The True Fear of Allah A Loving Reverence and Remembrance

Opening Verses

O you who have believed, fear Allah as He is supposed to be feared, and do not die except as Muslims.

And remind, for the remembrance benefits the believers.

And I have not created the jinn and human beings except that they may worship Me.

I want no provision from them, nor do I want them to feed Me. Indeed, Allah is the Provider, the Possessor of Power, the Strong.

The Fear of Allah — A Fear Rooted in Love

Alhamdulillah. After praising Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and sending salutations to Nabiy al-Kareem ﷺ, I recited a few verses of the Qur'an which mention various topics. In the first verse that I had recited from Surah Al-Imran, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala mentions:

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا اتَّقُوا اللَّهَ — O you who believe, fear Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala — حَقَّ تُقَاتِهِ — the way He is supposed to be feared — وَلَا تَمُوتُنَّ إِلَّا وَأَنتُم مُّسْلِمُونَ — and be sure to leave this world in a true state of iman, in a true state of faith.

SubhanAllah, my shaykh used to always mention about this verse that when Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is mentioning حَقَّ تُقَاتِهِ — the way He is supposed to be feared — he would give the example of how we all fear the moment someone pulls a gun on us, or someone pulls a knife on us. Not only do we fear that moment, but at the same time that feeling is also associated with anger, with hate — like, how is this action being done upon me?

But subhanAllah, the kind of fear Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is talking about here is the kind of fear that is associated with love. For example, many of us fear our parents. We fear our parents because — one thing is they throw a chappal at us — but we fear our parents because we don't want to disappoint them. We don't want our parents to be let down.

So subhanAllah, I used to give an example to my students: when you get a bad grade — mashAllah, we have a lot of students here — you get a bad grade and you want to hide it from your mom and dad. Why? The slipper is coming, but we don't want to disappoint them. So it's a fear that is associated with love.

And that is just your parents, brothers and sisters in Islam. We don't want to disappoint our parents because we know growing up, our parents provided a great deal for us. They provided the home that we lived in. They provided the food that we ate. So we had this feeling of shame — I don't want to disappoint my parents. I feared my parents because of that.

But imagine, brothers and sisters in Islam, the One who created everything. The One who gave you your parents. What kind of fear should we have? We don't want to disappoint Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala protect us on Yawm al-Qiyamah and not let us disappoint Him. This is the kind of fear that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is mentioning here — a fear associated with love.

Reminders Are Beneficial for the Believers

In addition, I recited some other verses of the Qur'an, and many of us have heard these verses over and over, but I like to make a reminder for myself. Allah ta'ala mentions in Surah al-Dhariyat:

You've probably heard this a million times — remind, for reminders are beneficial for the believers. And subhanAllah, my older brother Mufti Shakeeb used to always mention about this: one of the habits of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is that Allah ta'ala refuses to allow His servant to forget Him. Allah doesn't let His servant forget Him.

For example, how many times do you pray? At minimum, five times a day. At minimum. You are reminded of what Allah ta'ala mentions in the next verse:

That I have not created mankind or the jinns except that they are to worship Me. Allah refuses to allow His servant to forget Him.

The example I like to give: mashAllah, many of you are married. For you brothers that are not married, may Allah find you a righteous wife, and likewise for the sisters to find a righteous husband. So subhanAllah, for those brothers that are married — how many times did your wife text you in a day, "don't forget to bring the milk"? You're gonna come home from the masjid or from work — "don't forget to bring the milk, don't forget to bring the milk." And then subhanAllah, some of you brothers still forget the milk. But for the most part, if you're a good husband, you will remember.

Imagine, Allah ta'ala is reminding you of your purpose five times a day, minimum. The example I also like to give — many of you brothers and sisters drove to the masjid. Imagine while you are driving, five times while you're driving, a police officer gets behind you. You're going to be the best driver ever, because you're reminded of the purpose and the rules of the road.

So maybe you were getting to the stop sign and you did not do the "Chicago stop" — which is you kind of stop, but you don't. Allahu Akbar, you say, Allahu Akbar, and keep on going. No — but you're gonna stop now. The speed limit is 65 miles per hour, you were driving, Allahu Akbar, 80 miles per hour. And then the cop came behind you and you're reminded of the rules of the road. Maybe you were sitting lazily with one arm on the steering wheel, but now it's 10 o'clock and 2 o'clock and you're paying attention. Some of you will not only drive 65, you'll drive 60 miles per hour to be extra safe.

