| Question: | Why there is so much fear from God? We should love the God not be scared from him. |
Answer: You are right in saying that we must love God, but at the same time it is wrong to suggest that love of God excludes fear of Him. For while are to love God unconditionally, we must also be afraid of incurring His wrath. This is because of the fact that just as God, the Most Exalted and Glorious, is the Compassionate and Merciful, He is also the Just, and Stern in punishment.
If we wish to delve deeper in to this issue, we must clarify the following:
The issue of love of God is not so much a matter based on reason and logic; it is rather something based on revelation; for the way to approach God is dictated by revelation and not by pure reason. It is God and God alone who must teach us how to approach Him. Otherwise, we are simply comparing God with His creation, and thus we end up carving God in our own mind. Therefore, there is no way for us humans to know about God’s nature except through His own revelation.
God tells us about His nature in the Qur’an: “Tell My servants that I am the Forgiving, the Compassionate, and that My torment is indeed the painful torment. “(Qur’an: 15: 49-50). And in another place, God describes Himself as follows: “……Allah, the August, the Knowing, the Forgiver of sins, the acceptor of repentance, the Stern in punishment, the Bountiful. There is no deity beside Him. To Him is the final journey.” (Qur’an: 40: 2-3).
Revelation tells us that as servants of God we must entertain love and hope of God with fear of His wrath, for God is Most Merciful and Compassionate, and He is also Stern in punishment. Fear alone without hope is not recommended, just as hope alone without fear is not recommended.
The ideal way is therefore to combine fear of God with hope in His mercy. This, according to the Qur’an, is the way of prophets, the ideal role models for humanity, “…They used to hasten to do good works, and called upon Us with hope and fear, and they were humble before Us.” (Qur’an: 21: 90). We must fear God in such a way that we are prompted to avoid the things that incur His wrath; while we must entertain hope in God’s mercy in such a way that we must never hesitate to repent and change ourselves in order to receive the mercy of God.
It is also possible to explain this rationally: For it is not hard to reason that every earnest and sincere lover must also be afraid of displeasing his/her beloved, and hence he/she will be careful not to say or do things that may directly or indirectly earn his/her anger.
Ahmad Kutty
Source: Askthescholar
Thanks to : http://xeniagreekmuslimah.wordpress.com
No comments:
Post a Comment