The Sufis’ worship of Allah without fear or hope
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner:
This questioner says: Some of the Sufis hold that the servant reaches a level where he worships Allah not out of fear of His punishment, nor out of hope for His reward, but rather he worships Allah in order to give thanks.
The Shaykh:
This is misguidance, may Allah protect us from it. This is misguidance and a departure from what came in the Book and the Sunnah. They say, "We do not worship Allah out of fear of His punishment or hope for His reward, but we worship Him because we love Him." This is the path of the Sufis. We worship Allah, love Him, fear Him, and hope in Him, (Glorified and Exalted is He). Yes.
The questioner:
And he says: They cite as evidence the hadith: “Should I not be a grateful servant?”
The Shaykh:
This is not a proof of blame. When they said to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) said to him when he stood in prayer until his feet swelled from the length of his standing: “You did not do so,”Ash-Shama'il Al-Muhammadiyah 260Sahih Isnād (Zubair `Aliza'i) This is the saying of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). Yes.
The presenter:
May Allah reward you, Honorable Shaykh,
This questioner says: Some of the Sufis hold that the servant reaches a level where he worships Allah not out of fear of His punishment, nor out of hope for His reward, but rather he worships Allah in order to give thanks.
The Shaykh:
This is misguidance, may Allah protect us from it. This is misguidance and a departure from what came in the Book and the Sunnah. They say, "We do not worship Allah out of fear of His punishment or hope for His reward, but we worship Him because we love Him." This is the path of the Sufis. We worship Allah, love Him, fear Him, and hope in Him, (Glorified and Exalted is He). Yes.
The questioner:
And he says: They cite as evidence the hadith: “Should I not be a grateful servant?”
The Shaykh:
This is not a proof of blame. When they said to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) said to him when he stood in prayer until his feet swelled from the length of his standing: “You did not do so,”
when Allah has already forgiven you your former and your latter sins?' He replied: 'Shall I not be a thankful servant?'
هذا وقد غفر الله لك ما تقدم من ذنبك وما تأخر؟ قال أفلا أكون عبدا شكوراThe presenter:
May Allah reward you, Honorable Shaykh,
Source
شرح كتاب فتح المجيد في شرح كتاب التوحيد [ صالح الفوزان ]، باب : قول الله - تعالى - : { أفأمنوا مكر الله فلا يأمن مكر الله إلا القوم الخاسرون } — islamhouse.com (46:40)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.