Love or Hawa?

Allah says: "And among his signs is that He created for you mates from among yourselves that you may dwell in tranquility with them, and He has put love and mercy between you; verily, in that are signs for people who reflect" (Quran, 30:21). So now, love is not haram but the way we deal with it is what makes it halal or haram, who put the love in our hearts and made it a part of our being? Allah. So usually when someone puts something somewhere He knows what's the function is and he gives us a guide on how to use it, that guide is Quran and Sunnah. There is something that a lot of people mistake it as love but it's not love, it's 'hawa' it's getting to the extent that we become slaves for our nafs, lusts and desires, it's giving up on your dignity, humanity, personality, family, work and sometimes Allah himself for that desire that's hidden under the name of 'love'. Allah says: "But if they answer you not, then know that they only follow their own lusts (hawa) and who is more astray than the one who follows his own lusts without guidance from Alah" (Quran 28:50). Allah mentioned those people in His book, the people who don't fight their nafs and who become slaves for it. Hawa is not a pleasure at all it's a prison, a never ending cycle that's the only exit from it is getting back to Allah. Islam is meant to preserve our hearts, bodies and minds and save it from pain and that's why premarital relationships is haram, because it distracts us from our goal, it distracts us from Allah. Ask yourself this question and answer it honestly: "Does getting closer to this person that I 'love' bring me closer to or farther from Allah?" more accurately "Has this person replaced Allah in my heart?" I believe that the majority of the answers is "Yes, it did get me farther from Allah and replaced Him" that's not love because true love allows you to be at peace with yourself and with Allah, love is not about fireworks in the sky and butterflies in your stomach, love is about giving peace and tranquility to one another. It's either we're slaves for Allah or slaves for our hawa and nafs, it cannot be both, so please be cautious.  When Allah tests us He doesn't test us with hardships only, He also tests us with ease with 'blessings' and with the things we love, to see how we're going to deal with it, and unfortunately in these tests that so many of us fail, because we take that gift as our God, that gift becomes our fear, hope, happiness, sadness, love and pain, and we forget the Giver, we forget Allah. As He said: "Yet there are men who take (for worship) others beside Allah as equal (with Allah) they love them as they should love Allah, but those of faith are overflowing in their love for Allah" (Quran 2:165). We need to be from those He mentioned "but those of faith are overflowing in their love for Allah" that love is going to lead us to everything thing we want, that love is the best love and that love is the most blessed love through all kinds of love. So let's fall in love with the real thing, let's fall in love with Allah.