All praise is due to Allaah, Lord of all the worlds. Peace and blessings be upon the Messenger, his household and companions.

Fellow Muslims! Fear Allaah as He should be feared. Know that Allaah knows what is in your hearts and nothing in the heavens and the earth is hidden from Him.

Dear brethren! Deeds of the heart are of the greatest acts of worship. Their rewards are great. Deeds of the limbs follow those of the heart, hence the saying: Heart is the king and all other parts of the body are its soldiers. The Messenger of Allaah said, "Man's faith will not be upright until his heart is upright." (Ahmad)

Heart's uprightness means its belief in the Oneness of Allaah. It means glorifying Allaah, loving Him, fearing Him, hoping for His mercy. It means loving to please Him and hating to disobey Him. Allaah's Messenger said, "Indeed, Allaah will not look at your pictures and your wealth. He will rather look at your hearts and your deeds." (Muslim)

Al-Hasan Al-Basree told a man, "Cure your heart. For Allaah only wants His slaves to have righteous hearts."

One of the deeds of the hearts that encourages good deed, makes one work for the Hereafter, keeps one away from sins, makes one indifferent to this world and suppresses the evil desires of the soul is fear of Allaah and hope in Him.

Fear of Allaah leads the heart to all that is good and keeps it away from all that is evil. Hope in Allaah leads to His pleasure.

Fear of Allaah is one of the branches of belief in Allaah's Oneness while fear of other things besides Allaah is a branch of polytheism.

Allaah commands that none besides Him should be feared. He says,

"It is only Shaitân (Satan) that suggests to you the fear of his Auliyâ' (supporters and friends (polytheists, disbelievers in the Oneness of Allâh and in His Messenger, Muhammad (peace be upon him))) so fear them not, but fear Me, if you are (true) believers."

(Aal 'Imraan 3:175)

Allaah also says,

"Therefore fear not men but fear Me and sell not My Verses for a miserable price."

(Al-Maaidah 5:44)

Anas narrated that Allaah's Messenger said, "The Prophet delivered a sermon in which he said, "If you but knew what I know then you would have laughed little and wept much." On hearing that, the companions of the Prophet covered their faces and the sound of their weeping was heard." (Al-Bukhaaree and Muslim)

Fear of Allaah is the sense of discomfort that one feels when one remembers Allaah's punishment as a result of perpetrating a forbidden act, abandoning an obligation or lacking in a commendable act. It means to be apprehensive that one's good deeds might not be accepted. It also means refraining from sins and hastening to do righteous deeds.

There is however, a difference between 'khawf' and 'khasyah'. 'Khashyah means fear of Allaah with the knowledge of His Attributes. That is why Allaah says,

"It is only those who have knowledge among His slaves that fear Allaah."

(Faatir 35:28)

The Messenger of Allaah said, "I am more submissive to Allah and more afraid of Him than you." (Al-Bukhaaree and Muslim)

'Wajal' means the shock that affects the heart when one remembers someone whose authority and punishments are feared. 'Rahb' means running away from undesirables. 'Haybah' is a fear accompanied by a great respect and honour for the object of fear. Therefore, 'khawf' is for all the believers, 'khashyah' is for the scholars who have knowledge about Allaah, 'haybah' is for those who have great veneration for Allaah and 'ijlaal' is for those who are near to Allaah.

It is the level of one's knowledge about Allaah that determines the degree of one's fear of Him.

Allaah promises those who fear Him, keep away from forbidden things and do righteous deeds the best of rewards. He says,

"But for him who fears the standing before his Lord, there will be two Gardens (i.e. in Paradise). Then which of the Blessings of your Lord will you both (jinn and men) deny? [The gardens will be] with spreading branches."

(A-Rahmaan 55:46-48)

'Ataa said, "These two beautiful branches will have all kinds of fruits. Allaah also says,

"But as for him who feared standing before his Lord, and restrained himself from impure evil desires and lusts. Verily, Paradise will be his abode."

(An-Naazi'aat 79:40-41)

Allaah also says,

"And some of them draw near to others, questioning. Saying: "Aforetime, we were afraid (of the punishment of Allaah) in the midst of our families."But Allaah has been gracious to us, and has saved us from the torment of the Fire. "Verily, we used to invoke Him (Alone and none else) before. Verily, He is Al-Barr (the Most Subtle, Kind, Courteous, and Generous), the Most Merciful."

