Belief, Hope, Fear: the Balance

Ibn al-Qayim said: "On his way to Allah, a [believer's] heart is likened to a bird: love is its head, fear and hope are its wings. Hence, when the head and wings are sound, the bird will perfectly fly; if the head is cut, the bird will die and when he loses the wings, he will be inevitably objected to hunting". 

Hope & Love are very powerful emotions but fear balances it. Fear is not a counter to hope, it is a balance to it. Islam is not fire and brimstones but it does mention fire and brimstones in a balanced way. Islam is not all gardens and happiness even though it does mention gardens and palaces of Jannah. Islam is balance and a Muslim is one that realizes the balance between hope & fear.

A lot of the times when we have a very busy schedule or we become more active, whether that may be getting into graduate school or working towards a program, or working in a volunteer organization or serving people in some kind of Muslim community, or even taking care of the kids at home, & sometimes when you get caught up in all this, you forget about yourself. We forget to reflect on ourselves.

On one hand there is hope: “Say, "O My servants who have transgressed against themselves [by sinning], do not despair of the mercy of Allah . Indeed, Allah forgives all sins. Indeed, it is He who is the Forgiving, the Merciful." [39:53]

And on the other hand there is fear: “Rather, man, against himself, will be a witness,” [75:14] “So whoever does an atom's weight of good will see it And whoever does an atom's weight of evil will see it.” [99:7-8]

Some reasons why we lack this sense of fear:

-Lack of reflection on one’s own problems and getting caught in other people’s problems. Especially when we become active or part of organizations, it becomes very easy to always complain and discuss the problems of others but sometimes we forget to reflect on our selves: what do I need to focus on, what do I need to change about myself, what do I need to improve on? When you don’t reflect on your faults and sins, that fear of Allah isn’t there anymore because you feel like every one else has problems, but you yourself are okay. Humbling one’s self can lead to developing and instilling fear.

-Overstimulation from movies, from video games, from stories and then when you read ayahs about the hell fire, it’s like oh okay, eh. Our culture today and entertainment has released lots of horror films, themes like hell and end of times have become almost a joke to the point when a person who watches a lot of movies and tv shows like that is not moved when Allah paints those scenes in the Qur’an. The hearts are not moved anymore because those topics have become entertainment. Rather than the scenes of the hereafter and day of Judgment instilling fear and developing an urgency to change, they leave us unmoved.

-Uncomfortability with the idea of fear. Many of us are sometimes scared of the idea of fear. We are uncomfortable with fear. Sometimes we perceive it as a bad thing. But sometimes fear is necessary to create urgency, to create importance and as stated before, Islam is not all fear nor all love. Islam is the balance, a beautiful balance of both. There was a sister once who came to Nouman Ali Khan who had left Islam and her reason for leaving Islam is because she read Surah Rahman, and her argument was if god is so merciful why are people being burned and being dragged into hell? She said, what kind of mercy is this? One reason for this is a much deeper problem- it’s a spiritual problem of arrogance. We are the slaves of Allah, not a reviewer of the Qur’an. These words are the words of Allah, of God, of our master. But we want things our way and just because we are uncomfortable with the idea of something- we want to leave it all together? We cannot pick and choose with religion, we cannot pick and choose what we like and don’t like from the Qur’an. At the end of the day, those are Allah’s words and both the mercy and the fear and explained for our own benefit. Another thing on the point of being uncomfortable with the idea of fear is that fear is natural. Why are we trying so hard to avoid what’s natural? If a child didn’t have fear, they would kill themselves, they would jump in front of cars,

There are many graphic descriptions of hell are mentioned in the Qur’an.  One such surah which many of us are familiar with is Surah Rahman. In the middle of this surah, Allah describes the hell fire and the state of the disbelievers. Allah says, “This is Hell, which the criminals deny. They will go around between it and scalding water, heated [to the utmost degree].” [55:43-44]

Graphic descriptions, boiling water is being poured down their troats and they are switching between tortures and boiling water being poured down their throats. And in another part of the Qur’an, Allah says how when the disbeliever’s skins will be burned, new skins will be grown and burned again. Why? Once the skin burns off to a certain point, the person does not feel any pain because the nerves have died.  But in Surah Rahman after these ayahs mention this vivid description of the hell fire, Allah says” But for he who has feared the position of his Lord are two gardens –“ [55:46]

For those have this fear of Allah, Allah says that for them there are two gardens! Even Allah instilling this fear in us is a means of Allah helping us get to Jannah. Even Allah mentioning these ayahs and these warning are a blessing from Allah, a mercy from Allah. Allah never presents just one side of the picture- fear is never presented by itself. The hell fire isn’t mentioned by itself, descriptions of Jannah usually balance it. Allah always balances both out.

