Words on love Words on fearing Allah Words on hope
All praise be to Allah and peace and blessings be upon the Messenger
of Allah.
Love is the cornerstone of worship. Worship is based on three pillars:
love, fear and hope. Here below is a short word on this great pillar—
i.e. love.
1. Definition of love [mahabbah]
Ibn al-Qayim (may Allah have mercy on him) said: “Love knows no
boundaries. Boundaries are nothing but to prevent love from existing.
Love is only manifested through love. People are only to mention its
causes, factors, signs, evidence, benefits and rulings. Therefore, their
logic about love is based on these six pillars where everyone differs
in expressing his concept according to his/her perception, position,
conditions and fluency”1.
There are many definitions of love as follows2:
1- Heart inclination in [loving Allah].
2- Preferring the beloved [Allah] over all other things.
3- Consistency with the beloved in his presence and absence.
4- The heart’s obedience to the commands of the beloved [Allah].
1 See Madarig As-Salikeen (311/).
2 See Madarig As-Salikeen (318-13/).
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5- Magnifying little sins and belittling abundant good deeds.
6- Freeing the heart from loving anything except that of Allah.
7- Your inclination and love for a thing, then preferring Allah over
your soul and property. Then, making your inward and outward
deeds the same and finally realize your short comings towards
Him.
8- Enslaving oneself to Allah alone and freeing oneself from any
other thing.
9- Engaging in seeking His pleasure through your heart and
continuous remembrance of Him by the tongue.
10- Continuous occupation with Him and doing everything for His
sake.
Categories of love
1- Love of worship: it means humiliating oneself and glorifying
Allah. It is represented in feeling His majesty in one’s heart,
complying with His commands and refraining from His
prohibitions. This kind of love is the basic for faith [Iman] and
monotheism [tawheed]. It implies numerous virtues. Whoever
dedicates this kind of love to Allah is considered the true believer.
Whoever dedicates it to otherwise, he will associate others with
Allah the Almighty [Shirk]. This is like the disbelievers who love
their deities and other things such as trees, stones, humans or
kings like the way they love Allah. This kind of love is the basic
and root of polytheism.
2- Loving Allah the Almighty: this implies love of what Allah loves
of places, times, people, deeds, sayings and the like.
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3- Natural love: this kind of love falls into the following:
ÓÓ Mercy: like the parent’s love for his children and being
merciful to the patients and weak.
ÓÓ Respect and veneration: it includes a child-parent love,
student-teacher love and the like.
ÓÓ Human needs: this includes man’s love for food, drink,
marriage, garments, friends and the like.
This represents the permissible forms of love, if these forms
were to help in loving and obeying Allah, it will be categorized
among good acts of obedience; otherwise, it will be considered
among prohibitions. If it neither helps in obeying nor disobeying
Allah, it will remain from among permissible things.
2. Virtues of loving Allah:
Loving Allah is the noblest and greatest deed which has uncountable
virtues some of which are as follows:
1- It is the root and essence of Tawheed: Sheikh Abd al-Rahman
ibn Sa’di (may Allah have mercy on him) said: “Loving Allah
alone is the root and essence of Tawheed. It is the principal for
knowing Allah’s Lordship and our servitude to Him; yet it is the
pure worship. Tawheed is perfected only through our love for
our Lord which much takes precedence over loving anything
else and overwhelms it. Thus, loving Allah will be the source of
every other love, happiness and success in life”3.
2- The need for loving Allah is greater than that of food, drink
and marriage: Sheikh al-Islam ibn Taymiya (may Allah have
mercy on him) said: “There is love in the hearts of humans for
3 Al-Qawl As-Sadeed P. 110.
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their Lord, the One they dedicate their worship to. This love
is the essence of their hearts and nourishment of their souls.
This is likewise their love for food, spouses; thus their life will
be meaningful and consistent. Humans’ need for their Lord
is greater than their need for food. This is because if food is
missed, the body will be weak, but losing the Lord, souls will
be spoiled”4.
Ibn al-Qayim (may Allah have mercy on him) said: “Loving Allah is
the life of hearts and nourishment of souls without which a heart
will not feel happiness, blessings, success or life. If the heart
misses the feeling of loving Allah, it will hurt more than losing one’s
eyesight, hearing, smelling, or ability to speak?! If one’s heart is
void of loving His Creator, Lord and the Truth it will be greatly
dangerous than losing one’s soul”5.
