The benefits derived from His saying, the Exalted: << قال رجلان من الذين يخافون . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . >

Among its benefits—meaning His saying, the Exalted: —is that the fear of Allah is what drives the servant to obey Him, for He said: There is no doubt that fear is what drives the servant to obedience, just as hope is also what drives one to obedience. However, the general rule is that fear drives one to avoid disobedience and falling into what is prohibited, while hope drives one to compliance with obedience in what is commanded. Among the benefits of this noble verse is that the fear of Allah, Mighty and Majestic, is among the blessings. There is no doubt that it is a blessing of Allah upon the servant that Allah blesses him with fear of Him, as He said: . Among the benefits of this verse is that it is recommended for one who intends to conquer a land to obscure the news from its people, as these two advising men said: meaning they do not know of you until you enter the gate. We have mentioned a witness to this in the Conquest of Makkah, where the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) asked Allah to obscure the news from Quraysh until he would reside in their land. Among the benefits of this noble verse is that one who is attacked in his own home is humiliated. This is a famous saying: "No people are attacked in their own home except that they are humiliated," derived from His saying: and the people of the land are defeated. Among the benefits of this noble verse is that entering a town is not done by scaling the walls, but rather through the gate. For this reason, when the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) besieged the garden of Musaylimah the Liar, they did not scale the wall, but rather opened the gate and then entered. Buraibah ibn Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) was famous for his bravery and strength, and they asked him to shoot from behind the wall in order to open the gate for them. He did so, entered, and opened the gate for them. He opened the gate and the people entered this garden, and victory was achieved.
Among the benefits of the noble verse is that reliance upon Allah is among the causes of victory, as these two men said: . Among its benefits is that a person should not rely on himself or on the tangible cause, as He said after directing them: And witnessing to this meaning derived from this verse is the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): Strive for what benefits you by doing what you can of the causes, Among the benefits of the noble verse is the obligation to single out Allah, the Exalted, with reliance, as He said: And there is a detail in this, which is that absolute reliance, which involves the one who relies delegating his affair to the one he relies upon, this is not permissible except for Allah. And the one who relies on Allah in this sense feels that he is in need and dependent upon Allah, Mighty and Majestic. As for reliance, which is dependence on a part, where the one who relies does not feel that he has delegated his affair to this one, and that the one he relies upon is the one who can fulfill his need, then there is no harm in it. Therefore, the Sunnah came with the permissibility of delegating to others and relying on them in what they are delegated. For example, you say, "O so-and-so, buy me such and such." You are now relying on him, but is this a reliance of belief or a reliance of assistance? It is the latter, assistance. So you now feel that you are not in need of this man; if you wished, you could dismiss him, and he also cannot bring about your desire. He may fall ill, or he may be prevented, and so on. But the servant's reliance on Allah, Mighty and Majestic—and I ask Allah to make me and you among those who rely on Him—makes a person feel that he is in need of Allah and that he has delegated his affair to Allah, Mighty and Majestic. And thus, we cannot say that reliance on other than Allah is shirk (associating partners with Allah), because as I told you, the great difference between this and that is apparent. However, a person may rely on and depend on one who spends on him, for example, a son depends on his father for financial support. Here, the matter is very delicate. Likewise, an employee depends on his job. This is a delicate matter. If you make yourself feel that this is a pure cause, and that the One who made it a cause is Allah, and that Allah is able to prevent the effect of this cause, and you make the whole affair up to Allah, Mighty and Majestic, then that does not contradict reliance, neither its essence nor its perfection. But if you rely on it and attach your heart to it, then this is undoubtedly a type of shirk. If you forget Allah completely—may Allah protect us—and make this the one who brings you matters by itself, then it is major shirk; otherwise, it is minor shirk. Among this is what often happens to the sick, where they rely on the doctor completely, to the extent that they feel that healing comes from him. This is a great danger. But if you rely on the doctor as a cause, and the One who causes is Allah, Mighty and Majestic, and that Allah, the Exalted, if He decrees healing for you, He is the One who healed you, and otherwise the doctor will not benefit you, and our goal there is that I go to the doctor just as I light a fire to cook food, for example, then there is no harm in it. And we must have in our hearts some attachment to the one who benefits us, but it is obligatory that we make the first and the last Allah, Mighty and Majestic. Among the benefits of this noble verse is that singling out Allah with reliance is part of faith, as He said: And that a deficiency in reliance upon Allah is a deficiency in faith, because what is tied to something increases with its increase and decreases with its decrease.