KHUTAB V: 4. FEAR AND GRIEF (1)

4. FEAR AND GRIEF (1)

          Fear and grief are two things felt by people approaching death or after death. But practicing Muslims who stand firm in their belief and practice will be safe from these two things, fear and grief.

There are two Qur’ānic verses starting with إِنَّ الَّذِينَ قَالُوا رَبُّنَا اللَّهُ ثُمَّ اسْتَقَامُوا (“Verily, those who say: “Our Lord is   Allah (Alone), and thereafter stand firm).”  Both of them contain a promise with Paradise for them, one by the angles, and the other directly by Allah. Allah says in the  Qur’ān:

إِنَّ الَّذِينَ قَالُوا رَبُّنَا اللَّهُ ثُمَّ اسْتَقَامُوا تَتَنَزَّلُ عَلَيْهِمُ الْمَلَائِكَةُ أَلَّا تَخَافُوا وَلَا تَحْزَنُوا

وَأَبْشِرُوا بِالْجَنَّةِ الَّتِي كُنْتُمْ تُوعَدُونَ . نَحْنُ أَوْلِيَاؤُكُمْ فِي الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا وَفِي الْآخِرَةِ

وَلَكُمْ فِيهَا مَا تَشْتَهِي أَنْفُسُكُمْ وَلَكُمْ فِيهَا مَا تَدَّعُونَ . نُزُلًا مِنْ غَفُورٍ رَحِيمٍ

(فصلت:30-32(

Verily, those who say : “Our Lord is Allah (Alone), and they

 stand firm, on them  the angels will descend [at the time of their death] (saying): “Fear not, nor grieve! But receive the glad tidings

 of Paradise which you have been promised! We have been

 your friends in the life of this world and are (so) in the Hereafter. Therein you  shall have (all) that your inner-selves  desire, and

 therein you shall have (all) for  which you ask. An

 entertainment from (Allah), the Oft-Forgiving,

 Most Merciful.” (Q. 41:30-32)

The term istaqāmū (lit. “stand firm”) means those who followed the Islamic  Monotheism, worshiped Allah. Alone, abstaining from all kinds of sins and bad deeds and performing all kinds of good deeds.

 At the time of their death, the angels will descend to them and will tell  them not to fear “that which you will face in the Hereafter,” nor grief  “for what you have left behind of worldly things, children, family, wealth and debt, for we shall take care of it for you.” (Mujāhid, al-Suddī, and  Zayd ibn Aslam’s interpretation).

The Prophet s.a.w. elaborated this glad tiding, namely, the promise of Paradise to the pious person in  this verse when he said in a long tradition, as follows:

عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ عَنْ النَّبِيِّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ قَالَ إِنَّ الْمَيِّتَ تَحْضُرُهُ

الْمَلَائِكَةُ فَإِذَا كَانَ الرَّجُلُ الصَّالِحُ قَالُوا اخْرُجِي أَيَّتُهَا النَّفْسُ الطَّيِّبَةُ كَانَتْ

 فِي الْجَسَدِ الطَّيِّبِ وَاخْرُجِي حَمِيدَةً وَأَبْشِرِي بِرَوْحٍ وَرَيْحَانٍ

 وَرَبٍّ غَيْرِ غَضْبَانَ ... (رواه أحمد)

Abu Hurayrah narrated from the Prophet s.a.w.  said:

Verily, the angels said to the soul of the dying person if

he is pious, “Come out, O good soul from  the good body,

 come out praiseworthily, and rejoice at rest and

 provision and a Lord Who is not angry…” 

(Reported by Aḥmad)

The angels told the believers when death was approaching them, “We have been your close companions, in this world, protecting you and helping you by the command of Allah, and will be with you in the Hereafter, keeping you from feeling lonely in your graves and when the Trumpet is blown; we will reassure you on the Day of Resurrection and will take you across the Ṣirāt and bring you to the Garden of delight. In Paradise you will have all that you wish for and that will delight you. Whatever you ask for, it will appear before you as you wish to be, a welcoming gift and blessing  from the One Who has forgiven your sins and Who is Merciful and Kind towards you, Who has forgiven you, concealed you faults and been Kind and Merciful.” (Ibn Kathīr’s Tafsīr)

In another verse, Allah said,

إِنَّ الَّذِينَ قَالُوا رَبُّنَا اللَّهُ ثُمَّ اسْتَقَامُوا فَلَا خَوْفٌ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلَا

هُمْ يَحْزَنُونَ . أُولَئِكَ أَصْحَابُ الْجَنَّةِ خَالِدِينَ فِيهَا جَزَاءً

بِمَا كَانُوا يَعْمَلُونَ (الأحقاف:13-14)

Verily, those who say: “Our Lord is   Allah (Alone),” and 

thereafter stand firm [and straight on the Islamic Faith of Monotheism], on them shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve.

