Fear of fighting is in fact fear of death:

Respectable brother, this is lecture number thirty seven (No. 37) of Surat Al-Nissa, where we will talk about the interpretation of verse number seventy eight (No.78) which says:

﴾Wherever ye are, death will find you out﴿

[Al-Nisa: Verse 78]

To understand this verse we perhaps need to understand the previous verse, which says:
when the fighting was ordained for them, behold! a section of them fear men as they fear Allah or even more. They say:

﴾"Our Lord! Why have you ordained for us fighting? Would that You had granted us respite for a short period?" Say: "Short is the enjoyment of this world"﴿

[Al-Nisa: Verse 77]

The verse describes the hypocrites and their fear of fighting. Their fear of fighting, in reality, is the fear of death, so they are keen on life. Allah in the previous verse informed them that life is so short, He says:

﴾Say: Short is the enjoyment of this world﴿

[Al-Nisa: Verse 77]

Life is designed by Allah to end up with paradise for the believers. But when man does not care about the truth of the life, does not care about the creator (Allah Almighty) and his commands, then life would end up with torment in the hellfire. Therefore, the value of life is not about the large number of years you may live but it is rather about ensuring you have a good end. In this context the most beautiful supplication I heard: O Allah! make the graces of this world are continued with the graces of the Hereafter.

Every creature dies and no one stays except Allah:

Death is inevitably coming to everyone wherever they are.

﴾Wherever ye are, death will find you out﴿

[Al-Nissa: verse 78]

Wherever you are, in a castle or normal home, in a safe or in a dangerous place, on the mainland or at sea, in air or on land, death will find you out.

Wherever you are, in a very rich or poor family, in high or low position, at top or bottom of society, death will find you out.

Wherever you are, in comfort or discomfort conditions, with or without disease, death will find you out.

Death may surprise you in different ways and conditions. A person may have a serious decease where death is expected from this decease. However, surprisingly he may get the death from different reason. It could be a car accident, or fire.

There are countless ways out of this world:

Therefore Allah Almighty says:

﴾Say: The Death from which ye flee will truly overtake you﴿

[Al-Jumu'ah: verse 8]

The gates out of this world are uncountable and unpredictable. A healthy man may die at early age or sick man may die after a long illness lasted thirty years, there's no rule, the rule is that there is no rule. When death comes it does not distinguish between old and young, between healthy and sick, between rich and poor, smart and stupid. Regardless of the conditions and positions, it takes all people, wherever you are, death will overtake.

Death is a preacher:

One of our Brother had a very serious medical problem, and had a difficult operation with very small possibility of success. His son called after a small while to tell everyone that his father passed away. Everyone thought that the father was died because of this illness. In fact he survived the very difficult operation but he surprisingly died in an accident.

﴾The Death from which ye flee will truly overtake you (8)﴿

Death has countless ways and forms. These ways have been given scientific names: stroke, heart attack, a sudden drop in kidney function, cirrhosis of the liver, and many more. These are in fact the exit gates, because man must leave this world sooner or later. Therefore it is impossible to wake up each day always like the day before; one day there might be some loss in hearing, loss in eye vision, a problem in bones, or other problem that may develop seriously causing the death.

Dear brother, nothing can preach human like death, therefore Omar said: I did not see as an effective preacher as death. Indeed death is a preacher, and all what you earned in tens of yours of hard work will be lost in a second.

Allah reassures the believers in His Book:

Dear brother, having said that I am not pessimistic. Because those who truly believe in Allah, make good dead, and organize their desires and functions according to the command of Allah and his messenger, then they should not worry. Allah said about them:

﴾whosoever follows my guidance on them shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve﴿

[Al-Baqarah: verse 38]

I ask Allah Almighty to make us among them and make the graces of this world continue with the graces of the Hereafter. Allah Almighty reassures the faithful people in the following verse saying:

﴾Say: Nothing will happen to us except what Allah has decreed for us: He is our protector: and on Allah let the Believers put their trust.﴿

(Al Repentance: Verse 51)

Stories of death are very strange. A person may sleep and does not wake up, may die during a prayer, or may die while committing a sin. He may die at home, or may die away from home. He may die within his family or die away where no one know of his death until his dead body starts to smell.
However, it has been said that making good deeds protect against bad ends.

﴾Wherever you are, death can overtake you even if you are in built towers (78)﴿

The angel of death crosses all kinds of forts and levees. Angel of Death is ready and able to cross all kinds of forts, castles, dams, or any other barrier.

