Fear of Allah

It is the belief of a Muslim that Allah is the One worthy of being worshipped.  He is the Creator and the Lord and all glory and praise is for Him alone.  Being omnipotent is His attribute.

 

 

Thus, a true proof of a slave’s servitude is his devotion to the master.  Obeying the master is compulsory for him.  It is highly necessary for him to have the fear of Allah and be conscious of Him. 

 

Allah says in the Holy Quran about those who are conscious about Him:

 

Translation: And whoever fears standing before his Lord (for Meeting), for him are two Gardens.  (Surah Rahman: 55:46)

 

 

The sign of fear and consciousness about Allah is that every talk and deed of the slave should be in accordance with the commands of Allah.  Each and every action of his should be in conformity with the rules given by Allah.  He should spend all the time in the apprehension that Allah might be displeased with any deed of his or word. 

 

When anyone is accustomed to this level of fear and consciousness about Allah, then that person is granted such bounties which neither genie nor humans have ever imagined.  For that person, there will be 2 Jannah.  In Jannah, there will be bounties of very high standards.  There will be beautiful gardens, streams.  All the fruits will be of 2 types.  There will be beautiful damsels of Jannah who will keep their eyes lowered (out of modesty), whom no human being has ever seen nor touched.

 

The author of Risale Qushairiyya Hadhrat Abdul Kareem Qushairi (May Allah shower His mercy on him) writes about the importance of fear of Allah:

 

Surely! Allah has obligated on the slaves that they should fear of Him!  Therefore Almighty Allah say:-

 

 

Therefore, do not fear them and fear Me alone if you are the believers. 

 

(Surah al Imran: 03:175)  (Fashairiah, Al fasl al Awal, Vol. Al Khauf)

 

 

Almighty Allah warns us

 

 

When a slave has the fear of Almighty Allah in his heart, piety and righteousness are developed in his/her practical life.  In His inimitable word, the Holy Quran, Allah has frequently instructed us to acquire piety.  Allah describes those people who will suffer loss in the hereafter:

 

For them there will be clouds of fire (as covers) over them and pavements of fire beneath them too.  This is (the torment) with which Allah warns His servants.  O My servants! Always fear Me.  (Surah Al Zumar: 39:16)

 

 

A great example of the fear of Almighty Allah

 

 

How do the servants of Allah fear and obey Him and the state of their hearts is, is best described in this Hadith of Sahih Bukhari:

 

 

Translation:  It has been narrated on the authority of Hadhrat Abu Sa‘eed Khudri (May Allah be well pleased with him) that the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) told about a person from amongst the previous nations to whom Allah had granted wealth and children.  The Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) said: When he was about to depart from this world, he told to his sons:  How did I raise you?  They said:  You raised us like father.  He said:  Your father is the person who has not presented any virtue before Allah.  Hadhrat Qatadah (May Allah be well pleased with him) says about this he did not have any good deeds to his credit.  When I will appear in the court of Allah, He will surely punish me.  You remember!  When I die, burn me so much so that I should be charred, then grind me or he said:  turn me to dust.  Then scatter me (i.e. the ashes) in a strong wind.  He made his sons promise this.  By the Lord Almighty!  They did just the same.  Allah ordered:  Be.  That man was resurrected.  Then Allah said:  O my bondsman!  What made you do this?  He said:  Your fear or he said:  In my fear of You.  It was compensated by the mercy of Allah.  (Sahih Bukhari, Kitabul Raqqaq, Hadith No: 6481) 

 

Even though this approach to save one from punishment is not correct because even if the cells of the body are scattered over the east and west, Allah can gather them and resurrect them.  Still, whatever that person had ordered his sons to do, the motive and inducement for that was the fear of Allah.  His heart had the fear and consciousness of Allah.  Only because of that fear, Allah forgave his sins and was benevolent on him.

 

If anyone in the Ummah of the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) makes this kind of will, it will not be acted upon and if anyone does so, it will be a sin.

