Fear of Allah
Coupled with the remarkable spirit of sacrifice, the Sahabah had genuine and deep-rooted fear of Allah in
their hearts. I wish today's Muslims could have an iota of that fear of. Allah. Here are a few stories about this
aspect of their lives.
The Prophet's (Sallallaho alaihe wasallam) Apprehensions at the time of a storm.
Hadhrat Aishah (Radhiyallaho anha) relates that whenever a strong wind bringing dense clouds started
blowing, the Prophet's (Sallallaho alaihe wasallam) face turned pale with the f
ear of Allah. He became restive
and would go in and out with perturbation, and would recite the following prayer:
"O, my Allah! I ask of Thee the good out of this wind, the good out of that which is in this wind, and the good
out of that which is the out
come of this wind. I seek refuge in Thee from the evil of this wind, from the evil
out of that which is in this wind, and from the evil out of that which is the outcome of this wind."
She says:
"And further when it began to rain, signs of delight appea
red on his face. I said to him once, '0, Prophet of
Allah when clouds appear everybody is happy as they foretell rain, but why is it that I see you so much
perturbed at that time?' He replied, '0, 'Aishah! How can I feel secure that this wind does not port
end Allah's
wrath? The people of A'ad were punished with the wind. They were happy when they beheld the gathering
dense clouds. believing that they brought rain; but actually those clouds brought no rain but utter destruction
to 'A'ad."
The Prophet (Sallallaho alaihe wasallam) was, obviously, . referring to the following verses of the Qur'an:
"Then, when they (A'ad) beheld a dense cloud coming toward their valleys, they said: "Here is a cloud
bringing us rain." Nay, but it is that very calamity which yo
u did seek to hasten, a wind wherein is
grievous penalty, destroying all things by commandment of its Lord. And morning found them so that
naught could be seen, save their dwellings. Thus we treat the guilty folk." . (XLVI: 24 & 25)
Look at the fear of Allah in the heart of a person who is the best of all creation (Sallallaho alaihe wasallam).
In spite of a clear verse in the Qur'an that Allah would not punish the people so long as the Prophet
(Sallallaho alaihe wasallam) was with them (AI-Qur'an VIII: 33), he has so much fear of Allah in him that a strong wind reminds him of the punishment awarded to the people in the past. Now let us peep into our own hearts for a moment. Although we are fully saturated with sins, yet none of the unusual phenomena viz: earthquake, lightning, etc., arouses the least fear of Allah in our hearts and, instead of resorting to Istighfaar or Salaat at such times, we only indulge in absurd investigations.