So imagine if you were reminded of your purpose five times a day — how great of a Muslim you should be, even if you have some really bad habits.

Like there was a companion who was known for lying. So one companion came to the Prophet ﷺ and said, "This person is always lying." So he asked, "Does this person pray?" He said, "Yeah, he prays." The Prophet ﷺ said, "He's going to eventually change." So reminding yourself of your purpose.

Then Allah reminds us — after saying that reminders are beneficial for the believers — about the most important thing in our lives: our purpose. Then Allah in the next verse says:

I don't expect any sustenance from you. I don't expect you to feed Me. Verily I am the Sustainer, the All-Powerful, the Strong.

Brothers and sisters in Islam, Islam is not like Greek mythology. What those people believe — fake gods like Zeus and others — is that the more people pray toward their god, the more powerful he becomes. This is not Islam. In Islam, whether you pray your Fajr salah or not, you are not increasing Allah and you are not decreasing Allah. The Islam that Allah ta'ala has honored us with, has guided us with — we are the ones getting benefit from it. We are not doing a favor to Allah. Islam is actually honoring us, building us.

For example, just look at one example. Allah ta'ala forbids us from consuming alcohol. How much benefit is associated with you not drinking alcohol? You never have to worry about a DUI — driving under the influence. For many practicing Muslims, it's not even in the vocabulary. You don't have to worry about a hangover. Many of you go to work or school in the public sphere, and some co-workers and schoolmates come in and say, "Oh man, I was drinking all night yesterday and right now I have a really bad migraine. I'm hungover." They lose entire days because they are not at full capacity. So we don't have to worry about that. This deen, brothers and sisters in Islam, it honors us. It builds us.

Qualities of a Responsible Community

Moving forward, we're going to talk about a couple of concepts — and that is: what are the qualities of a responsible community? And we look at the community of the Prophet ﷺ.

The community of the Prophet ﷺ was a community to which people would come broken. SubhanAllah, we take our Islam for granted — we forget that all the companions came to Islam, they all reverted or converted to Islam. But when they came to Islam, it was a big problem within that village or that tribe. They were excommunicated. The father would stop talking to the son, the son wouldn't start talking to the mother. There were a lot of issues.

Look at the story of Mus'ab ibn Umayr رضي الله عنه — how much hardship he went through because of his mother. When she found out he became Muslim, she imprisoned him and had him beaten. So the community of the Prophet ﷺ was one to which people would come broken, but the community became the crutches with which they could lift themselves up. Because there was a community. There was support. There was a network.

SubhanAllah, I was just talking to my brother right before the talk, and he was mentioning that he leads a charity organization called Uplift Charities in Southern California. And subhanAllah, among the top recipients of their charity support are people who have come to Islam — new converts. They don't have a support network, so they're desperate. Many people when they come to Islam here in the U.S. also get kicked out of their homes if their family finds out they have embraced Islam. But subhanAllah, the community of the Prophet ﷺ became the crutches with which they could lift themselves up.

1. Let People Come as Who They Are

The community of the Prophet ﷺ was a community that allowed people to come as who they are — with all the issues that they had. We know the famous hadith of the Prophet ﷺ about the Bedouin who came into the house of Allah and began urinating in the masjid. And the companions' response? "We gotta knock this guy out. We gotta beat him up." Umar رضي الله عنه said, "Let's roll him up, take him out." But look at the Prophet ﷺ — he said, "Let him finish. Wait, let him finish." And then he explained to him.

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 6025; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 284)

Imagine, brothers and sisters — what would you do if someone came and started urinating in this beautiful musalla? What would your response be? He let people come as who they are, and then he built them up.

2. Build People Up with Softness and Kindness

I am always reminded of the story of Tufayl ibn Amr al-Dawsi رضي الله عنه. This companion had embraced Islam and told the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, "O Messenger of Allah, I love Islam. Give me permission to go back to my village of Daws and call the people to Islam." So the Prophet ﷺ told him, "Go do that."

