Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds, and peace and blessings upon our Master Muhammad, the Truthful and the Faithful. O Allah, lead us out from the depths of darkness and illusion unto the lights of erudition and knowledge, and from the muddy shallows of lusts unto the heavens of Your Vicinity.
Fearing Allah is obeying Him and being grateful to Him:
Dear noble brothers, let us start a new lesson of the Ayaat that begin with, "O you who believe!" The Ayah we are discussing today is the following:
﴾ (O you who believe! Fear Allah (by doing all that He has ordered and by abstaining from all that He has forbidden) as He should be feared. [Obey Him, be thankful to Him, and remember Him always], and die not except in a state of Islam (as Muslims) with complete submission to Allah.) ﴿
Fearing Allah means to obey Allah and never disobey Him, to be grateful to Him and never deny His blessings, and to remember Him and never forget His Remembrance.
Obeying Allah is obligatory on everyone:
Dear brothers, fearing Allah the Almighty is mentioned in more than 300 Ayaat, but I categorized these Ayaat as follows:
﴾ (O mankind! Worship your Lord (Allah), Who created you and those who were before you so that you may become Al-Muttaqun (the pious). ﴿
Why do you have to be fearful of Allah? In order not to be miserable in the worldly life (a kind of punishment for the sins committed) and to escape Allah's Punishment in the Hereafter. Being pious and fearful helps man be saved from depression, loss, catastrophes, and eternal torment. Allah the Almighty says:
﴾ (O mankind! Worship your Lord (Allah), Who created you and those who were before you so that you may become Al-Muttaqun (the pious).) ﴿
In Allah's Hand is the dominion of the heavens and the earth, so fear Him:
Why should we fear Allah, the Great Ilah? I mean why should we obey Him and avoid His Wrath? Because in His Hand is the dominion of the heavens and the earth, and because He is the Creator of all things. Allah the Almighty says:
﴾ …The Creator of all things. So worship Him (Alone), and He is the Wakil (Trustee, Disposer of affairs, Guardian, etc.) over all things) ﴿
We should fear Him because:
﴾ …And to Him return all affairs (for decision). So worship Him (O Muhammad PBUH) and put your trust in Him. ﴿
We should fear Allah the Almighty, because when He intends a thing, is only that He says to it:
We should fear Allah the Almighty, because we are in His Grasp, because He is the One Who gives life and Who ends it, the One Who elevates and degrade, the One Who dignifies and humiliates, the One Who pleases and displeases, and the One Who gives and withholds giving. To Him return all affairs:
﴾ (The Hand of Allah is over their hands.) ﴿
Allah the Almighty says:
﴾ (…And to Him return all affairs (for decision). So worship Him (O Muhammad PBUH)…) ﴿
[Hud, 123]
Allah the Almighty does not order you to believe him but after He has assured you that to Him belong all things.
Allah is the One Who deserves to be afraid of and dutiful to:
This is the Great Ilah in Whose Hand is our health, our arteries, the flow of our blood, the safety of our organs, the safety of those around us, above us, and below us, the safety of our spouses, and our children, our deeds, our future, and so on. Allah, Exalted and Sublime be He says:
﴾ (Will you then fear any other than Allah?) ﴿
Is there any party on earth who deserves to be worshipped other than Allah the Almighty?
﴾ (Will you then fear any other than Allah?) ﴿
Man is submitted to Allah, because He is Powerful, Merciful, Generous, Just, Compassionate, and Kind. Allah the Almighty says:
﴾ (…He (Allah) is the One, deserving that mankind should be afraid of, and should be dutiful to Him, and should not take any Ilah (God) along with Him, and He is the One Who forgives (sins).) ﴿
You worship Allah the Almighty, because He is the Creator of the heavens and the earth, because He is Strong, because to Him belong all things, and because He deserves to be worshipped. Allah the Almighty says:
﴾ (…He (Allah) is the One, deserving that mankind should be afraid of, and should be dutiful to Him, and should not take any Ilah (God) along with Him, and He is the One Who forgives (sins).) ﴿
It befits you to strive in life for His Sake and to serve His servants for His Sake, for He deserves to be afraid of and to be dutiful to.
