Ten Steps to Allah. Step 6: Positive Awe
As we get closer to Ramadan, focusing on what we are seeking through our devotions is ever more crucial. The ultimate aim of any Muslim is to gain the closeness of Allah Most High. Shaykh Faraz Rabbani gives us clear guidelines with 10 key steps on the path to Allah Most High elucidating for us how to get closer to Allah.
Sometimes we associate fear of Allah with negative emotion. However, awe of Allah is inherently positive—a recognition of Allah’s greatness that drives us to turn to Him. This is the sixth step on the path to Allah.
Step 6: Positive Awe
A lot of people do not like fear. Fear of Allah does not mean that you fear Him in a negative way. When you fear something you want to go away from it but that is not the fear of Allah. Fear of Allah is the greatest means to submit to Allah. It is a sense of awe at the majesty, greatness, and glory of Allah. It is to recognize the beauty and perfection of Allah and to recognize how merciful and generous Allah is to us. When we have this awe of both His majesty and His mercy upon us and we are humbled, this is awe of Allah.
Allah Most High tells us in the Qur’an, “As for the one who fears the station of their Lord and who forbids their lower self from its wayward ways, Paradise is indeed their resting place.” [Qur’an, 79:40-41]
It is a state of amazement and awe in the heart that humbles a person. It calls one to restrain oneself. Free causes one to refrain. Positive awe of Allah is when you think of the greatness of your Lord. This is why we say Allahu akbar with awe. When we say Allahu akbar, we turn fully to Allah in yearning and longing. Fear comes with hope and hope must come with fear, otherwise, there is an imbalance.
May Allah Most High grant us true awe, coupled with true hope, coupled with true love coupled with true gratitude.
The episode can be found on this link Ramadan 2020 Reminders | Episode 25: Ten Steps to Allah – 06 – Positive Awe | Shaykh Faraz Rabbani – YouTube
About the Author
Shaykh Faraz Rabbani spent ten years studying with some of the leading scholars of recent times, first in Damascus, and then in Amman, Jordan. His teachers include the foremost theologian of recent times in Damascus, the late Shaykh Adib al-Kallas (may Allah have mercy on him), as well as his student Shaykh Hassan al-Hindi, one of the leading Hanafi fuqaha of the present age.
He returned to Canada in 2007, where he founded SeekersGuidance in order to meet the urgent need to spread Islamic knowledge–both online and on the ground–in a reliable, relevant, inspiring, and accessible manner. He is the author of Absolute Essentials of Islam: Faith, Prayer, and the Path of Salvation According to the Hanafi School (White Thread Press, 2004.) Since 2011, Shaykh Faraz has been named one of the 500 most influential Muslims by the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Center.
