Fearing Allah سبحانه و تعالى - Shaykh Zakaullah Saleem

Fearing Allah — The Fear That Guides the Believer

And we seek refuge in Allah from the evil of our souls and from the evil of our deeds. I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, alone, with no partner. And I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and His Messenger.

O you who have believed, fear Allah as He should be feared. And do not die except as Muslims.

O you people, fear your Lord, Who created you from one soul, and created from it her mate, and spread among them many men and women. And fear Allah in Whom you ask for mercy. Verily, Allah is ever watching over you.

O you who have believed, fear Allah and say a firm word. He will amend for you your deeds and forgive you your sins. And whoever obeys Allah and His Messenger has certainly attained a great triumph.

The Blessing of the Fear of Allah

My dear brothers and sisters in Islam, one of the favors of Allah upon the believers is his khawf — his fear. The believer is blessed by Allah for having the fear of Allah in his heart. And this fear is a blessing from Allah Dhul-Jalali wal-Ikram. Because this is the fear that prevents a person from disobeying Allah Dhul-Jalali wal-Ikram.

The fear of Allah stops you from disobeying Him, from committing sins. And the fear of Allah also is the one that encourages you to obey Him Dhul-Jalali wal-Ikram, and to excel in performing righteous actions and good deeds.

That is why Allah has made the mention of His fear in the Quran in so many ayat. The fear of Allah is of various types. One of them is to have the fear of standing before Allah on the Day of Judgment.

Fear of Standing Before Allah on the Day of Judgment

Allah says in Surah al-Nazi'at:

As for the one who is afraid of standing before his Lord on the Day of Judgment, and in result of this — نَهَى النَّفْسَ عَنِ الْهَوَىٰ — he prevents himself from following his desires, from committing sins, then the Jannah and Paradise is going to be his final abode.

So that fear, that feeling, that belief that we are going to stand before Allah on the Day of Judgment — that fear helps you to stay away from committing sins, to abstain from committing sins. And whoever is deprived of that fear of Allah, he continues disobeying Allah and he commits sins.

That is why the scholars have said that this is the muraqabatullah — مُرَاقَبَةُ اللهِ — the feeling and the belief that Allah is all-watching, all-seeing, all-hearing, all-aware of whatever you do. That iman, that belief, that fear prevents you from committing sins.

The Hadith of Fear and Setting Out Early

And Rasulullah ﷺ has said in a hadith collected by Imam al-Tirmidhi, on the authority of Sayyiduna Abu Hurairah, he ﷺ said:

(Jami' al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 2450)

He ﷺ says: whoever has the fear, whoever is afraid, he excels and he rushes towards performing righteous deeds. مَنْ خَافَ أَدْلَجَ — what the Prophet ﷺ said in this hadith is: whoever fears that the enemy may attack him, he leaves and sets off in the early parts of the night. He does not delay, he does not wait until the enemy comes and attacks him. وَمَنْ أَدْلَجَ بَلَغَ الْمَنْزِلَ — and whoever sets out in the early parts of the night is able to reach his destination safely and with security.

And the scholars have said in the explanation, in the sharh of this hadith, that this hadith also refers to the khawf of Allah. Anyone who has the fear of Allah in his heart is not lazy in performing righteous deeds. Rather he always gets up when the time comes for Salatul Fajr — although he is in his comfortable bed, he gets up, reminding himself of standing before Allah on the Day of Judgment.

Then the Prophet ﷺ said: أَلَا إِنَّ سِلْعَةَ اللهِ غَالِيَةٌ، أَلَا إِنَّ سِلْعَةَ اللهِ الْجَنَّةُ — Beware, the commodity of Allah, the goods of Allah, is precious. The commodity of Allah is nothing other than Paradise. For you to achieve, for you to attain the commodity of Allah, you have to excel, and you have to abstain and refrain from committing sins, and excel in performing righteous actions.

The Night Prayer — Qiyam al-Layl

And one of the righteous actions that helps a person to attain the fear of Allah is getting up at night in order to perform the night prayer — even if it is only two rak'at. You get up at night and you stand before Allah. And remember, only those who have the fear of Allah within their hearts are the ones who are able to get up at night, because this is the mercy, this is the blessing from Allah. And those who get up at night to stand before Allah, to offer their night prayer — those who have that fear in this dunya — they will have no fear on the Day of Judgment.

The Signs of the True Believers — Surah al-Sajdah

Allah has made it clear in Surah al-Sajdah. One of the signs and one of the characteristics of the true believers, and those who have the fear of Allah, is that they keep their sides away from their comfortable beds at night. They call upon their Lord out of fear — because they have the fear of Allah within their heart — and it is not only fear, it is fear as well as hope in the mercy of Allah.

The Reward of Those Who Fear — Surah al-Insan

Allah says in Surah al-Insan — the surah that our Prophet ﷺ used to recite in Salatul Fajr on Fridays — Allah says about the believers, about the righteous people: they say, "We fear that day when we will be standing before Allah — that day is a tough, hard, and difficult day."

