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                           Bismillah irRahman irRaheem
            In the Name of Allaah, The Most Gracious, The Most Kind
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 Hijri date: Friday 22 Jumaada al-awal 1420 A.H.

FEARING ALLAH AND HOPING FOR HIS FORGIVENESS FROM THE BOOK: FAT-HUL MAJEED

 by Abdur-Rahman Hassan 'Aali Sheikh (d. 1285 H) (which is an explanation of
 the book) SHARH KITAAB AT-TAUHEED BY SHEIKH ABDUL WAHAB (d. 1206H)

 The subject of this paper is fearing Allah "al khauf" and hoping for His
 Forgiveness "ar-rajaa' " and the aspect of negating either one of these
 qualities.  It is based upon several ayats, the principle one being Allah's
 statement in Suratul 'Araaf:(7: 99)   {'A fa 'aamanou makrillah?
 Fa la y'amin makrillah 'ilal qaum ul-khaasiroon} "Did they then feel secure
 against the plan of Allah?  None feel secure against the plan of Allah
 except those who are lost."

 By quoting the above ayah, the writer, may Allah have mercy on him, intends
 to bring to the  attention of the reader the fact
 that "al 'amin min makrillah" (which means feeling safe and secure from
 what Allah has planned as punishment for wrongdoing) is one of
 the major sins and it is a complete negation  of faith  in the Oneness of
 Allah (like saying God doesn't exist therefore He is not feared).

 Similarly,  "al qanut min rahmatullah", despairing of Allah's Mercy, is a
 sin of equal magnitude and this points to the fact that the
 Believer goes to his Lord between fear and hope  (al khauf war-rajaa'),
 just as the Qur'an and Sunnah point to this, as the salaf of the
 Ummah and the Imams (religious leaders).

 We see, in Suratul Hijr: (15:56),
 the Prophet, Ibrahim, peace be upon him, said, "And who despairs of the
 Mercy of his Lord except those who are astray".


 Some commentary by the Mufasiroon (Qur'anic commentators of old):

 Qataadah, Imam al mufassir, who is Qataadah bin Di'amah As Sadusi Al Basri
 (d.118H, may  Allah have mercy on him) states the meaning of  this ayah:
 Verily, Allah, tabaarak wa ta'ala, when He mentions the condition of the
 residents of a particular group of towns who are rejecters of  the
 messengers, He makes known that what caused them to do so was their
 "over-confidence" or their heightened sense of security or safety from
 whatever Allah had planned and the absence of faith in Him.
 This as it appears in the two ayats before the main ayah mentioned at the
 beginning of this paper from  Suratul 'Ar'aaf: 97-99:  "Did the people of
 the towns then feel secure against the coming of Our punishment by night
 while they slept? * Or, did the people of the towns then feel secure
 against the coming of Our punishment in the forenoon while they play? * Did
 they feel secure against the plot of Allah?  None feels secure from the
 plot of Allah except the people who are lost".

 What is meant by the word "makr" is destruction -  Allah's punishment for
 those who reject.

 The  word that is used in the explanation is "al-haalikoon" - those who are
 destroyed.

 This is because they felt safe from Allah's plot or plan "makr" and they
 were unaware of the fact that He let them continue in their rejection and
 sin without punishing them immediately.  This is from Allah's wisdom and we
 cannot totally understand it totally, but He does allow the people
 every opportunity to believe, obey and accept His messengers and the
 messages that they carried.  He gives them time and heaps upon
 them bounties upon bounties, blessings upon blessings, going along in
 happiness and prosperity and in the end, they mistakenly assume that
 Allah would not punish them, rather, they are being blessed!  The idea of
 Allah punishing them for their rejection and sins is far from their
 thoughts.

 [Writer's  interjection: we can see this today happening in many of the
 powerful nations of the  West,  as well as among other nations all over the
World -- the idea of accountabilities, the idea that those actions which are
sins and which have become so pleasing to them would be punishable in some
form at some point in time is completely foreign to them; the farthest thing
from their minds.  Why?  Because they do not believe in God, not in His
Books, nor in His Messengers, nor in the Day of Judgment. In short, they have
NO fear of Allah]

 insha Allah will be continued.

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