whereas the mawqūf narration states: “Whoever seeks to please Allah while angering people, Allah will be pleased with him and will make the people pleased with him; but whoever seeks to please people while angering Allah, those who once praised him will end up censuring him.”

This, Ibn Taymiyyah remarks, is one of the greatest insights in the religion. Whoever gains Allah’s approval at the cost of people’s displeasure has shown true taqwā and become His righteous servant—and Allah is the Guardian of the righteous. Allah suffices His servant: “Whoever is mindful of Allah, He will make for him a way out, and He will provide for him from where he never expected.”¹ Without doubt, Allah will relieve him of the burden of people. Not everyone may be pleased with him at once, but they will be once their personal motives subside and the final outcome becomes clear.

Conversely, whoever pleases people while angering Allah will find that the people can do nothing for him before Allah, like the wrongdoer who bites his hands in remorse. And as for those who once praised him turning against him—this is common and certainly occurs in the end, for the ultimate outcome belongs to taqwā, even if it is not apparent at the outset when whims dominate.” Thus his words conclude.

From this report in its various transmissions it is clear that if a person seeks, through his deeds, to please Allah—even though it angers people—he gains two tremendous benefits: Allah’s pleasure and the people’s pleasure. But if, on the contrary, he seeks through his deeds to please the people in a way that angers Allah, he suffers two harms: Allah’s wrath and the people’s wrath. Hence, pleasing Allah gathers all good, whereas pleasing people while angering Allah gathers all evil. We ask Allah for well-being and safety.

We must also understand that fear of Allah—glorified is He—must be coupled with hope and love, so that it does not drive one to despair of His mercy. A believer journeys to Allah between fear and hope: he does not cling to fear alone until he despairs of Allah’s mercy, nor to hope alone until he feels secure from Allah’s plan. Despair of Allah’s mercy and feeling secure from His plan both contradict tawḥīd. Allah the Exalted says, “Did they, then, feel secure from Allah’s plan? None feel secure from Allah’s plan except the losers.”²

And He says, “None despairs of the mercy of Allah except the disbelieving people.”³