 

 

In Qiyamah, 7 people will be under the shade of Allah’s mercy

 

The Holy Quran and the Hadith not only have warnings about those who disobey them and don’t have any fear or consciousness of Allah, but also mentioned glad tidings for those obey them.  They have been given glad tidings of being under the shade of mercy on that day of trials and tribulations when there will be no shade at all.  There is a Hadith in Sahih Bukhari:

 

Translation:  It has been narrated on the authority of Hadhrat Abu Hurairah (May Allah be well pleased with him) who in turn narrates from the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) that He said:

 

There are 7 people who will be under the shadow of mercy of Allah.  That day, there will be no other shade other than His shade of mercy.

 

(1)  The just king. 

 

(2)  The young man (or woman) who grew up worshipping Allah. 

(3)  The person whose heart longs for the Masjid on leaving it until he returns to it for the next Salaat.

(4)  Those 2 people who love each other for the sake of Allah, who meet for the sake of Allah and take leave of each other for the sake of Allah.

 

(5)  The man who was invited by a beautiful woman towards sin and he said:   I fear Allah 

(6)  A person who gives charity secretly so much so that his left hand doesn’t get to know what his right hand spent.

 

(7)  The person who remembers Allah in solitude to the point that tears flow from his (or her) eyes.  (Sahih Bukhari, Kitab Ul Adhaan, Hadith No: 660) 

 

 

The worship of the Companions and their consciousness of Allah

 

 

 

The Companions had received glad tidings of entering Jannah, but the way they were overwhelmed with the fear of Allah cannot be imagined. 

 

Shaykh Ul Islam Hadhrat Imam Muhammad Anwaarullah Farooqi (May Allah shower His mercy on him) writes in his famous classic Haqeeqatul Fiqh:

 

Translation: Hadhrat Ali (May Allah be well pleased with him) said with great regret that the condition of the Companions was such that they would spend the whole night in worship and recitation of the Holy Quran.  They would cry so much that their clothes would become wet with their tears.  This is such a time that they spend the night in heedlessness.  After this, until his martyrdom, no one saw him laughing.

 

 

(Haqeeqatul Fiqh Vol. 1, page No: 277) 

 

 

Fear of Allah – A great bounty of Allah and a mark of the pious

 

Fear of Allah is such a great bounty that whoever gets it will be successful in this world and the next.  The lives of the Companions, the Ahle Bait and other pious elders of the Ummah are the best example for us in this regard.  They spent each moment of their lives conscious of Allah and were worried about the hereafter.  Be it the light of the day and the darkness of the night, they would always turn to their Lord Almighty.  Allah describes them in these words:

 

Translation: Their sides stay away from their beds and they call out to their Lord ina a (mingled state) of fear and hope.  (Surah Sajdah: 32:06)

 

 

Imam Zain Ul A’abideen and the fear of Allah

 

Hadhrat Abul Hasanaat Syed Abdullah Shah Naqshbandi Mujadiddi Qadri, the Muhaddith (Hadith expert) of Deccan (May Allah shower His mercy on him) writes about Imam Zain Ul A’abideen’s fear of Allah:

 

 

Translation: Whenever Hadhrat Imam Zain Ul A’abideen (May Allah be well pleased with him) would perform Wudhu (ablution), his face would pale.  When the family members asked him about it, he said:  You don’t realize before whom I am resolving to stand.  (Mawaaiz Hasanaa: Vol. 1, pg No: 250) 

 

Imam Zain Ul A’abideen’s tears were flowing from the overhead drain of the roof.  These tears fell on a person passing from below.  He called out and asked:  Is this water pure or impure?  The Imam answered:  Brother, wash it off!  These are the tears of a sinner.

 

 

(Miladnama by Muhaddith-e-Deccan (May Allah shower His mercy on him) Pg. 138) 

 

Their hearts were imbued with the fear of Allah.  They would always be conscious of Him and supplicate Him.

[Excerpted from Anwaar-e-Khitaabat, 10]