(At-Toor 53:25-28)

Allaah informs us in these verses that He always saves those who fear Him and shower His favour on them.

Ibn Abee Haatim reported on the authority of 'Abdul-Azeez bin Abee Rawaad who said, "I was informed that Allaah's Messenger recited this verse: "O you who believe, guard yourselves and your families against Fire whose fuel will be men and stone." There was an old man among those who were present. The old man said, "Messenger of Allaah, "Is the stone of the Fire is like that of this world?" The Messenger of Allaah answered, "By Him in Whose Hand is my soul; a rock of Hell is bigger than all the mountains of this world combined." When the old man heard that he fainted. So the Prophet placed his hand on the man's heart and he regained consciousness. The Prophet the called him; "Old man, say: Laa ilaaha illallaah." The man said it. Then the Prophet gave him a glad tiding that he would enter Paradise." Some of the Prophet's companions said, "Would that be for one from among us?" Allaah's Messenger answered, "Yes, because Allaah says,

"This is for him who fears standing before Me (on the Day of Resurrection or fears My Punishment) and also fears My threat."

(Ibraaheem 14:14)

'Umar, the second Caliph was on a patrol one night when he heard someone reciting Soorah At-Toor. He suddenly came down from his donkey and reclined on a wall. He was sick afterwards for a month and people came visiting him while no one knew the nature of his sickness.

Alee bin Abee Taalib finished Fajr prayer one day while been overwhelmed with fright. He said, "I have seen the companions of Allaah's Messenger and I have not anybody these days who is like them. They would wake up in the morning disheveled and covered with dust while their eyes were like those of somebody who has just been afflicted with a calamity. They have spent the night standing and prostrating for Allaah and reciting the Qur'aan. When they would wake up in the morning they would remember Allaah. As a result of their much acts of worship, they would become so frail that they would swing back and forth as the tree is swayed in a windy day. Their eyes would be full of tears so much so that their garments would be wet."

Dear brethren! The commendable fear is the one that encourages one to do good deeds and prevents one from forbidden things. If fear becomes excessive it become despair and losing hope in Allaah's mercy, and that is a major sin.

Ibn Rajab said, "The required amount of fear is that which encourages one to do many supererogatory righteous deeds and prevents one from doing minor undesirable things. If it exceeds that whereby it causes disease, death or permanent illusion that prevents one from working; that is not commendable.

Aboo Hafs said, "Fear is the whip of Allaah with which He straightens those who deviate from His door." Aboo Sulaymaan said, "If fear of Allaah departs from a heart, the heart is ruined."

The Muslim is therefore between two fears: fear about what has gone in which he does not know what Allaah is going to do with it, and a fear about what is coming in which he does not know what decision Allaah is going to take on it.

As for 'rajaa', it means hoping for the reward from Allaah for the good deeds done. Hoping for reward from Allaah is conditioned on performing good deeds and abstention from forbidden things or repentance from them. But if one abandons obligations, follows his lusts and yet hopes in Allaah; that is tantamount to feeling safe from Allaah's punishment. Allaah says,

"None feels secure from the Plan of Allaah except the people who are the losers."

(Al-A'raaf 7:99)

Allaah explains that hoping for His mercy cannot be without having done good deeds. Allaah says,

"Verily, those who recite the Book of Allaah (this Qur'aan), and perform As-Salât (Iqâmat-as-Salât), and spend (in charity) out of what We have provided for them, secretly and openly, hope for a (sure) trade-gain that will never perish."

(Faatir 35:29)

Allaah also says,

"Verily, those who have believed, and those who have emigrated (for Allaah's Religion) and have striven hard in the Way of Allaah; all these hope for Allaah's Mercy. And Allaah is Oft-Forgiving, Most-Merciful."

(Al-Baqarah 2:218)

Hope is an act of worship that is done for Allaah alone. For whoever pins his hope on anything else besides Allaah has committed shirk. Allaah says,

"So whoever hopes for the Meeting with his Lord, let him work righteousness and associate none as a partner in the worship of his Lord."

