The Virtue of Fearing Allah: Forgiveness and Eternal Bliss

Muiz As-Siddeeqi
Apr 27
9 min read

Shaykh Ibn Baz:

In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate.

All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of all the worlds. And may peace and blessings be upon His servant and Messenger, our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and all his companions.

To proceed:

Dear respected listeners,

Today my talk with you is about the great virtue of fearing Allah.

Allah, the Most High, says in His clear Book:

"Indeed, those who fear their Lord unseen — for them is forgiveness and a great reward."

(Surah al-Mulk, verse 12)

In this magnificent verse, Allah, Exalted is He, makes it clear that whoever truly fears Him — Allah has promised them forgiveness and a great reward.

And part of this great reward is entering Paradise and being saved from the Fire.

Why?

Because true fear of Allah leads a person to fulfill His obligations, stay away from His prohibitions, and remain within the limits set by Him.

The one who truly fears Allah stays far from sins and rushes toward whatever pleases Allah.

Otherwise, if a person claims to fear Allah but does not act accordingly, then he is a liar in his claim.

His fear of Allah — or what he calls "fear" — is extremely weak and almost nothing.

As for true fear of Allah, it produces the fruits of fulfilling the obligations, avoiding the forbidden things, rushing to do good deeds, and staying within the limits set by Allah, the Exalted.

This is why Allah, Glorified and Exalted be He, linked forgiveness and Paradise to the fear of Him.

If fear of Allah did not lead a person to fulfill the obligations and stay away from the forbidden, then forgiveness would not have been attached to it.

Nor would the great reward have been promised to the one who has it.

Through this, we understand that fearing Allah and being afraid of Him bring about every good.

They lead a person to stay far away from the prohibitions of Allah, and they lead a person to stand firm at the limits set by Allah,

never crossing them — out of fear of Allah and fear of His punishment.

And for this reason, Allah, the Most High, says in another verse:

"And for the one who fears the standing before his Lord — there will be two Gardens."

(Surah al-Rahman, verse 46)

Thus, Allah makes it clear:

Whoever fears standing before Allah — Allah has promised him two Gardens.

And this is only because — as we have explained — true fear of Allah naturally leads to fulfilling His commands,

staying away from what He has forbidden, and

standing firmly within the boundaries He has set.

And Allah, the Most High, says in another verse:

"But as for the one who fears the standing before his Lord and restrains his soul from its desires — then indeed, Paradise will be his home."

(Surah al-Nāziʿāt, verses 40–41)

The one who fears the standing before Allah controls his soul, restrains it from following its selfish desires, disobeys it when it calls him toward what goes against the Law of Allah, and forces it to obey Allah.

He struggles against his soul until it becomes firm upon goodness, until it surrenders to the obedience Allah has made obligatory, and until it stays far from the disobedience of Allah, Glorified and Exalted be He.

The soul becomes whatever a person trains it upon.

If he strives against it for the sake of Allah, holds it accountable, and stops it at its limits,

then it will become upright and will walk the straight path.

But if he neglects it, spoils it, and gives in to its whims,

it will drag him toward destruction.

Because the soul — when left uncontrolled — is the vehicle of Satan:

he decorates every evil for it and slows it down from doing every good.

As Allah, the Most High, says in another verse:

"Indeed, the soul is always commanding towards evil, except for those upon whom my Lord has mercy."

(Surah Yūsuf, verse 53)

So you, O servant of Allah,

must struggle against your own soul,

must take great care of it,

must train it to obey Allah and His Messenger,

and must train it to be cautious of falling into the forbidden things.

The soul becomes whatever you train it to be, just as the poet said:

"The soul desires what you encourage it towards,

But if you bring it back to little, it will learn to be content."

The soul follows the habits it is taught.

If you train it upon sins, laziness, and carelessness about Allah’s commands,

then it will get used to that — and it will continue upon that path.

Doing what pleases Allah will feel heavy and hard for it.

But if you train the soul to walk the path of goodness,

to rush toward acts of obedience,

and to stay away from sins,

then it will get used to that too — and it will happily continue on that path.

Success and guidance are only in the Hand of Allah, the Most High,

but you are commanded to take the means!

You, O servant of Allah, are commanded to take the means!

And you, O maidservant of Allah, are also commanded to take the means!

So every single one of us must strive against his soul for the sake of Allah,

must call it to account for its actions,

and must always work hard to save it from the punishment of Allah.

One of the early righteous people (the Salaf) was once asked about how he would struggle against his own soul and tire it out with worship and striving.

He replied:

"I only want its comfort."

Some of our righteous predecessors were known for their intense worship — praying, fasting, making pilgrimage, and doing all kinds of acts of obedience.

One of them was told by his companions:

"You have exhausted yourself!"

He replied:

"I am tiring it out today because I want its comfort tomorrow."

Meaning — he wanted the comfort of his soul on the Day of Judgment:

He was exhausting it today so that it could be saved tomorrow — from Allah’s punishment and from His anger.

