I fear Allah
O beloved, fearing Allah is the crown of the hearts. It is purification for the souls and living for the spirits. It is evidence of faith and an address for happiness. It is the secret of life.
In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
All the praises and thanks be to Allah. Prayers and peace of Allah be upon the chosen Messenger.
O beloved, fearing Allah is the crown of the hearts. It is purification for the souls and living for the spirits. It is evidence of faith and an address for happiness. It is the secret of life. However, there is an enemy awaiting us; it is Satan. He has known his destiny, which is a Hellfire, blazing fiercely. Nevertheless, he calls for a deviated creed. He is continuously striving to lead the people astray from the true path. He does not give up or get tired of the rejection of people to his call. He destroyed us with sins, but we destroyed him with forgiveness. He looks at our heedlessness and hence, throws us with the arrows of his poisonous bow. Some of us ward off his bow with the weapon of faith. Others fall in his hell, smeared with lustrous desires. They do not wake up from their own negligence except in the camp of the dead. For such a falling person we say, “May Allah give you the best solace and may He redress the catastrophe.”
O beloved, this enemy fears Allah, the Lord of the ‘Alamin (mankind, jinn and all that exists). Allah Glorified and Exalted says, {(Their allies deceived them) like Shaitân (Satan), when he says to man: “Disbelieve in Allâh.” But when (man) disbelieves in Allâh, Shaitân (Satan) says: “I am free of you, I fear Allâh, the Lord of the ‘Alamin (mankind, jinn and all that exists)!”} [Surat Al-Hashr: 16]
{كَمَثَلِ الشَّيْطَانِ إِذْ قَالَ لِلْإِنسَانِ اكْفُرْ فَلَمَّا كَفَرَ قَالَ إِنِّي بَرِيءٌ مِّنكَ إِنِّي أَخَافُ اللَّـهَ رَبَّ الْعَالَمِينَ} الحشر: 16
Transliteration: Kamathali Ash-Shayţāni ‘Idh Qāla Lil’insāni Akfur Falammā Kafara Qāla ‘Innī Barī’un Minka ‘Innī ‘Akhāfu Allāha Rabba Al-`Ālamīna
Glorified is Allah. The Devil calls us for disbelief but washes his hands from us on the Day of Judgment. He says it loud and clear, {“I fear Allâh, the Lord of the ‘Alamin (mankind, jinn and all that exists)!”} [Surat Al-Hashr: 16]
{إِنِّي أَخَافُ اللَّـهَ رَبَّ الْعَالَمِينَ} الحشر: 16
Transliteration:‘Innī ‘Akhāfu Allāha Rabba Al-`Ālamīna
O young people, our enemy fears Allah. Why do not we really fear Allah, in our hearts and organs?
O beloved, whoever fears Allah, everything will fear him. In Addition, as much as you fear Allah, people will fear you.
One may ask, “What is the evidence that I fear Allah?”
The evidence, O beloved, is abiding by honesty. It is by sincerity to Allah, by purifying the heart from diseases and lustrous desires. It is by associating with the righteous, and observing Allah in solitude as the eye of Allah does not sleep. The evidence is crying from the fear of Allah, and embarking upon performing acts of obedience, and many others.
O brothers, whoever fears Allah truly, will find the sweetness of faith in his heart. He will live with people in body and with the Most Merciful in heart and soul. However, many people had been deprived of this because of their sins, may Allah help us.
O young people, ultimately I can only give you some illuminated examples from the fear of the ancestors of Allah. It may be a key to your heart, may Allah help us.
‘Umar ibn Al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him, used to cry a lot from the fear of Allah. He may pass by a verse of his allocated part of the Quran at night, and then he may cry from the lesson in the verse until the morning. He would then stay home for days; moreover, people would visit him thinking that he might be sick.
Ali ibn Al-Fudhayl, may Allah have mercy on him, could not read Surat Al-Qâri’ah or that it could be read while he was present. If it was read aloud while he was present, he would fall unconscious because of weeping.
It was authenticated that the Prophet, prayers and peace of Allah be upon him, kept reciting a verse till the morning while he was weeping. It was, {“If You punish them, they are Your slaves, and if You forgive them, verily You, only You, are the All-Mighty, the All-Wise.”} [Surat Al-Mâ’idah: 118]
{إِن تُعَذِّبْهُمْ فَإِنَّهُمْ عِبَادُكَ ۖ وَإِن تَغْفِرْ لَهُمْ فَإِنَّكَ أَنتَ الْعَزِيزُ الْحَكِيمُ} المائدة: 118
Transliteration: ‘In Tu`adhdhibhum Fa’innahum `Ibāduka Wa ‘In Taghfir Lahum Fa’innaka ‘Anta Al-`Azīzu Al-Ĥakīmu
However, in our times, the ignorant of the nation reject the fact that some imams repeat the warning frightening verses for a few minutes. They say, “This is hard on us.” We say to them, “Indeed in the Messenger of Allah, prayers and peace of Allah be upon him, we have a good example to follow. Do the minds comprehend what I say?”
Al-Asma’i said, “A man wanted to commit adultery with a woman (who was refusing). She said to him, ‘Do you not have a warning mind, not to mention a warning religion?’ He said, ‘Only the planets can see us.’ She answered back, ‘Then what about their Creator?’“
Certainly, O beloved, the Creator of the planets is the Lord of of the ‘Alamin (mankind, jinn and all that exists). Fearing Allah saves man from frequenting the places of vice. Some of the ancestors used to say when waking up in the morning, “O soul, today is your day. You have no other days. Therefore, strive in working (righteous deeds),” and then he would cry. When the night comes, he says, “Tonight is your night. You have no other nights. Therefore, strive in spending it in performing prayers and acts of worship.”