This verse refers to Predestination:

A person may be vigilant to the external causes of death such as shot or car accident, but he may get killed by an internal cause.

Indeed, the fear of fighting was the fear of death and desire in life. This leads us to the topic of "divine will and decree". This important subject is dealt with in the following verse in a wonderful way, Allah Almighty says:

﴾And if some good reaches them, they say, "This is from Allâh"﴿

[Al-Nisa: Verse 78]

This is right words.

﴾but if some evil befalls them, they say, "This is from you" (O Muhammad ﴿

[Al-Nisa: Verse 78]

Then Allah commanded his prophet to reply:

﴾Say: "All things are from Allâh"﴿

[Al-Nisa: Verse 78]

Nothing can happen in the possession of Allah without His Will:

This is the first fact in the divine will and decree i.e. nothing can ever happen in the possession of Allah without His will or without His act. The essential and ultimate source of all our capabilities and power is from Allah. Without him we will not have any capability, power, or strength. Nothing can happen to us without His will and permission. No one can ward off His decree or delay His command or overpower His affairs.
However this does not contradict with our freedom of choice. For example, when student goes through an exam, who will assess his performance and decide his final results? It is the lecturer or director of study. Despite that the decision and act is made by the director of study, the student has full choice, responsibility, and ability to pass the exam.

Similarly Allah Almighty designs and creates everything including the reasons that enable you to practice your choice and take up your responsibilities.

Abu Dhar related that the Prophet peace be upon him, narrating from Allah Almighty:

﴾....O My servants, I am recording these actions of yours, and I shall reward you for them, so he who finds his deeds good should praise Allah and he who does not find that should not blame anyone but his own self﴿

[Muslim, Tirmidhi, Ibn Majah, Ahmad, Daarimi]

This Hadith shows clearly that man is responsible of his deeds, and upon his deeds he will be rewarded by Allah as a gift, or punished by Him as an act of justice.

Therefore it has been said: "Paradise is pure of virtue, and hellfire is pure of justice". To explain this idea, imagine student who was promised by his father a very valuable reward if he could succeed and pass his exam. If the student passed the exam and took his certificate directly to the shop and asked for a gift, no one would give him anything. It is only his father when he decides to pay for the gift, and fulfill his promise.

The good deeds of believers are not a price of Paradise:

So our success in this world is not sufficient reason to receive the Paradise. The paradise is so precious and can not be equal to anything you may ever do in this world. It is only because Allah wants to gift his true believers. This is similar to the situation when someone gives you as a gift a very nice and expensive house worth several million pounds in a very good location; but you have to pay only few pounds for the price of the key.

Paradise is a virtue and Fire is justice:

No one can ever have the price of entering paradise but we all hope in this world to work and pay the price of the cause of entering Paradise.

Even the good deeds that you may do, these deeds are not possible to happen without the guidance and support from Allah Almighty.

Narrated By 'Aisha: The Prophet said,

﴾Do good deeds properly, sincerely and moderately, and be optimistic because one's good deeds will not make him enter Paradise." They asked, "Even you O' messenger of Allah?" He said, "Even I, unless and until Allah bestows His pardon and Mercy on me﴿

[al-Bukhary, Muslim,..]

So everything from Allah as source of act:

﴾if some good reaches them, they say, "This is from Allah," but if some evil befalls them, they say, "This is from you" (O Muhammad) a, Say: "All things are from Allah,"﴿

[Al-Nisa: Verse 78]

But the reasons and causes are generated by ourselves, that why Allah says:

﴾Whatever of good reaches you, is from Allah, but whatever of evil befalls you, is from yourself﴿

[Al-Nisa: Verse 79]

The greatest thing in Faith is Montheism:

This meaning is also supported by the following Hadith which is narrated by Imam Muslim and Tirmidhi and sh3er, that Abu Dhar reported Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) as saying that:

Allah, the Exalted and Glorious, said:

