The Methodology of the People of the Sunnah Regarding Hope and Fear

Question:
Your Eminence! This is a questioner from Algeria who has used the initials (A. A. A) as a code for his name. He asks: What is the methodology of the people of the Sunnah and the community regarding hope and fear? May Allah reward you with good.

Answer:
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Praise be to Allah, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon the Messenger of Allah, and upon his family and his Companions, and upon whoever follows his guidance. As for what follows:
The methodology of the people of the Sunnah and the community regarding hope and fear is to believe in them and to be upright upon them. Indeed, the believer worships Allah alone and makes his worship sincere to Him, and at the same time he hopes for Him and fears Him. He hopes for His mercy, so he hastens to what pleases Him, and he fears His punishment, so he stays away from what He dislikes and what He has forbidden. As He the Exalted said regarding His righteous servants, the messengers and their followers: [Surah al-Anbiya: 90]. So His saying: is hope, and means fear. This is the description of the people of faith, the messengers and their followers: that they worship Allah and call upon Him with sincerity to Him, with love and magnification, and with desire and fear [Surah al-Isra: 57].
It is obligatory for every believer to be like this: to be sincere to Allah, to believe in Allah, to have tawhid (the oneness of Allah) for Him the Exalted, to hope for His mercy, and to fear His punishment (Exalted and Majestic is He). And He said in the other verse: [Surah al-Isra: 57]. This is the description of the believers: drawing near to Allah through His obedience; through sincerity, performing the obligatory duties, and leaving what is forbidden, along with fear of Him (Exalted and Majestic is He) and hope for His mercy and His benevolence.
As for the Murji'ah, they emphasized the aspect of hope and were lenient regarding the aspect of fear. The Mu'tazilah, the Jahmiyyah, and those similar to them emphasized the aspect of fear and went to excess in the aspect of hope. The people of the Sunnah and the community are the opposite of that; they believe in both: they hope in His mercy and have tawhid for Him, and they hasten to what pleases Him, along with fear of Him, the Exalted, and caution regarding Him. They say: Whoever dies in a state of disobedience, while having tawhid and being sincere to Allah, and being a believer, but he died in a state of one of the sins without considering it permissible—such as dying while committing zina (unlawful sexual intercourse) as a fornicator who did not repent, or dying while drinking khamr (intoxicants), or dying while being undutiful to his parents, or dying while eating riba (usury or interest), or something similar to these sins, but he does not consider it permissible, and he knows that he is a sinner—then this person is under the will of Allah according to the people of the Sunnah. He is under the will of Allah: if He wills, He will forgive him and admit him into Paradise by His mercy and benevolence. And if He wills, He will punish him according to the magnitude of the sins he died upon. Then, after purification and testing, Allah will take him out of the Fire into Paradise by His mercy and benevolence (Exalted and Majestic is He). No one will remain in the Fire eternally except the disbelievers. No one will remain in the Fire eternally except the disbelievers whose deeds were invalidated by their disbelief and misguidance. These are the ones who will remain in the Fire eternally, as Allah, the Exalted, said: [Surat al-Nisa: 48].
Sins other than shirk (associating partners with Allah) are under the will of Allah. He forgives them for whomever He wills of His servants, for righteous deeds and their taqwa (mindfulness of Allah) toward Him, or through the intercession of the intercessors, such as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), the believers, the angels, and the foremost in faith, or simply by His mercy, His pardon, and His grace, without the intercession of anyone.
This is the methodology of the people of the Sunnah and the community, who are the companions of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and their followers with excellence: belief in Allah, sincerity to Him, and uprightness upon His religion, along with great love, along with hope and fear, in contrast to the Murji'ah, and in contrast to the Mu'tazilah of the Wa'id (threat) and others.
It is obligatory for every male and female believer to proceed upon the methodology of the righteous Salaf, and to worship Allah alone with faith, with truthfulness, with sincerity, and with hope and fear. He performs the obligatory duties of Allah and fears the prohibitions of Allah. He does not feel safe from His scheme; rather, he fears Him and hopes in Him. Allah, the Exalted, said: [Surat al-A'raf: 99]. And the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: (peace and blessings be upon him). So, despite the fact that his previous and subsequent sins are forgiven, and despite the fact that he is the master of the children of Adam, and despite the fact that he is the best of people and the most perfect in faith, even with this, he fears Allah and hopes in Him. Indeed, he said: "I am the most fearful of you regarding Allah." And he said: (peace and blessings be upon him).
For this reason, the Salaf said: Whoever knows Allah best is the most fearful of Him. The more a servant's knowledge of Allah, His names, and His attributes increases, the more his fear of Allah increases, the more his magnification of Him increases, the more his hope in Him increases, the more his steadfastness upon the truth increases, his uprightness upon it increases, and his caution against its opposite increases. Yes.

The presenter: May Allah reward you with good, O Shaykh.