ভূমিকা

Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books The Elixir of Love Friends of God's Fear The first question, after discussing the issue of love of God that crosses one's mind in respect to the elixir of self-building is that if God is kind and affectionate and His love is the most influential element of evolution, so why is there so much stress on fear of God Almighty in Islamic texts? Why does the Holy Qur'an regard fear of God as the most "eminent quality of the Ulama?

And finally, are love and fear consistent? The answer is yes; the reverend Shaykh gave an interesting example of consistency between fear and love, which will be touched upon in this chapter. Before that, however, the meaning of fear and love of God is to be reviewed. The Meaning of Fear of God The First point in interpreting Divine fear and love is that the fear of God is indeed fear of committing sins and evil acts.

Imam Ali (a) said: "لا تَخَف الا ذنبك، لا ترجُ الا ربك" "Do not fear except of your own sins and do not hold out hope except in God."[^1] "Do not Fear God!" One day Imam Ali (a) encountered someone whose face had been transformed out of fear; he asked him: "What has happened to you?" The man answered: 'I am afraid of God!' The holy Imam (a) said: "Servant of God! Be afraid of your sins and fear Divine Justice in judging your wrongdoing against His servants!

Obey God in what He has obligated you to do, and do not disobey in what is good for you. So, do not fear God as He does no injustice to anyone and He does not chastise beyond one's deserving."[^2] Fear of Separation Hence, nobody should fear God, rather we should fear ourselves not to be encumbered by the outcome of our own unseemly actions. The fear of the friends of God of their unrighteous actions to be punished, however, is different from the fear that other people have.

Those who have driven out the love of other than God from their hearts and their obedience to God is neither for the fear of Hell nor for the hope in Paradise, only fear of separation. For them the torment of separation from God is more painful than the Hellfire.