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Fear Of Displeasing God Vs Fear Of Hell Fire To Stay Away From Sins?
I stay away from major sins not because of the fear of hell fire but for the love of God. That if I commit a major sin, I’ll be farther away from someone I love the most and I will feel lonely, and unworthy, which I can’t afford to happen. This motivation is more than enough for me to stay away from major sins.
I think of fear of hell fire as the last resort to keep control on myself, that if I surpass the initial motivation that I described and try to commit a major sin, there is that fear of extreme torment. I also think that this fear is mostly for those who have already surpassed the limits set by God or are very close to surpassing them. Besides that, I just view the verses in the Quran that describe punishment of hell fire for certain actions to know what actions will displease God the most so, I’ll stay away from them, not because of extreme punishment of hell fire.
Is this the right approach? I don’t feel good about staying away from sins because God might punish me or put me in hell fire as this takes away the love for Him and replaces it with His anger. It also doesn’t make sense to me to keep fear of hellfire as the initial motivation when something else is working well for me, although I’ll keep fear of hellfire as the last resort to stay away from sins for sure as I being a human being can slip
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Fear Of Displeasing God Vs Fear Of Hell Fire To Stay Away From Sins?
updated 9 months, 1 week ago
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If one truly cares about Allah then they should follow what He said in the Qur’an:
For them, there shall be canopies of fire from above them and also from
below them. It is precisely this from which God warns His servants: “My
Servants! For this reason, fear Me.” (Qur’an 39:16)This is not only about the common person, even prophets feared Allah’s punishment:
Say [O Prophet]: If I disobey my Lord, I fear facing the torment of a fateful day. (Qur’an 6:15)
Indeed, they [prophets] used to race in doing good, and call upon Us with hope and fear, totally humbling themselves before Us. (Qur’an 20:90)
Allah replied, “O Noah! He is certainly not of your family—he was
entirely of unrighteous conduct. So do not ask Me about what you have no
knowledge of! I warn you so you do not be among those overwhelmed by emotions.” Noah pleaded, “My Lord, I seek refuge in You from asking You about what I
have no knowledge of, and unless You forgive me and have mercy on me, I
will be one of the losers.” (Qur’an 11:46-47)…..In reality, the torment of your Lord is a thing to be feared. (Qur’an 17:57)
Reason for this is because truth is we are not special to Allah, He has no need for us and we are ever expendable.
And whoever does this sinfully and unjustly, We will burn them in the Fire. That is easy for Allah. (Qur’an 4:30)
In this test particularly Allah knows how human works, so reward of Paradise and fear of Hell is introduced by Allah and must always be kept in mind, as it is blessing of Allah and expression of His love for His creation through which He makes it easy for people to succeed this test and enter Paradise and avoid Hell, after which where they will be no fear.
The day when each soul will be confronted with the virtue it did and also with what evil it did. On that day, it will yearn that a long interval of time should stand
between it and this Day’s presence. [This is the counsel of Allah] and Allah
frightens you of Himself and frightens you because Allah is compassionate
towards His servants (Qur’an 3:30)35:06 – 37:42
https://youtu.be/6LCdI3gpvEs?t=2106-
Thank you for the detailed reply. I have mentioned that yes, I fear the torment but that’s not the only thing I fear. I fear God being displeased with me first and then I fear the hell fire. Also, fear of God as Ghamidi sir himself replied was that, it is the fear of displeasing someone you love, this is not the same as fearing someone above you because he will torment you. Please clarify further
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Yes except Allah refers to Hell as His displeasure.
Allah’s love is His Paradise, so you don’t want to lose His love/Paradise.
Allah’s anger is His Hell, so you should avoid His displeasure/Hell.This is how Allah describes it. So we should follow Him as He wants it, not how we want it.
“Eat from the good things We have provided for you, but do not
transgress in them, or My wrath will befall you. And whoever My wrath
befalls is certainly doomed.” (Qur’an 20:81)This attempt to separate Hell from Allah’s displeasure is the mistake that Sufi makes, which what the video I posted argues against. This is no longer about unconditional love for God, reward and punishment is part of human fitrah, Allah expects us to be true to this fitrah. In fact it’s so highlighted in the Qur’an that even prophets and sahaba focus on punishment more.
