Imaam Ath Thahabi Rahimahullah mentions in his monumental book "Seer A’alaam an Nubalaa” Vol.8 P.406 on the authority of Abdullah Ibn Al Mubaarak Rahimahullah (181H.):


“The people of knowledge and insight do not consider themselves safe from four things:


1) A past sin he committed which he does not know what Allaah will do with it (either forgive and pardon him for it or punish him with it);


2) What is left of his life, whether there is something therein waiting to destroy him;


3) A favor that Allaah bestowed upon him, perhaps it is a plot which will lead him step by step to his eventual destruction and ruin;


4) Deviance which is beautified for him so that he sees it to be guidance and in a split second, his heart can deviate and he will be stripped of his deen and he doesn't even realize it.”

Your a good i-net searcher indeed. This is classic

well done

its absolutely true v r unsafe in all these

may allah protect us ..ameen

jazak allahuhairun brother

may allah SWT protect us all ameen :S

Takre care
asalamu alaykum

ameen to the dua.

True words...

Ameen ! to the dua

This explains to me why Muslims seem to spend so much time in fear: at any moment on any day they may lose their deen.

But does Islam not also assure its followers of Allah's mercy and forgiveness? Should that not be reason for joy and inner peace?
I'm a little confused right now ...

Peace

We do not despair of the mercy of Allaah/God, yet we do not go to the extent of feeling safe from His punishment. There are some Jews who fear the punishment of Allah without His Mercy, yet some Christians have gone to the extent where they feel secure from His punishment and feel they can do whatever without recompense for their deeds - good or bad.


I mentioned some there because i have heard some Christians claiming that Jesus son of Mary has died for their sins, yet others saying that deeds are also important. Yet I've never really received a clear answer with proof from the Bible.



The believer has love for Allaah for all the good which He has bestowed upon us, the example of a believer is given beautifully by Ibn Al-Qayim who said that the believer is like a bird;

The heart is the love for Allaah which keeps the bird alive and going, one wing is hope, and the other is fear. If one wing outweighs the other - the bird will fall. The fear is for Allaah's displeasure if one was to do evil, yet the hope is for His Mercy and reward. If one was to go to extremes in any of these two wings, they would fall out of balance, i.e. too much fear will make one despair of Allaah's Mercy, yet excessive hope will open the door for the person to commit sins. So these feelings should be justly balanced in order to be a good Muslim and believer.



And Allaah knows best.





Regards.

Greetings Qatada
If you read up on Christian doctrine you will find that Christians believe both: that you gain salvation through believing in Jesus' sacrifice for us and that this belief and a true following of Christ should lead to and be reflected in good deeds.
But I don't want to go further into this here, as I understand that the Comparative Religions section is the better place for such discussions.
I am sure you can find the topic being discussed there is several places.



I like that comparison. Thanks for sharing.

Virtually all I know about Islam I have learned here at LI.
Hence I judge Islam to a great extend by what I read and learn here.

Certainly many of the threads I have read here at LI over the last 15 months have given me the impression that for many Muslims the fear of Allah seems to outweigh their joy and love for him.
Of course, this is only my perception ... and I would not assume to know, let alone to judge what is in people's hearts. Such things are only for God to know.

Peace, brother.

Jazakallah Khayr brother Muhammad.

hey sister glo, hope your allright


just wanted to say that, if our fear was infact greater then our love for him, then we most probably would have collapsed under pressure and gave up on Allah thinking that his too full of anger and wrath (Audhubillah)!

the believer does indeed love Allah... more then he loves himself and the messenger sallallahi alaihi wasallaam !

how can we not love the one who gives us every breath tho we sin each second without giving thanks

oh and i should mention, the reason it seems that our fear is also greater is because we dont have enough of it, thus we constantly remind ourselves that Allah is watching, we shouldnt do those bad things... it helps us lol... we have lots of "love of Allah " reminders aswell, they come in the form of wordly favours and paradise

Hi,

We are supposed to worship Allah in Fear and Hope. Excess in either can lead to your destruction. How many people continue in sin because they are certain that they are destined for Hell and they will not be forgiven. Yet how many people do the same because they are certain that they are destined for Paradise and will be forgiven. So we have to maintain a balance. We should fear Allah's Punishment, but also hope for His Mercy. Because indeed, it is only by His Mercy that we enter Paradise.

The believer has love for Allaah for all the good which He has bestowed upon us, the example of a believer is given beautifully by Ibn Al-Qayim who said that the believer is like a bird;

The heart is the love for Allaah which keeps the bird alive and going, one wing is hope, and the other is fear. If one wing outweighs the other - the bird will fall. The fear is for Allaah's displeasure if one was to do evil, yet the hope is for His Mercy and reward. If one was to go to extremes in any of these two wings, they would fall out of balance, i.e. too much fear will make one despair of Allaah's Mercy, yet excessive hope will open the door for the person to commit sins. So these feelings should be justly balanced in order to be a good Muslim and believer.



Mashallahhh wowww...that is a very good comparison he made and subhanallah just so much wisdom in it..Jazakallahu khair for sharin it