Al-Irshad ila Sahih al-Itiqad - Salih Al-Fawzan - (66)

Al-Irshad ila Sahih al-ItiqadSalih Al-Fawzan

The covert fear, which is to dread something besides Allah—such as an idol, a false deity, a dead person, or an absent jinn or human—thinking it can afflict one with harm.

Allah relates about the people of Hud, peace be upon him, that they said to him:
“We only say that some of our gods have afflicted you with evil.”
He replied, “I call Allah to witness—and you witness—that I am innocent of whatever you associate with Him besides Him. So plot against me all of you, and give me no respite” (11:54-55).
Likewise, the polytheists tried to frighten the Messenger of Allah Muhammad ﷺ with their idols, as the Almighty says, “They threaten you with those they worship instead of Him” (39:36).1

This very fear of beings other than Allah is widespread today among the worshippers of graves and other idols: they fear them and use them to intimidate the people of tawḥīd whenever the latter reject such worship and command that devotion be made purely for Allah. This type of fear is one of the greatest acts of worship and must be directed to Allah alone. The Exalted says, “So do not fear them; fear Me, if you are believers” (3:175),2 and He says, “Do not dread them; dread Me” (5:3).3

Such fear is among the loftiest and most distinguished stations of the religion. Whoever directs it to anyone besides Allah has committed major shirk—Allah’s refuge is sought.
The second kind of fear is that a person abandons an obligation out of fear of certain people. This is forbidden and constitutes minor shirk. It is referred to in His words:
“Those to whom people said, ‘Indeed, the people have gathered against you, so fear them,’ but it only increased them in faith and they said, ‘Allah is sufficient for us, and He is the best Trustee.’ So they returned with the favor of Allah and His bounty; no harm touched them, and they pursued the pleasure of Allah, and Allah is the possessor of great bounty. It is only Satan who instills fear of his allies, so do not fear them; fear Me, if you are believers” (3:173-175).4

This is also the fear mentioned in the ḥadith recorded by Ibn Mājah from Abū Saʿīd al-Khudrī, may Allah be pleased with him, that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “Let none of you belittle himself.” They asked, “O Messenger of Allah, how could any one of us belittle himself?” He replied, “He sees a matter that Allah has enjoined upon him…"

(1) Surah al-Zumar, verse 36. (2) Surah Al ʿImran, verse 175. (3) Surah al-Maʾidah, verse 3. (4) Surah Al ʿImran, verses 173–175.

الأول: خوف السر، وهو أن يخاف من غير الله من وثن أو طاغوت أو ميت أو غائب من جن أو إنس أن يصيبه بما يكره. كما قال الله عن قوم هود ﵇؛ أنهم قالوا له: ﴿إِنْ نَقُولُ إِلاّ اعْتَرَاكَ بَعْضُ آلِهَتِنَا بِسُوءٍ قَالَ إِنِّي أُشْهِدُ اللَّهَ وَاشْهَدُوا أَنِّي بَرِيءٌ مِمَّا تُشْرِكُونَ مِنْ دُونِهِ فَكِيدُونِي جَمِيعاً ثُمَّ لا تُنْظِرُونِ﴾ ، وقد خوف المشركون رسول الله محمدًا ﷺ من أوثانهم؛ كما قال تعالى: ﴿وَيُخَوِّفُونَكَ بِالَّذِينَ مِنْ دُونِه﴾ ١. وهذا الخوف من غير الله هو الواقع اليوم من عباد القبور وغيرها من الأوثان؛ يخافونها ويخوِّفون بها أهل التوحيد إذا أنكروا عبادتها وأمروا بإخلاص العبادة لله، وهذا النوع من الخوف من أهم أنواع العبادة، يجب إخلاصه لله وحده؛ قال تعالى: ﴿فَلا تَخَافُوهُمْ وَخَافُونِ إِنْ كُنْتُمْ مُؤْمِنِينَ﴾ ٢، وقال تعالى: ﴿فَلا تَخْشَوْهُمْ وَاخْشَوْنِ﴾ ٣. وهذا الخوف من أعظم مقامات الدين وأجلها، فمن صرفه لغير الله؛ فقد أشرك بالله الشرك الأكبر، والعياذ بالله. الثاني من أنواع الخوف: أن يترك الإنسان ما يجب عليه خوفا من بعض الناس. فهذا محرم، وهو شرك أصغر، وهذا هو المذكور في قوله تعالى: ﴿الَّذِينَ قَالَ لَهُمُ النَّاسُ إِنَّ النَّاسَ قَدْ جَمَعُوا لَكُمْ فَاخْشَوْهُمْ فَزَادَهُمْ إِيمَاناً وَقَالُوا حَسْبُنَا اللَّهُ وَنِعْمَ الْوَكِيلُ فَانْقَلَبُوا بِنِعْمَةٍ مِنَ اللَّهِ وَفَضْلٍ لَمْ يَمْسَسْهُمْ سُوءٌ وَاتَّبَعُوا رِضْوَانَ اللَّهِ وَاللَّهُ ذُو فَضْلٍ عَظِيمٍ إِنَّمَا ذَلِكُمُ الشَّيْطَانُ يُخَوِّفُ أَوْلِيَاءَهُ فَلا تَخَافُوهُمْ وَخَافُونِ إِنْ كُنْتُمْ مُؤْمِنِينَ﴾ ٤. وهذا - أيضا - هو الخوف المذكور في الحديث الذي رواه ابن ماجه عن أبي سعيد الخدري ﵁ عن رسول الله ﷺ، أنه قال: "لا يحقر أحدكم نفسه. قالوا: يا رسول الله! كيف يحقر أحدنا نفسه؟ ، قال: يرى أمرًا لله عليه

١ سورة الزمر، الآية: ٣٦. ٢ سورة آل عمران، الآية: ١٧٥. ٣ سورة المائدة، الآية: ٣. ٤ سورة آل عمران، الايتان: ١٧٣ ـ ١٧٥.