Oneness and Remembrance Part 1
Section 2 of 22 · Faraid in Islam · Ustadh Mahmud Kurkcu
Fear Answered by Peace
A question naturally arises: how is this reconciled with another āyah, where Allah (swt) says of the believers that their hearts tremble at His mention?
إِنَّمَا ٱلْمُؤْمِنُونَ ٱلَّذِينَ إِذَا ذُكِرَ ٱللَّهُ وَجِلَتْ قُلُوبُهُمْ وَإِذَا تُلِيَتْ عَلَيْهِمْ ءَايَـٰتُهُۥ زَادَتْهُمْ إِيمَـٰنًا وَعَلَىٰ رَبِّهِمْ يَتَوَكَّلُونَ
“Certainly, the believers are those whose hearts are filled with awe when (the name of) Allah is mentioned; and when His verses are recited to them, it makes them more developed in faith; and in their Lord they place their trust.” (8:2)
One āyah says that hearts find peace only through remembrance; the other, that the true believers are those whose hearts feel fear, wajilat, when Allah is mentioned, and whose faith increases when His verses are recited to them. The reconciliation is that this trembling brings to mind both Allah's greatness and the intensity of His reckoning against the disobedient. The occasion of revelation for this āyah was the battle of Badr, after which the Companions fell into dispute over the spoils of war, and Allah (swt) reminded them of who they were — not people to fight over petty gain. A true Muslim fears Allah, so that at the mention of His name the heart trembles with both fear and hope: hope in the first āyah, fear in the second. A further āyah, in Sūrat al-Zumar, brings the two together in a single verse:
ٱللَّهُ نَزَّلَ أَحْسَنَ ٱلْحَدِيثِ كِتَـٰبًا مُّتَشَـٰبِهًا مَّثَانِىَ تَقْشَعِرُّ مِنْهُ جُلُودُ ٱلَّذِينَ يَخْشَوْنَ رَبَّهُمْ ثُمَّ تَلِينُ جُلُودُهُمْ وَقُلُوبُهُمْ إِلَىٰ ذِكْرِ ٱللَّهِ ۚ ذَٰلِكَ هُدَى ٱللَّهِ يَهْدِى بِهِۦ مَن يَشَآءُ ۚ وَمَن يُضْلِلِ ٱللَّهُ فَمَا لَهُۥ مِنْ هَادٍ
“Allah has sent down the best discourse, a book containing subjects resembling each other, mentioned again and again, shivered from which are the skins of those who have awe of their Lord. Then, their skins and their hearts become soft enough to tend to the remembrance of Allah. This is the Guidance of Allah with which He brings to the right path whomsoever He wills. As for the one whom Allah lets go astray, for him there is no one to guide.” (39:23)
This best of discourses is a book in which the promises of reward are paired with the warnings of punishment: the flesh of those who fear their Lord shudders at it, and then their flesh and their hearts soften toward the remembrance of Allah — the second half of the āyah turning to His generosity and mercy. Fear and hope, khawf and rajāʾ, are held in balance. A Muslim is not a person permanently at ease, presuming upon impunity, as though Paradise's highest degree were assured regardless of conduct; no one knows how Allah will deal with him. Yet the servant's duty, in order to keep the heart alive, is to make constant dhikr of Allah while equally fearing His vengeance should he disobey — the two held together, as this āyah teaches.