”I realised that taqwa is the way out of every grief and distress
and as soon as I followed the path of taqwa, I found the way out.”
Ibn al-Jawzi
Abdullah ibn Mubarak (rahimahullah) said about fear:
“When night befalls, they endure it
and see it through bowing in ruku.
Fear has released their sleep, so they stand
and acquire security in vigilance.”
“When night befalls, they endure it
and see it through bowing in ruku.
Fear has released their sleep, so they stand
and acquire security in vigilance.”
Hasan ibn Hani (rahimahullah) composed the following (it has been credited to Imam Shafi`ee (rahimahullah)):
“Fear Allah and hope for every good thing from Him;
Don’t follow your adamant self, lest you regret it;
Remain in between hope and fear
and you will rejoice with the Pardon of Allah if you submit.”
[Muajjamul Udaba: 17/303 credited to Imam Shafi`ee and also in the Divan of Hasan.]
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Ibn Hani makes sense, because he put ‘Fear Allah’ (taqwa) before hoping for good. One of the grave errors is expecting good while not practicing what one believes, which is a level of lack of taqwa. Without real trust, love and fear for God, you cannot expect goodness, even if goodness can come your way the same way God gives plenty of good things to non-believes and others who do things that are immoral. Most of the times, one may indulge in the thought that their knowledge has already given them taqwa and then over time they (or we) may get into behaviors that we once disliked as satan makes us believe that we are already good enough. Once we follow this path, it is hard to revert back. However during this transition satan would also make us believe that we already are doing enough and we can expect good from God, while He is above all and our small useless deeds are nothing. Instead of striving to be even better, we took a step backward and then expect something even better. Now God can test us with good things and satan would take advantage of that and we follow the trap. True taqwa and not following the adamant self is really difficult and more than just words.. and He knows best.
Assalam alaikum warahmatullahi wabarkatahu!!!
I do agree on the comment mentioned that “expecting good while not practicing what one believes”
Allah doesnt likes one preaching others which one cannot practice themselves in their lives..
The following verses shows that Chapter 61, Verse 2-3
“O you who believe! Why do you say that which you do not do?”
” Most hateful it is with Allah that you say that which you do not do”
Lets pray, may Allah provides us with knowledge and wisdom, ameen.
wassalam.
Thank you for your comment. JazakAllaaho khayran. You came up with a very good point and a good reminder mashaAllaah. I agree that it’s so easy to believe that one have taqwa, and then indulge in that thought so much, so that it’s ok what one do that isn’t so good to do. And one believe still that one is safe and secure with ones taqwa while in reality one is drifting away from the right path.
You wrote “True taqwa and not following the adamant self is really difficult and more than just words.. and He knows best.” and yes that is so true! Thank you so much for this reminder.
Your comment on that Ibn Hani, that fear comes before hope, made me go back to my previous post on fear, hope and love… and i re-read the ayaat i posted there, and subhanAllaah, Allaah mentions fear before hope… i mean… yes i read it before, but didn’t reflect on the fact that fear is mentioned before hope. I don’t think that is a coincidence. BarakAllaahi fik.
“Beware of every hour and how it passes, and only spend it in the best possible way, do not neglect yourself, but render it accustomed to the noblest and best of actions, and send to your grave that which will please you when you arrive to it.” [Imam Ibn Al-Jawzee]