 Such shall be the dwellers of Paradise, abiding therein 

(forever)—a reward for what they used to do. (Q. 46:13-14)

Here Allah Himself said directly, not through the statement of the angels, that the believers who stand firm will have no fear for the future nor grief of what he left behind in the world after they have left.

عَنْ سُفْيَانَ بْنِ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ الثَّقَفِيِّ قَالَ قُلْتُ يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ حَدِّثْنِي بِأَمْرٍ أَعْتَصِمُ بِهِ قَالَ

قُلْ رَبِّيَ اللَّهُ ثُمَّ اسْتَقِمْ قَالَ قُلْتُ يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ مَا أَخْوَفُ مَا تَخَافُ عَلَيَّ قَالَ فَأَخَذَ بِلِسَانِ

 نَفْسِهِ ثُمَّ قَالَ هَذَا (رواه أحمد  و البيهقي و النسائي و غيرهم(

Sufyān ibn Abdullah al-Thaqafī said, I said: “O Messenger

 of Allah, tell me something that I can adhere to,” He said: 

“Say, my Lord is Allah, then stand firm.” I said, O Messenger

 of Allah, what do you fear most for me?” The Messenger of

 Allah took hold of the edge of his tongue and said, “This is” (Reported by Aḥmad, al-Bayhaqī, al-Nasā’ī and others)

 Instead of “say, my Lord is Allah”, in another version, “say, I believe in Allah” indicating that it means “be a Muslim, a believer.”

 Generous people among Muslims will also be free from fear and grief. Allah said:

مَثَلُ الَّذِينَ يُنْفِقُونَ أَمْوَالَهُمْ فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ كَمَثَلِ حَبَّةٍ أَنْبَتَتْ سَبْعَ سَنَابِلَ فِي

 كُلِّ سُنْبُلَةٍ مِائَةُ حَبَّةٍ وَاللَّهُ يُضَاعِفُ لِمَنْ يَشَاءُ وَاللَّهُ وَاسِعٌ عَلِيمٌ . الَّذِينَ يُنْفِقُونَ

أَمْوَالَهُمْ فِي  سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ ثُمَّ لَا يُتْبِعُونَ مَا أَنْفَقُوا مَنًّا وَلَا أَذًى لَهُمْ أَجْرُهُمْ

عِنْدَ رَبِّهِمْ وَلَا خَوْفٌ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلَا هُمْ يَحْزَنُونَ (البقرة : 261-262(

The likeness of those who spend their wealth in the way of Allah,

 is as the likeness of a grain (of corn); it grows seven ears, and each ear has a hundred grains. Allah gives manifold increase to whom He wills. And Allah is All-Sufficient for His creatures’ needs, All-Knower. Those who spend their wealth in the Cause of Allah, and do not

follow up their gifts with reminders of their generosity or with

 injury, their reward is with their Lord. On them shall be

 no fear, nor shall they grieve. (Q. 2:261-262)

Allah also said,

الَّذِينَ يُنْفِقُونَ أَمْوَالَهُمْ بِاللَّيْلِ وَالنَّهَارِ سِرًّا وَعَلَانِيَةً فَلَهُمْ أَجْرُهُمْ عِنْدَ

رَبِّهِمْ وَلَا خَوْفٌ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلَا هُمْ يَحْزَنُونَ (البقرة :274(

Those who spend their wealth (in Allah’s Cause)

 by night and day, in secret and in public, they shall

 have their reward with their Lord. On them shall

 be no fear, nor shall they grieve. (Q. 2:274)

The shuhadā’ (martyrs in the cause of Islam) are also included among those who are free from fear and grief after leaving this world. They have high position among Muslims after that of prophets, ṣiddīqīn (righteous people, those who have extremely strong faith). They will enjoy life after death, even are considered alive. Allah said:

وَلَا تَحْسَبَنَّ الَّذِينَ قُتِلُوا فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ أَمْوَاتًا بَلْ أَحْيَاءٌ عِنْدَ رَبِّهِمْ يُرْزَقُونَ .