Pondering over the creation of the heavens and earth is essential to know Allah:
How can we fear Allah the Almighty if we do not know him? How should we avoid disobeying Him since we do not know the consequences of disobeying Him? How can we remain patient on obeying Him if we do not know the reward that awaits us for such patience? Allah the Almighty says:
﴾ (…And fear Allah if you indeed are true believers.) ﴿
How should we be true believers? The Divine Response is in the following Ayah:
﴾ (Verily, in the alternation of the night and the day and in all that Allah has created in the heavens and the earth are Ayat (proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, signs, revelations, etc.) for those people who keep their duty to Allah, and fear Him much.) ﴿
Knowing Allah is based on pondering over His Creations, pondering over this universe, and pondering over His Divine Signs that are manifested in the universe, in His Actions and in His Words (the Noble Quran). Allah the Almighty says:
﴾ (An Arabic Qur’an, without any crookedness (therein) in order that they may avoid all evil which Allah has ordered them to avoid, fear Him and keep their duty to Him.) ﴿
You are supposed to recite His Words attentively.
We should fear Allah the Almighty, because He has created us, because to Him belong all our affairs, and because He deserves to be afraid of and be dutiful to, but we are unable to fear Him unless we know Him, so how are we supposed to know Him?
﴾ (Verily, in the alternation of the night and the day and in all that Allah has created in the heavens and the earth are Ayat (proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, signs, revelations, etc.) for those people who keep their duty to Allah, and fear Him much.) ﴿
We should know Him through His Creations and Words:
﴾ (An Arabic Qur’an, without any crookedness (therein) in order that they may avoid all evil which Allah has ordered them to avoid, fear Him and keep their duty to Him.) ﴿
Calamities are Divine Messages to get man back to the Right Path:
How should we not fear Allah and He is the One Who educates us? He educates us through the Quran, He educates us through the Sunnah of the Prophet, peace be upon him, and the stories of other Prophets, peace be upon them, He educates us through Du'aat (Islamic missioners), He educates us through a certain psychological situation we might be in, He teaches us through the Divine Treatment, and He educates us through the calamities He sends to us as Divine Messages to return to Him. Allah the Almighty says:
﴾ (And if (We had) not (sent you to the people of Makkah) in case a calamity should seize them for (the deeds) that their hands have sent forth, they should have said: "Our Lord! Why did You not send us a Messenger? We should then have followed Your Ayat (Verses of the Qur’an) and should have been among the believers.") ﴿
All calamities that befall us are Messages from Allah the Almighty.
Befriending believers helps you fear Allah:
One of the factors of fearing Allah the Almighty is honesty:
﴾ (O you who believe! Keep your duty to Allah and fear Him, and speak (always) the truth.) ﴿
Do not lie, and keep in mind that honesty leads you to fear Allah the Almighty:
﴾ (O you who believe! Fear Allah (by doing all that He has ordered and by abstaining from all that He has forbidden) as He should be feared. [Obey Him, be thankful to Him, and remember Him always]…) ﴿
Allah the Almighty says:
﴾ (O you who believe! Keep your duty to Allah and fear Him, and speak (always) the truth.) ﴿
Always speak the truth:
﴾ (He will direct you to do righteous good deeds and will forgive you your sins...) ﴿
How are you supposed to fear Allah the Almighty? Well, you fear Allah by knowing Him, pondering over His Creations, and recite His Words attentively, however the social environment is essential in the sense that if it is bad it seduces you to commit sins. Allah the Almighty says:
﴾ (O you who believe! Be afraid of Allah, and be with those who are true (in words and deeds).) ﴿
You need a religious environment, a spiritual atmosphere, believing friends, a cooperative family, an honorable job, and colleagues who fear Allah the Almighty. In fact, the most dangerous thing in man's life is to live in an environment that contradicts faith. Such an environment is tempting.
As you know, if someone sits with merchants, and he listens to them while talking about their profits, he will wish to be a merchant. Similarly, if he sits, Allah forbid, with the deviants, and they tell him about their moral deviation, perhaps he will be influenced by their stories till he falls into a sin like them. Accordingly, one of the strongholds of fearing Allah is to be with the true believers:
﴾ (O you who believe! Be afraid of Allah, and be with those who are true (in words and deeds).) ﴿
Righteous deeds are means to fear Allah the Almighty:
Befriending true believers helps you fear Allah, but is there not a faster means?
