The word love and its derivatives appear often in the Qur’an; yet one derivative only appears once, and in a very special, poignant context.

In the nine times in which the word hubb appeared, it was mentioned with regards the actions of man towards Allaah, or with regards instances related to life. When Allaah the Exalted used the word in reference to Himself towards one of His Creation – Musa (peace be upon him) – He used a different word (mahabbah), that was only ever used to describe His own actions, as is most befitting of His majesty.Thus, when the love stems from mankind, the word hubb was used, but when it stems from Allaah, the word mahabbah was used.