3- Loving Allah is a consolation at times of misfortunes. Ibn al-
Qayim (may Allah have mercy on him) said: “The one who truly
loves Allah, His Lord, finds in His love what soothes his pains
unlike others who do not have this in their hearts. This makes
him as if he was gifted abnormal nature. An afflicted person
in this case is strengthened through his love for his Lord and
finds pleasure in all trials that His beloved Lord afflict him with.
This is unlike material love which is tended to one’s desires
and whims. This is proved through one’s sense and passion.
Allah knows best.”6
4- Loving Allah greatly helps a person to abandon sins: ibn al-
Qayim (may Allah have mercy on him) said: “loving Allah is
one of the great means that help a person refraining from
committing sins and disobeying Allah’s commands. This is
4 Jani› al-Rasa›il by Ibn Taymya: 2230/.
5 Al-Jawab al-Kafi: Pages 541542-.
6 Madarig al-Salikeen 338/.
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because a person submits himself to the one he loves. The
more the power of love increases in one’s heart, the more
he obeys his beloved [Allah]. Indeed, sins and disobedience
spring from weak love. There is a difference between the
one who abandons disobeying Allah out of fearing His server
punishment and wrath and the one who refrains from sins out
of loving His Lord and Master.” He continued: “A sincere lover
of Allah has something that monitors his heart, love and all
senses. Observing this monitor is the sign of true love. Here,
it is worthy to mention that this pure love of Allah must be
associated with glorifying and exalting Him and thus it instills
haya’ [modesty] and obedience in one’s heart; otherwise, love
will be only manifested in pleasure, remembering and longing.
Consequently, a person may find love for Allah in his heart, yet
it cannot prevent him from disobeying Him. Therefore, loving
Allah must be associated with glorifying and exalting Him which
is a great favor that Allah bestows upon whom He wishes.”7
5- Loving Allah prevents doubts: ibn al-Qayim said: “There is a
great contradiction between love and doubts, just the same as
between remembering Allah [dhikr] and negligence. A person
who loves Allah is determined and firm in His belief. Doubts are
the characteristics of those who are negligent and far from the
path of Allah.”8
6- Loving Allah brings the utmost happiness and blessings. A
Muslim’s vacant heart can never be warm except through
loving Allah and getting closer to Him the Almighty. Nothing
of this world’s pleasures can replace the sweetness one finds
in his heart due to loving Allah Most High. Ibn al-Qayim said:
“Loving Allah is incomparable. Nothing in this world is dearer
7 Tareek al-Hijratien pages 449450-.
8 Madarig As-Salikeen 338/.
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to hearts than loving their Lord, Creator, Supporter, Disposer of
their affairs, Sustainers, Giver and Taker of their lives. Loving
Allah is the pleasure of souls, nourishment of hearts, light of
minds, comfort of the eyes and source of inner peace. Sound
hearts, good souls and pure minds find no pleasure in anything
other than their love to their Lord and their longing to meet
Him. The sweetness one finds in his heart tops any other
sweetness; the blessing one gets from loving Allah is the most
perfect one; and the pleasure he feels is the greatest of all.”
Ibn al-Qayim continued: “All these matters are determined by
the degree of love [strong or weak] and according to realizing
the beauty of the beloved [Allah] and relation with Him. The
more the love, realization and closeness to Allah are great,
the more sweetness is strong. A person who knows best about
Allah, His Names and Attributes loves and gets closer to Him;
he finds extreme sweetness in his heart. Once the heart tastes
this sweetness of love, it will never feel comfort in anything
else. The more one loves Allah, the more he submits himself to
Him in humiliation and worship and frees himself from slavery
to anything other than Him.”9
3. Characteristics of those whom Allah
loves
Allah Almighty loves His servants and they do too. Allah Almighty says:
‘Allâh will bring a people whom He will love and they will love Him” [Al-
Ma’ida: 54].
From among the characteristics of those whom Allah loves are the
following:
9 Ighathat al-Lahffan p.567
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1- At-Tawabun (The Repentants who constantly repent to Allah).
2- Al-Mutatahirun (Those who always purify themselves).
3- Al-Muttaqun (The pious).
