Explaining the error in the statement of "Rabi'ah al-'Adawiyyah": "I did not worship You out of hope for Your Paradise or fear of Your Fire"

The Shaykh : ... We mentioned that what is reported about "Rabi'ah al-'Adawiyyah" is not part of Islam in any way. It is reported that she would converse with her Lord, saying in her conversation with Him - Mighty and Majestic - : "I did not worship You out of hope for Your Paradise or fear of Your Fire, but rather I worshipped You because You are worthy of worship." This is poetic, imaginative speech; its surface is mercy, but its core is torment. This is because the sincere believer, the stronger his faith—which includes his knowledge of Allah - Mighty and Majestic - is, the more he fears Allah - Blessed and Exalted is He - on one hand, and the more he hopes and desires what is with Allah - Mighty and Majestic - of abiding bliss on the other hand.
A person in whom we imagine this strong faith cannot possibly say: "I do not worship You out of hope for Your Paradise or fear of Your punishment." Because this means that the speaker did not know his Lord. Faith necessitates knowledge, but knowledge does not necessitate faith. Every believer is knowledgeable, and this is a point that you must all pay attention to, so that you are not influenced by many of the philosophical opinions you may read in books or hear quoted from them. Every believer is knowledgeable of Allah - Mighty and Majestic - , but the reverse is not the case; not every knowledgeable person is a believer. Therefore, one of the common errors is that when they want to praise a righteous, pious man who believes in Allah - Mighty and Majestic - with true faith, they describe him as "the one who knows Allah - Mighty and Majestic -." Our Lord - Mighty and Majestic - described the disbelievers in many places with knowledge, but He denied them faith. Allah - Mighty and Majestic - said regarding the People of the Book and their knowledge of the truth of our Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him): . He did not say that they believe in him; because knowledge is one thing and faith is another. Every believer must have known what he believed in, but not everyone who knows something believes in it. These are the Jews and the Christians; they knew the Prophet (peace be upon him) and that he is the one who was promised in their books, and yet they lied about him, did not believe in him, and did not have faith in him.

Another questioner : ... .

The Shaykh: Yes.
Likewise: . This certainty is the very essence of knowledge, but it was not accompanied by faith; so it did not benefit them in any way.
So, if the believer knows his Lord as the Forgiving, the Merciful, and as the Severe in punishment, and if this knowledge is a firm knowledge in which its owner has firm faith, this person cannot worship Allah without hoping for what is with Him of bliss and without fearing what is with Him of Hellfire. Because an ordinary person who lived under the rule of a human king, and this king was a tyrant and a bully who oppressed people, must fear him and be afraid of him; because he sees constantly and forever that he takes revenge on people without right. So, due to his knowledge of this reality, he takes his precautions and fears him. Conversely, if there were a noble, generous king who bestows his gifts on people without reckoning and without questioning, a person cannot live under the banner of this king and not desire what is with him for free. The nature of man is like this. So what do we say regarding the Lord of the worlds, the King of kings? The hearts of all kings are in His hand - Blessed and Exalted is He. If we know that He is the Forgiving, the Merciful, and the Possessor of immense favor, how can we imagine that we truly believe in Him and yet do not hope for what is with Him - Blessed and Exalted is He - of good, favor, reward, and a Paradise whose width is the heavens and the earth? This cannot be imagined except from a person who is either not a believer or is heedless.
Likewise, if we know that He is the Mighty, the Avenger, and the Tyrant, how can we live and worship Allah - Mighty and Majestic - without fearing Him and being afraid of Him? From here you understand the secret in the saying of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) in some of the authentic hadiths: . And from here you know the secret in Allah's - Mighty and Majestic - description of some of His chosen, good servants by saying: "They worship Us" . Is this the verse? . "They worship Us" . They hope for what is with Allah and fear what is with Allah. How can we imagine a person who fulfills the right of this servitude for which Allah - Mighty and Majestic - praised these chosen, good servants? How can we imagine that one of them says: "I did not worship You out of hope for Your Paradise or fear of Your punishment"? This is nonsense, or the speech of an ignorant person, or one who does not believe in Allah - Mighty and Majestic -.
The discussion of this is long, but there is a point; in the authentic hadiths, there is an explanation of a statement like our Lord's - Blessed and Exalted is He - : . It came in the authentic hadith in the explanation of , he said - may Allah's prayers and peace be upon him - : , Paradise, ; meaning: seeing Allah - Mighty and Majestic - in the Hereafter.
And it came in other hadiths that the believers in Paradise, when they look at their Lord - Blessed and Exalted is He -, forget all the bliss they saw and felt in their Lord's Paradise - Blessed and Exalted is He -. At that time, how can we imagine a believer who is knowledgeable of such texts and others, knowing that in Paradise is the seeing of Allah - Mighty and Majestic -? How can he say: "I did not worship You out of hope for Your Paradise," when he knows that there is no way to see Allah - Mighty and Majestic - except in Paradise? For this, and for this, and for much of what we have not mentioned, the true believer must fear Allah - Mighty and Majestic - as came in this hadith: . This weeping is only the effect of this faith that dominates this weeper, and this does not happen except through his knowledge of his Lord - Mighty and Majestic - and his understanding of the attributes by which our Lord - Blessed and Exalted is He - is described.