Take provision; but the best provision is taqwa of
Allah. So have taqwa of Me, people of
intelligence! (Surat al-Baqara: 197)
What is Taqwa?
Taqwa means consciousness, awe or fear of
Allah, which inspires a person to be on guard
against wrong action and eager for actions which
please Allah and stay away from those actions
which displease and anger him.
the skins of those who fear their Lord shiver from
it (when they recite it or hear it). Then their skin
and their heart soften to the remembrance of
Allah." [39:23]
Why should we fear Allah?
It is because we are fully reliant on Allah and we
have no control over our final fate and the day
and time when we will return to Allah. We are so
weak, vulnerable and low beings whereas Allah is
the greatest and most high, honoured and has
power over EVERYTHING!
Allah can take us at ANY second and what would
become of us if we were taken whilst committing
a sin? We would risk the torture of the grave and
a day so terrible that we cannot even comprehend
for what would become of us on the day of
judgement?
Therefore we MUST fear Allah and totally submit
to him and obey his commands lest we are taken
whilst we are indulging in sin and face the
torment of the grave, the terrible state of ALL on
the harshest of days the day of judgement and
the fire of Hell who's fuel is of men and stones.
The fruits of fearing Allah
Ghazali (rahmatullahi `alayhi) said: ‘Fear rips
away desires and muddens luxuries so that
cherished sins become reprehensible, just as a
honey lover is repelled by it when he learns that
it has poison in it. This is how fear burns desires;
disciplines the organs; subordinates the heart and
gives it tranquility. It also enables the heart to rid
itself of pride, hatred, and envy; and it leaves it
absorbed in it (fear). Hence, the heart becomes
preoccupied with its own worries and looks
towards its best interest in the long run. It is then
engaged in only matters like meditation, self-
analysis and struggle. It cherishes its time and
moments.’ [Ihya: 4/160]
Hadith - Al-Tirmidhi #5359, Narrated Abdullah
ibn Mas'ud
Allah's Messenger said, "If, through fear of Allah,
tears--even to the extent of a fly's head--fall
from any believer's eyes and drop on some part of
his cheek, he will be kept away from Hell by
Allah." Ibn Majah transmitted it.
So how can we increase our taqwa or fearful
awareness of Allah?
Here are 10 steps for us to increase in and gain
taqwa:
1. Recite the Qur'an with its meanings:
We should read the Qur'an with its meanings and
try to understand what Allah is telling us in the
Qur'an. Contemplate and ponder over the
meanings of the verses of the Qur'an and act
upon what you learn for learning something
beneficial without acting upon it is of no use. We
should read each vere of the Qur'an with humility
and submissiveness.
Recite the Holy Qur’aan as much as we can for It
will come as an intercessor for its reciter’ on the
Day of Judgement [Muslim]
Many of the sahaba used to take a long time
finishing reciting the Qur'an because they wanted
to reflect, ponder, contemplate and act upon each
verse of the Qur'an. We should also do the same
so that we can gain maximum benefit from each
verse of the Noble Qur'an.
2. Remember Allah:
keep your tongue moist with the glorification and
remembrance of Allah As much as possible . The
more we remember him the more he will
remember us. Ponder over the greatness and
creations of Allah.
O ye who believe, remember Allah much. And
glorify Him morning and evening (33:42-43)
Glorify him no matter what you are doing with
your day. Ponder and contemplate over his
highness and magnificence. He has power over all
so remember him in meekness and awe and
humble yourself over his greatness and majesty.
3. Busy yourself with good works:
The more you busy yourself making the best of
your time then the less time you will have to even
contemplate doing haraam. Take part in local
Islamic activities and in the Muslim community.
Involve yourself with your local Masjid. Maintain
the Masjid as in clean it vacuum any handy work
etc. Give dawah locally and involve yourself as
much as possible with good works and do
everything ONLY to please of Allah.
4. Be with good company:
This is very important because we are who our
friends are. If we involve ourselves with the wrong
crowd then whether we like it or not then their
bad influence will rub off on us and we will end
up thinking like them and doing the sins that they
do.
Bad company is like poison so we MUST keep
away from it. It is better to be alone than with
bad company. we should avoid taking as friends
those who speak too freely, who miss Salah, who
do not dress modestly, who backbite, slander etc.
The company of such people is poison; just even
sitting and talking with them will lead one to
commit sins. Just as a person who sits for a long
time with a perfume seller begins to smell nice,
and a person who sits by a gutter cleaner begins
to smell awful, similarly a person who spends
time in the company of the wicked eventually gets
affected badly by them.
Instead we should seek out pious friends who fear
Allah taala and who have the qualities of humility,
charity, compassion, modesty and knowledge. If
we sit with them we will always benefit and they
will be a means for us to get closer to Allah!
Remember: “All friends will be enemies of one
another on that Day (Day of Judgment) except
those of the virtuous.” (al-Qur’an 43:67)
5. Learn religious knowledge:
Try to acquire as much knowledge as is possible
and act upon everything you learn for learning
without acting upon that knowledge is of no use
and we will be accountable for the knowledge we
had that we never acted upon. Spend time with
the learned and sit with them and take wisdom
from them. Go to Islamic courses and involve
yourself with learning about the deen as much as
you can as we should continue to acquire
knowledge of Islam until our very last breath.