Indeed, had We not strengthened you [O Prophet], you might have inclined to them a little, whereupon
We would have made you taste double the punishment in the world and
double the punishment after death, and then you would have found
none to help you against Us. (Qur’an 17:74-75)They are those who pray, “Our Lord! Keep the punishment of Hell away from us, for its punishment is indeed unrelenting. It is certainly an evil place to settle and reside.” (Qur’an 25:65-66)
Saying,˺ “We feed you only for the sake of Allah, seeking neither reward nor thanks from you. We fear from our Lord a horribly distressful Day.” So [for this attitude] Allah will deliver them from the horror of that Day, and grant them radiance and joy, and reward them for their perseverance with a Garden in Paradise and ˹garments of silk. (Qur’an 76:9-12)
Allah has sent down the best statement: a consistent Book wherein is
reiteration. The skins shiver therefrom of those who fear their Lord;
then their skins and their hearts relax at the remembrance of Allah. That is the guidance of Allah by which He guides whom
He wills. And one whom Allah sends astray – for him there is no guide. (Qur’an 39:23)So when you ask, what is the right approach and attitude. This is how it is. Hell serves as one of the main focus for Muslim. As does Paradise. It’s not merely, pleasure and displeasure of God, Paradise and Hell are pleasure and displeasure of Allah.
And a Muslim keeps both of these in mind. -
Okay, thank you so much. This clarifies everything
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One last thing. I am a ptsd patient and to treat this condition, I need to feel very safe first. I remember God for this and I feel safe in His presence that He is protecting me. I don’t feel this much safe otherwise. Does this go against the advice you are giving me? Do I have to remember Him with fear only within the context of past, present and possible future major sins?
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God is always taking care of you in this life, that’s a fact.
The point that you must take from my responses is that, it is not correct to say that Hell is not a focus. Reward and Punishment is essential part of religion and so is Paradise and Hell. Separating God’s pleasure and displeasure from them is a mistake by Sufi that leads to problems like people saying that they don’t need Paradise nor fear Hell and only love of God matters when Allah says that you should focus on Paradise/Hell and this in turns is a way to go away from religion, Christianity also made this mistake and removed entire Shariah while believing themselves to be immune to Hell as long as they believe in Hazrat Isa’s sacrifice so you understand why this thought process isn’t a good idea when you take away focus of Hell from religion as far as belief and intellectual structure of religion goes.
So do what you need for your personal and individual case, your case is more forgivable to God. But don’t go suggesting a narrative to others that Paradise/Hell aren’t important and only displeasure/pleasure of God as a motivation will suffice since Allah’s approach to religion is pragmatic i.e we are in this test to earn Paradise and we avoid sins to avoid Hell, it’s that straight forward and we have seen even prophets slip up so normal individuals definitely are in need of concrete motivations like Paradise and Hell more to avoid slipping up in this test. Allah knows how human function best, so He kept it this way for our needs and to ensure we succeed in this test.
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I have tried what you said. The only thing I have been able to truly understand and able to do is that I must not separate hellfire from God’s anger. But I need some clarification in my new approach
Is this the correct approach: I am already staying away from sin by heart, out of love and gratitude for God and also because God has given me the sense of self-respect that is on its own keeping me away from sins as they will make me feel lowly, along with empathy for others where sins related to people are involved so that I don’t hurt their feelings, while also fearing God’s justice that if I commit the sin, I’ll be severely punished by God.
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Yes. This approach is acceptable.
The point one must understand is that we are not independent of God. Just like rebelling against boss (e.g breaking his car) would not only result in earning the boss’ displeasure but also a case of losing your job. One can say that they love their boss that’s why you do good at your job but that ‘losing job’ aspect is still there because of boss being your employer.
That is how, conceptually, you must understand that since God owns us, angering Him comes with His justice and punishment of our sins. So that can’t be separated.
