It was narrated that when the verse in which Allaah The Almighty Says (what means): {And warn, [O Muhammad], your closest kindred} [Quran 26: 214] was revealed, the Prophet ascended the mountain of As-Safa and started calling: “O Banu Ka‘b ibn Lu’ayy, save yourselves from Hell! O Banu Murrah ibn Ka‘b, save yourselves from Hell! O Banu ‘Abd Shams, save yourselves from Hell! O Banu ‘Abd Manaaf, save yourselves from Hell! O Banu Haashim, save yourselves from Hell! O Banu ‘Abdul Muttalib, save yourselves from Hell! O Faatimah, save yourself from Hell! I cannot do anything to protect you from the Punishment of Allaah." [Muslim]
It was truly an awe–inspiring warning with which the Prophet started his call. Such a warning strikes the hearts before the ears to awaken them to return to their Lord and Creator and start the journey to bliss and happiness of both worlds. This is realized when the hearts know the role for which humans have been created and therefore they live by Allaah The Almighty, for Allaah The Almighty, and with Allaah The Almighty (i.e. his Remembrance). This is the right way that should be adopted by all those who want to turn to Allaah The Almighty. One's first step on this blessed way should be seeking the provision of fearing the One Who knows the Unseen.
The journey to Allaah The Almighty needs hearts, not bodies. A heart that is still heedless and tied to the shackles of disobedience cannot move towards Allaah The Almighty. How can such a heart move to Allaah The Almighty while it is tied to its desires? How can a heart yearn to enter upon Allaah The Almighty while it is impure with heedlessness?
Therefore, the one who seeks salvation needs high spiritual energy which frees him from the restrictions of these shackles. Thus, the heart is released and moves freely to Allaah The Almighty with a high morale and vigor. The best motive for this energy is the fear of Allaah, the Great and the Noble. This is the belief adopted by Ibraaheem Ash-Shaybaani as he said,
"When the fear of Allaah inhabits the heart, it burns the sources of desires and expels ambition in this worldly life." [Shu‘ab Al-Eemaan by Al-Bayhaqi]
This is the principle inherited from the best human being, the Prophet as he directed us to this saying: "The one who fears (the attack of enemies) sets out in the first part of the night, and the one sets out early will surely reach his destination. Lo, the commodity of Allaah is precious. Verily, the commodity of Allaah is Paradise." [Al-Albaani: Saheeh]
Do you want salvation?
Dear Muslim, do you want salvation? Do you want to be secure on the Day of Resurrection when people will be afraid? Do you want to win Paradise when the losers will fail to achieve it? You have to fear Allaah, the Ever-Living, the Sustainer of existence. Here is Allaah The Almighty who gives you glad tidings and warns you at the same time. In a Hadeeth Qudsi (sacred narration), the Prophet narrated that Allaah The Almighty Says: "By my might, I shall not combine in my slave two fears and two securities, for, if he fears me in this world, I shall make him secure on the Day of Resurrection; and if he feels secure about me (does not fear me) in this world, I shall terrify him on the Day of Resurrection." [Al-Albaani: Saheeh]
Then comes this Prophetic promise for all those who fear Allaah The Almighty, as the Prophet said: "The one who weeps out of fear of Allaah will not enter Hell until the milk returns back into the udder." [Al-Albaani: Saheeh]
While there will be only one garden for the believer in the Hereafter, Allaah The Almighty has prepared for His slaves whose hearts tremble out of fear of Him two gardens. Allaah The Almighty Says (what means): {But for he who has feared the position of his Lord are two gardens.} [Quran 55: 46]
Rejoice, O you who fear Allaah and have faith. Listen to Mujaahid describing the slave who fears Allaah The Almighty by saying,
"He is the man who decides to commit a sin and then remembers his questioning before Allaah The Almighty and he, thus, abandons it. For him there will be two gardens." [Tafseer At-Tabari]
The bird's wings:
Dear Muslim, if you want to live under the shelter of your Lord in this world and hope to reside beside Him in the Hereafter, you have to move to Allaah as quickly as possible. You have to do so not slowly, as if walking, but as swiftly as birds and fly in the heavens of faith. The stronger your wings are, the more wishes you will fulfill. But, do you know where you can find your wings?