﴾ (O you who believe! Do your duty to Allah and fear Him. Seek the means of approach to Him…) ﴿
The righteous deed is a means to fear Allah the Almighty:
﴾ (To Him ascend (all) the goodly words, and the righteous deeds exalt it (the goodly words i.e. the goodly words are not accepted by Allah unless and until they are followed by good deeds)…) ﴿
﴾ (O you who believe! Do your duty to Allah and fear Him. Seek the means of approach to Him…) ﴿
Befriend true believers, having believing friends, performing good deeds, and spending money in the Cause of Allah are all means to fear Allah the Almighty:
﴾ (O you who believe! Do your duty to Allah and fear Him. Seek the means of approach to Him…) ﴿
Patience is the half of Iman:
Always remember that the road to have faith is not a rosy one, but rather there are thorns in such a road:
(( (Behold! The deeds of Paradise are difficult to reach, for they are on top of a hill, while the deeds of the Fire are easy to find in the lowlands. The happy person is he w﴾ ho is saved from the tests.) ﴿ ))
[ [Weak Hadith Abdullah bin Abbas] ]
(( Anas bin Malik reported: "The Paradise is surrounded by hardships and the Hell-Fire is surrounded by temptations.) ))
[ [Muslim, on the authority of Anas bin Malik] ]
Allah the Almighty says:
﴾ (Verily, he who fears Allah with obedience to Him (by abstaining from sins and evil deeds, and by performing righteous good deeds), and is patient…) ﴿
Half of Iman is patience. There are many tempting things that are endeared to one's ownself, such as money, women, and the worldly life as it is said that "the worldly life is tempting and it is but a poisonous chalice." Allah the Almighty says:
﴾ (Verily, he who fears Allah with obedience to Him (by abstaining from sins and evil deeds, and by performing righteous good deeds), and is patient, then surely, Allah makes not the reward of the Muhsinun (good-doers) to be lost.") ﴿
Dealing with Allah remits man's sins and enlarge his reward:
Allah, Exalted and Sublime be He, lifts aspirations:
﴾ (So keep your duty to Allah and fear Him as much as you can…) ﴿
You may pay efforts and spend a lot of time to be rewarded by someone, lest he will not reward you. Dealing with Allah, on the other hand, is totally different. When you decide to return to Him and death comes to you, you will be rewarded as if you reached the last step of the way to Him. Allah the Almighty:
﴾ (…And whosoever fears Allah and keeps his duty to Him, He will remit his sins from him, and will enlarge his reward.) ﴿
Allah makes smooth the path of ease for the believer:
Do you think that there is something preferable to us more than having things smooth for us?
﴾ (As for him who gives (in charity) and keeps his duty to Allah and fears Him* And believes in Al-Husna* We will make smooth for him the path of ease (goodness)* But he who is greedy miser and thinks himself self-sufficient* And gives the lie to Al-Husna (see Verse No: 6 footnote)* We will make smooth for him the path for evil* And what will his wealth benefit him when he goes down (in destruction). ﴿
Allah the Almighty says:
﴾ (…And whosoever fears Allah and keeps his duty to Him, He will make his matter easy for him.) ﴿
For instance, when Allah makes marriage easy to a young man, He sends him a good wife who pleases him when he looks at her, remains chaste in his absence, and obeys his orders when he asks her to do something.
Other examples of having things done easy for us, is having dutiful children, having good health, and having good reputation. Allah the Almighty says:
﴾ (And whosoever fears Allah and keeps his duty to Him, He will make a way for him to get out (from every difficulty).) ﴿
Allah the Almighty also says:
﴾ (…And whosoever fears Allah and keeps his duty to Him, He will make his matter easy for him.) ﴿
By Allah, dear brothers, having matters made easy to someone is the most preferable thing to him in life. He will have his travels, studies and marriage made easy for him.
As for the woman, she will have giving birth made easy for her. In some cases, giving birth causes the death of the mother for a simple reason, while the believers will have all their affairs and matters made easy for them.
