Words about Fear
Since 2012-11-26
The state of fear is the most holy of the states of worship, it is obligatory on every Muslim.
In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
All the praises and thanks be to Allah and peace and blessings of Allah be upon the Messenger of Allah.
The state of fear is the most holy of the states of worship, it is obligatory on every Muslim.
Allah Almighty has said: {so fear them not, but fear Me, if you are (true) believers.} [Surat Al-'Imrân 3:175]
{...فَلَا تَخَافُوهُمْ وَخَافُونِ إِن كُنتُم مُّؤْمِنِينَ} آل عمران: 175
Transliteration: fala takhafoohum wakhafooni in kuntum mumineena
And He, the Almighty has said: {But for him who fears the standing before his Lord, there will be two Gardens (i.e. in Paradise)} [Surat Ar-Rahmân 55:46]
{وَلِمَنْ خَافَ مَقَامَ رَبِّهِ جَنَّتَانِ} الرحمن: 46
Transliteration: Waliman khafa maqama rabbihi jannatani
The definition of fear:
1. It was said: fear is the expectation of punishment on the streams of breath.
2. It was said: fear is the power of knowledge about the streams of provisions.
3. It was said: fear is the fleeing of the heart from adversities when they are detected.
4. It was said: fear is the grief happening to the soul when anticipating harm.
Some sayings about fear:
1. Abu Hafs 'Umar ibn Musalamah al-Hadad An-Nisaburi said: "fear is a lamp in the heart, by which he sees what is within from the good and evil, and if you fear anyone you run away from him, but for Allah Glorified and Exalted, if you fear Him you run unto Him."
This who fears his Lord flees to Him
2. Abu Suleiman said: "if fear departs from a heart; then it is ruined."
3. Ibrahim ibn Sufyan said: "If fear inhabits the hearts it burns the spots of desires, and expels this worldly life out of it."
4. And Zul-Nun said: "People are on the (straight) path as long as fear is still there, if fear leaves them then they strayed from the path."
The commended fear
The sincere commended fear: it is the fear that prevents its owner from violating the prohibition of Allah Glorified and Exalted, if it goes beyond that then despair and despondency are feared of him.
Abu 'Uthman Al-Hairi said: "the sincerity of fear is avoiding all sins both outwardly and inwardly."
Sheikh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyya said: "the commended fear is what prevents you from violating the prohibitions of Allah."
The obligatory fear and the recommendable fear:
The obligatory fear: it is the fear that incites to performing the obligations and leaving the prohibited.
The recommendable fear: it is the fear that incites to performing the commended (ordered without obligations) and leaving the undesirable.
Combining fear, hope and love
The slave must combine these three pillars. Worshipping Allah through fear alone is the way of Al-Khawârij (the dissidents: a sect). They do not combine love and hope when worshipping Him, that is why they do not find the pleasure of worshipping nor do they desire it. They thus consider the Creator as an unjust ruler.
This leads to despair and despondency from the mercy of Allah, its far most end is to mistrust Allah and disbelieve in Him, Glorified and Exalted be He.
Worshipping Allah through hope alone is the way of Al-Murjites (the postponers); a sect who fell into vanity and false aspirations, they quit performing righteous deeds. The far most end is getting out from the pale of Islam.
Worshipping Allah through Love alone is the way of the extreme Sufis, who say: "We worship Allah not out of fear from His Fire, and not in anticipation of His Paradise, but it is love to Himself."
And this is a corrupt way which has disastrous effects, including feeling secure against the Plan of Allah. Its far most end is heresy, and getting out from the pale of Islam.
That is why the ancestors, may Allah have mercy on them, said a famous quotation which is:
"Whoever worships Allah out of love alone is a heretic, and whoever worships Allah out of fear alone is a dissident, and whoever worships Him out of hope alone is a Murjite (postponer), whoever worships Allah out of fear, love and hope is a monotheist believer."
Ibn al-Qayyim, may Allah have mercy on him, said: "The heart in his walk to Allah Glorified and Exalted, is like a bird. love is its head, and fear and hope are its wings, when the head and wings are sound and healthy then the bird is a good flyer, when the head is cut off the bird dies, when the wings are lost the bird becomes vulnerable to any hunter and predator."
Which is to be predominant; fear or hope?
Ibn al-Qayyim, may Allah have mercy on him, said: "the ancestors preferred that during good health the wing of fear predominates the wing of hope, but when leaving this worldly life the wing of hope predominates the wing of fear. This is the way of Abu Suleiman and others."
He also said: "as for the heart, fear should predominate, so as love. Love is the vehicle, hope is the guide, fear is the driver and Allah, by His grace and generosity, will make you reach your destination."
The divisions of fear:
1 - The secret fear: it is the fear of deification and worship, of getting closer, it is the fear that restrains its owner from disobeying Him Who he fears, lest He might hit him with poverty, murder, wrath, or taking away blessings as a result of what he has wished for, by His ability and will.
This division shall not be allocated but to Allah Glorified and Exalted, and it is considered the most honorable from the acts of worship, it is one of the greatest duties of the heart; nevertheless it is one of the pillars of worship. Whoever fears Allah in this manner is a sincere monotheist.
