The Disease of Preference

Rabia al-Adawiyya taught that true love of God destroys the illusion of separate self—the root from which favoritism grows. When we prefer one person over another, we act from the small ego that believes itself capable of judgment. This "disease of preference" is a spiritual illness because it fragments unity; it creates hierarchies where love should flow equally. In Rabia's tradition, favoritism reveals our attachment to outcomes and our failure to see the divine in all beings. The cost is immense: we build false bonds based on utility or charm rather than pure devotion, we cultivate resentment in those overlooked, and we arrest our own spiritual growth by refusing the harder work of universal compassion.