فَرِحِينَ بِمَا آتَاهُمُ اللَّهُ مِنْ فَضْلِهِ وَيَسْتَبْشِرُونَ بِالَّذِينَ لَمْ يَلْحَقُوا بِهِمْ مِنْ

خَلْفِهِمْ أَلَّا خَوْفٌ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلَا هُمْ يَحْزَنُونَ (آل عمران:170-169)

Think not of those who are killed in the Way of Allah

 as dead. Nay, they are alive, with their Lord, and they

have provision. They rejoiced in what Allah has bestowed

upon them of His Bounty and rejoice for the sake of  those

 who have not yet joined them, but are left  behind

 (not yet martyred) that on them no fear shall

 come, not shall they grieve. (Q. 3:169-170)

Jābir ibn ‘Abdullah reported that when the Prophet s.a.w. saw him and asked him why he was restless. He told him it was because his father was killed in the battlefield, and was leaving the family burden and debt. The Prophet told him that Allah never talked to anyone except behind the veil except to his father; He talked to him directly. He said: “O my servant, ask me and I shall give you.” He said: “I ask You to bring me back to the world, so that I shall be martyred again for You.” Allah said: “I have decided that those who die will never return to the world.” He said: “O my Lord, let those whom I have left know my condition.” Then Allah revealed the verses mentioned above.

This means that there will be no second chance to come back to this world to do good things once we died. There is no reincarnation, and there is no transmigration of the souls. This is the danger of not accepting Islam.

The awliyā’ (people who are close to Allah, pious people, saints) are also among people who are free from fear and grief in the Hereafter.  Abū Hurayrah narrated that the Prophet s.a.w. said:

Among the servants of Allah there will be those whom the

Prophets and the martyrs will consider fortunate. It was said:

“Who are these, O Messenger of Allah, so that we may love them?”

 He said: “They are people who loved one another for the sake

 of Allah without any other interest like money or kinship. Their

faces will be light, upon platforms of light. They shall have no

 fear (on that Day) when fear shall come upon people. Nor they

grieve when others grieve.” Then the Prophet cited the verse

أَلَا إِنَّ أَوْلِيَاءَ اللَّهِ لَا خَوْفٌ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلَا هُمْ يَحْزَنُونَ.   ( يونس:62 (

Behold! The awliya’ of Allah, no fear shall come

upon them nor shall they grieve. (Q. 10:62

The following story was reported by Ibn Rajab al-Ḥanbalī (d.736-795/1336-1393) how Allah rewarded a good deed out of piety.

          It happened that a pious traveller in Makkah became very hungry as he had nothing left for his provision. He was almost fainted of starving. While he was walking on one of the corridors of Makkah he found a very expensive necklace. He took it with him and entered the Sanctuary (Masjid al-Ḥarām). There he met a man looking for a lost necklace, and described it to him exactly like what he had found. So, he gave it to him. The man left without thanking him, not even handed him any dirham or anything as reward.

          Then the pious man sailed on a boat.  A strong wind blew and broke the boat.  He found a piece of wood, sailed on it, tossed on the waves left and right, until he drifted ashore towards an island. There he found a mosque where people were praying, and he joined them in the prayer. Then he found a piece of sheets of the Qur’ān. When he read it people learned that he could read. So, they asked him to teach their children to read the Qur’ān.  When they found out the he could also write, they asked him to teach their children to write. So, he taught the children of the inhabitants of the island to read and write.

          As the pious man was unmarried, people suggested him to marry an orphan whose father was a very good man. When he agreed, and married the girl he saw her wearing the very necklace he had found in Makkah. He asked her how she got the necklace. She said:

          “One day while my father was Makkah he lost the necklace. Then an honest man found it and gave it to him. Since then, my father kept praying to Allah that He would give him a husband for his daughter like that man.”

          “I was that man,” said the pious man. So, Allah rewarded him more than he had expected. So, pious people will have no fear, no grief, no disappointment, no frustration, because they trust Allah, have good faith with Him, as there might be blessing in disguise behind any mischief and catastrophe. (CIVIC, 25.01.13)  

المصادر:

المكتبة الشاملة

تفسير ابن كثير

د. عائض القرني. لا تحزن ص. 325-326