((O My servants, I have made oppression unlawful for Me and unlawful for you, so do not commit oppression against one another.
O My servants, all of you are liable to err except one whom I guide on the right path, so seek right guidance from Me so that I should direct you to the right path.
O My servants, all of you are hungry (needy) except one whom I feed, so beg food from Me, so that I may give that to you.
O My servants, all of you are naked (need clothes) except one whom I provide garments, so beg clothes from Me, so that I should clothe you.
O My servants, you commit error night and day and I am there to pardon your sins, so beg pardon from Me so that I should grant you pardon.
O My servants, you can neither do Me any harm nor can you do Me any good.
O My servants, even if the first amongst you and the last amongst you and even the whole of human race of yours, and that of Jinns even, become (equal in) God-conscious like the heart of a single person amongst you, nothing would add to My Power.
O My servants, even if the first amongst you and the last amongst you and the whole human race of yours and that of the Jinns too in unison become the most wicked (all beating) like the heart of a single person, it would cause no loss to My Power.
O My servants, even if the first amongst you and the last amongst you and the whole human race of yours and that of Jinns also all stand in one plain ground and you ask Me and I confer upon every person what he asks for, it would not in any way cause any loss to Me (even less) than that which is caused to the ocean by dipping the needle in it.
O My servants, I am recording these actions of yours, and I shall reward you for them, so he who finds his deeds good should praise Allah and he who does not find that should not blame anyone but his own self))

The Hadith has contained important facts of monotheism (Tawheed) indicating that everything is under the divine will of Allah and people are fully responsible of their deeds. Therefore you should not blame sh3er. For example no one would blame a wooden stick which you were hit by. Your concentration should be rather toward the person who did the hit. Similarly anything happens to you, can not happen without permission, knowledge and the will of Allah Almighty.

Blessings and grants are virtues by Allah we deserve:

Therefore many scholars believe that the strong and oppressive people on earth are just sticks in the hand of Allah, where He uses them as discipline tool to bring back the sinful believers to the right path. He Almighty uses those dictators to examine other people, then he takes them away with revenge.

It has been mentioned that Allah says: "I am the king of the kings, if my slaves obeyed me, I shall turn the hearts of their kings into merciful and tender hearts, but if they disobeyed me, I shall turn those hearts to brutal and cruel hearts. So don't bother yourselves cursing kings, instead ask Allah the guidance for them, they will be good if you are good".

If you were straight person you will be rewarded by Allah generously. So any reward from Allah is because of his generosity. But whatever of evil befalls you, is from yourself.
Allah does not need to punish us and it is not rational to punish without a reason. Therefore, Allah Almighty says:

﴾Why should Allah punish you if you have thanked (Him) and have believed in Him﴿

[Al-Nisa: Verse 147]

Everything happens around us is Allah’s Act but man is a cause:

Deep suffering and calamities are mainly caused by human.

﴾whatever of evil befalls you, is from yourself﴿

[Al-Nisa: Verse 79)]

Dear brother, when you understand this verse your problems with the other fellow human will dissipate. Because all creatures are in the hand of Allah and nothing happens without his Divine permission and will. Allah says:

﴾There is not a moving (or living) creature but He has grasp of its forelock. Verily, my Lord is on the Straight Path (the truth)﴿

[Hud, 56]

However whatever misfortune happens to you, it is because of the things your hands have made. Allah says:

﴾And whatever of misfortune befalls you, it is because of what your hands have earned. And He pardons much﴿

[Shura, 30]

If you truly understand the meaning of these verses your relation with people will be transformed. There will be no hard feeling, no hatred, no disappointment or worries because you will be more focused on yourself and the relation between you and your lord.

This is the basic and first fact in Islam; this is the mono-theism or Tawheed. Nothing is as such valuable to understand and practice as Tawheed.

Trials, problems and challenges are part of every person’s life. In their reaction, people might either get angry and aggressive loosing their patience (because of ignorance), or they could thank God with satisfaction and trust and try to improve by becoming closer to Allah.

In this context, there is an interesting story can be mentioned here. The story took place thirty years ago where there was a staff member working for a private trader whose business was not completely lawful. The business produced lots of money until one day when some problems happened, where the staff reported to the tax office who issued enormous fine against the trading owner. The owner was extremely angry with the staff; he could not help it going to the employee and killing him with gun shot.
The owner had spent the rest of his life in person.

If you look closely at the reason behind the angry feeling and the following action made by the business owner, you will clearly find out that he did not consider Allah Almighty. He failed to see the fact that the incident of reporting was only a sign from Allah telling him to give up the unlawful activities and improve his relation with God. The business owner failed to believe that Allah has the ultimate decision i.e. was not his employee. Allah says:

﴾To Him return all affairs (for decision). So worship Him and put your trust in Him﴿

[Hud, 123]

There is no one who is effectively in charge and has wise control of everything of your life except Allah. If people understand this fact and live it, all hatred between them will dissipate. However problems and suffering happen when people fall in Polytheism (Sherk), when you believe there is other than Allah effectively acting, and deserve to be considered more than Allah.

To this effect, Allah Almighty says:

﴾So invoke not with Allah another God, lest you be among those who receive punishment﴿

[Al-Shuara, 213]