Fear is an
emotion which is inherent in every human being. According to common parlance
fear implies the following :
“An unpleasant emotion
caused by the belief that someone or something is dangerous, likely to cause
pain, or a threat.”
In Islamic
context, fear is of two kinds. Firstly, there is the fear of Allah and the fear
of sins and Divine punishment. Secondly there is the fear of things other than
Allah.
The former
is praiseworthy and leads man to perfection and latter kind of fear is an
undesirable vice brought
about by the disease of cowardice.
When we say
that one should fear Allah, it does not imply the kind of fear one has due to
an oppressor but it refers to the fear due to the majesty and greatness of
Allah. This fear is also called khashyah or rahbah.
It also implies the fear of sins one has committed and the punishment for the
retribution of the sins. The greater we have such kind of fear, the greater
contribution it can make towards one’s spiritual development and perfection.[1]
In fact
Ayatullah Dastaghaib Shirazi in his book Iste-aaza states :
“The
lowest state of Ikhlas or sincerity is that the motive of the act is not to
make a show but the fear of Retribution or search for Rewards from Allah. For
example : When one wakes up for the Fajr Prayers and does abulution, his motive
for the act should be that the prayer is mandatory and if he didn’t perform it, he would be liable for
Retribution.”
Quranic
verses and traditions have laid great emphasis on fearing Allah and have also
mentioned many benefits and rewards of the same.
The Holy
Prophet (s.a.w.s.) says:
“For
those who avoid acts of disobedience or the illegal desire that is shown before
them out of fear of Allah, Allah will prevent the fire of Hell from consuming
them, save them on the Day of Grand Horror, and fulfill His promise to them
that He cites in His Book as He says “Those who fear their Lord will have two
gardens.”[2]
It is
important to realise that we have to leave evil acts and sins because of fear
of Allah and not because doing it is not possible or we dislike it. If a person
dislikes watching television, he cannot claim reward for abstinence because the
abstinence was not out of obedience or fear of Allah. Irreligious youths waste
their time on social networking sites, mobile apps, newspapers, watching or
listening prohibited things etc. We, the workers of Imam Zamana (atfs) are
attracted towards those addictions but keep away / should keep away due to fear
of Allah. If we are not able to control, its time we obtain this fear.
Hence, we
move on to the moot question, how do we obtain this praiseworthy fear. One way
is by acquiring marefat(recognition) of Allah. It has been mentioned in the
Holy Quran in Sura Fatir, Ayah 28:
إِنَّمَا يَخْشَى اللَّهَ مِنْ عِبَادِهِ
الْعُلَمَاءُ (28)
Amongst the people, it is a fact
that only the Learned fear Allah.
In
traditions the above verse is explained as follows :
- Imam Zainul Aabedeen says :
Allah’s recognition and worship is necessary
for each other. One who has recognition of Allah, he will fear Allah. And this
fear will encourage him to obey Allah. Surely the carriers and bearers of
Knowledge only have recognition of Allah and they perform actions for obtaining
pleasure of Allah and with reference to them Allah states “Amongst the people,
only carriers of knowledge fear Allah”.[3]
- On the mornings of Wednesday, Imam (a.s.) used to offer the following supplication :
Hence, if we try to acquire knowledge of Tauheed, Divine Rewards and Punishments, Paradise and Hell; we may be blessed with this kind of fear.
Another way is to read the supplications of Masoomeen (a.s.) which are a treasure through which we can acquire this fear of Allah. In Dua Abu Hamza Thumali which is recommended to be prayed at the time of Sahar in the Holy Month of Ramadhan, Imam Sajjad (a.s.) says :
“And why would I not weep for I have no knowledge of my fate and I observe myself, deceiving itself, and my days are fading away, and the wings of death have flapped close by, So why wouldn't I cry! I cry for surrendering my life, I cry because of the darkness of my grave, I cry because of the narrowness of my grave, I cry for the questioning of Munkar and Nakeer , I cry from leaving my grave (in the hereafter) naked, humiliated and carrying my book (of deeds) on my back,..”
Just reading these kind of statements has a profound effect on the reader. If we regularly recite Dua-Kumayl and refer to the sermon of Gharra of Ameerul Momineen (a.s.) we ourselves will feel the change in a due course of time.
To gauge the intensity of this fear one should introspect how much he is involved in sins. While committing sins, is the fear of Allah restraining him from doing so or does his lust, selfish desire, rebellion control him. If it is the latter case then he should work towards increasing his fear and supplicate to Allah through the medium of Masoomeens (a.s.) to help him.
Having mentioned all this, one should keep in mind that this fear of Allah should be kept in the bounds of moderation because if it exceeds it then it will lead to despair and loss of hope in the mercy of Allah which is counted amongst the greater sins.
The balance that should be maintained between fear and hope can be summarized by the following tradition of Imam Jafer Sadiq (a.s.) :
“Hope for Allah in a form that does not draw you to the commitment of acts of disobedience to Him, and fear Him in such a way that does not make you despair of His Mercy. ”[5]
We pray to Almighty Allah(s.w.t.) through the medium of Vali-e-Asr(a.t.f.s) to bless us with this praiseworthy fear.Ameen.