4- Al-Muhsinun (Those who give).
5- As-Sabirun (the Patients).
6- Al-Mutawkilun (Those who put their trust in Allah).
7- Al-Muqsitun (Those who are just in their dealings).
8- Those who fight in the cause Allah like one unit.
9- Those who are humble to the believers.
10- Stern to the disbelievers.
11- Al-Mujahidoon (Those who fight in the cause of Allah).
12- Those who do not fear the blame of blamers.
13- Those who observe voluntarily prayer to get near to Allah.
4. Means that bring Allah’s love
1- Profound reading of the Qur’an, understanding its meanings
and injunctions.
2- Observing voluntary prayers to get closer to Allah.
3- Remembering Allah constantly [dhikr] by tongue, heart, deeds
and in all cases and conditions.
4- Preferring the love of Allah over any other love.
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5- Understanding Allah’s Names and Attributes.
6- Pondering over His benevolence, visible and invisible blessings.
7- The heart’s surrender in humiliation before Allah.
8- Seclusion [khulwa] at the last third of night to supplicate Allah,
reciting His words [Qur’an], standing in submission before Him
while holding fast to the good manners of worship and finally
seeking Allah’s forgiveness [Istighfar].
9- Accompanying righteous sincere people to benefit from their
righteousness, knowing that a still tongue keeps a wise head.
10- Forsaking all kinds of sins that may separate the heart from
loving Allah the Almighty. 10
O Allah! I ask You for Your love and the love of those who love You,
and for the love of every action which will bring me closer to Your love.
And peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Muhammad, His family
and Companions.
10 See Madarig al-Salikeen 319-18/.
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Words on fearing Allah [al-Khawf]11
All praise be to Allah and peace and blessings be upon the
Messenger of Allah.
Fearing Allah is from among the loftiest ranks of worship and the most
beneficial of all. It is obligatory for everyone to fear Allah.
Allah Almighty says in the Qur’an:
“So fear them not, but fear Me, if you are (true) believers” [Al-Imran:
175].
“But for him who [the true believer of Islâmic Monotheism] fears the
standing before his Lord, there will be two Gardens (i.e. in Paradise)
[Al-Rahman: 46].
1. Definition of Khawf:
1- Expecting Allah’s punishment in every breath.
2- The strong belief in destiny.
3- The heart’s determination to avoid Allah’s wrath upon feeling it.
4- It is a distress that befalls oneself when expecting the
occurrence of something bad.
2. Quotes on fearing Allah
Abu Hafs ‘Umar ibn Maslama al-Haddad al-Nisaburi said: “Fearing
Allah is a light in one’s heart through which he/she can distinguish
11 See the detailed hadith on fearing Allah in Madarig As-Salikeen 1513-507/ and the
comment on the book of Tawheed, the chapter titled: «It is only Shaitân (Satan) that suggests
to you the fear of his Auliyâ› [supporters and friends».
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between good and bad. When we fear anyone we run away from him;
unlike Allah the Almighty to Whom we flee. Therefore, the one who
truly fears his Lord, flee to Him”.
ÓÓ Abu Solaiman said: “A heart that loses the fear of Allah will
end up as a loser”.
ÓÓ Ibrahim ibn Sufyan said: “when the fear of Allah is instilled in
the hearts, it burns the spots of lusts and leads the believer
to refrain from worldly pleasures.”
ÓÓ Dhu An-Nun said: “The believers are on the straight path as
long as they fear Allah; otherwise, they will go astray.”
3. Praiseworthy fear
The sincere praiseworhty kind of fear is that which prevents the
believer from approaching what Allah prohibited. If a believer blindly
exaggerates his fear, he will end up in losing hope in Allah’s mercy.
Abu ‘Uthman al-Hiri said: “Sincere fear is to refrain from committing
sins in one’s outward and inward actions.”
Sheikh al-Islam, ibn Taymiya said: “praiseworhty fear is that which
prevents a believer from approaching what Allah prohibited”.
4. Obligatory and recommended fear
Obligatory fear is that which exhorts the believer to observe the
obligations and refrain from prohibitions.
Recommended fear is that which exhorts the believer to observe
recommended acts and refrain from what is detested.