A person without knowledge is like someone
walking along a track in complete darkness. Most
likely his steps will wander aside and he easily
can be deceived by shaytaan. This shows that
our greatest danger lies in our ignorance of
Islamic teachings and in our unawareness of what
the Qur’an teaches and what guidance has been
given by the Prophet (Sallallahu Alaiyhi
Wasallam). But if we are blessed with the light of
knowledge we will be able to see plainly the clear
path of Islam at every step of our lives. We shall
also be able to identify and avoid the dangerous
paths of Kufr, Shirk and immorality, which may
cross it. And, whenever a false guide meets us on
the way, a few words with him will quickly
establish that he is not a guide who should be
followed.
Every one of us, young or old, man or woman,
should at least acquire sufficient knowledge to
enable ourselves to understand the essence of the
teachings of the Qur’an and the purpose for which
it has been sent down. We should also be able to
understand clearly the mission, which our beloved
Prophet (Sallallahu Alaiyhi Wasallam) came into
this world to fulfil. We should also recognize the
corrupt order and system, which he came to
destroy. We should acquaint ourselves, too, with
the way of life which Allah has ordained for us.
No great amount of time is required to acquire
this simple knowledge. If we truly value Iman, it
cannot be too difficult to find one hour every day
to devote for our Iman.
6. Always be alert and aware of whatever may
divert you away from Allah:
Be alert to anything that may lead you towards
sin. Shaythan is always wanting to lead us astray
and he may pounce on us when we are not aware
so we must always have an awareness of his evil
tricks.
We must think that whilst we commit any action
we may be taken by death for death awaits no
one so before doing any action we must think is
it good for us or bad and if it is bad then we
must realise that we CANNOT take the risk of the
consequances were we to die in that state.
We must also guard our tongues because the
tongue will be that which will lead the most
Muslims into Jahannam. Therefore we must think
before we speak and if we know we are not going
to say anything useful then it is better to not
speak at all than to risk committing a sin.
Therefore let us be alert to the carnal pleasures
that may lead to the realm of the forbidden and
always be aware that Allah is watching us
because he really is and it is not just a cliche! if
we gain awareness that Allah is watching us no
matter what we are doing then we would think
twice before committing a sin!
7. Be humble in character:
Shun arrogance and pride and never think of
yourself as better than anyone else.
Al-Nawawi (RA) said:
The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him) said: “And no one humbles himself
before Allaah but Allaah will raise him (in
status). ”
Humbleness is to know the value of oneself, to
avoid pride, or disregarding the truth and
underestimating people. As the Prophet
sallallahu`alaihi wa sallam said, according to
Muslim and others, "Al-Kibr is rejecting the truth
and looking down upon people" [Muslim, Tirmidhi
and Abu Dawud].
Humbleness is for one who is important and
significant and he fears to gain notoriety or to
become too great among people. Humbleness is
that one should humble himself with his
companions.
Humbleness is to humble oneself to one who is
below you. If you find someone who is younger
than you, or of less importance than you, you
should not despise him, because he might have a
better heart than you, or be less sinful, or closer
to Allah than you. Even if you see a sinful person
and you are righteous, do not act in arrogance
towards him, and thank Allah that He saved you
from the tribulation that He put him through.
Humbleness is that your deed should not become
too great in your eyes. If you do a good deed, or
attempt to get closer to Allah ta`ala through an
act of obedience, your deed may still not be
accepted, "Allah only accepts from those who
have taqwa (fear of Allah)." (Surat al-Maida: 27)
8. Do everything to please Allah:
Everything you do in your life do it JUST so that
you can please Allah. This will ensure that you
think before you do any action so that you can do
everything to please Allah and keep away from
anything that displeases him. This awareness will
ensure that you are always doing good works or
at least trying to find ways of doing good works
just so that you can please Allah and get closer
to him.
Before every action we should think to ourselves
is this action going to derive any benefit to us or
is it going to cause us more harm than good. If
we think like this before EVERY action then we
will do a lot less sins and a lot more good and we
would also gain a fearful awareness of Allah of
the consequances of doing that which displeases
Allah.
9. Focus on the main purpose of our lives:
We should keep reminding ourselves of the
purpose of our life and why we are here.
Throughout our daily lives especially in our busy
day we forget our main purpose and therefore end
up doing a lot of sin and wasting time.
Therefore before doing any action think of your
main purpose in this life and then think is what i
am going to do or even think of doing compatible
with the main purpose of my life? If it is then do
it and if it is not and will just either waste your
time or lead you towards sin then keep away
from it.
Think to yourself that you have NO time
whatsoever to do that which will not conform to
your main purpose in this life and so evrything
you do should conform to and be compatible with
your main purpose in this life which is to worship
Allah and do everything to please him and stay
away from anything he has forbidden us from and
which displeases him. We should also think that
anything which will not be of benefit to us is a
waste of time and therefore we will ALWAYS be
searching for ways to please Allah and to add to
our good deeds.
10. Remember much the destroyer of pleasures:
DEATH!
The Messenger of Allah (Sallallahu Alayhi
Wasallam) said: "Remember often the destroyer
of pleasure." (Sunan al-Tirmidhi and Sunan al-
Nasa'i)
Know that it can strike at ANY second and be
aware that if it were to strike whilst you were
committing a sin then how will you be raised in
that state and what will be our state in the grave
and on the day of judgement? What will you
answer to Allah when you were fully aware of the
implications and consquences of our actions? For
man is heedless.
Therefore remember death much and make it a
habit to visit the graveyard at least once a week
so that you may be reminded of death and know
that you may end up in the grave alongside the
others at ANY second and the next grave dug
could be yours or mine.
May Allah make us of the most fearful of him and
of the pious and may he bring us closer to him
and guide us to the straight path. May he save
us from the torment of the grave and the fire of
hell. Ameen
And Allah knows best in all matters