In the name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful, upon whom we rely in every situation, and peace and blessings be upon his messenger Muhammad, who was sent but as a mercy for everybody, and upon all of his family and companions.
Fear is at the root of so many bad actions. Many people look at the bad state of affairs in the world and then commit bad things themselves, justifying it to themselves that they have been forced into it, or that it is the only way for goodness to survive. Much inhumanity and cruelty, and terrorism has been done in the name of establishing an ideal such as creating the kingdom of God on earth, or a communist state or for winning or ending a war against impossible odds.
Yet it is not a Muslim way of thinking at all to think it is our duty to force things to be a certain way, as if we know best and can and should gain power to control things by any means possible. Where it appears in Muslims, it is a distortion imported from modernity (See Abdul Hakim Murad, Bombing by Moonlight, (2008) The ends never justify using bad means. The Qur’an tells us that we need to make sure that our actions are beautiful and leave the ends of things to Allah:
“And whoever surrenders his face towards Allah, and acts beautifully, he has definitely grasped the firmest handhold, and with Allah lie the ends of all affairs.” (31:22)
We know in this life that things are going to go wrong. We will have to face difficulties and trials and tests. Allah promises us this:
“And We will surely test you with something of fear and hunger and a loss of wealth and lives and fruits, but give good tidings to the patient, Who, when disaster strikes them, say, إِنَّا لله وَ إِنَّا إِلاَيْهِ رَاجِعُون “Indeed we belong to Allah, and indeed to Him we will return.” Those are the ones upon whom are blessings from their Lord and mercy. And it is those who are the [rightly] guided. (2:155-157)
And Allah promises us that when we face difficulties,
“and we will provide for him from where he does not expect, and whoever relies upon Allah – then He is sufficient for him. Indeed, Allah will accomplish His purpose. Allah has already set for everything a decree.” (65:3)
Allah says in the Qur’an,
“Nothing will happen to you except for what Allah has written for you, and He is our protector, and on Allah will the believers rely.” (9:51)
Nothing in this world has the power to do anything without Allah’s permission, and nothing you can do will help you unless Allah wills. Everything in this world is a slave of Allah, willingly or unwillingly, whether he knows it or not, because everything is created by Him and utterly dependent upon Him. If we truly understand this, then we should turn continuously to Allah in every situation.
Abu al-‘Abbas ‘Abdullah bin ‘Abbas(ra) in the hadith, reports:
“One day I was riding (a horse/camel) behind the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, when he said, ‘Young man, I will teach you some words. Be mindful of God, and He will take care of you. Be mindful of Him, and you shall find Him at your side. If you ask, ask of God. If you need help, seek it from God. Know that if the whole world were to gather together in order to help you, they would not be able to help you except if God had written so. And if the whole world were to gather together in order to harm you, they would not harm you except if God had written so. The pens have been lifted, and the pages are dry.’ ”
Related by Tirmidhi
But what about when you have are in a bad situation and you have asked Allah and things are still going against you – is it okay in this situation to lose one’s nerve and go back on one’s principles?
“A magnificent reward awaits those who persevere in doing good and remaining conscious of God (having taqwa). Those who were warned by other people, “Behold, there is a huge army gathered against you so fear them!” But this only increased their faith, so that they answered, “God is enough for us, and how excellent a guardian is He!” (3:175)
There is an old story from Muslim tradition about a man who is on a boat in the middle of a storm. The waves are huge and the ship is in danger of breaking up and foundering. The people all around him are rushing around in a state of panic, but he is just sitting there, quietly, on the deck. A man rushes up to him, “What are you doing!” he yells. “Can’t you see we are going to sink?” “Why don’t you do something instead of just sitting there!” The man simply smiled at him. “I have experienced Him a lot,” he replied, “and He does as He wills.”
The moral here is that the reminder that ultimately we must surrender to Allah’s will, at all times and in all occasions, which is why the Muslims says, “All praise is due to Allah in every situation.”
Our Prophet said, “Wondrous is the affair of the believer. Every matter is good for him and this is not the case except for the believer. If he is happy, then he thanks Allah, and if he is harmed, then he shows patience and thus there is good for him.”
So what is it that makes us lose our nerve and panic? Allah tells us in the Qur’an that
It is but Shaitan who frightens his allies, so fear them not, but fear me, if you are believers. (3:170)
Here in this verse we are told that Shaitan frightens even his allies – why? Because when people are under pressure, and frightened, they don’t think clearly. They only think about survival. They tend to react instantaneously and harshly, so there is not even any chance to reflect and consider the situation carefully – which is one reason why the “count to ten before you say anything” technique is so helpful. Shaitan frightens people by threatening them with other things:
“Shaitan promises you (or threatens you) with poverty and orders you to commit obscenities and Allah promises you forgiveness from him and Excellence and Allah Vast and all-knowing.” (2:268)
Poverty is not just about money, but about our need and our inability to do anything for ourselves. It is neediness of one form or another. We are indeed needy, because we depend for everything on the goodness of Allah. But the response of a believer to our neediness is to turn to Allah for help and to rely upon Him.
One of the names of Shaitan, Iblees, means one who despairs and who wants to make you despair. However, Allah does not want us to despair. He knows our poverty, but He offers to help us. He gave us a prayer in the Qur’an,
Oh Allah, indeed I am, to what you send down to me in goodness, really in need (poor). (28:24)
“Say: O My slaves who have been prodigal to their own hurt! Despair not of the mercy of Allah, Who forgiveth all sins. Lo! He is the Forgiving, the Merciful.” (Surah 39:53)
You can see the contrast between the promises of Shaitan and the promises of Allah.
Fear makes us do bad things, because we are scared of what other people might do or scared of uncertainty in the future, imagining the worst. If we look at the story of Macbeth, the witches promise Macbeth that he will be king, but instead of him just calmly waiting to see if their promise comes true, like his friend Banquo, he and Lady Macbeth starts worrying about fulfilling this promise and this unleashes a dreadful chain of events that culminate in mass murder, madness and death.
However, we cannot blame and should not fear Shaitan. We just need to choose to ignore his promptings. According to the Qur’an, he has no power over us.
“As for My servants, you have no power over them.” Your Lord is enough as a protector.” (Quran 17:65]