Combining between fear, hope and love
A believer must combine between these three pillars in his relation with
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his Lord due to the following reasons:
ÓÓ Worshipping Allah through fearing Him only results in losing
hope in Allah’s mercy, thinking ill of Him and finally disbelief.
ÓÓ Worshipping Allah through “hope” [al.Raja’] only results in
arrogance and false hopes while leaving good deeds which
in turn expels a believer from the religion.
ÓÓ Worshipping Allah through love [mahabbah] only is the
methodology of extremist Sufis who say: we worship Allah
but we neither fear His Hellfire nor aspiring for His Paradise;
but just out of loving Him. This method is a corrupted one
and results in evil consequences including feeling secure
against Allah’s plan which results in immorality and thus
expulsion from the religion.
The predecessors (may Allah have mercy on them) had a famous
quote in this regard which reads: “Whoever worships Allah through
love only is considered an immoral person; whoever worships Him
through fear only is a Kharijite; whoever worships Him through hope
only is a Murji’; and whoever worships His through fear, love and hope
is monotheistic believer”.
Ibn al-Qayim said: “On his way to Allah, a [believer’s] heart is likened
to a bird: love is its head, fear and hope are its wings. Hence, when
the head and wings are sound, the bird will perfectly fly; if the head is
cut, the bird will die and when it loses the wings, it will be inevitably
objected to hunting”.
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5. Which one does take precedence over the
other: fear or hope?
Ibn al-Qayim said: “The predecessors recommended strengthening
one’s fear from Allah in this world and the other way round in the
Hereafter. This is the methodology of Abu Solaiman and others. He
(Abu Solaiman) said: fear should take precedence over hope in a
believer’s heart; otherwise, it will be corrupted. Other predecessors
said: the perfect method is to maintain moderation in combining
between hope and fear and topping them with love. Love is the ship,
hope is the guide, fear is the driver and Allah guides us through His
grace and generosity”.
Categories of Fear:
1- Secret fear (it should be entertained for Allah alone): it is an act
of worship through which a servant worships Allah and draws
himself closer to Him. This fear exhorts a person to refrain from
disobeying his Lord, fearing His wrath that He afflicts upon the
sinners by His will.
This category of fear must be entertained to Allah alone since it has
a lofty status among the acts of worship, it is one of the greatest
jobs of the believer’s hearts and it is one of the pillars of worship.
Whoever fears Allah in this way is considered a sincere believer.
On the contrary, a person who fears others than Allah commits a
major sin of Shirk [associating partners with Allah]. This is the act
of the polytheists [mushrikeen] who attribute power to their deities
and threat the friends of Allah [Awliya] by this false belief.
Allah mentioned in the Qur’an that the people of His Prophet Hud
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threatened him by their false deities. They said to their Prophet:
“All that we say is that some of our gods (false deities) have seized
you with evil (madness)” [Hud: 54].
The same applies to those who worship the dead and seek their
intercession in times of distress.
2- Fearing Allah’s wrath: Allah promised to afflict His wrath upon
the sinners. This is the highest category of fear.
3- Prohibited fear: This kind of fear is represented in abandoning
one’s obligations such as Jihad [fighting in the cause of Allah],
joining what is good and forbidding evil without having an
excuse except fearing people. Likewise the case with those
who run from joining he armies in war out of fearing meeting
the enemies. This is a prohibited kind of fear; yet it does not
reach the state of Shirk.
4- Human innate fear: It is a natural praised kind of fear such as
fearing wild animals, enemies, destruction, drowning and the
like. Allah mentioned this kind of fear in the Qur’anic verses
which talk about Prophet Musa (peace be upon him). Allah
Almighty says: “So he [Musa] escaped from there, looking
about in a state of fear” [Al-Qassas: 21]. Allah also says: “So
Mûsa (Moses) conceived a fear in himself” (Taha: 67).
This category of fear also includes the fear that precedes
meeting the enemy or giving a speech which is regarded as
natural innate feeling and it is praised when exhorting a person
to prepare himself; otherwise it will be dispraised if it leads to
retreatment.
5- False fear: this category of fear has no reasons or very weak
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ones. That’s why it is a dispraised kind of fear that leads a
person to cowardness. The Prophet (peace and blessings be
upon him) sought refuge in Allah from cowardness since it is
from among bad manners. Therefore, sound faith [Iman] and
complete trust in Allah are the greatest factors that push this
kind fear away and fill the believer’s heart with courage. The
more one’s faith increases, the more false fear runs away from
his heart and the vice versa.