Malik ibn Dinar said, “The daughter of Ar-Rabî’ ibn Khaythum said to him, ‘O father, why do I see people sleep and you do not?’ He replied, ‘(Thinking about) Hellfire does not let me sleep.’“
Some of the ancestors said, “We entered upon Ibrâhîm An-Nukha’i, visiting him in his illness. We found him crying. We asked, ‘Why are you crying?’ He answered, ‘I am waiting for the Angel of Death, wondering: will he give me the glad tidings of Paradise or of Hellfire?’“
A man said to Abu Hanîfah, “Fear Allah.” He trembled and changed in color. His status altered in fear from Allah. Then Abu Hanîfah said to that man, “May Allah reward you well.”
How needy the people are to someone who reminds them of that all the times!
Az-Zahabi mentioned in the Biographies, about Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her that she said, “By Allah, I wish that I had been a thing forgotten and out of sight.”
When Abdullah ibn Shaddâd went to sleep on his bed at night, he used to roll over and over in it saying, “O Allah, Hellfire has taken sleep away from me.”
He then would leave bed and perform prayers till the morning.
Bakr ibn ‘Ayyâsh said, “I prayed the Maghrib prayer (sunset) and Al-Fudhayl ibn ‘Ayyâdh was the imam. His son Ali was standing behind him. Al-Fudhayl read the words of Allah Almighty, {The mutual rivalry (for piling up of worldly things) diverts you,} [Surat At-Takâthur: 1] till he reached the verse, {Verily, You shall see the blazing Fire (Hell)!} [Surat At-Takâthur: 6] and he fell unconscious. He did not come to his senses but in midnight.”
{أَلْهَاكُمُ التَّكَاثُرُ} التكاثر:1
Transliteration: ‘Alhākumu At-Takāthuru
{لَتَرَوُنَّ الْجَحِيمَ} التكاثر:6
Transliteration: Latarawunna Al-Jaĥīma
Sufian Ath-Thawri, may Allah have mercy on him, used to stand at the last hours of the night, praying and saying, “Hellfire, O Hellfire! Remembering Hellfire has preoccupied me from sleeping and from lustrous desires.”
Ibn Sîrîn, may Allah have mercy on him, was in debt by the end of his life. He said, “By Allah I do not know how I became in debt. Forty years ago I have called a man, ‘O bankrupt.’“ He kept crying and said, “O how numerous my sins have become.”
Al-Khatîb Al-Baghdâdi traveled to Mecca. In the morning, people asked him to preach them. He had a copy of the Quran with him, so he said, “Wait until I read from the Quran.” He began with Surat Al-Fâtiha until he reached Surat An-Nâs before sunset. He was reading and crying.
And this is Khalid ibn Al-Walid, may Allah be pleased with him, who made conquests and fought a hundred battles, he killed by his sword more than one hundred men. When he got old, he took a copy of the Quran one day and began to read from it after the Fajr prayer (dawn) until noon. He was crying and saying, “Jihad (fighting in the cause of Allah) has preoccupied me from the Quran.”
But alas, what we have nowadays is youth who are deluded by playing games, staying up at night watching satellite channels, and racing cars. O Khalid, you have been kept busy by jihad from reading the Quran, however, your jihad is greater than reading the Quran. You have raised the rank of the statement, “there is no god but Allah,” (i.e. Islam) by your jihad. Khalid has given his blood, tears, and time to Islam. What have we; you and I, given to Islam?
Some of our youth, may Allah guide them to the right path, have given their tears to love and art. They have given their time to following football matches. Moreover, they have given their blood to addicting drugs. O how cheap the creation is when they waste the commands of Allah. O young people, if you do not turn to your Lord in repentance in this worldly life, there will come a time when remorse is of no avail. It is on the day of tears and sorrows. Allah says, {The day that some of the Signs of your Lord do come, no good will it do to a person to believe then, if he believed not before, nor earned good (by performing deeds of righteousness) through his Faith.} [Surat Al-An’âm: 158]
{يَوْمَ يَأْتِي بَعْضُ آيَاتِ رَبِّكَ لَا يَنفَعُ نَفْسًا إِيمَانُهَا لَمْ تَكُنْ آمَنَتْ مِن قَبْلُ أَوْ كَسَبَتْ فِي إِيمَانِهَا خَيْرًا} الأنعام: 158
Transliteration: Yawma Ya’tī Ba`đu ‘Āyāti Rabbika Lā Yanfa`u Nafsāan ‘Īmānuhā Lam Takun ‘Āmanat Min Qablu ‘Aw Kasabat Fī ‘Īmānihā Khayrāan
O brother, remember your standing before the Hands of your Lord, {And be afraid of the Day when you shall be brought back to Allâh. Then every person shall be paid what he earned, and they shall not be dealt with unjustly.}[Surat Al-Baqarah: 281] O Allah, have I given my testimony, O Allah be my witness.
{وَاتَّقُوا يَوْمًا تُرْجَعُونَ فِيهِ إِلَى اللَّـهِ ۖ ثُمَّ تُوَفَّىٰ كُلُّ نَفْسٍ مَّا كَسَبَتْ وَهُمْ لَا يُظْلَمُونَ} البقرة: 281
Transliteration: Wa Attaqū Yawmāan Turja`ūna Fīhi ‘Ila Allāhi Thumma Tuwaffa Kullu Nafsin Mā Kasabat Wa Hum Lā Yužlamūna
Prepared by Abdel-Karim Al-Quseir
Dar Al-Watan