Fruit of Paradise - Fear of God and False Fear
Fear of God and False Fear
Tags: Fear
Fear in animals is a faculty for the purpose of self-protection, but in man its main purpose is to fear God. Therefore if fear exists in man for this supreme purpose it is proper and if for some other reason then it is improper. It is said in verse (33:39) that the Prophets do not fear anything save Allah, for it is He Who is the Creator and Master and all others are merely His creatures and servants.
Animals are devoid of a light such as intellect, therefore their fear does not progress in the form of intellect and knowledge. Therefore when they fear they do so under the influence of the estimative faculty, but in man fear is progressive because of its innate intellect. Accordingly, its standard can reach higher and higher. An example of this is a young child who initially has a fear of non-existent or imaginary things. With time, the more education a child receives, the better (its faculty of) fear works. A similar situation applies in religion also and the fear of God in that, apart from the Perfect Men, the rest of humanity are like children. This is why the Wise Qur'an teaches man to fear God as He ought to be feared, as it says: “O you who believe! Fear Allah with due fear.” (3:102). In this command there are two important meanings. The first is to fear only Allah and nobody else and the second meaning is to fear Allah in such a way that the proper state of fear of Him occurs. Regarding this highest standard of fear it is said: “Of the servants of God only the `ulama' fear Him.” (35:28). According to Imam Ja`far as-Sadiq, by the `ulama' (those that possess knowledge) are meant the pure Imams, for it is only they who because of the light of knowledge that they have, truly fear God and they are characterised by this attribute of the highest form of fear of God. The perfect fear of God or taqwa is one of the attributes of the Perfect Man and is possessed by him as the given knowledge. This means that the highest criterion of fear of God is true knowledge.
Although the same word “fear” applies equally to animals, ordinary people, the Prophets and the Imams, there is a world of difference in what is meant by it. This is because fear has many levels and the supreme level is the fear of God alone, and unlike worldly fear there is everlasting peace and satisfaction in it. For in reality, to “fear” God means to remember Him and it is His remembrance that gives satisfaction to the heart (13:28). It is clear for people of intellect that there are treasures of knowledge and wisdom hidden in the proper fear of God, whereas in worldly fear there is nothing but helplessness and despondency. The fear of God fills man's life with mercies and blessings. If someone has no fear of God, the Supreme King, then as an inevitable punishment he will fear others and his life becomes full of bitterness.
It is not possible for the fear of God and worldly fear to be alike in state, influence and result, particularly that fear of God which is in the hearts of His friends, for it is said: “It should be known that verily the friends of Allah have no fear, nor do they grieve.” (10:62). First and foremost among the friends of Allah are the Prophets and the Imams and in whose blessed hearts there is only the fear of God or taqwa. Had this fear been like worldly or physical fear, God would not have excluded them from worldly fear and grief in the above-mentioned verse. From this it is clear that the fear of God and worldly fear are contrary to each other. Since God is incomparable, His fear cannot be like the fear of any of His creatures. An interesting question can be asked at this stage. If man has the vegetative, the animal and the rational soul, in which of these souls is there worldly fear and in which is there the fear of God? The answer is that there is no sign of fear in the vegetative soul but there is fear in animals. Thus the cause of worldly fear is the animal soul. As for fear of God, it is in the intellect which is the flame of the rational or human soul. It is because of this that the Wise Qur'an says that the fear of God is specifically related to the `ulama' (Prophets and Imams) (35:28).
The Holy Qur'an has also said that false fear is a ruse of Satan, for as God says: “It is only Satan who frightens you with his friends” (3:175). Regarding false fear, the question whether such fear arises in the animal soul or whether it is from Satan is answered by the fact that Satan works through the carnal soul, or in other words, another guise of Satan is the animal soul.
In His Mighty Book, God has guided Muslims and mu'mins everywhere not to have fear of the multitude of external enemies of Islam, for He representing the mu'mins of insight and high ambition says: “Allah is Sufficient for us and is the Best Protector.” (3:173).
One of the Qur'anic medicines for the disease of false fear is abundant remembrance of God and another is the light of true knowledge by which it is cured permanently. This means that the jinni (invisible) Satan is chased away by the remembrance of God and the human Satan is defeated by true knowledge. It is taught that, in order to protect oneself from the stoning of Satan, one should seek the presence and proximity to God, the ta'wil of which is to protect oneself in the luminous knowledge of the Imam of the time.
