The Definition of Love

After publishing my previous article, The Religion of Love, someone asked:

"That word has confused me for a while. Could you please, Ali Sina, explain to me your definition of love..."

Love is the harmonious interrelation between various entities.

Love applies to all levels of existence.

In a more primitive state of being, i.e. in atomic level, love is the binding force that holds the particles together. There are four forces that keep the physical world together. These are the fundamentals of physics. They are called strong, electromagnetic, weak and gravity. Scientists believe that all these fundamentals were originally one. It was a single force that now manifests itself if four different forms.

As the matter becomes complex the nature of its interrelations with other entities change.

At the molecular level, atoms exchange electrons and this sharing allows them to form atomic bonds and form molecules. This union is a step forward in evolution.

At the cellular level, there is cooperation and coordination between various molecules and mega molecules.

The relationship between various cells in multi cellular organisms is proportionately more complex.

We do not call these relations “love” but they are love at a very primitive stage.

As a matter of fact, scientists believe that traces of freewill and therefore, intelligence are discernible even in electrons and photons. These are the simplest particles of the universe.

Love in animal kingdom is called instinct.

Humans are the most complex products of evolution. Their interrelation with each other and other non human entities is correspondingly more complex.

All previous primitive stages of love are existent in humans, for we are made of atoms, and we have the same animal instincts that other animals have.

Parental love is in fact an instinct. Even a crocodile instinctively cares for her offspring and protects it. The more the animal is evolved the more complex love becomes. In humans, this parental love is more profound and lasts for life. In other species it generally attenuates when the offspring matures enough to be able to fend for itself.

Sexual love or physical attraction is also instinctual, a characteristic we share with all other animals.

Not all loves are made equal. Romantic love is intense to ensure a lasting bound between man and woman. This will give a better chance to their relationship and provides a more secure and loving environment for the children and will help them grow healthier, physically and emotionally. It also provides a happier and more fulfilling life for the couple.

But because humans are complex beings, they have complex relationships with the world that surrounds them. Brotherly love or the love of your fellow being (thy neighbor) is not unique to humans. Most social animals relate with each other and cooperate in matters of survival and hunt. From various insects to various mammals, life is shared with other members of the colony or clan. Through this interrelation all the members benefit, not just because their chances for survival increases but also emotionally.

The very fact that by showing affection to animals they respond proves that the sense of affection is present in them. They understand love. The feeling of affection in animals is not there just to respond to human stimuli. It is there because these animals interact with each other affectively. Felines, canines, the primates, even sheep and cattle and most other gregarious animals must for certainly feel affection for each other or they would not stick together. This is all love in action.

Humans are the most complex entities and their love is also complex. Because the evolution has given us a bigger brain, we think better and we can coordinate our thoughts with our feelings. We are more in control of our thoughts and hence our feelings are less instinctual. We decide to love someone or hate him on the basis of racial, national, religious or caste considerations. We are more willful in our love and more in control of who we love. We can bring ourselves to love or to hate someone motivated by our beliefs.

As we evolved socially, love of our family, brothers, sisters, parents, children eventually expanded into love of our clan and our tribe. With cooperation, the members of the family had a better chance for survival. With sticking together, the members of a tribe could defend themselves against their enemies, hunt bigger animals and often protect themselves against more powerful predators. At the same time bigger agglomerations allowed specialization and trade improved the standard of living. Everybody benefited.

As tribes kept growing, the dangers that they posed to each other also grew and they were forced to grow even bigger by merging together and forming bigger alliances.

Today we have nation states made of various people and at the same time these nations are coming together to form bigger economical and military blocks. This coming together is caused by necessity and intelligent calculations. We all benefit if we get together and form bigger alliances. Is this love or is it self interest? Or is there any difference?

The next stage in the evolutionary trajectory of the human society is coming together of all mankind in a single world federal government.

This will allow the elimination of war as a means of conflict resolution, and lead to the expansion of economy and more wealth and happiness for all mankind.

With the creation of the world federal government, national and racial hatreds will dissipate, the world will become like one country. The raison d'être for much of the hate will be eliminated and mankind will be ushered into a new era of peace and harmony.

Where there is no hate, where things work naturally, where entities interrelate harmoniously, where there are no clashes and frictions, where there is cooperation and understanding, there is love. But this is a different kind of love.

What is patriotism? Is it that you are so much in love of the trees in your country that you are willing to sacrifice your life to protect them? When you go to war to defend your country what is it that you are defending exactly? Are you defending the rocks, the rivers or the animals of your country? Are they in any danger? No! You are defending your people – people whom you may not even know. Why would you do that? Why should you put in peril your own life to defend total strangers? The answer is love. You love your people and that is why you go to war to defend them.

This is a different form of love. It transcends you, your progeny, your mate and your close relatives with whom you have direct interaction and affinity. The nature of this love is different. It is not the same as parental love, or romantic and conjugal love. It is the love of your people.

As we keep evolving intellectually and become wiser, we will discover our oneness as human beings and we expand our love for all the people of all the races, nationalities, religions and castes.

So as you see there is no ONE definition of Love. When you talk about love you have to specify which love you are talking about. Are you talking about the romantic love of a man and a woman? Are you talking about the parental love, brotherly love, patriotism, love of mankind? Or are you talking about the physical forces of the nature? All these are love, but they are not the same.

Love is the harmonious interrelation between various entities. You have to specify the entities and the nature of love.

The common denominator in all these various forms of love is harmony. When two or more entities interrelate harmoniously, that is love.

The harmonious interrelation between different entities is the natural state of being.

Love is the binding force of the Universe. It permeates every atom and applies to all levels of existence. Love is what brings harmony to the world. It is the cohesive force of all things. It is the creative energy, the élan vital. I call this the Single Principle underlying the creation; others may call it God.

Ideologies and religions that promote harmony and love are in tune with the natural law and those that divide mankind into us vs. them, the believers vs. unbelievers the chosen one vs. the damned ones work against the natural law. The more a religion promotes love and unity the more it is godly and the more it instills hate in its followers the farther it is from God.

That is why Islam is the falsest religion. Islam is a religion that is fueled by hate and not love.

The results speak volumes. Where Islam is practiced, and to the extent that it is practiced, things fall apart, wars take place, human rights are violated, lives are lost, poverty rules and ignorance guides. Ironically and quite contrary to the meanings of these words, the Darul Islam is the house of war and the Darul Harb is the house where people live in peace, are prosperous and know how to enjoy life and be happy.

If Muslims paid attention just to this, they would see that Islam is nothing but a fallacy, a mountain of lies that is contrary to human intelligence and the Natural Law. That has given them nothing but misery and a vacuous promise of debauchery and orgies in the afterlife. And for this petty lie they allow themselves to be filled with hate, distrust and paranoia and deprive themselves from happiness.

Love is the binding force of the Universe. It is the right way. It is the way things work. It is the natural way. Hate is the wrong way. It's contrary to how things work. Hate can destroy but it can’t build. It can only kill, it can never give life.

The biggest threat to mankind is hate. And that is why Islam is the biggest danger. All the freedom loving people of the world must come together and jointly stop this hate and put this planet on its natural course, on the course of love and harmony. This is not something Muslims can do alone. Help is needed from outside. But enlightened Muslims must also realize that this task cannot be left solely on the shoulders of non-Muslims. The thinking and reasoning Muslims must be the bearers of this standard. They must lead the way, eliminate hate, sow the seeds of love and light up the minds of the masses of Muslims with knowledge and understanding.