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, but I worshipped You because You are worthy of worship," and explaining that every believer is one who knows Allah, but not vice versa.

The Shaykh : We mentioned that what is narrated from Rabi'ah al-'Adawiyyah, that she would converse with her Lord and say in her conversation with Him, the Exalted: "I did not worship You out of hope for Your Paradise or fear of Your Fire, but I worshipped You because You are worthy of worship", is not part of Islam in any way. 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, the Exalted—the more he increases in fear of Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, on one hand, and the more he increases in hope and desire for what is with Allah, the Exalted, of abiding bliss, on the other hand.
A person in whom we imagine this strong faith cannot possibly utter "I do not worship You out of hope for Your Paradise or fear of Your punishment", because this means that the speaker has not known his Lord. Faith necessitates knowledge, but knowledge does not necessitate faith. Every believer is one who knows, and this is a point that you must all be alert to, so that you do not be overly influenced by the philosophical opinions you may read in books or hear quoted from them. Every believer is one who knows Allah, the Exalted, but the reverse is not the case; not every one who knows is a believer. Therefore, one of the common errors is when they want to praise a pious, noble, believing man, they describe him as "the one who knows Allah." Our Lord, the Exalted, described the disbelievers in many places with knowledge, but... faith. Allah, the Exalted, said regarding the People of the Book and their knowledge of the truth of our Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) about them: They do not 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 denied him, did not believe in him, and did not have faith in him. Yes.
Likewise, this certainty is the very essence of knowledge, but it was not accompanied by faith, so it did not benefit them.
So, if the believer knows his Lord as the Forgiving, the Merciful, and as the Severe in punishment, and if this knowledge is decisive, then its owner believes in it with decisive faith. It is impossible for this person to 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 that he takes revenge on people without right. So, by his knowledge of this reality, he takes his precautions and fears him. Conversely, if there were a king who was generous and bountiful, giving to people without reckoning and without questioning, it is impossible for a person to live under the banner of this king and not desire what is with him for free. This is the nature of man. So what do we say regarding the Lord of the worlds, the King of kings, in whose hand are the hearts of all kings, 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 worship Allah, the Exalted, without fearing Him and without being afraid of Him? From this, you understand the secret of the fact that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), in some authentic hadiths, and from this you know the secret of Allah, the Exalted, describing some of His chosen, good servants by saying: How can we imagine a person who fulfills the right of this servitude for which Allah, the Exalted, 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, the Exalted.
The discussion of this is long, but there is a point. In the authentic hadiths, explaining a statement like our Lord, Blessed and Exalted is He, saying: It came in the authentic hadith explaining He, peace and blessings be upon him, said: Paradise meaning the seeing of Allah, the Exalted, 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 the Paradise of their Lord, Blessed and Exalted is He. At that point, how can we imagine a believer who is knowledgeable of such texts and others, knowing that in Paradise is the seeing of Allah, the Exalted, how can he say: "I did not worship You out of hope for Your Paradise" while he knows that there is no way to see Allah, the Exalted, except in Paradise? For this, and this, and much that we have not mentioned, the true believer must fear Allah, the Exalted, as came in this hadith: This weeping is only the effect of this faith that dominates this weeper, and this does not happen except by his knowledge of his Lord, the Exalted, and his understanding of the attributes by which our Lord, Blessed and Exalted is He, is described.