Fear vs. Mercy - Portal Gems #7

Est. Read time: 3 min
Edition Number: 7
Adapted from: Analysis of Surah Rahman
Instructor: Mufti Abdul Wahab Waheed

Assalamu Alaykum,

Today’s gem is from Mufti Abdul Wahab Waheed’s Analysis of Surah Rahman. Mufti Saab shares an interaction he had with a sister at a talk he did at an MSA on why Allah ﷻ mentions fear in the Qur’an.

Hope you enjoy!

We begin in the Name of Allah ﷻ, the Most Merciful and Compassionate,
We ask that He ﷻ sends Peace and Blessings upon our noble and beloved
Prophet Muhammad ﷺ

I was speaking at an MSA once and a sister came to me and said, “Why does Allah ﷻ instill fear within us in the Qur’an if He’s supposed to love us? I don’t understand the logic behind why Allah ﷻ talks about fear if He loves me.

I asked her, “Which ayah talks about fear that you’re referring to?”

She said, “the ayah in Surah Rahman where Allah ﷻ says:

Why is Allah ﷻ speaking about fear?”

I asked her, “how many times is fear mentioned in the Qur’an?”

She said, “I don’t know.”

Luckily I had done some research before that for Surah Rahman. In the entire Qur’an the amount of times a word is mentioned that gives the meaning of fear is 126 times.

126 times fear is mentioned.

How many times are there any words that mention Allah’s ﷻ mercy mentioned in the Qur’an?

624 times.

Not double, not triple, but almost 5 times as many times as Allah ﷻ mentions fear, He mentions His mercy and His Love for us.

And as for the verse in Surah Rahman:

This is to tell us that Allah ﷻ loves us. That's why He’s telling us about all these punishments. He’s saying please take them into your mind and understand that these are real punishments. By being aware of that you’re able to benefit and receive Allah’s mercy which is Jannah.

May Allah grant us tawfiq to do the actions that earn Allah’s mercy.

أقول قولي هذا وأستغفر الله لي ولكم، فاستغفروه إنه هو الغفور الرحيم

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