There are many different words that are used in the Qur’an for fear.

-Khawf: This is one of the words that used for fear. This type of fear is a type of fear that’s like a state of an emergency like if there is a hurricane approaching, you realize its coming and prepare. This is Khawf. Khawf means to see the danger and be afraid and prepare. When it is mentioned in the Qur’an, Allah says that those who fear standing in front of their Lord- those who realize that there is day of accountability coming, those who realize that they will meet Allah, and they get up and prepare. This is khawf.

-Khashiya: This is another word that is used to describe fear. This type of fear, however, is when you are afraid of the harm of something. Ex/ being scared of the harm that a poisonous snake might bring to you. When it comes to the hell fire and the existence of this place, we should have khashiya, we should be afraid of its harm and take heed of the warnings that are presented in the Qur’an.

-Khushoo’: this word also has an element of fear in it even though its often translated as focus. It’s the element of fear that effects your limbs and muscles and you feel it throughout your body. When you are standing in front of Allah, praying, in salah, this feeling takes over because you are standing before your Rabb, impoverished to Allah.

-Taqwa: Often times, this word is translated as fear but linguistically, it actually means actions that are taken out of fear, in a precautionary manner. Taqwa is before the fact- its taking the precautionary measures so that you stay out of trouble. Allah mentions taqwa over and over and over again. Why? So that we can become aware, we can become aware of our surroundings with Allah in mind, so that we take the precautionary steps to stay away from trouble, staying away from things that might displease Allah, to protect ourselves from being amongst the wrongdoers. There are certain things in the Qur’an where Allah tells us to stay away from, to not come close to- that’s being aware of Allah, taking the precautionary means. One such thing is zina. “And do not approach unlawful sexual intercourse. Indeed, it is ever an immorality and is evil as a way.” [17:32] Allah doesn’t say, don’t commit zina, Allah says, don’t approach zina, don’t come near zina, don’t even go near it. This, for us, is a reminder to stay away from anything that might even lead to that. Shaitan takes subtle mini steps, Shaitan isn’t gonna make a believer immediately jump to zina. It starts slow with mini steps from a slight smile, to the look, to chatting about an “Islamic” question, to chatting about how your day went, to hanging out to work on an MSA project, to hanging out and eating dinner, and on and on and on until the deed occurs. Subtle steps. But the one that has taqwa, stays out of the gravitational field, take the precautionary measures, stops at the first or second step- they stay away, they are conscious of Allah, they are aware of Allah, and take the precautionary steps to prevent from falling into something that will displease Allah. The person who has taqwa stays away from anything that will lead to sin, they stay away from being sucked into the gravitational field.

-Wajl: This type of fear is after a person has committed a sin. This type of fear is after the fact, after something occurs. This is where your heart starts trembling when you’ve done something wrong, when the guilt kicks in. This is a type of fear necessary for repentance.

-Ar Rahab: This type of fear is one that makes you lose the pleasures of this world. This is one of the most terrifying types of fear and its used in a Qur’an for a certain type people- for Bani Israil who were so immersed in this world and so engrossed in worldy pleasures and so the fear that Allah wants from them is one that will negate this type of addiction to the world. Its specifically used for people that are so engrossed in dunya that they have no motivations for the hereafter.

Sometimes, fear is a healthy start to get into the Deen. Usually for younger people like children, hope and mercy is a better approach, but for older people sometimes fear really works. “Don’t be afraid to be afraid”. We all need a balance of hope & fear. We all need a healthy fear of Allah, May Allah help us establish the balance.

*Notes from Nouman Ali Khan’s “Fearing Allah”