Therefore, the fears of the believers who possess strong
steadfast faith turn into safety and tranquility due to their
sound faith and absolute trust in Allah. Allah says: “Those (i.e.
believers) unto whom the people (hypocrites) said, “Verily, the
people (pagans) have gathered against you (a great army),
therefore, fear them.” But it (only) increased them in Faith, and
they said: “Allâh (Alone) is Sufficient for us, and He is the Best
Disposer of affairs (for us). So they returned with Grace and
Bounty from Allâh. No harm touched them; and they followed
the good Pleasure of Allâh. And Allâh is the Owner of Great
Bounty” [Al-Imran: 173-174].
All praise be to Allah, the Lord of the worlds, peace be upon
His Messengers and peace and blessings be upon our Prophet
Muhammad.
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Words on hope (al-Raja’)
All praise be to Allah and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.
Hope or Raja’ is one of the pillars of worship which is based on love,
fear and hope. It is one of the greatest acts of the heart which is
mentioned abundantly in the texts of the Shari’ah [Qur’an and Sunnah]
and its doers are praised.
1. Evidence from the Qur’an
Allah Almighty says:
“Those whom they call upon [like ‘Iesa (Jesus) son
of Maryam (Mary),
‘Uzair (Ezra), angel, etc.] desire (for themselves) means of access to
their Lord (Allâh), as to which of them should be the nearest and they
[‘Iesa (Jesus), ‘Uzair (Ezra), angels, etc.] hope for His Mercy and fear
His Torment” [Al-Isra’: 57].
Desiring the means to get near to Allah is attained through worshiping
and loving Him. Therefore, Allah mentioned the three pillars of faith:
love, fear and hope.
He Almighty says: “Whoever hopes for the Meeting with Allah, then
Allâh’s Term is surely coming” [Al-’Inkabut: 5].
“…all these hope for Allâh’s Mercy. And Allâh is Oft-Forgiving, Most-
Merciful” [Al-Baqara: 218].
2. Evidence from Sunnah
The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “None of you
should dies until he thinks well of his Lord” [Muslim].
The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) also said in the
Quddsi hadith: “Allah Exalted be He says: “I am to My servant as he
thinks of Me, so, let him think of Me in the way he wishes”.
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3. Quotes on al-Raja’:
1- It is said that al-Raja’ directs and paves the way for the hearts
towards Allah and the Hereafter.
2- It is the glad tidings of the grace of Allah, Exalted be He, and
seeking His Generosity.
3- It is certainty of the existence of One Lord.
4- It is the aspiration to get Allah’s mercy that encompasses
everything.
4. Combining between fear, hope and love:
Ibn al-Qayim said: “On his way to Allah, a [believer’s] heart is likened
to a bird: love is its head, fear and hope are its wings. Hence, when
the head and wings are sound, the bird will perfectly fly; if the head is
cut, the bird will die and when it loses the wings, it will be inevitably
objected to hunting”.
5. Kinds of Raja’:
There are three kinds of Raja’; two of which are praiseworthy while the
third is repugnant.
The first two praiseworthy kinds of Raja’ are represented in the
following examples:
ÓÓ A person obeyed Allah and followed His light; therefore, he
hopes in attaining the reward from his Lord.
ÓÓ A person committed sins and then repented; therefore, he
hopes to attain Allah’s forgiveness, bounties, patience and
generosity.
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ÓÓ As for the repugnant kind of Raja’, it is represented in the
behavior of a person who exceeds the limits in committing
sins while hoping to attain Allah’s mercy without repentance.
This act is called arrogance or deception [Ghurur] and false
wishes.
6. Distinction between Raja’ and Tamanni
[wishing]:
The distinction between the two is that Tamanni is associated with
laziness and a person does not take matters seriously or does efforts;
while Raja’ is associated with exerting efforts and putting trust in Allah.
The first is likened to a person wishes to have a land to cultivate and
reap its fruits, and the second is likened to a person who ploughs his
land, sew the seeds and waits its fruits.
Question:
Which one is perfect: the hope of a righteous person who seeks
reward from his Lord or the hope of a wrong doer who seeks his Lord’s
forgiveness?
