The Garden of Knowledge

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

17 Dhul Qa’dah 1446/16 May 2025

All praise is due to Allah, the Cherisher, Sustainer, Nourisher and Provider of the entire creation. May peace, blessings and salutations be upon our Beloved Prophet Muhammed ﷺ.

Khauf translates to as ‘fear’. Allah makes mention in the Holy Quran: ِ

  يَدْعُونَ رَبَّهُمْ خَوْفًا وَطَمَعًا َ

” They supplicate their Lord in fear and aspiration”. (32:16)

The Prophet (S.A.W) said in a hadith,

 يَا أُمَّةَ مُحَمَّدٍ وَاللَّهِ لَوْ تَعْلَمُونَ مَا أَعْلَمُ لَبَكَيْتُمْ كَثِيرًا، وَلَضَحِكْتُمْ قَلِيلاً ‏

“Oh followers of  Muhammed (S.A.W), By Allah, If you knew what I knew, you would have laughed a little and cried a lot.” (Sahih al-Bukhari 6631) (البخاري, 1981/1401H)

Khauf is a meaning which is connected to the future, because one only fears that a reprehensible and condemned thing will befall him or a beloved will escape him.  Khauf with regards to Allah is that one fears that Allah will punish him either in this dunya or in the aakhirah.

Allah (S.W.T) makes it obligatory in the Quran for His slaves to fear Him:    

   إِنَّمَا هُوَ إِلَٰهٌ وَاحِدٌ ۖ فَإِيَّايَ فَارْهَبُونِ

“He is but one God, so fear only Me.” (16:51)

Imam Ali ibn Ad-Daqqaq mentioned that Khauf has various levels, namely خوف (Fear), خشية (dread) and هيبة (awe). Khauf is a condition of Iman and Khashyah Is a condition of knowledge. Allah says in the Holy Quran:

إِنَّمَا يَخْشَى اللَّهَ مِنْ عِبَادِهِ الْعُلَمَاءُ ۗ إِنَّ اللَّهَ عَزِيزٌ غَفُورٌ

“Only those fear Allah, from among His servants, who have knowledge. Indeed, Allah is Exalted in Might and Forgiving.” (35:28)

Haiba is from the conditions of Ma’arifah (awareness of Allah).

How can we apply the principle of Khauf in our life today to help us deal with the challenges we are facing ? Well first, a question comes to mind, many a times we hear narrate the Hadith “ اتَّقِ اللَّهَ حَيْثُمَا كُنْتَ – Fear Allah wherever you are” , however what is Taqwa? Is it just Khauf (fear)? Many scholars look at Taqwa as the realization and awareness of Allah and having fear of the punishment of Allah, the reasoning behind this is that in actual fact we should love Allah. The question is are we Muslims and do we worship Allah out of fear alone? No we worship Allah because we love Allah and fear His punishment when we disobey His commandments. A simple analogy for us to understand this is that we love our parents yet we fear they may punish us when we do something wrong. In the same way, that is what Taqwa is understood to mean.

May Allah accept our efforts from us and grant us understanding In Sha Allah!