God says: “And he who is blind to the remembrance of God, We assign unto him a Satan who becomes his comrade.” (43:36). The pure Imam is the living Supreme Name (ism-i a`zam) of God and His luminous remembrance, because it is from him that mu'mins obtain the light of Divine remembrance, which rescues them from the clutches of Satan. For the Imam of the time is in the position of `Ali and is the gate to the city of knowledge and wisdom.
There is no doubt that the fear of God or taqwa has many levels both externally and internally and at the place of soul and the rank of intellect it is in the form of the manifestations of knowledge and miracles, for in verse (48:26) God has attached the word taqwa (kalimatu't-taqwa) to mu'mins. Thus the word taqwa which is a Supreme Name is also a miracle of knowledge and good deed, as well as an automatic Divine remembrance. In all these meanings God has mentioned that He has favoured some mu'mins by showing them the spiritual miracle of the word taqwa, and hidden in this is an `Izra'ili secret of purification.
In this wisdom-filled verse God says: “Had We sent down this Qur'an on a mountain, you would certainly have seen it humbled and rent asunder for fear of Allah. And We strike parables for men so that they may reflect.” (59:21). When God manifested Himself on the mountain, it smashed into particles (7:143). This manifestation was not without meaning, for it was the heavenly Book, the Torah in its luminous form. This magnificent event happened twice, firstly at the mountain of soul and then at the mountain of intellect. These miracles of the fear of God also happened in the spirituality of the Holy Prophet, in that God first manifested Himself to him at the mountain of soul and in which the spiritual manifestation of the Qur'an took place and then again at the mountain of intellect where the intellectual manifestation of the Qur'an took place. Both these mountains were smashed into pieces.
Mountain has many ta'wils, one of them is the mountain of soul and another is the mountain of intellect. There is a difference however in the meaning of them being smashed. Soul has innumerable particles all at the same time, but intellect is an example of oneness, and therefore it is only one pearl in the personal world. Nevertheless, the way the chain of manifestations of knowledge of it continues one after the other, it can be said that the Pearl of Intellect also represents innumerable intellectual particles. The proof of God having manifested Himself twice is the two mountains of soul and intellect. Also everything other than God is in pairs, so if we accept that God has many manifestations then as a principle we have to accept that fundamentally there are two manifestations. One should remember that the law of oneness is first, then comes the law of duality, and then the law of multiplicity. The concept of oneness is universally accepted and the concept of multiplicity is obvious. Let us then see what the Wise Qur'an says about the law of duality:
- Hazrat Nuh took pairs, not only of animals, but also of all other things into the Ark (11:40; 23:27).
- God has created all things in pairs and nothing is excluded from this law (51:49; 36:36).
- The fruits of Paradise are in pairs and none of them is single (55:52; 13:3).
- All these fundamental and final realities are in pairs: Throne and Dais, Pen and Tablet, Universal Intellect and Universal Soul, Adam and Eve, this world and the next, heaven and earth, good and evil, Natiq (Prophet) and Asas (Foundation), Imam and Hujjat, father and mother, day and night, intellect and soul, etc.
The Noble Qur'an teaches three things with the same significance and in the same way: To worship God alone (1:4), to seek help from God alone (1:4) and to fear God alone (2:40-41; 16:51). The reason for this is that seeking help from God is a part of worshipping Him. Similarly, fear of God is a condition of worship as well as worship itself. We should really say that the fear of God is the spirit of every worship and this is clear from the Divine Command: “And remember your Lord in a low voice and within yourself, humbly and with fear, in the morning and in the evening; and do not be of the negligent.” (7:205). In this verse attention is drawn to the great secrets of remembrance and worship.
One may ask why it was that when some angels came to Hazrat Ibrahim he felt fear in his heart (11:70); that Hazrat Musa felt fear on several occasions (28:18,28:21; 20:21,20:67) and that Hazrat Dawud too was afraid of angels (38:22), when we know that the friends of God fear none save God?
The answer to the above is:
Nasir al-Din Nasir Hunzai,
22nd November, 1984.
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