Ibn Al-Qayyim said,
“The heart, on its journey to Allaah, is like a bird: love is its head, and fear and hope are its wings. When the head and wings are sound, the bird flies gracefully. If the head is cut, the bird dies. If the bird loses one of its wings, it then becomes a target for every hunter or predator.” [Madaarij As-Saalikeen by Ibn Al-Qayyim]
You cannot fly without wings! You cannot move to your Lord without a heart in which the valleys of fear and hope flow!
These are important signs in the way to Allah (az) which Ibn Al-Qayyim directs us. They signify that a heart which moves towards Allaah The Almighty must have a strategy including two matters: fear and hope.
The hair turns white:
Reflecting on the biographies of the Prophets and the Messengers of Allaah, may Allaah exalt their mention, you find that they greatly feared Allaah The Almighty. The master of those who fear the Lord of the Worlds, the Prophet (peace be upon him), figures at the top of this list. It is enough for you to listen to his words when he expressed his fear of His Lord: "I see what you do not see and hear what you do not hear. The heaven makes a noise like groaning, and it has the right to do so, for there is no space in it with the width of four fingers, but there is an angel placing his forehead in prostration to Allaah. By Allaah, if you knew what I know, you would laugh little and weep much, you would not enjoy your women and you would go out into the roads praying to Allaah." (Sunan al-Tirmidhi, no. 2312)
It was narrated on the authority of Ibn ‘Abbaas that Abu Bakr said, "‘O Messenger of Allaah, you have developed white hair!’ He replied: ‘The Surahs Hood, Al-Waaqi‘ah, Al-Mursalaat, An-Naba’ and At-Takweer turned my hair white.’" [Al-Albaani: Saheeh]
Indeeed, the fear of Allaah Almighty turned our dear Prophet's hair white!
The inheritors of fear (of Allaah):
The Companions of the Prophet (peace be upon him) , inherited this fear of Allaah from him. Describing this Imaam Ibn Al-Qayyim said,
"Reflecting on the life of the Companions one finds that they worked hard and were very fearful of Allaah The Almighty. On the contrary, we do little but do not have fear of Allaah The Almighty. Here is the example of As-Siddeeq saying,
"I wish I were a hair in a believer's side."
It was also narrated that he used to catch his tongue and say,
"This was the reason behind my destruction!"
He used to frequently weep and say,
"Weep, and if you cannot weep, then feign weeping." [Ad-Daa’ wad-Dawaa’ by Ibn Al-Qayyim]
It was narrated that Tameem Ad-Daari one night recited Surah Al-Jaathiyah and when he reached the verse in which Allaah The Almighty Says (what means): {Or do those who commit evils think We will make them like those who have believed and done righteous deeds - [make them] equal in their life and their death? Evil is that which they judge.} [Quran 45: 21] He kept on repeating it and crying until morning." [Sifat As-Safwah by Ibn Al-Jawzi]
The righteous follow the same way:
Faatimah bint ‘Abdul-Malik, wife of ‘Umar ibn ‘Abdul-‘Azeez said to Mugheerah ibn Al-Hakam,
"There might be among people those who pray and fast more than ‘Umar. But I have never seen anyone who fears his Lord more than ‘Umar does. He used to perform the ‘Ishaa’ (night) Prayer and then sit in his place of prayer, and supplicate and weep until he fell asleep. Then he would wake and make supplication and weep until he would fall asleep. He used to continue in this way until morning." [Siyar A‘laam An-Nubalaa’ by Ath-Thahabi]
Once ‘Umar wept and then Faatimah wept and then all the inhabitants of the house wept. However, none of them knew why the others were weeping. When they stopped weeping, Faatimah said, "O Commander of the Believers, I (would) ransom you with my father and mother, why did you weep?" He replied,
"I remembered when people will be divided into two sections before Allaah, a section in Paradise and another in Hell."