It is fine to say that ‘due to my mental condition, I don’t want to think about losing my job as that makes it difficult for me to function so I focus on other reasons’ in same way as you don’t want to focus on punishment of God for your mental sake. But understand this is an exceptional case for yourself. You can follow your approach because your case is exceptional but as far as actual narrative of religion goes, we work for reward and avoid punishment, love of God involves both His Paradise and His Hell, as we are grateful for Paradise and grateful that He keeps us safe from Hell, we fear losing His Paradise and fear being on the wrong side of His justice. So you can see how this goes hand to hand.
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I don’t want to take into consideration my mental health condition. Is the new approach still acceptable? It is easier for me and makes sense while bringing hellfire before other reasonings to not do something wrong doesn’t make much sense to me, that’s why
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If you do not want to take into consideration your mental health condition then why mention that you are a PTSD patient in this discussion?
It is as I expected, you need help understanding that our religion implement both positive (Paradise) and negative (Hell) reinforcement to ensure a balance. This is the right approach and how prophets and their companions have done so and this is how God has ensured our path to success because this balance is essential, A Muslim lives their life between hope and fear. Other approaches lead to the same error as Sufi and Christians so keep that in mind even if you insist on your approach.
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I just wanted to be extra careful that’s why I asked if my approach is correct even if I don’t take into consideration my PTSD. An example of why it doesn’t make sense for me to put fear hell fire as the first motivator is that let’s say I am having temptation to be arrogant towards God but then I move back because I will be severely punished, this is just done out of fear of pain and it is not done by heart. This makes me feel like I am a bad person who is only backing away because of the fear of painful punishment otherwise I will be arrogant if the hellfire was not there.
But that’s not true. I am not arrogant towards God because of His favors upon me, because He created me otherwise I wouldn’t exist, because of my gratitude and respect towards Him, and because it is very a lowly thing to do. I am not even getting to a level where hellfire is the required motivator, although I will still keep that in my mind knowing that I am not so special to God that He will just let me go after I commit a sin.
What’s the proof that what I am saying in the second paragraph is wrong? I am sorry I am asking so many questions but this is very essential to me
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Well to be humble is to accept Allah’s command. Allah does believe that we need Hell as a motivator.
I even showed you example of prophets being threatened with punishment above. So how can you have this opinion of yourself, saying that you don’t need this as a motivator? Think what you are saying.
Prophets and companions! Literally the closest to God! They are using Hell as a motivator because that’s the point. Human beings are weak and this weakness is kept in mind when Paradise and Hell are introduced by Allah. So I tell you again and again, to follow the right approach. We have too many sins on our shoulders to feel that we don’t need Hell as a motivator.
Whenever Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) ordered the Muslims to do something, he used
to order them deeds which were easy for them to do, (according to
their strength and endurance). They said, “O Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ)! We are not
like you. Allah has forgiven your past and future sins.” So Allah’s
Apostle became angry and it was apparent on his face. He said, “I am
the most Allah fearing, and know Allah better than all of you do.” https://sunnah.com/bukhari:20You say you have no arrogance, but saying you don’t need Hell as one of the main motivators sadly, already hints a problem and I’m sorry to inform you this.
sunnah.com
Hadith of the Prophet Muhammad (saws) in English and Arabic
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Okay, thank you again for the detailed reply. I understand now what you are saying.
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I have implemented the fitrah-based motivations to live a righteous life and it is working well for me. I am definitely more inclined towards not committing sins and I am not even getting as many temptations as I was before, so thanks for helping me out. But I need some clarification. If let’s say I face a calamity and then I start having negative attitude towards God for the calamity but then I instantly remember the punishment in hell, I back off so that’s good but once I back off from that negative attitude can I give myself reasonings why I shouldn’t be having that kind of thinking? I can then tell myself “God is very merciful and He is doing all of this just for the sake of trial otherwise how else is He supposed to try me?”
This is so that I don’t have that kind of negative attitude again to begin with, and if it happens again for some reason, I can again remind myself of God’s justice: punishment in hell and also remind myself that this is just a test from God. Is this the correct approach?
Sorry I am asking so many questions, it is essential for me as I over think a lot
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You can have other reasoning as well. The proper mindset for a Muslim is that a calamity is a means to earn Paradise and a means to remove sins so you can distance yourself from Hell. In fitrah this is the main reasoning i.e I am earning a reward and and I am avoiding a punishment so I am grateful to God even in calamity because He care enough about me to test me, purify me of my sins with calamity and make me succeed in my afterlife.
