Dear brothers and sisters, when was the last time we cried out of fear of Allah? Did we ever ponder over our enormous crimes against our Creator and Benefactor and cried over what we did? Was there a second in our whole life span we ponder over one of His Attributes of power and might? And then we cried? Or we visualized hell fire and we cried?
Was there a single moment we felt so desperate for His Mercy and forgiveness? When we felt as poor and destitute slaves until we begged to our Master with all our hearts. Like what Prophet Musa did when he was leaning against the tree in Madyan as a fugitive from his homeland. He prayed: “ O my Rabb! truly I am in desperate need of any good that You can send me!” (Surah Al Qasas:24)
Or Prophet Yunus when he cried out of grief, pain, remorse and desolation in the midst of three layers of darknesses from the fish, the sea and the night? “ And We bestowed Our favour upon Dhu al-Nun. Recall, when he went forth enraged, thinking We have no power to take him to task. Eventually he cried out in the darkness: There is no god but You. Glory be to You! I have done wrong.ۖ” (Surah Al Anbiyaa:87). These were cries that emerged from the softest and most tender of hearts from among the best of creations.
Beware of the hardened heart because it will lead us to the fire of hell.
How forbearing is the One who still cares for us while we rebel! Why does He in this world let us go every time we sin? He gives us time to correct ourselves. Time and time again, He gives us reminders in multiple forms. He is perfectly aware of every motion in our hearts and will graciously respond to our first step towards Him. Because there is no one who loves our return to Him (in this world through tawbah) more than our Creator. Because there is none who loves that His slaves would enter Paradise but Allah Himself, the One who created us out of love and mercy.
Allah invites and calls us to Paradise : وَاللّٰهُ يَدۡعُوۡۤا اِلٰى دَارِ السَّلٰمِؕ وَيَهۡدِىۡ مَنۡ يَّشَآءُ اِلٰى صِرَاطٍ مُّسۡتَقِيۡ “(You are being lured by this ephemeral world) although Allah calls you to the abode of peace and guides whomsoever He wills to a straightway.” (Surah Yunus:25)
But our base desires make us inclined towards the call of shaytan to Hell. Out of heedlessness, love of this world and over a prolonged interval of time, our evil deeds hardened our hearts until our eyes can no longer cry over our sins. We delay and procrastinate tawbah until our hearts became harder than stones. For some stones burst and others crack to emit water. And there are stones that fall down out of fear of Allah. Yet our hearts are arrogant and cannot humble themselves to Allah. Our hearts cannot show humility towards the most powerful Creator.
“But (even after seeing these Signs) your hearts hardened and became as hard as rocks; nay, even harder than rocks. For there are some rocks out of which springs gush forth, and others which split open, and water issues out of them; then there are some which tumble down for fear of Allah. And Allah is not unaware of what you are doing.” (Surah Al Baqarah:74)
In the above verse Allah was addressing a certain group of people in the past, but it is for us to learn a lesson. ‘Qaswah’ is a hardened state of the heart which makes it unable to show mercy, compassion and leniency. Nor is it able to respond to the miraculous power from the heart of the Quran. Or to value the pearls from the heart of the Prophet. The heart has lost its natural capacity to receive and absorb light. It is no longer soft nor transparent. Rahmah(Loving Mercy) from Allah cannot enter it until finally the deprived heart can no longer express rahmah. The parable Allah gave to rahmah is water which gives life to other creatures. The startling fact for us to ponder is even stones can emit water. Why can’t we cry for Allah’s sake? We can only cry for our sake when we get hurt by people. No tears for Allah, only tears for us. Because we focus our life, strength and passions wholly on us, not Allah. On our dunya, not the Hereafter. Hence, our hearts harden after being cut off from its life source.
Where do we stand in the scales of Allah? Where do we stand from our ancestors who had excelled in their deeds of ubudiyyah yet wept out of fear of being unaccepted by The Most Gracious Rabb. (Refer to Surah Al Mukminun: 60). Where do we stand from those who “ When the verses of the Most Merciful were recited to them, they fell in prostration and weeping” (Surah Maryam:58). Where lies our faith when measured with the heavenly standard of “ those who, when Allah's name is mentioned, their hearts quake, and when His verses are recited to them their faith grows, and who put their trust in their Lord.” (Surah Al Anfaal:3)
Concerning the virtue of weeping out of fear from Allah, the Prophet peace be upon him said, in a hadith narrated by Abu Huraira r.a, : “One who weeps out of fear of Allah, will not enter hell till milk returns back in the udder; and the dust raised on account of fighting in the path of Allah and the smoke of hell will never combine together”[Narrated by At-Tirmidhi and edited by Al Albani] Weeping out of fear of Allah is ibadah and is one of the reasons to gain entry into Paradise and be saved from Hell. Yes, dear brothers and sisters, one sincere tear could save us from Hell. Because that single tear is proof of pure iman in our hearts just as sincere jihad is.