So he traveled all the way to his village. When he got there, he went to his mother's home first and said, "O my mother, may Allah curse you. You're a polytheist, you worship multiple gods. I'm on the religion of Ibrahim, I believe in monotheism. Embrace Islam, or may Allah curse you." She didn't become Muslim. Then he went to his father: "O my father, may Allah curse you. You're a polytheist. If you don't embrace Islam, may Allah curse you." He didn't embrace Islam either. He went to every single home in that village with the same da'wah — "may Allah curse you" — and nobody became Muslim.

So now he becomes very angry. He travels back to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and says, "O Messenger of Allah, the people of Daws hate Islam. Can you make du'a — O Allah, destroy them?" Then look at the character of the Prophet ﷺ. He said, "Tufayl, raise your hand." So Tufayl raised his hand, and in his mind he was probably thinking, "Oh man, these people are going to get it. The Prophet ﷺ is going to make du'a and destroy these people."

So the Prophet ﷺ said:

O Allah, have mercy on the people of Daws. O Allah, guide the people of Daws.

Then he took Tufayl رضي الله عنه and told him: "O Tufayl, whenever something harsh or coarse touches something, it defaces, it debases, it degrades that thing. Whenever something soft touches something, it uplifts, it beautifies that thing. Go back to your village and speak to people with softness, with kindness."

SubhanAllah — look at the Prophet ﷺ. Tufayl didn't even have to explain the whole situation. The Prophet ﷺ knew immediately from the way he came what had happened, and he gave him the right nasihah, the right advice. So now Tufayl 2.0, mashAllah — he goes back to his village with this kindness, with this softness, and the entire village becomes Muslim. And a companion who narrated over 8,000 ahadith came to Islam because of him from that village — Abu Hurayrah رضي الله عنه.

Let people come as who they are, and lift them up inshAllah ta'ala.

You Are a Representation of Islam

Think about the examples that you might have in your own life. When someone comes to the house of Allah and they're putting their shoes next to yours in the shoe rack, and that brother or sister says assalamu alaykum to you — what is your response? Do you ignore them? Or do you look at them, give them a hug, give them a handshake, and say wa alaykum assalam wa rahmatullah? How do you make that person feel when they come into the house of Allah?

My shaykh used to always say that the worst kind of person you can be is the one who becomes a roadblock for other people to get hidayah — guidance. Because you never know what you say or do that might change a person's perspective.

SubhanAllah, there was this one sister who had embraced Islam. It was like her first week in Islam. And she was telling me her story. She said, "I just became Muslim. If my parents found out I was Muslim, I would be kicked out of my house right then and there." So she came into her car after Jumu'ah and was taking her hijab off, because she was really scared about the situation she was dealing with. And one brother walking next to the car knocked on her window and said, "Sister, I want you to know the clothes you're putting on are the clothes of Jahannam." And then he walked away — not knowing the calamitous situation she was dealing with. She was afraid of becoming homeless. What kind of situation was she in?

So I remind the brothers and sisters in Islam: one, let people come as who they are with all of their faults. If a brother has tattoos, you never know what kind of history they have. Maybe someone is struggling to wear their hijab properly. It's not our job to be the judge, jury, and executioner. Let's help build them up. Let's give them good advice. Let's take them to the side and say, "Hey brother, try to show the utmost good character."

And I'll close with this story — subhanAllah — because you never know what you say or do that could bring someone to Islam.

When I graduated from college, I was interning at a city manager's office. My first week there, in my little cubicle, this older lady would come and tell me how terrible Islam was. "Muslims are all terrorists." She didn't know I was Muslim. So I just said, "Oh, it's okay, you're fine." The next day she would come and say, "I watched on Fox News — the Muslims are doing this, they're really bad people." She still didn't know I was Muslim.

So Thursday morning comes and she comes into my cubicle and says, "Fayyaz, I have the worst news." I said, "What happened? What did the Muslims do to you this time?" She said, "I have these new neighbors — I think they're Muslim. God knows what they're doing. They might be praying in their garage." She was scared. I said, "Oh my god, they're praying in their garage." She still didn't know I was Muslim.

