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Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Taqwa Part 1 The Term Taqwa “Is he who founds his building on God wariness and [the pursuit of Allah's] pleasure better off or he who founds his building on the brink of a collapsing bank which collapses with him into the fire of hell? And Allah does not guide the wrongdoing lot.” (9:109) Taqwa is the Islamic concept of having self-restraint. It is used 251 times in the Holy Qur’an as either a noun or a verb.

The term taqwa comes from the Arabic root “wa-qa-ya” which means “protection” or “support.” Taqwa is not meant to mean “fear” or “avoidance”, but because having fear is a prerequisite to protecting oneself from something and to avoid it, it may sometimes refer to having fear. Also, since protection from something requires a feeling of fear alongside it, it may in some cases metaphorically refer to “avoidance” or “fear”.

Both meanings are accurate although there is no evidence to confirm that this metaphorically means “fear” or “restraint.” While it is widely believed that the commands ittaqu’llah means “fear Allah” and ittaqunnar means “fear fire,” these commands actually refer to protecting oneself from Allah’s punishment and the harm of fire.

Moreover, those who practice self-control by refraining from acting upon desires that require patience and a resolute attitude are called muttaqeen, which is an Arabic term for “those who practice taqwa.” It is important to note that taqwa is not about performing religious obligations such as prayer and fasting: it is about living a pious life. A person possessing taqwa abandons living an animalistic life and chooses to live a moral one.

Though there are other definitions of it, such as social and political taqwa, religious taqwa has a more superior and elevated status. It is only on the basis of religion that a person can create a well-grounded taqwa in himself.

As stated in the Qur’an: Is he who founds his building on God wariness and [the pursuit of Allah's] pleasure better-off or he who founds his building on the brink of a collapsing bank… (9:109) In his Al-Mufradat fi Gharib al-Qur’an , Rāghib says that the meaning of the word wa-qa-ya is to protect something against everything which may damage it and taqwā means to put the soul under protection against whatever threatens it.

However, sometimes according to the rule of using the cause instead of the effect and vice versa, the words fear and taqwā are used interchangeably.