by him than everything else, that he loves or does not love a person only for ALLAH's sake and that he would hate to revert into disbelief just as he would hate to be thrown into fire."

~narrated by Bukhari

"When a man asked the Prophet (saw),"O Messenger of ALLAH, when will the Day of Judgement be?", the Prophet (saw) replied, "What have you prepared for it?" he said, "I have not prepared for it a great deal of prayer, fasting nor charity, but I love ALLAH and HIS Messenger intensely," the Prophet (saw) said, "You will be with those whom you love."

~ narrated by Bukhari

Take an excellent example of a great female sufi called Rabiatul Adhawiyah. Her love to ALLAH made her wake up every night just to pray (dating) and to tell how much she loved HIM. She said:

"O ALLAH! If I worship YOU for fear of Hell, burn me in Hell,
and if I worship YOU in hope of Paradise, exclude me from Paradise.
But if I worship YOU for YOUR Own sake, grudge me not Your everlasting Beauty (face).”

ALLAHU’alam.

Wassalam.