Al-Marwazi said, "When Abu ‘Abdullaah, meaning Ahmad ibn Hanbal, remembered death, he was overcome by tears. He used to say,
'Fear of Allaah prevents me from eating and drinking. Whenever I remember death, all worldly matters become worthless in my sight. It is just an inferior food and inferior clothes (compared to those of Paradise). They are just a few days. Nothing is safer than poverty. If I could, I would set out (from this town), so that no one knows me or praises me.’" [Siyar A‘laam An-Nubalaa’ by Ath-Thahabi]
Fear that we seek:
Here we must learn an important lesson: fear should not be an end in itself, but a means towards an end. When that end -- the ultimate pleasure of Allaah The Almighty -- is attained, there is no need for fear. There is no fear upon the people of Paradise, nor do they grieve. Fear is associated with actions, while love is connected with the creation and their attributes. The true and praiseworthy fear is that which stops a person from the prohibitions of Allaah. However, when fear exceeds this boundary, it may bring hopelessness and despair. Abu ‘Uthmaan said, 'Sincerity of fear is avoidance of sins, open and secret. I also heard Shaykh-ul Islam Ibn Taymiyyah say,
'The praiseworthy fear is that which prevented you from the prohibitions of Allaah.'" [Madaarij As-Saalikeen by Ibn Al-Qayyim]
The embarrassing question:
Now that you know some incidents about our Prophet (peace be upon him) , his noble Companions as well as the righteous predecessors, you have to question yourself:
- Why were they afraid while we are not?
- Why did they greatly fear Allaah in this manner although they acted sincerely?
- Why do we not fear Allaah in the same way even though we act with negligence to a large extent?
Now, here's the answer to these question. There were reasons for this fear, which did not go away from from the hearts and minds of these great people. Such reasons led them to this high level of fearing Allaah The Almighty. When we neglected these reasons, our hearts hardened and became heedless of what was intended for us when we were created.
One of the most important reasons is the hearts' negligence of the events and scenes of the Hereafter; both the scenes of bliss as well as those of misery. It was narrated that Hanthalah said,
"The Messenger of Allaah used to tell us about Paradise and Hell and it was as if we could see them with our very eyes."
In doing so, the heart is alerted to what is intended for it and consequently it becomes full of the fear of Allaah Almighty Who resurrects the dead and to Whom belong all matters.
You can start by listening to some talks about the Hereafter or by reading a book on the Hereafter.
Another important practical way for you develop the fear of Allaah Almighty is to frequently remember the following Hadeeth (narration): "By My might, I shall not combine in My slave two fears and two securities, for, if he fears Me in this world, I shall make him secure on the Day of Resurrection; and if he feels secure about Me (does not fear Me) in this world, I shall terrify him on the Day of Resurrection." (Sahih al-Jami)
Whenever yourself whispers to you to do an act of disobedience or to neglect an act of obedience, you should remind it of this Hadeeth, which tells us that security and safety in the Hereafter will only be for those who fear the position of Allaah in this worldly life. You should remind yourself about this Hadeeth, perhaps the heart may soften and the self may become more humble and submissive.
The conclusion is by Al-Ishbeeli:
Al-Ishbeeli said:
"You may consider performing two Rak‘ahs (units of prayer) at night in which you recite one or two Hizbs (portions) of the Quran which you may find long. Or you may walk a mile in order to fulfill a Muslim's need. Regardless, you will face this long day and severe hardship. Such a day will be short only for those who exert their utmost to please Allaah The Almighty and easy only for those who experienced hardships for the sake of Allaah.
Perhaps when you perform these two Rak‘ahs one night, you will not be able to do so the next. Perhaps when you fulfill a Muslim's need once, you may flee from doing this another time and become annoyed and bored. However, you may walk one, two or more miles than this for insignificant matters. Nevertheless, if you reflect on your affairs and think about what is required from you, this will make many difficult matters easy for you and many distant things near to you. So, you should work on short days and during a short life for long days and a long life."