If you want to add more reasons to avoid bad attitude, you can as long as you keep the main ones at the top of the list.
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Okay, thank you. Is this (recognizing and accepting the truth which is that this world is just a test) the purification of knowledge that Ghamidi sir talked about in one of his videos? He said we need to purify our actions and knowledge to be successful
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Yes, it comes under that. Purification of knowledge involves understanding Deen, its arguments and having the right belief as per the knowledge given by Allah in His revelations and moving above our personal bias, feelings or misconceptions when implementing that God-given knowledge into our actions.
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Thank you. You told me we must follow the God’s way. But what if I am having difficulty in fully implementing or grasping what I learned? What if I have already grasped the knowledge but I am just having doubts? Can I take time and expect God to guide me while I also reflect (to the extent I can: a little bit beyond ease) and implement as things become more feasible and clear to me?
I am not being stubborn but I am just having difficulty for some reason and I am open for guidance and ready to follow exactly what I am told as it becomes more and more feasible and clear for me.
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That’s what I tried to explain earlier. You can make adjustment as ‘exceptions’ but remember the narrative of religion as God wants. When you have legitimate problems, exceptions are accepted and you must present your case to others as an exception but narrative of the religion will stay in its place. My initial concern was about this discussion that instead of people making exceptions based on their needs, they instead try to bend the narrative of the religion which is the wrong way to go about it. People in the past have made this mistake (Sufi and Christians).
So your case is an exception. God is forgiving and understanding. Take your time and follow what is ideal when you are capable and as much as you can.
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Thank you. I now recognize that God doesn’t need us and He can throw us into hell and forget about it and that’s very easy for Him. This was an essential part I was missing before as I thought He was just scaring us and the actual punishment was not expected be that harsh. So, I had that sufi-type connection of love and friendship with God
I do feel a lot of fear when remembering my past sins because of punishment of hellfire. But then when I remember that God is very merciful and kind, I feel a great relief that if I improve and try my best to please Him, there is a very high chance that He will forgive me and expect Him to be my friend as long as I am following His orders because He does have compassion and kindness towards us and doesn’t want us to suffer in hell.
But I am posting this reply here because I am getting similar kind of feelings (that I had before our discussion) about God’s nature towards us again, that He is kind and merciful and doesn’t want to see us in hell, this feeling I am getting again could be because it is a reality that He is loving and caring. However the changes I have made are that first of all, my motivation is to earn Heaven by pleasing God and avoiding Hell, and secondly, He will cast His enemies into hell for sure, those who do wrong and don’t repent and if I am not being His enemy, I can expect a lot of love and mercy from Him and thus a place in the heaven.
Does this still align well with how God wants us to follow His religion? (putting aside my exceptions for now).
Thanks a lot for the help
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Yes. This is the right path.
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Okay. I now realize that the reasonings that I talked about at start of this post were actually feelings related to an action or a thing. Similar to bad smell when you are about to eat a rotten food, you stop there along with knowing that eating that food will cause poisoning.
So, using that analogy, when there is a thought about disrespecting God, I feel a sense of shame from that thought so an urge to stop while knowing that if I do it, there is an extreme punishment in hell for that.
Sometimes the fear of hell comes up first as an immediate reaction. For example in case of stealing
So, I don’t know if I am doing something wrong, but this just feels natural and it is working for me. Does this still align with the fitrah-based analogy? Do you mean that the actual reason for not doing something bad is avoiding hell and earning heaven? And it doesn’t matter the order of reactions that come up for something wrong I am thinking of doing as long as the primary purpose of not doing that is avoiding hell and earning heaven?
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Intellectually if you have accepted that it is about earning Allah’s Paradise and avoiding His Hell. Then rest of the details isn’t that important, the natural feelings will eventually align to your belief.
My point was that you had to first purify the belief. Your emotions and feelings may not necessarily adjust to this, but that is not a requirement. Just intellectual acceptance is needed for a Muslim about why he worships Allah.
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