The Danger of Disobedience

Assalāmu'alaikum wa raḥmatullah

The danger that would emerge as the result of disobedience to the God the Highest is that one would face disasters and fall into disdain in this life and the hereafter...

Quran

Says the God the Highest, "Verily he who comes to his Lord as a sinner (at Judgement), - for him is the Gehannam; therein shall he either die nor live" (Surah Ta-Ha 20:74). "Do those who practice evil think that they will get the better of Us? Evil is their judgment!" (Surah al-'Ankabūt 29:40).

The phrase they will get the better of Us (Surah al-'Ankabūt 29:40) means that, they could get away from the judgment of the God the Highest during Resurrection with tricks and defeating His judgement as to avoid His punishment.

Says the God the Highest further, "It is not for a believing man or a believing woman, when the God the Highest and His messenger have decided a matter that they should (thereafter) have any choice about their affair. And whoever disobeys the God the Highest and His messenger has certainly strayed into clear error" (Surah al-Aḥzab 33:36).

Hadith

Noble prophet Muhammad s.a.w says, "A person who commits adultery would never commit adultery while he is with faith, a thief would never steal when he is with faith, and a person would not drink alcoholic beverage while he is faithful".

"While a servant committed a sin, a black spot appears in his "heart". If he returns and repent then his "heart" would be cleaned. If he repeats the sin and the spot appears again and it would grow up bigger and bigger there until the "heart" turns dark. The God the Highest says, "No! Rather, the stain has covered their 'hearts' of that which they were earning" (Surah al-Mutaffifin 83:14)".

Prophet Muhammad s.a.w further said, "Callousness of one's heart (rejecting advices due to egoism) is due to the abundant of his sin. Indeed, a servant is prevented from his sustenance due to the sins which infected his soul...".

Quotes

The God the Highest says to Moses the prophet, "O Moses! The first being who died was the Devil, the accursed one. Since he is the first being who lost his loyalty to me and my commands. Whoever is not loyal to me then I would certainly record him as a dead man!"

Sa'id bin Musayyab says, "Servants become noble with their own deeds such as with their loyalty and obedience to the God the Highest. He made himself a despicable being when he throw himself into the state of humiliation when he disobey the commands of the God the Highest. Sufficient for a 'believer', when he sees those who associate themselves with the enemies of the God the Highest committing vices and crimes through invocation for His assistance and support!"

Muhammad bin Wasi' said, "Sins made a heart of a being dies". While the Salaf clerics said, "If you disobey the God the Highest who oversees you, indeed you are looking down upon Him and His transcendent view. If you commit disloyalty to Him and thinking that He could not reach You with His view, indeed you are a blasphemous infidel! Disloyalty is the messenger of infidelity."

While Wuhaib al-Ward was asked by someone, "Could a disloyal person find sweetness in worship to the God the Highest while he commits mutiny to Him?" He answered, "No! Even those who plan to commit disloyalty to Him could not taste the sweetness of worship and devotion".

Globally could be said that the sign of one is deemed as lower creature in His view when he commits the act of disloyal beings. When he continues to dwell in it, the wrath of the God the Highest would reach Him. He will be the most beloved one of the satanic beings and the faithful servants would avoid him.

When your "self" tells you to commit mutiny and disloyalty to Him, reminds it through the awareness that He is supervising everyone and He reveals His promises through the tongue of sages and prophets and He would certainly keep His promises through His Justice.

The consequence of the committed crimes and sins do not end with the lost of one' prestige within His view and the worlds or being driven out from the link of "meritorious" deeds of those who performs charity and chastity; but in those crimes and sins, there are contemptible sentences and the torments accompanying them. Sins and crimes naturally consists the Wrath of the God the Highest where the earth and heavens would lost their balance to bear it!

Thus let us pray together may the Lord the Highest, the King saves us through His generous bestowals.... Inshā Allah...

Sealed with prayers for mercy, peace and love, amin!

