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Fearing Others Beside Allah
Hello there , Assalaam u alaykum
My question is that there are a few ayah
Indeed, We revealed the Torah, containing guidance and light, by which the prophets, who submitted themselves to Allah, made judgments for Jews. So too did the rabbis and scholars judge according to Allah’s Book, with which they were entrusted and of which they were made keepers. So do not fear the people; fear Me! Nor trade my revelations for a fleeting gain. And those who do not judge by what Allah has revealed are ˹truly˺ the disbelievers. (Maidah – 44)
(16:51) Allah has commanded: “Do not take two gods; for He is but One God. So fear Me alone.”
So in these Ayah it says that Allah is to be feared only? If a person naturally feels fear of another person, instinctively then would it be wrong? Like a person being little fearful of his father, that he would scold or beat him. Or a man being fearful of a drunk man sitting in the corner and playing with a knife?
Secondly, i saw in an article that said ;
(The second type of fearing others besides Allah is when one chooses not to do what he is religiously obligated to do out of fear of other people. This type of fear is impermissible and it is a form of associating others with Allah which contradicts complete tawḥīd. And it is this type of fear for which the opening verse was revealed;
Those to whom hypocrites said, “The people have certainly gathered against you, so fear them.” But it (only) increased them in faith and they said, “Sufficient for us is Allah and (He is) the best disposer of affairs.” So they returned with favor from Allah and bounty, no harm having touched them. They pursued the pleasure of Allah, and Allah is the possessor of great bounty. That is only Satan who frightens (you) of his supporters. So do not fear them, but fear Me, if you are indeed believers”)
So my question was that, if intrinsically being fearful of people is not Haram (with the answer of question above) As i understood this article that the way it is written in the article that it is a sort of Shirk that a person does not do something obligatory out of fear of people, isnt it incorrect? In a sense that just because the reason for a sin was fear of people then it’s shirk. And what if the reason of a sin was desire of nafs? That would not be shirk just because of the reason is of nafs?
This is how i understand this…
– I mean yes, it may be said it’s shirk in this category
A) if someone gives such priority and standard to someone/something that Allah’s commands are not heavier for the person against that someone/something, whether it be his own nafs, desires, people, relatives or money or position. That this someone/something becomes his god
– but it isn’t shirk if it’s of this category
B) sometimes we do not give position of Allah, to someone, something else but sometimes we become weak and can’t find courage and lose ourself then we do a sin, and feel regret for it. So for such a sin, whether the stimulus was his own desire, his sexual need, his desire of money, or fear of people or fear of loss etc. We say that this thing is a sin but not shirk.
Summary of question;
1 – Explanation of the concept of fear that is only for Allah
2 – Can you please explain the thing i understood, that what they meant in that excerpt was of category A rather than something of category B done out of fear of people. Is it correct?
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4 Replies
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Fearing Others Beside Allah
updated 1 year, 10 months ago
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Words are understood in their context. Fear of snakes is not like a fear of a boss. As soon as the words come with their context, they specify their meanings accordingly.
Fear of God is of accountability of the hereafter for things we are responsible for. The rest of their fear have their own relativity.
To fear someone or something else becomes shirk only when that one or that thing is made a rival to God.
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@Irfan76 okay sir
Firstly, in this case if someone becomes overwhelmed and does sin and the stimulus is peer pressure or fear of people and embarrassment (I’m not talking about sin in rebellious behavior), then still it wouldn’t be a shirk, like written in that excerpt right sir?
Secondly, can you please tell me some examples of the fear rivaling to God? Is it like I fear that someone has intrinsically the power to harm me? Or fearing someone when they are not physically present that they would harm me supernaturally? Please can you give examples
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emotional overwhelming comes from inside, peer pressure and fear of embarrassment are external pressures may or may not fall in the category of emotional succumbing depending upon situations.
Peer pressure is an example of considering a fear rival to God. Following a tradition against a clear Islamic injunction is the love or pressure rival to God.
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@Irfan76 sir so my question is that if a person does a sin while being overwhelmed with emotions (in the same way the Quran says that doing mistakes in jahalah) but the stimulus for that emotion was the peer pressure then it wouldn’t be like a real shirk and won’t be like rivaling to God and would be like the category of sin about which the Quran said that when they do sin in jahalah and they repent immediately (just like if the cause of this emotional overwhelming was any other thing like love, desire for things, or laziness), am i right?
but if the sin that is done is not of the category of jahalah (overwhelmed with emotions) but rather a constant, deliberate, stubborn behavior (like istikbar type behavior). so any reason whatsoever for this stubbornness is (whether peer pressure, desire of things, love of worldly things) then this thing becomes like rival to God, am i right sir?
the former example would not be rivaling to God but the second one would be rivaling to God. by rivaling i mean falling into category of shirk.
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