Page 88 - Fear of Allah

FEAR OF ALLAH

Lives full of fears and anxieties

For people who do not believe in or fear Allah the entire world is
made up of disorder and coincidences. They think that everything
happens by chance and that the events that occur around them are
without rhyme or reason. Under such circumstances it is impossible
to experience any lasting sense of true peace and tranquility, since at
any moment they could be faced with some arbitrary misfortune.
He has endless anxieties and fears regarding the future. For exam-
ple, he could fall sick with an unexpected illness, lose all his wealth,
or perhaps an unexpected catastrophe could befall him or his loved
ones. Because he imagines all events such as these happen willy-
nilly, he never feels free of anxiety and apprehension over the possi-
bility of them happening to him. What is more, the situation is made
all the worse by the knowledge that the whole affair is entirely be-
yond his control, leaving him with an increased sense of helpless-
ness and hopelessness.
Only someone who fears Allah will not succumb to these kinds
of fear. Fear of Allah and belief in Him displaces all these other
fears. To know that Allah is the Owner and Creator of everything,
and that no event occurs except under the control and divine provi-
dence of Allah, knowing that Allah will protect and look after those
who believe and trust in Him, leads to freedom from all sorts of
fears and illusory needs. The Qur'an declares:
Allah has made a metaphor for them of a man owned by sev-
eral partners in dispute with one another and another man
wholly owned by a single man. Are they the same? Praise be
to Allah! The fact is that most of them do not know. (Surat
az-Zumar: 29)
People who do not believe in Allah and who subsequently do

86