Fear

Assalaamu'alaikum wa rahmatullah

I had few times talked with some Christian friends and I used to mention to them about fear to the God the Highest. Well, if people talk with me, I would try very hard avoiding from imposing our views on others but only explaining what is our belief. I found that they cannot understand and keep repeating about Jesus love and salvation through the divinity of lord Jesus is better than fear to the God because the way the God can be approached is through love. Most of all they are "new" converts which sometimes make me feel annoyed as they behave like some kind of religious zealots and trying to baptize me by pressuring persuasion. I am still maintaining connection with my non-Muslim friends including some of them are Buddhist monks and I never convert any of them! I only talk about my belief or faith when they ask me. If they do not ask me then I will remain silent. I do not like to compare anything to make others look bad or to force something which is not "meant" for them. I also believe in the soul tendency other than the Wisdom of the God. 

First of all, I respect Jesus Christ as a noble prophet and we give due honor to his mother, lady Maryam the virgin who talked with the Archangel Gabriel a.s. We are strictly prohibited from saying bad words about Jesus a.s or else we will automatically become apostate as to show that there is not much difference between noble prophets and messengers of the God who conveys His message to the Earth. The way we talk about Jesus a.s is the way that we talk about other prophets that we have faith in down to Muhammad s.a.w as the seal of eras. I am familiar with theophany theory in few world philosophies and I do not like to dwell so much in it as it is not practical. It is just a "theory"!

Method of Servants

Fear as according to Abu Hamid al-Ghazali in his "Method of Servants" and according to the Glorious Quran refers to three meanings...

1. Shy, humble and respect

2. Devotional obedience in worship and services

3. Purifying the heart from influences of sin

And there is a mention about genuine fear by Abu Hamid al-Ghazali. These are the conclusion from his book. Generally speaking, the word which is translated simply as fear from Arabic refers to the avoidance of one self from His wrath and punishments due to crossing the lines which is drawn by Him who is Supreme. General fact of fear is that He oversees us and we cannot escape His vision by committing errors in hidden or in open space. He never lost us on whatever He commands us as we are in His vast Kingdom.

Definitions

The word taqwa was like other Semitic words was derived from three letters root verb. It is the eighth stem in the Arabic tongue articulation dictionary and lexicon mediator. It could literally means...

(1) protecting one self from something.   

(2) afraid of the penalty and avoid from violating the "nature"

(3) cautious and avoidance of something 

(4) making something as a protection and boundary line for something

Encyclopedia of Islam (2013) mentions that the word "fear" is an Islamic term which denotes God-consciousness, mindfulness and piety. The literal meaning is to put a barrier between one self and the wrath of the God. This is an ethical base for a Muslim and Muslims who form a community. It plays a significant role in one's relationship to the God by reminding believers of His omnipotence and knowledge. Fear is one of few stations in the Path. And it is important due to its ability in bringing one closer to the God. 

Ibn Katir Exegesis mentions that the root of the word taqwa is to avoid what one dislikes. It was reported that Umar al-Khattab r.a asked Ubay b. Ka'ab r.a about the word. Ubay r.a asked him, "Have you ever walked on a path that has thorns on it?" Umar r.a said, "Yes, certainly". Ubay r.a asked him agaim, "What did you do then?" Umar r.a replied, "I rolled up my sleeves and struggled". Ubay r.a answered, "So that is taqwa (fear). It is a sense of protecting one self from sin through dangerous journey in this life so that one can successfully complete the journey without being influenced by sin".

Ibn Abbas regarding the verse from Surah al-Baqarah 2:2 which means, "the guidance for the fearful" said that "the fearful" means, "They are the believers who avoid associating the God the Highest with anything from the Earth and Heavens and who work in His obedience". He further elaborates, "They fear the punishment of the God the Highest which would come if they abandoned the true guidance that they already recognize and know. They also hope in His Mercy by through His revelation".

Sealed with prayers for mercy, peace and love, amin!