17
Apr 2020
Managing the Fear Factor Fear is everywhere. Fear is also a striking feature of two battles in Islamic history – the Battle of Uhud and the Battle of Al Khandaq (the ditch). In the Battle of the Ditch (Battle of Al Ahzab), 10,000 enemy troops surrounded Madinah and were about to attack the believers. Allah Almighty said: إِذْ جَاءُوكُم مِّن فَوْقِكُمْ وَمِنْ أَسْفَلَ مِنكُمْ وَإِذْ زَاغَتِ الْأَبْصَارُ وَبَلَغَتِ الْقُلُوبُ الْحَنَاجِرَ وَتَظُنُّونَ بِاللَّهِ الظُّنُونَا When they came upon you, from above you, and from beneath you; and the eyes became dazed, and the......
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03
Jan 2019
Fear What Tomorrow Holds The Future is Unknown We do not know what will happen tomorrow let alone the rest of our lives. Do not procrastinate or defer things to the future. Today you are fine but tomorrow you may not. Many people have good health today, and then out of the blue, they have cancer, or some kind of debilitating illness which renders them not even half the person they were. It could be in our health or mental well-being, it could be in our environment. 10 years ago, the people......
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02
Jan 2019
Fear the Sins You have Committed We should fear the sins that we have committed between yourself and Allah Almighty. We should have this fear, and not be of those who are over reliant on His mercy and forgiveness. Yes, Allah Almighty is the All-Merciful and All-Forgiving, but He is also severe in His punishment. “Your Lord is the possessor of boundless Mercy; but His punishment shall not be averted from the sinners.” Having a relaxed attitude to sins will destroy our connection with Allah Almighty. Sins are sins......
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23
Dec 2018
Fear the Denial of Allah’s Favour One of the legitimate fears Muslims should have is being included in those who deny the favours of Allah; the ones who are ungrateful of the favours that they have received. Kufr – linguistically means to cover something, farmers are called kuffars because they cover the seeds with earth. Kuffran ul-ne’am – denying the favours of Allah, that we cover the favours of Allah Almighty that He has bestowed. Bat’r – the joy of receiving the blessing makes one become forgetful of the One Who gave......
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18
Dec 2018
Not Relying on Your Deeds as Your Ticket to Paradise There are 9 legitimate types of fear which Imam Muhasibi, the influential scholar from Basra renowned for his introspection, explored in his work on fear and hope. The first fear is fearing how our good deeds will counted and how we viewed them. Fearing deeds may not be accepted Relying on our deeds is to implicitly say, ‘my deeds is my admission ticket to enter Paradise’ – and this is not so. No one can compel Allah Almighty to admit them to......
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17
Dec 2018
LOVE – HOPE – FEAR The formula to build a connection and healthy and balanced relationship with Allah Almighty is Love, Hope and Fear. All three components are required to grow spiritually. Fear There are 124 verses that mention khawf or fear in the Qur’an. However, on their own they are not sufficient to reflect Islam or Allah Almighty. Being terrified is not what connects us to Allah Almighty. Acting from fear and acting from love deliver different outcomes. If you act from fear, you feel forced and you don’t necessarily complete......
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17
Dec 2018
Good Fear and Bad Fear When we read this word khawf, we have a common conception or misconception about its meaning. Some of our construct of what khawf, especially with regards to the deen or Allah Almighty is perhaps not healthy and not correct. Yet, from childhood the concept of fearing Allah Almighty is through negative associations and distances us from Him. Truly fearing Allah Almighty brings us closer to Him. Fear is a powerful and incredibly complex emotion which at its core is an innate protective survival mechanism. Fear is an......
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