The Prophet said, “Allah will give shade to seven (types of people) under His Shade ( on the Day of Resurrection). (One of them will be) a person who remembers Allah in seclusion and his eyes are then flooded with tears. (Bukhari, narrated by Abu Huraira) These are sincere tears shed either out of love or fear of Allah. Not to gain praise nor win respect from people.
In the ubudiyyah of the heart, fear(khauf) of Allah is an obligatory act. It is one of the loftiest ranks or stations of the heart in the journey to Allah. The heart must attain a constant state of khauf to fulfill ubudiyyah. Fear of Allah is a sign of true faith. ‘The absence of khauf from the heart is the sign of the loss of faith.’ [Madarij as-Saalikin volume 1]. It is one of the rights of the Creator.
Ubudiyyah is based on three pillars: ultimate love(hubb), fear(khauf) and hope(rajaa) towards Allah. These are powerful emotions which crystallize as attitudes, forming behaviour in man. These most influential sentiments in man are directed or focussed towards whatever ilah or deity he choose to worship. An ‘abd cannot fulfill ubudiyyah without directing these strong emotions exclusively to the Rabb. Directing any or all of them to anyone other than Allah will amount to major shirk. The biggest right of Allah upon His slave is to be worshipped without ascribing partners to Him. Hence, Allah is the only ilah or deity worthy of receiving our ultimate love, fear and hope.
With regards to khauf, Allah has commanded the believers “ So fear them not but fear Me, if indeed you are (true) believers” (Surah Ali Imran:(175)
“But for him who fear the standing before his Rabb, there will be two gardens(in Paradise).” (Surah Ar Rahman: 46)
Khauf, khasyyah, wajal, rahbah are terms used in the Quran to describe fear. They are different manifestations of fear with close meanings but they are not synonyms. [Madarij as-Saalikin volume 1]
How is fear (khauf) described?
1. Said ibn Jubayr said, ‘Fear(khauf) is what stands between you and disobeying Allah’. [ Tafsir Ibnu Kathir]
2. Ibnu Qayyim wrote, ‘The praiseworthy and correct khauf is that which prevents a believer from approaching all that Allah has prohibited.’
3. Abu Uthman al Hiri said, ‘Sincere khauf is to refrain from committing sins in one’s outward and inward actions.’
4. Abul Qasim al Junaid said, ‘Khauf is fearing the punishment of Allah with every
breath.‘
[ Quotes 2, 3 and 4 are from Madarij as Saalikin volume 1]
What makes the heart fear Allah?
“Indeed it is only those who have knowledge from among His slaves fear(khasyyah) Allah.” (Surah Al Fatir:28)
Shaikh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah said concerning this verse: This indicates that everyone who fears Allah has knowledge, which is true; (but) it does not indicate that everyone who has knowledge fears Him. [Majmu’ al-Fatawa]
Indeed, true are the sayings of Hasan al Basri: “ It suffices you to know a person to have fear(khasyyah) of Allah and zuhud to dunya as proof of his knowledge.”
What is meant by ‘knowledge’ mentioned in the quranic verse (Al Fatir:28) is explained by Ibn Katheer (rahimahullah) as, “Those who fear Him as He should be feared are those who have knowledge of Him (Allah), because the more a person knows of the Almighty, All-Powerful, the more he will fear Him.”
Hence, khasyyah is more specific than khauf. Khasyyah is khauf accompanied by ma’rifah(deep understanding and awareness) of Allah. While khauf is fearing the punishment of Allah and His Wrath. The bottom line is, all forms of fear of Allah is primarily a fruit of the knowledge of Allah and the Hereafter. The knowledge which first resides in the mind has penetrated the heart and turned into a beautiful fruit: the constant fear of Allah which makes the believer fear none but Allah. A fear which leads to loving and placing his hope totally in Allah. A fear which heightens his spirituality and consciousness of Allah in all his deeds and actions, inwards and outwards.
How is the fear of Allah inculcated?
1. Read, study and reflect on the Quranic verses which shake the minds and hearts, especially juzu’ amma. Use a tafsir such as Ibnu Kathir’s.
2. Learn and reflect on the Uniqueness, greatness and perfection of Allah through His Names, Attributes and Works. (read a tafsir of the Quran or authentic books on Aqeedah)
3. Think of death and visualize its painful process.
4. Think of the grave and visualize the torments of the grave.
5. Think of Qiyamah and its events.
6. Visualize Hell and its torments: a place of pure pain with zero pleasure and no relief.
7. Bring to mind the sins we have committed and how severe the punishment of Allah is.
8. Think of sudden death. It might be too late to repent.
9. Think of suul khatimah or the evil ending of life.
[‘Al Khauf minallaahi Taala’ by Muhammad Syauman bin Ahmad ar-Ramli]
Every action of ours must begin with a sincere earnest du‘a.
How our whole life is pivotted on “Only You we worship and only You ask for help” (Al Fatihah:5), is amazing. Subhanallah!
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