"And whosoever fears Allah and keeps his duty to Him...":
Volumes can be written about the following Ayah. By Allah the only Deity worthy of worship, annihilating the entire universe is easier in Allah's Sight than unfulfilling the promise mentioned in this Ayah:
﴾ (And whosoever fears Allah and keeps his duty to Him, He will make a way for him to get out (from every difficulty).) ﴿
One of the reverend scholars in Damascus told me that once a young man came to him and said, "My income is limited, so I cannot meet my needs, and as a young man I would like to get married, but I do not have a house and the money I have is not enough to get married, so there is no hope. What should I do? The scholar said to him, "Fear Allah." The young man said, "Are you kidding me?" He made fun of what the scholar said to him and went away. Yet a while later, he pondered over the words of the scholar, and decided to apply them.
As an employee, he had to perform his job as he was supposed to, so he started to came to work on time, he began to deal with the consumers in a way that made him seem to be the owner of the shop, and he cared about the profits as if they were his. His care about the shop, the customers and his tasks drew the attention of the owner of the shop, who intended to get his daughter married to him.
The owner of the shop did not want to tell him about his intention, but he asked him to help me find a house and he did. After buying the house, he told him about his daughter and that the house was actually theirs.
The daughter of the shop owner was a good wife, and the young man was happy with her. As time passed, he remembered what the reverend scholar told him, so he went to him, "O sir, please forgive me for making fun of the advice you gave me that day. I did not realize what it meant to fear Allah, but now I know what it really means since it is the Words of Allah the Almighty."
﴾ (And whosoever fears Allah and keeps his duty to Him, He will make a way for him to get out (from every difficulty).) ﴿
He told the scholar what happened to him after he started to fear Allah the Almighty. He told him that he had a house and he got married. Those are effects of fearing Allah the Almighty. I swear to Allah that annihilating the entire universe is easier to Allah than letting you without reaping the fruits of fearing Him sincerely, remaining steadfast, acting upon His Order and obeying Him. Allah the Almighty says:
﴾ (And whosoever fears Allah and keeps his duty to Him, He will make a way for him to get out (from every difficulty).) ﴿
Whoever fears Allah will have a way to get out from every difficulty:
Dear brothers, whoever fears Allah the Almighty in choosing his wife- he is supposed to choose a religiously committed wife instead of choosing a beautiful one who is not religious. I am not saying you should not choose a beautiful wife; of course not, I am just asking you not to concentrate on her beauty at the expense of her religious commitment.
Whoever fears Allah the Almighty in choosing his wife, Allah the Almighty will make a way for him to get out from domestic conflicts. Also, whoever fears Allah the Almighty in raising his children, Allah the Almighty will make a way for him to get out from having undutiful children.
Whoever fears Allah the Almighty in making his living, Allah will make for him a way out from having his money destroyed and confiscated, and whoever fears Allah the Almighty in believing in His Monotheism, Allah the Almighty will make for him a way out of Shirk (polytheism).
Well, the Ayah we are discussing today is a bit different:
﴾ (O you who believe! Fear Allah (by doing all that He has ordered and by abstaining from all that He has forbidden) as He should be feared. [Obey Him, be thankful to Him, and remember Him always…) ﴿
It means you are supposed to obey Allah and never disobey Him, to be grateful to Him and never deny His Blessings, and to remember Him and never forget His Remembrance.
The believer's blessings in the worldly life is connected to the one in the Hereafter:
The greatest Ayah related to faith is the following one:
﴾ (O you who believe [in Musa (Moses) (i.e. Jews) and 'Iesa (Jesus) (i.e. Christians)]! Fear Allah, and believe too in His Messenger (Muhammad PBUH), He will give you a double portion of His Mercy, and He will give you a light by which you shall walk (straight), and He will forgive you. And Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.) ﴿
There is a double reward; one is in the worldly life and the other is in the Hereafter:
﴾ (But for him who [the true believer of Islamic Monotheism who performs all the duties ordained by Allah and His Messenger Muhammad PBUH , and keeps away (abstain) from all kinds of sin and evil deeds prohibited in Islam and] fears the standing before his Lord, there will be two Gardens (i.e. in Paradise).) ﴿
He will have a garden in the worldly life and another one in the Hereafter. How amazing the situation of the believer is! The rewards he receives in the worldly life is connected to the ones in the Hereafter.
