"if you love God, then follow me, God will love you and forgive you your faults, and God is forgiving, merciful”

Say: "obey God and the messenger; but if they turn back, then surely God does not love the unbelievers” Islam in one sense is different from some other major religions of the world. The picture of God that has been depicted in Quran, as we Muslims all believe, is a combination of love toward good people and aversion toward bad people. This has been repeated in at least 40 verses of holly Quran with a clear definition for good people and bad people. This article aims to distinguish between these two groups based on Quranic verses and clarify the image of people whom God loves.

As mentioned in above two verses, the first step is to follow the path that has been shown to us by god’s messenger. This is the most beautiful picture that one can demonstrate as a mutual love. If you do love your God, you are therefore prompted to follow the path that has been shown to you and prepare yourself to receive his love. But it is also stated that the people who do not follow the right path are not to be loved by God.

This may need a little bit more clarification on the definition of right path and people who are to be loved by God. Perhaps the most distinguished characteristic for these people which has been mentioned in 5 verses of Quran (2:195, 3:134, 3:148, 5:13 and 5:93) is to do good to others. Doing good could be helping poor people, supporting orphans or even respecting one’s parents which have been also mentioned in various verses of Quran.

Others, based on Quran, are people who:

guard themselves against sin  (3:76, 9:4, 9:7)
judge fairly (5:42, 49:9, 60:8)
fight in God’s way (61:4)
purify themselves (2:222, 9:108)
turn much to God (2:222)
trust in God (3:159)
and are patient (3:146).

On the other hand, God does not love the person who is:

an unbeliever (3:32, 30:45)
arrogant (16:23, 4:36, 31:18, 57:23)
cruel (3:57, 3:140, 42:40)
unfaithful and ungrateful (2:276, 22:38)
exceeding the limits (2:190, 5:87, 7:55)
extravagant (6:141, 7:31)
mischief-maker (2:205, 5:64, 28:77)
treacherous (8:58, 4:107)
and exulting in riches (28:76)

Source: parsquran