How the believer is between hope and fear, and if a person has much fear, knowing that Allah’s favor toward His servants is great and that His mercy precedes His anger
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The questioner : This is a questioner from Dammam who says, “O honorable Shaykh, how is the believer between hope and fear? If a person has much fear, and I say I know that the favor of Allah, Mighty and Majestic, toward His servants is great and that His mercy precedes His anger, I am always very afraid because of my shortcomings. I ask Allah, Mighty and Majestic, to bestow His pardon and favor upon us and you.”
The Shaykh : Amen.
The questioner : Guide us in light of this question?
The Shaykh : Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and I send prayers and peace upon our Prophet Muhammad, the Seal of the Prophets and the Imam of the righteous, and upon his family and his Companions, and those who follow them with excellence until the Day of Judgment. The believer must proceed to Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, between fear and hope, like the two wings of a bird. Imam Ahmad (may Allah have mercy on him) said: “His fear and his hope should be equal; if either one prevails, its owner is ruined.” So when a person sees his sins and the shortcomings he has committed regarding the rights of Allah, Mighty and Majestic, and the rights of people, he fears. And when he reflects on the favor of Allah the Exalted, the vastness of His mercy, and His pardon, he hopes and returns. It is obligatory for him that his fear and his hope be equal, because if hope prevails over him, he is to be feared from becoming secure from the plot of Allah, and if fear prevails over him, he is to be feared from despairing of the mercy of Allah. Both are to be avoided. And Allah the Exalted said about His awliya (close friends of Allah) and His prophets:[Al-Anbya 21:90]
Some scholars said that if one performs acts of obedience, he should give precedence to the side of hope and acceptance, and that Allah the Exalted does not waste the reward of one who does good. And if he fears from committing forbidden acts, he should give precedence to fear and fear that his evil deeds will reach him with present and future punishments.
Others among the scholars of knowledge said that in a state of health, one should give precedence to the side of fear so that it drives him to perform the obligatory acts and leave the forbidden ones. And in a state of a fatal illness where he fears he will meet his Lord in it, he should give precedence to the side of hope so that he dies while having a good opinion of Allah, Mighty and Majestic.
In any case, it is obligatory for a person that fear not take over him to the point that he despairs of the mercy of Allah, or that hope not take over him to the point that he becomes secure from the plot of Allah. Let him proceed to his Lord between these two.
The questioner : May Allah reward you with good, O honorable Shaykh.
The Shaykh : Amen.
The questioner : Guide us in light of this question?
The Shaykh : Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and I send prayers and peace upon our Prophet Muhammad, the Seal of the Prophets and the Imam of the righteous, and upon his family and his Companions, and those who follow them with excellence until the Day of Judgment. The believer must proceed to Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, between fear and hope, like the two wings of a bird. Imam Ahmad (may Allah have mercy on him) said: “His fear and his hope should be equal; if either one prevails, its owner is ruined.” So when a person sees his sins and the shortcomings he has committed regarding the rights of Allah, Mighty and Majestic, and the rights of people, he fears. And when he reflects on the favor of Allah the Exalted, the vastness of His mercy, and His pardon, he hopes and returns. It is obligatory for him that his fear and his hope be equal, because if hope prevails over him, he is to be feared from becoming secure from the plot of Allah, and if fear prevails over him, he is to be feared from despairing of the mercy of Allah. Both are to be avoided. And Allah the Exalted said about His awliya (close friends of Allah) and His prophets:
Indeed, they used to hasten to good deeds and supplicate Us in hope and fear, and they were to Us humbly submissive.
إِنَّهُم كانوا يُسارِعونَ فِي الخَيراتِ وَيَدعونَنا رَغَبًا وَرَهَبًا وَكانوا لَنا خاشِعينَSome scholars said that if one performs acts of obedience, he should give precedence to the side of hope and acceptance, and that Allah the Exalted does not waste the reward of one who does good. And if he fears from committing forbidden acts, he should give precedence to fear and fear that his evil deeds will reach him with present and future punishments.
Others among the scholars of knowledge said that in a state of health, one should give precedence to the side of fear so that it drives him to perform the obligatory acts and leave the forbidden ones. And in a state of a fatal illness where he fears he will meet his Lord in it, he should give precedence to the side of hope so that he dies while having a good opinion of Allah, Mighty and Majestic.
In any case, it is obligatory for a person that fear not take over him to the point that he despairs of the mercy of Allah, or that hope not take over him to the point that he becomes secure from the plot of Allah. Let him proceed to his Lord between these two.
The questioner : May Allah reward you with good, O honorable Shaykh.