So I calmed her down. That next day I went and gave khutbah at a masjid. This couple comes to me after the khutbah and says, "We're new in town, we just moved." I put two and two together. I asked them, "Has one of your neighbors been acting strangely?" And they said, "Yes — we were moving our stuff in the middle of the night, 12 a.m. in the morning, and this lady, our neighbor, decided to start watering her front lawn and watching us in the middle of the night." I said, "Okay. Forget what I said in the khutbah. Your job is to go make the best Malaysian food you can" — they were a Malaysian couple — "and give it to that neighbor. Build some relationship with her." They said, "Okay."

I come to work Monday morning and that lady comes into my cubicle and says, "I love Islam! Muslims are so nice, they make the best food, and I didn't know Asians were Muslim." She didn't know about Indonesia or Malaysia. So then she said, subhanAllah, "I was so happy to meet a Muslim for the first time in my life." I told her, "You actually met a Muslim before." She said, "What do you mean?" I said, "I'm Muslim." I was going to work wearing a kufi. She said, "I thought you were just a sweet Jewish boy." MashAllah.

So I pray that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala makes us sweet Muslim brothers and sisters who are a great example of Islam. That sister — she became Muslim a few years later. That older sister. She passed away during COVID. You never know again what you say or do that could bring someone to Islam.

Another brother was telling us his convert story, saying, "I became Muslim because I was at Albertsons, this one shopping center, and there was a guy wearing a kufi who was just shopping — but he was lowering his gaze. He looked different." So the man went home, started studying, and became Muslim. That brother wearing his kufi at Albertsons is getting the good deeds of this man. Why? He was just following the Sunnah, controlling his gaze, just shopping.

So again, brothers and sisters — be the utmost good character of Islam. People are looking at us whether we know it or not. You might be the only Muslim that a person meets in their life, and the impression they have because of your actions is either going to open the gates of guidance or potentially make it harder.

May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala give us the ability to understand these words, bring these words into practice, and convey these words to others.

Announcements

Kindly please pass the donation boxes from your left to the right and donate generously on this blessed day of Jumu'ah, as Rasulullah ﷺ mentioned that charity given during the day of Jumu'ah is greater in reward than any other day. Alhamdulillah, we have donation boxes for cash, kiosks in the back on your way out, or you can also use Zelle and donate at masjidds.org. Give whatever you can on this blessed day — may Allah accept all of our ibadah.

As we are approaching the Hajj season, many brothers, sisters, and families will be heading for Hajj. We will have our annual Fiqh of Hajj Workshop on Sunday, May 10th at 1:30 PM — that's next weekend, Sunday after Salatul Dhuhr. Mufti Azim Munna Ahsan and Mufti Junaid Ajmeri will be covering the spiritual dimensions along with the fiqh rulings. If you are planning on going for Hajj this season, or you know anyone — family and friends — kindly please share this information with them inshAllah.

Additionally, we are one or two months away from summer. For many colleges and high schools, final exams are in the next week or two, and people are making plans — internships, camps, programs. Alhamdulillah, here at Darussalam we have many programs for all ages, starting from 3 years old all the way up to 25 or 30 — from our Tarbiyah for Tots, our Quran and Islamic Studies and Basketball Camp, along with our Deen and Arabic Intensive. All the information is on our website. We humbly encourage you to please visit our website and see what is best for your son and daughter inshAllah. That's masjidds.org/summer.

Additionally, throughout the week we have multiple programs for the community to stay engaged. You can visit the website for more information.

Lastly, we have a few du'a requests. Please make du'a for shifa' for Brother Muhammad Abdul Rahim, who is in a critical state of health. We have Brother Mark from Hungry Joe's who is going through cataract surgery — please make du'a for his shifa'. We have Brother Haroon Mohiuddin who has passed away — please remember him in your du'as. And please remember the entire Muslim Ummah in our du'as:

And lastly, before we start the Arabic khutbah — just as a reminder: the Arabic khutbah and the salah are acts of ibadah, not just a routine. So let's all try our best to ensure that we are not distracted and not scrolling on our phones. The same way in salah we concentrate and don't use our phones — similarly, when the imam comes to start the adhan and the Arabic khutbah, that is the state we have to be in. Let's ensure that we are all concentrating. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala accept our Jumu'ah and all of our ibadah. Jazakum Allah khayran.