And He, exalted be He, also says: “And who despairs of the mercy of his Lord except those who are astray?”¹

Ismaʿil ibn Rafiʿ said, “Part of feeling secure from Allah’s plan is that a servant persists in a sin while merely wishing that Allah will forgive him.”

The scholars explain that despair (qunūt) is to deem relief impossible and to give up hope of it; it is the opposite of feeling secure from Allah’s plan, and both are grave sins.

Thus a believer must not rely on fear alone until he despairs of Allah’s mercy, nor on hope alone until he feels safe from Allah’s punishment. Rather, he must combine fear with hope: he fears his sins, acts in obedience to Allah, and hopes for His mercy. Concerning His prophets, Allah says, “Indeed, they used to hasten to good deeds; they would call upon Us in hope and in fear, and they were humbly submissive to Us.”² He also says, “Those whom they invoke are themselves seeking a way of approach to their Lord—who among them is nearest—hoping for His mercy and fearing His punishment; surely the punishment of your Lord is ever to be feared.”³

When fear and hope come together, they spur the servant to act and to take the beneficial means: with hope he performs acts of obedience, anticipating their reward, and with fear he abandons sins, dreading their punishment. If he despairs of Allah’s mercy, he ceases righteous deeds; and if he feels secure from Allah’s punishment, he plunges into disobedience.

Some scholars have said, “Whoever worships Allah through love alone is a Sufi; whoever worships Him through fear alone is a Haruri; whoever worships Him through hope alone is a Murjiʾī; but whoever worships Him through love, fear, and hope together is a believer,” just as Allah described His elect when He said, “Those whom they invoke are themselves seeking a way of approach to their Lord—who among them is nearest—hoping for His mercy and fearing His punishment.”⁴

Allah has branded those who neglect the element of fear, plunge into sin, and feel secure from retribution as losers, for He says, “Have the people of the towns then felt secure that Our punishment…"