Al-Hajj (The Pilgrimage)

35. “(To) those whose hearts tremble when Allah is mentioned, and those who are patient under that which afflicts them, and the establishers of prayer, and spend (in charity) out of what We have provided them with.”

Mentioning the name of Allah is both tranquillizing for the faithful, and dreadful; like a child who, by the remembrance of his parents, becomes tranquil and is in awe of them both. Therefore the inner awe of Allah is a value, and in this verse the qualities of /muxbitin/ (the humble) are explained in four parts, two of which are spiritual and the other two are physical.

At the first, it says:

“(To) those whose hearts tremble when Allah is mentioned…”

They do not fear of His Wrath unduly, nor do they have doubt in His Grace, but this fear is for the responsibilities they have and they, maybe, have rather neglected fulfilling them. This fright is for the recognition of the great rank of Allah that man is timid facing His grandeur.

Another quality of ‘the humble’ is that they are often patient when something evil and painful happens in their lives.

The holy verse says:

“…and those who are patient under that which afflicts them…”

Whatever the event is great and its harm is much and heavy, they do not knee before it. They usually do not lose their coldness and do not escape from the field. They do not lose hope, and do never blaspheme, and briefly speaking, they persevere. They continue going forth and, at last, they win.

The verse says:

“…and the establishers of prayer…”

Their third and fourth qualities are that they establish the prayer and spend in charity out of what Allah has bestowed upon them as sustenance.

The verse continues saying:

“…and spend (in charity) out of what We have provided them with.”

From one side, their relation with Allah, the Creator of the world, is firm, and on the other side, they have a strong relation with people. This explanation makes the fact clear that the qualities of the believers, such as: love, surrender, and humility have not merely the inward aspect, but the effects of them must usually be appeared and manifested in their daily deeds and manners, too.

Some Traditions

1. Karajaki cites in Ma‘dan-ul-Javahir narrating from Ahl-ul-Bayt (as) saying that the origin of every goodness, both in the world and Hereafter, is one thing and it is being in awe of Allah¹ , the Almighty…

2. Once a man came to the Messenger of Allah, and said:

“Teach me something so that my Lord loves me…”

The Messenger of Allah said:

“Whenever you like that your Lord loves you, be in awe of Him.”2

3. Abubasir said:

“I told the Imam (Imam Sadiq) (as): ‘O’ May I be your ransom! Will your followers (shi‘ites) be with you (in Hereafter)?” He (as) answered: “Yes, if they fear Allah and be careful of His orders; and they are in awe of Him, and obey Him (His commandment), and be afraid of the sins, and when they behave like that they will be with us in the degrees of the Hereafter.”3

4. Imam Sadiq (as) said:

“A servant can be called a believer when he fears Allah and is hopeful to Him.”4

5. Imam Rida (as) said:

“Whoever is in awe of Allah will be in security.”5

6. Imam Kazim (as) said:

“Allah does not give security to the timid persons as much as their fear, but according to His grace and generosity.”6

7.’Amir-ul-Mu’mineen Ali (as) said:

“Be in awe of Allah and be hopeful of His grace so that He secures you from that which you are in awe of and He bestows on you what you are hopeful of.”7

8. Imam ’Amir-ul-Mu’mineen Ali (as) said:

“Being in awe of Allah in this world causes the security of fear in the Hereafter.”8

9. Imam Ali (as) said:

“The finite of knowledge is the fear of Allah.”9

10. Imam Sadiq (as) said:

“None is the follower of Ja‘far (Imam Sadiq) (as) save he who restrains his tongue, and acts for his Creator, and hopes in his Master (Allah) and really fears Allah.”10

11. The Messenger of Allah (S) said:

“The most elevated people with Allah is the one who is the most God-fearing.”11

12. The Messenger of Allah (S) also said:

“Whoever leaves committing a sin because of the fear of Allah, He will make him happy on the Day of Hereafter.”12