When the hour of death came to one of the Noble Companions, his daughter said, "Ah, the distress of my dear father." He said, "There will be no distress for your father after today. Tomorrow we will meet the beloved ones, Muhammad, peace be upon him, and his Companions."
By Allah, the only Deity worthy of worship, I read about 70 books of the biographies of the Noble Companions, and I was astonished about their reaction when the hour of death came to them. Such an hour is the happiest ever to them. Indeed, death is the greatest event in the believer's life; it looks like a wedding ceremony to him.
﴾ (O you who believe [in Musa (Moses) (i.e. Jews) and 'Iesa (Jesus) (i.e. Christians)]! Fear Allah, and believe too in His Messenger (Muhammad PBUH), He will give you a double portion of His Mercy, and He will give you a light by which you shall walk (straight)…) ﴿
The believer will always be given from Allah's Bounties since he fears Allah:
1- Allah the Almighty honors the believer:
If you fear Allah the Almighty, you are the most honorable creature and the proof is the following Ayah:
﴾ (Verily, the most honourable of you with Allah is that (believer) who has At-Taqwa [i.e. one of the Muttaqun (pious)]. Verily, Allah is All-Knowing, All-Aware.) ﴿
When the Prophet, peace be upon him, passed away, our Master Umar, may Allah be pleased with him said, "O Sa'd, do not be deceived in regard to Allah that it may be said [of you]: He is the uncle of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, and his companion, for Allah does not erase evil with evil, but erases evil through good. Indeed, there is no relation between Allah and any other except through His obedience. The people altogether, their noble and their lowly, are in front of Allah alike. Allah is their Lord and they His slaves. They surpass one another when it comes to wellbeing, but attain what He has through His obedience."
The most honorable man is the one who fears disobeying Allah the Almighty. In the worldly life, you may not occupy certain positions, you may not collect a huge wealth, or you may not live to reach a certain age, but the believer who fears Allah the Almighty will always be the most honorable in Allah's Sight.
2- Allah the Almighty loves the believer:
In addition to love, there is something the believer gets from Allah the Almighty. In some cases you honor someone, but you may not love him. Allah the Almighty says:
﴾ (Yes, whoever fulfils his pledge and fears Allah much; verily, then Allah loves those who are Al-Muttaqun (the pious).) ﴿
How amazing it is to get Allah's Love! How amazing it is to get the love of the Creator of the heavens and the earth!
﴾ (Yes, whoever fulfils his pledge and fears Allah much; verily, then Allah loves those who are Al-Muttaqun (the pious).) ﴿
Allah the Almighty honors and loves you.
3- Allah the Almighty manages the believer's affairs:
The third thing you will get from Allah is His Help and Protection:
﴾ (…But Allah is the Wali (Helper, Protector, etc.) of the Muttaqun (pious).) ﴿
Allah the almighty helps you, protects you, defends you and guides you to that which is good for you.
4- Allah the Almighty is with the believer wherever he might be:
The fourth thing you will get from Allah the Almighty as a believer is that you will always feel that He is with you:
﴾ (Truly, Allah is with those who fear Him (keep their duty unto Him)…) ﴿
Allah is with you in His Help, Protection, Victory, and Power, so prosperity, success, excellence, intelligence and prudence lie in fearing Allah the Almighty.
﴾ (…And fear Allah that you may be successful.) ﴿
Fearing Allah is the greatest manifestation of thanking Him:
Allah the Almighty has subjected all that in the heavens and the earth to honor you and to urge you know His Greatness. Since He honors you, you are supposed to be grateful to Him:
﴾ (Why should Allah punish you if you have thanked (Him) and have believed in Him.) ﴿
[An-Nisa', 147]
Allah the Almighty says:
﴾ (…and fear Allah that you may be successful.) ﴿
When you fear Allah, you are being grateful to Him in the best manner.
Dear brothers, let me repeat the Ayah we have been discussing so far:
﴾ (O you who believe! Fear Allah (by doing all that He has ordered and by abstaining from all that He has forbidden) as He should be feared. [Obey Him, be thankful to Him, and remember Him always], and die not except in a state of Islam (as Muslims) with complete submission to Allah.) ﴿
This indicates that death comes to you while you are in the best state of submission to Allah the Almighty.