And when they have that fear, because of that fear they excelled in performing righteous actions and they stayed away from committing sins and disobedience to Allah. Allah will save them from the evil of that day. In this dunya, they used to cry before Allah at night. They would stand up and spend long hours reciting the Quran. They would spend their time performing their ruku' and sujud, calling upon Allah, crying before Him for their needs, for His maghfirah, for His mercy. Because they used to cry in this dunya, on the Day of Judgment Allah says: "This day I am going to grant them the bloom and the delight of that day." Their faces will be glowing, because they are the ones who would stand at night before Allah.

The Season of Winter — An Opportunity for Night Prayer

My dear brothers and sisters in Islam, we are entering into the season of winter. And during winter, the nights are long. This is a mercy, this is a bounty from Allah. And we should take the opportunity to draw ourselves closer to Allah by getting up early at night. And those who struggle in getting up for Salatul Fajr or before Salatul Fajr should remind themselves of the Day of Judgment — when we will be standing before Allah.

The Prophet ﷺ encouraged us on Qiyam al-Layl, on Salat al-Layl, the night prayer. And the best time of the night prayer is the last part of the night. As Rasulullah ﷺ has said: every night Allah descends to the lowest heaven, as it befits His Majesty, Dhul-Jalali wal-Ikram. We cannot explain how Allah descends, but we have to believe because the Prophet ﷺ has informed us. And He says to His slaves:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 1145; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 758)

"Is there anyone who would like to ask Me, so that I can grant him whatever he asks Me for? Is there anyone who would like to seek My forgiveness? I am ready to forgive him." That is one of the best times to get your du'as answered by Allah Dhul-Jalali wal-Ikram.

May Allah grant us that fear, that khawf, by which we are able to stand up at night and to perform the night prayer. The Prophet ﷺ has said that the best of the prayers after the obligatory prayers is the night prayer.

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 1163)

That is why Rasulullah ﷺ would not miss his night prayer. He ﷺ used to perform the night prayer every single night. And because he ﷺ wanted his ummah to develop the habit and the practice of offering the night prayer, he ﷺ, by the permission of Allah, made it very easy for us.

When we look at the sunnah and the seerah and the practice of Rasulullah ﷺ, we come to know that it is permissible for you to offer the night prayer anytime during the night — from the time you have prayed Salatul Isha until the time of Fajr begins, you are able to perform the night prayer at any time.

The Prophet's Advice to Abu Hurairah

Rasulullah ﷺ advised Sayyiduna Abu Hurairah, a companion of the Prophet ﷺ who used to keep himself busy in memorizing the ahadith of Rasulullah ﷺ all the time. The Prophet ﷺ knew that it was difficult for Abu Hurairah to get up in the latter part of the night, so he ﷺ advised him and said: "O Abu Hurairah, make sure that you do not go to sleep unless you have performed the night prayer." This is a mercy of the Prophet ﷺ for his ummah — that you can perform the night prayer even before going to sleep.

And the Prophet ﷺ used to encourage his companions not to miss the night prayer. Therefore, it was a common practice amongst the companions of the Prophet ﷺ. They would get up at night, as Allah has made mention of that in the Quran:

Your Lord knows that you get up at night and you stand before Allah — one third of the night, sometimes half of the night, sometimes two thirds of the night you stand before Allah. It is not only you; a large group of the believers along with you — they also get up at night and they perform the night prayer.

The First Advice of the Prophet in Madinah

There are many, many benefits of performing the night prayer, and one of them is that you have the opportunity to have a secret conversation with your Lord, Allah. That is why the Prophet ﷺ, when he arrived in Madinah al-Munawwarah, the very first piece of advice that he shared with the people of Madinah — and this is the advice by which Abdullah ibn Salam, who was a Jewish scholar of that time, came to know the Prophet ﷺ.

He came to meet the Prophet ﷺ because he had heard a lot about him, and when he heard that Muhammad ﷺ had arrived in Madinah, he wanted to go and see if he was a true Prophet — if he was the one who is mentioned in the Torah. So Abdullah ibn Salam says: "The very first statement that I heard from the Prophet ﷺ was:"

(Jami' al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 2485; Ibn Majah, Hadith 1334)

"O people, spread the salaam. Feed the food. Join the families and strengthen the ties of kinship. And pray at night while the people are asleep. And if you do these righteous actions and these good deeds, you will enter into Jannah with peace, without any punishment from Allah."

This is the blessing of Allah — He blesses with this blessing whomsoever He wills. May Allah make us all amongst those who are blessed with this blessing. He ﷺ said: "Offer the night prayer while the people are asleep."

Calling Upon Allah in Times of Difficulty

The benefit is that you call upon Allah. If you have any difficulty, any hardship you are facing in your life — whether it is financial, whether it is to do with your health, or if you have any kind of issue, any problem in your life — you stand before Allah and you call upon Allah. Because Rasulullah ﷺ has informed us that Allah promises and He says: "Is there anyone who asks Me for his needs so that I can grant him?"

May Allah give us the tawfiq and ability. Ameen.