Dr. Khaled Abou El Fadl explains the act of creation by God as an act of love and describes how beauty, love, justice and the act of returning the love of God are at the core of one's understanding of Islam. He reminds us of how God's love is the beginning and the end, and how God continually extends and offers love to every human being regardless of whether that human being is good or bad; a believer or a non-believer, awaiting reciprocation if humans so choose. God is light and light is love. For the vast majority of history up until the 1930's and the rise of Wahhabism and Salafism, it was taken for granted that the God of Islam was the God of Love, and that God was a loving God; quite the reverse of our modern times. He discusses the implications of this understanding of God and love. Without God's love, there is darkness upon darkness, which is demonstrated in many states of the Muslim world today. He discusses the example of the evil darkness of the trafficking of human organs from the Muslim concentration camps in China, sold to others in the Muslim world. God will not bless those who insist on the darkness over light; remembering the light and love of God and Islam must be the path forward. Delivered 12 April 2019.