Whoever allocates it to other than Allah has committed the greater infidelity, in associating a peer to Allah in fear. It is the state of the polytheists who believe in their gods that belief, and that is why they intimidate the Auliyâ' of the Most Gracious (i.e. those who believe in the Oneness of Allah and fear Allah much (abstain from all kinds of sins and evil deeds which he has forbidden), and love Allah much (perform all kinds of good deeds which He has ordained)). Just as the people of Hûd, peace be upon him, Allah has said that they intimidated Hûd by their gods saying: {All that we say is that some of our gods (false deities) have seized you with evil (madness)."} [Surat Hûd: 54]
{إِن نَّقُولُ إِلَّا اعْتَرَاكَ بَعْضُ آلِهَتِنَا بِسُوءٍ...} هود: 54
Transliteration: In naqoolu illa iAAtaraka baAAdualihatina bisooin
It is also the case about the worshippers of graves. They fear the dead of the righteous, they even fear At-Taghût (all the false deities, it may be an idol, Satan, graves, stone, sun, star, angel, saints or any human being) as they fear Allah, even more. If you asked them to swear by Allah they give you all the oaths you want whether true or false but if the oath is to be by one of the buried in the grave he would not swear if it is a false oath.
This is only because he fears the buried person in the grave more than he fears Allah.
If anyone of them encounters any kind of injustice he asks those buried in the graves to alleviate it, if anyone of them is about to be unjust to someone and the wronged sought refuge in Allah, he would not help him. If he sought refuge with the dead or with his grave he would not harm him in any way.
2 – Fearing from the threat of Allah: which He has promised the disobedient. It is one of the highest ranks of faith. It has grades, ranks and divisions as has been previously mentioned.
3 – The forbidden fear: it is that man leaves his obligations of jihad or enjoining Al-Ma'rûf (i.e. Islamic Monotheism and all that Islam orders one to do) and forbidding Al-Munkar (polytheism and disbelief and all that Islam has forbidden) with no excuse but the fear of people.
4 – Natural fear: like fearing the lion, an enemy, demolition and the like of which harm is feared. It is not dispraised. It is the fear mentioned by Allah about Moses, peace be upon him, in His words, Glorified and Exalted be He: {So he escaped from there, looking about in a state of fear.} [Surat Al-Qasas 28:21]
{فَخَرَجَ مِنْهَا خَائِفًا يَتَرَقَّبُ...} القصص: 21
Transliteration: Fakharaja minha khaifan yataraqqabu
And His words: {So Mûsâ (Moses) conceived fear in himself} [Surat Tâha 20:67]
{فَأَوْجَسَ فِي نَفْسِهِ خِيفَةً مُّوسَىٰ} طه: 67
Transliteration: Faawjasa fee nafsihi kheefatan moosa
Included in this section is the fear that precedes meeting the enemy, or precedes giving speeches. This is a normal fear which is praised if it incites its owner to be prepared and ready. It is disparaged if it takes its owner backwards to defeat and discourage.
5 – Imaginary fear: it is the fear that has no reason at all, or has a very weak reason. This fear is blameworthy, and it puts its owner in the category of the cowards, the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, has sought refuge of cowardice, as it is one of the vile ethics.
Hence, full faith and true trust are the greatest things to ward off this kind of fear, and fill the heart with courage, the more powerful a person's faith is, fearing other than Allah will be removed from his heart, and the weaker his faith is, the more powerful his fear from other than Allah is.
Therefore, the cream of the believers and the powerful among them, their fear turns into serenity and tranquility because of the strength of their faith, the soundness of their belief and the integrity of their trust: {Those (i.e. believers) unto whom the people (hypocrites) said, "Verily, the people (pagans) have gathered against you (a great army), therefore, fear them." But it (only) increased them in Faith, and they said: "Allâh (Alone) is Sufficient for us, and He is the Best Disposer of affairs (for us). (173). So they returned with Grace and Bounty from Allâh. No harm touched them} [Surat Al-'Imrân 3:173-174]
{الَّذِينَ قَالَ لَهُمُ النَّاسُ إِنَّ النَّاسَ قَدْ جَمَعُوا لَكُمْ فَاخْشَوْهُمْ فَزَادَهُمْ إِيمَانًا وَقَالُوا حَسْبُنَا اللَّـهُ وَنِعْمَ الْوَكِيلُ ﴿١٧٣﴾ فَانقَلَبُوا بِنِعْمَةٍ مِّنَ اللَّـهِ وَفَضْلٍ لَّمْ يَمْسَسْهُمْ سُوءٌ...} آل عمران: 173-174
Transliteration: Allatheena qala lahumu alnnasu inna alnnasa qad jamaAAoo lakum faikhshawhum fazadahum eemanan waqaloo hasbuna Allahu waniAAma alwakeelu (173) Fainqalaboo biniAAmatin mina Allahi wafadlin lam yamsashum sooon
The close of our request will be: Al-Hamdu Lillâhi Rabbil-'Alamîn (all the praises and thanks are to Allah, the Lord of 'Alamîn (mankind, jinn and all that exists)). Peace be upon the Messengers and peace and blessings of Allah be upon our Prophet Muhammad.
Muhammad ibn Ibrahim Al-Hamad
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