So when the believer struggles against his soul today,

he is really striving for the sake of his own soul:

so it may be saved from Allah’s punishment,

and so it may win the eternal delights on the Day of Judgment —

in the land of honor, the land of happiness, the land of everlasting joy.

About this beautiful place, Allah, the Most High, said:

"Indeed, the righteous will be among gardens and springs,

Enter them in peace, safe and secure.

And We will remove from their hearts any resentment —

they will be brothers, sitting on thrones, facing one another.

No fatigue will touch them therein, and they will never be expelled from it."

(Surah al-Ḥijr, verses 45–48)

It is the land of true bliss.

It will be said to the people of Paradise on the Day of Judgment:

"O people of Paradise! You will live — and never die again.

You will be healthy — and never fall sick again.

You will remain youthful — and never grow old again.

You will enjoy — and never be miserable again."

Their blessings will never end.

Their youth will never fade.

Their health will never decline.

Their happiness will never be disturbed.

Their delights will be everlasting.

But as for this present world —

this dunya —

it is the land of constant changes,

the land of hardships,

the land of illnesses and sadnesses.

No matter how long life lasts,

no matter how perfect someone's health is,

death is the inevitable end.

As Allah, the Most High, said:

"Every soul shall taste death."

(Surah Āl-ʿImrān, verse 185)

This worldly life — its final end is death and disappearance.

It has no true value except for the one who uses it to do righteous deeds.

For such a person, this world is a precious place —

for the one who gathers good deeds here,

for the one who strives against his soul for Allah's sake,

for the one who walks the path of obedience,

for the one who plants seeds of goodness here.

This world is the farmland of the servants — the farmland for the Hereafter.

Whoever plants in it what pleases Allah,

whoever draws close to Allah in it,

whoever stays far away from Allah’s prohibitions,

then on the Day of Judgment, he will harvest every happiness and every good.

He will succeed with eternal bliss,

and he will praise his good ending.

But whoever gives his soul whatever it desires,

and is careless about the commands of Allah,

and is lazy about prayers,

and is stingy with zakat (or gives only part of it),

and is negligent about fasting,

and rushes into sins and evil deeds —

then he will regret bitterly on the Day of Judgment.

He will be full of sorrow for what he wasted and ruined —

unless Allah, the Most Merciful, blesses him with forgiveness,

or guides him to sincere repentance before it is too late.

So you, my dear brother, are walking upon danger!

Be warned!

Remember what Allah, the Most High, said about the one who follows his desires:

"But as for he who transgressed and preferred the life of this world —

Then indeed, the Hellfire will be his home."

(Surah al-Nāziʿāt, verses 37–39)

And Allah, the Most High, also said:

"Indeed, the criminals will be in the punishment of Hell, abiding forever.

It will not be lightened for them, and they will be plunged into despair therein.

And We did not wrong them, but it was they who were the wrongdoers."

(Surah al-Zukhruf, verses 74–76)

And He, the Most High, also said — describing the destiny of all people, the righteous and the wicked:

"Indeed, the righteous will be in bliss,

And indeed, the wicked will be in Hellfire."

(Surah al-Infiṭār, verses 13–14)

It is narrated that Sulaymān ibn ʿAbd al-Malik al-Umawī, the Caliph (Commander of the Believers), once asked Abū Ḥāzim, the noble Tābiʿī (a great scholar from the second generation of Islam):

"O Abū Ḥāzim, why do we dislike death?"

Abū Ḥāzim replied:

"Because you have built up the world, and you have destroyed the Hereafter.

So you hate to leave what you have built, and go to what you have ruined."

Meaning:

They had given their souls everything they desired in this world,

and they had neglected the matters of the Hereafter —

so naturally, they hated death.

Then Sulaymān asked him:

"What is my position with Allah?"

Abū Ḥāzim answered:

"Present yourself to the Qur’an."

Sulaymān asked:

"On which verse?"

Abū Ḥāzim said:

"Upon Allah’s saying:

‘Indeed, the righteous will be in bliss,

And indeed, the wicked will be in Hellfire.’"

(Surah al-Infiṭār, verses 13–14)

Meaning:

If you are among the righteous, those who obey Allah,

then you are destined for bliss.

And if you are among the wicked, those who disobey Allah,

then your destination is the Hellfire.

So, O servant of Allah,

and O maidservant of Allah —

take great care of this matter!

We must all take it seriously.

We must all call ourselves to account,

and we must struggle against our souls for the sake of Allah, the Most High.

Whoever truly fears Allah, and truly fears His punishment,

will rush toward obedience —

he will fulfill Allah’s obligations and stay away from Allah’s prohibitions.

If he does not, then his claim of fearing Allah is false,

or his fear is weak and deficient.

And among the greatest causes of developing true fear of Allah and reverence for His sacred limits are:

Reflecting deeply upon the Qur’an,
Reciting it often,
Thinking carefully about what happens after death:
What will happen after death?
What will the grave be like?
Will it be a garden from the gardens of Paradise,
or a pit from the pits of Hellfire?