Gifts of Knowledge

Imām Ibn al-Qayyim ﵀ said, “Chapter: Strengthening One’s Incentives to [Practise] the Dīn is Done Through a Number of Ways.

To hold Allaah ﷻ in such veneration—knowing that He is watching and listening—that it stops you from sinning. And whoever’s heart bears witness to His Greatness will find that it will not [then] obey him in that [sin] at all.”

Explaining the above, Al-Badr said:

“The first incentive to leave sins: Venerating Allaah and regarding Him to be too Great.

And that is where a person witnesses Allaah’s Majesty and Greatness in his heart, as He said, “They have not shown Allaah His proper reverence—when on the Day of Judgment the ˹whole˺ earth will be in His Grip, and the heavens will be rolled up in His Right Hand. Glorified and Exalted is He above what they associate ˹with Him˺!” [39:67] and He said, “What is the matter with you that you are not in awe of the Majesty of Allaah? When He truly created you in stages ˹of development˺?” [71:13-14]

Explaining the āyah, Ibn ʿAbbās ﵁ said, “What is the matter with you that you do not exalt/glorify Him as He ought to be?”

Al-Qurṭubī ﵀ said about, “وقارا”, ‘i.e., stage after stage until creation was completed … so whoever did this and had the ability to do so deserves that you exalt and glorify Him.’

The effect that witnessing Allaah’s Majesty and Greatness in one’s heart has on a person can be seen in what happened to the noble Companion, Jubair ibn Muṭʿim ﵁, when he heard some of the verses that were talking about Allaah’s Greatness, that He is the Creator, the Provider, and the One who governs all creation—this all led him ﵁ to enter Islām. He said, ‘I heard the Prophet reciting [Sūrah] aṭ-Ṭūr in Maghrib, when he got to the verse that said, ‘Or were they created by nothing, or are they ˹their own˺ creators? Or did they create the heavens and the earth? In fact, they have no certainty. Or do they possess the treasuries of your Lord, or are they in control ˹of everything˺?’ [52:35-37] ‘It was as if my heart were about to take flight.’ [Bukhārī] And in another wording, ‘And that was when belief was first planted in my heart.’ [Bukhārī]

So when a person’s soul whispers to him to commit a sin he should use his heart to witness Allaah’s Greatness and Power and Might/Omnipotence, and that He is privy to all actions and statements. So when a servant feels or perceives that in his heart then it is inevitable that he will refrain from committing sins, with Allaah’s Help.

Bishr ibn al-Ḥārith al-Ḥāfī said, ‘If the people pondered over Allaah’s Greatness they wouldn’t disobey Him’”
Bawāʿith al-Khalāṣ minadh-Dhunūb, pp. 7-9.

Tagged: al-Badr, Ibn al-Qayyim