(Al-Kah'f 18:110)

Hope in Allaah is a means of gaining closeness to Him. In a Qudsee hadeeth, Allaah says, "I am just as My slave thinks I am, (i.e. I am able to do for him what he thinks I can do for him) and I am with him if He remembers Me." (Al-Bukhaaree)

The slave must therefore combine between fear and hope. The best situation of a slave is to love Allaah and be moderate in his fear of Him and hope in Him. This was the condition of the Prophets and believing slaves of Allaah. Allaah says about them,

"Verily, they used to hasten on to do good deeds, and they used to call on Us with hope and fear, and used to humble themselves before Us."

(Al-Anbiyaa 21:90)

Allaah also says,

"Their sides forsake their beds, to invoke their Lord in fear and hope, and they spend (in charity in Allaah's Cause) out of what We have bestowed on them."

(As-Sajdah 32:16)

If the Muslim knows the comprehensiveness of Allaah's mercy, the greatness of His favour, His forgiveness of sins, the wideness of His Paradise and the abundance of His reward, he will be reassured and hope for His mercy and the great reward that is with Him. When he knows the severity of His punishment, the difficulty of His reckoning, the horrors of the Day of Resurrection and dreadfulness of Hell, he restrains himself from sins and fears Allaah. That is why Allaah's Messenger said, "If a believer were to know the punishment (in Hell) none would have the audacity to aspire for Paradise (but he would earnestly desire to be rescued from Hell), and if a non-believer were to know what is there with Allaah as a mercy, none would have lost hope in Paradise." (Muslim)

In many places in the Qur'aan, Allaah mentions forgiveness along with punishment. An example of this is His saying,

"But verily, your Lord is full of Forgiveness for mankind in spite of their wrong-doing. And verily, your Lord is (also) Severe in punishment."

(Ar-Ra'd 13:6)

Al-Ghazaalee reported from Mak'hool that he said, "He who worships Allaah out of fear [alone] is a harooree; he who worships Him out of hope [alone] is a mur'ji'; and he who worships Him out of love [alone] is a zindeeq; but he who worship Him out of fear, hope and love is a true believer in Islaamic monotheism and a follower of Sunnah."

Ibn Al-Qayyim said in Madaarij as-saalikeen, "The heart, in its march towards Allaah, is like a bird whose head is love, and fear and hope its two wings. If the head and the two wings are healthy, the bird will fly very well. If the head is cut off, the bird will die and if it loses its two wings it becomes vulnerable to hunters. The righteous predecessors however prefer that the health of the fear wing is more strengthened while one is alive and working as they prefer strengthening of the wing of hope more while one is dying." Allaah says,

"Declare (O Muhammad) unto My slaves, that truly, I am the Oft-Forgiving, the Most-Merciful; and that My Torment is indeed the most painful torment."

(Al-Hijr 15:49-50)

Fellow Muslims! Fear Allaah, hope for His mercy and be afraid of His punishment. Allaah says,

"Know that Allaah is Severe in punishment and that Allaah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful."

(Al-Maaidah 5:98)

Al-Bukhaaree and Muslim reported on the authority of Basheer bin Nu'maan who said, "The person who will have the least punishment from amongst the inhabitants of the Hell Fire on the Day of Resurrection, will be a man under whose arch of feet a smouldering ember will be placed so that his brain will boil because of it. He will believe that none suffers more punishment than him, though he has the least punishment." (Al-Bukhaaree and Muslim)

Muslim also narrated on the authority of Al-Mugheerah bin Shu'bah that Allaah's Messenger said, "Moses asked his Lord: Who amongst the inhabitants of Paradise is the lowest in rank? He (Allaah) said: The person last person to be admitted into Paradise among those who deserve to enter it. I would say to him: Enter Paradise. He would say: "O my Lord! How should I enter while the people have settled in their apartments and taken the shares (portions)?" It would be said to him: "Would you be pleased if there be for you like the kingdom of a king amongst the kings of the world? He would say: I am pleased my Lord. He (Allaah) would say: That is for you, and the like of it and the like of it and the like of it." He would say at the fifth time: "I am well pleased, my Lord." Allaah would say: It is for you, and ten times like it, and for you is what your self desires and your eye enjoys. He would say: I am well pleased, my Lord."

Dear brethren! In these days in which hardness of hearts and heedlessness have prevailed and the love for this world has become the order of the day, and most people commit sins with impunity, it becomes necessary to give preference to fear of Allaah, so that souls can be straightened and hearts can be purified. When death comes, the side of hope is then given preference. This is because; Allaah's Messenger said, "None of you should die without having a good opinion of Allaah."