Belief in Allah with Love Hope and Fear 1 of 3

In Islam no worship is complete without all three of these qualities

This is what sets us apart from the Christians and Jews.

The Christians have such love for Allah but not enough fear of Him.

The Jews have all the hope in Allah but not enough love or fear.

As Muslims we incorporate all three ingredients and the Fatiha is a reflection of this:

Ayah 1: “All praise [and thanks] is for Allah, Rab(Lord) of all the worlds.”

In this opening ayah(verse) of the Quran, we have LOVE of Allah and every time we recite this ayah we are testifying to our love for Allah.

We are acknowledging that He is the One who has given us so many blessings – so many that if we try to enumerate His blessings, we would be unable to do so. So how could we not but LOVE Him?

We love those who show kindness to us or give us gifts and this is why the Prophet (saws) said:

“Give gifts to one another, you will come to love one another.” [Collected by Imam Bukhari al-Adabul-Mufrad and declared hasan by al-Albani in al-Irwaa (1601)]

Ayah 2: “The Brahman(Merciful) and the Raheem(Mercy-Giving).”

In this ayah two more of His beautiful names are mentioned: ar-Rahman and ar-Raheem. Ar-Rahman means that He is the Most Merciful. Ar-Raheem means that He is the Giver of Mercy, in other words His actions are full of Mercy and He shows Mercy to His creation.

When we mention these two names of Allah, then we have HOPE. Since He is the One who is full of Mercy, and we hope He will forgive our mistakes and shortcomings. We should never lose hope.

Allah says:

“O My slaves, who have transgressed against themselves! Despair not of the Mercy of Allah, Verily Allah forgives all sins (except shirk *associating partners with Him*). Truly He is Oft-Forgiving, the Most Merciful.” [39:53]

Ayah 3: “Kind/Master of the Day of Judgment” shows the type of Fear needed in worship:

When we recite this ayah, we remind ourselves of the Day of Judgment – that awful Day, when all of humanity shall stand before Allah; naked, uncircumcised and barefooted. People will appear drunk though they are not. On that Day, every person will stand before Allah and account for his sins knowing that not even the smallest action which he did is hidden from Allah.

So when we recite this third ayah of Surah Al-Fatiha, we remind ourselves of this Judgment and accountability and that should bring about in us a sense of fear – that maybe our evil actions will be too great and we will be responsible for them.

Allah Says:

“So whosoever does good equal to the weight of an atom, shall see it. And whosoever does evil to the weight of an atom shall see it.” [Q 99:7-8]

After understanding the need for these three ingredients, the question arises – in what proportion should they be? Allah answers with:

“Call upon Him with Fear and Hope.” [Q 7:56]

“Their sides forsake their beds, to invoke their Lord in Fear and Hope.” [Q32:16]

So thus equal proportions should exist:

The Prophet (saws) visited upon a young boy who was dying. The Prophet (saws) asked,

“How are you?” The boy replied, “O Messenger of Allah, I am in between hoping in Allah and fearing for my sins.” The Prophet (saws) said, “The like of these two qualities do not unite in the heart of a servant except that Allah gives him what he hopes for and protects him from what he heared.” [Collected in Sunan at-Tirmidhi and Sunan Ibn Majah and authenticated by Sheikh al-Albani in Ahkam al-Janaa’iz (no.2)]

Therefore:

Whenever we do a good action, we should hope that it has been accepted by Allah, but at the same time we should also have fear that maybe it isn’t enough of that the good deed has not been worthy of acceptance. Likewise when we sin, we should have hope that Allah will accept our repentance and forgive us, but we should also fear that we may be accountable for it.

This should also be present in our dawah(inviting/teaching Islam) to others as well:

When we invite others to the Truth, we should not give them the impression that they have nothing to worry about, nor do we suggest that they are doomed forever. Rather we couple warnings with encouragement. We inform them of the horrors of the Fire and tell them about the bliss of Paradise.

As Allah Says:

“Verily your Lord is Quick in Punishment and verily He is the Oft-Forgiving, the Giver of Mercy.” [Q 7:167]