LOVE FOR ALL, HATRED FOR NONE_ BY PROFESSOR TIMEHIN OLUROTIMI

I had iftar last Wednesday with a friend at the border town of Idiroko in Ogun State. Though I am not a stranger to his large-heartedness shown in the quality of food shared to poor folks daily during every month of Ramadan, I was shocked to discover that a good number among the more than 500 people who came for the iftar meals were non-Muslims.

What is more refreshing is the zeal, passion, and concern on the faces of the food sharers while dishing out the meals despite knowing that many of the beneficiaries were not Muslims. This profoundly beautiful scenario deepened my understanding of our Jama'at's ideational motto and slogan: “Love for all, hatred for none”.

After a deep reflection, I realised that it is more than a moral slogan; it is a metaphysical stance, a spiritual discipline, and a radical re-imagining of what it means to be human among humans.

At the philosophical level, the motto challenges the instinctive logic of exclusion that governs much of human history. Hatred thrives on division: 'us' versus 'them', 'pure' versus 'impure', and 'right' versus 'wrong'. It deflates the balloon of false dichotomy, punctures the kite of hate theologies, and confounds the ideologies of resentment. It affirms the indispensability of love in the superstructure of human growth and development and denounces hate whatever garb it puts on.

To renounce hatred is not to deny difference or conflict; it is to refuse to let difference become dehumanization. In this sense, love is not sentimentality but ontological recognition, the acknowledgment that the 'other', however opposed, shares the same ground of being. Hatred simplifies the world; love bears its complexity.

Philosophically, this motto also dismantles the illusion that moral clarity requires enemies. Hatred masquerades as strength, but it is often fear in disguise; fear of being wrong, replaced, or diminished. “Hatred for none” is therefore an act of courage: it affirms that one’s identity and values do not need an adversary to be real. Love here is not passive; it is ethical resistance against the corrosion of the soul.

At the spiritual level, the motto gestures toward a vision of unity beneath multiplicity. Many spiritual traditions converge on the insight that the ego’s greatest illusion is separation. Hatred feeds this illusion; love dissolves it. To love all is not to approve of all actions, but to see beyond action to essence; to recognize the divine spark, the sacred breath, or the primordial dignity within every being.

Spiritually, “love for all” is an act of alignment with the deepest reality. It mirrors divine attributes: mercy without tribalism, compassion without calculation. In Islamic spirituality, it echoes rahmah (mercy) as an all-embracing principle; in Sufism, it resonates with the vision that love is the fabric of existence itself. In Christian mysticism, it recalls agape; in Buddhist thought, metta; in African humanism, ubuntu. The language differs, but the intuition is the same: to harm another is to fracture oneself.

Yet this motto is not naïve. It does not deny injustice, oppression, or cruelty. Rather, it proposes a higher ground from which to confront them. Hatred reproduces the logic of what it opposes; love interrupts it. When one resists injustice without hatred, one fights not to destroy the oppressor but to liberate both oppressed and oppressor from a system of dehumanization. This is why the motto has powered non-violent movements and prophetic ethics throughout history.

On a personal, interior level, “love for all, hatred for none” is a demanding spiritual practice. It requires vigilance over one’s inner life: resentment, pride, and moral superiority are subtle forms of hatred. To live this motto is to engage in continuous self-purification, to ask not only What do I oppose? but What is my heart becoming in the process?

Ultimately, the motto points toward a future of moral maturity. It imagines a humanity that has outgrown the need for hatred as a source of meaning. It is an invitation to participate in a deeper evolution of consciousness where love is not weakness, but wisdom; not retreat, but transcendence.

To live by “love for all, hatred for none” is to affirm that the highest victory is not over others, but over the impulses that make enemies necessary.

As the blessed month of Ramadan splits into two today, may Allah's Love take root in your heart, reflect in your thoughts, radiate through your speech, define your actions, and illuminate the world around you.

Salam alaykum wa rahmatullah wa barakatuhu

© PROFESSOR TIMEHIN SAHEED OLUROTIMI 

- Nigeria