Answer:
This is a controversial matter. A group of people preferred the hope of
the righteous person who strongly seeks Allah’s reward; and others
preferred the hope of the wrong doer who seeks his Lord’s forgiveness
because it springs from the feeling of being guilty and humiliating
himself to his Lord.
7. Raja’ must be accompanied by action
Scholars unanimously agreed that Raja’ must be accompanied by
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action. This is because refraining from repentance and continuing
committing sins calming to hope in Allah’s mercy has nothing to do
with Raja’. Rather, it is ignorance, immaturity and deception. This is
because Allah’s mercy is ever near to the righteous and not to the
excessive wrongdoers, stubborn and those who are persistent in
committing sins.
Ibn al-Qayim (may Allah have mercy on him) said concerning the
excessive wrongdoers who depend on Allah’s mercy: “Such kind of
people completely depends on the texts that present Allah’s mercy.
When pointing fingers of blame to them due to their excessive sins,
they list all what they know about Allah’s comprehensive mercy and
forgiveness. There are strange and unfamiliar stories about such kind
of people”12. Then, he [ibn al-Qayim] gave numerous examples to such
kind of people.
8. The criterion for thinking wel of Allah
[Husn az-Zan]:
Ibn al-Qayim (may Allah have mercy on him) said: “Thinking well of
Allah or Raja’ manifests itself in believing in the means of salvations
granted by Allah and not otherwise. Meaning, if a person excessively
commits sins depending on Allah’s forgiveness, mercy which precedes
His wrath, it must be said that Allah is above all of this thinking. Allah
is Ever-Wise in His decree. Allah is the Ever-Wise; He is above His
creation and the Ever- Avenger who sends His wrath upon those who
deserve it. Therefore, if thinking well of Allah is attributed to His Names
and Attributes, thus righteous and immoral; believer and disbeliever,
His Wali [friend of Allah] and enemies will be alike in the sight of Allah.
Therefore, a tyrant immoral person will never attain Allah’s mercy and
forgiveness while Allah Has decreed torture for Him and engulfed him
12 Al-Jawab al-Kafi by ibn al-Qayim pages 6768-.
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with His wrath. Such a person who committed sins, exceeded the limits
of Allah and violated His prohibitions deserves nothing except Allah’s
wrath. On the contrary, thinking well of Allah benefits a person who
sincerely repents and determine not to return to sins and to spend the
rest of his life in goodness, obedience and righteousness. Then, such
a repentant hopes to attain mercy through thinking well of Him. This
is typically what Husn Az-Zan means, while the first case is known as
deception. Allah is the Best Supporter”13.
9. Virtues of Raja’:
After presenting the quotes and criteria of Raja’, here is a glimpse on
its virtues. Raja’ has many fruitful virtues if it is correctly entertained.
Such virtues include the following:
1- Manifesting humiliation and need to one’s Lord through seeking
refuge in His bounties and generosity that a person can never
live without it.
2- Allah Almighty loves His servants to have Raja’ in Him and
ask Him to bestow His bounties upon them because He is
the Sovereign [Al-Mali], the Truth [Al-Haqq] and the Most-
Generous.
3- Refraining from Allah’s wrath, this is because the one who does
not ask Allah, Allah sends His wrath upon Him.
4- Raja’ paves the way for the person towards seeking the
pleasure of His Lord. It urges the person to pursue his life.
Raja’ is the power that pushes a person to lead a happy life.
This is because none can live with fear, but loving Allah moves
the person towards good.
13 Al-Jawab al-Kafi pages 7677-.
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5- Raja’ increases Allah’s love in one’s heart. The more a person
hopes in Allah in answering his wishes and then they come true,
Allah’s love increases in one’s heart as a means of gratitude.
6- It increases one’s gratitude and thanking.
7- It increases a person’s knowledge of Allah, His Names, its
meanings and invoking Him through them.
8- Love and hope are inseparable.
9- Hope and fear are integrated.
10- When a servant’s wishes are answered by his Lord, it brings
happiness to one’s life.
11- Raja’ allows a servant’s heart to continuously remember Allah,
His Names, Attributes and enjoying its blessings.
Oh Allah! We ask You to grant us Your love, fear and hope, and peace
and blessings be upon our Prophet Muhammad.
Knowing Allah Team Work
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