When we think of the word "fear" we think about our parents not finding out about something we do behind closed doors on a Friday night, or we think about our boss firing us because we did not complete a project on time. Fear is always something we feel around people when we have not lived up to their expectations or when we worry that some of our secrets and sins may become exposed to others. Fear can also arise out of admiration for someone because when we admire and love someone, we always worry what they will think and we care a lot about their opinions of us. We strive to impress them and do anything so that they will not become displeased with us or hate us. These are some interpretations of what fear means to some of us. Beyond the surface however, lies a deeper meaning of fear. As a Muslim, we should always think about ourselves and what the greater purpose of our existence is. We know as a Muslim, we are to obey, love, fear and follow Allah's Commands and His Messenger (sallalahu aleyhi wasselam).
"Say, 'Obey Allah and the Messenger'. But if they turn away, [know that] Allah does not love the disbelievers." (Qur'an 3:32)
However when we think about fear in Islamic terms , we learn something completely different. Fear in Islam does not mean to fear your boss, your husband, or your parents but it is to have conscious of Allah, to have piety, and to be Allah fearing. All these can be summed up in one word, "taqwa". Taqwa is something we should all strive to accomplish because what matters the most is that we fear Allah rather than fear the creation. Ultimately, when we have consciousness of Allah, we will be able to fear Him and thus we will achieve piety and success. When we remember that the only One we should be mindful of and the only One who we should always be conscious of, is the One who created us. When we are able to know where Allah belongs in our heart, then we will not have any fears of people and we will always be conscious of our sins. Sometimes we imagine our loved ones in the back of our mind and think about what they would say if we committed a sin or did something they disliked, but what we should really be doing is imagining and remembering that Allah can See us and that we must be concerned about His Opinion over anyone else's. Wherever we are, whatever we are doing and whoever we are with, we should always remember that Allah is watching us and we should always ask ourselves "Will Allah approve of this?" "What would Allah think of me if I did this?" The key to a successful dunya and akhirah is to always observe taqwa and it is truly the only way that Allah will help us and make a way out for all our troubles and worries.
Whoever fears Allah, Allah will find a way out for him (from every difficulty) and He will provide for him from sources that he could never have imagined.”
[Quran 65:2-3]
We must learn who our Lord is and always make duaa for our intentions to be sincere. To obtain taqwa, we must be in the best company and always try to improve our knowledge of the Qur'an and Sunnah. The most important way to achieve taqwa is to abstain from things that is disliked and forbidden in Islam and to always keep our intentions sincere. I ask Allah to make us of the muttaqeen and to keep us firmly guided on His straight path towards Jannah. Ameen.
