The Order to Fear Allah and to Die Only as Muslims

 Calls from the Most Merciful

 

Text: al-Jazairi, Jabir. Calls from the Most Merciful. Translated by Zahra Bainter. Karachi: Darul-Ishaat, 2003.

 

13th Call[1]

The Order to Fear Allah and Not to Die Save as Muslims

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا اتَّقُوا اللَّهَ حَقَّ تُقَاتِهِ وَلَا تَمُوتُنَّ إِلَّا وَأَنتُم مُّسْلِمُونَ

O you who believe! Have taqwa of Allah as is His due and die not except as Muslims.

Surah aal-Imran 3:102

 

Notes

o   It’s our duty to Allah to fear Him, and to die only as Muslims.[2]

o   While the command to fear Allah is found in other ayat, this ayah states, “as He deserves to be feared,” which scholars agree no-one can do that.[3] As such, according to Jazairi this ayah needs to be understood together with other ayat: like “No person shall have a burden laid on him greater than he can bear,”[4] and “fear Allah as much as you are able.”[5] Thus, the believer must strive to attain taqwa, as it is the only way to achieve closeness to Allah.[6]

o   Some believe that Surah at-Taghabun 64:16 has abrogated this ayah,[7] however, Hafiz Salahuddin Yusuf disagrees as he claims that both ayat can be reconciled with the meaning, “Fear Allah as He should be feared, as best as you can.”[8]

o   Without fearing Allah, a person can never attain taqwa.[9]

o   Moreover, Jazairi asserts that achieving taqwa means to obey all the commandments of Allah and His Messenger and to abstain from all prohibitions. This can only be achieved through acquiring knowledge about Allah, His names and attributes and His commandments and prohibitions.[10]

o   Abdullah ibn Mas’ud said that ‘Taqwa of Allah’ means that “He is obeyed and not defied, remembered and not forgotten, and shown gratitude and not unappreciated.”[11]

o   “In Arabic the word taqwa is used to denote avoidance and abstinence.”[12]

o   Furthermore Jazairi, affirms that once a believer acquires taqwa he will love Allah’s commandments and hate His prohibitions – which will lead him to become beloved to Allah. Thus, succeeding “in attaining the honour of both worlds and this is the greatest desire of all those who strive in the path of Allah.”[13]

o   Once a believer acquires taqwa, he will be able to obey the second commandment of the ayah with ease, which is to die only as a Muslim.[14]

o   “Once a person has tasted the sweetness of iman, he would never abandon it, no matter whether he is put to death, impaled or burnt to ashes.”[15]

o   “In the heart of every Muslim there must be the real fear of God that he may not deviate an inch from the straight path and always keep piety and ward off evil as much as he can and always pray for firmness.”[16]

o   According to Qutb, “The first pillar is that of having faith and fear of God. It is only through such fear that man can fulfil his duties towards God because it makes him always alert. He does not lose sight of his duty for a moment of day or night.”[17]

o   Moreover, “The fact that Islam is mentioned after the command to have fear of God points to its wider implications: total surrender and submission to God, complete obedience and implementation of His method, and making His book the final arbiter in all affairs.”[18]

o   According to Sa’di, “fearing Allah means doing what Allah has enjoined and refraining from everything that Allah has forbidden.”[19]

o   In addition, Sa’di opines that Allah instructs us in ayah 103 on how to “attain fear of Him, which is to be united and adhere to the religion of Allah.”[20] Interestingly, he is saying that acquiring taqwa is a communal act – instead of an individual one.

o   Abu Mansur al-Maturidi, in Ta’wilat ahl as-Sunnah, states that “It is also interpreted to mean that one should fear God’s Punishment and Wrath as they should be feared.”[21]

o   Taqwa has degrees and the lowest degree is to avoid kufr and shirk; thus, “every Muslim can be counted as muttaqi,” even if he commits sins.[22]

o   “Taqwa is in reality, the whole of Islam since the total obedience to Allah and His Messenger, and the total avoidance of disobedience both to Allah and His Messenger is what taqwa is all about and this is what Islam is.”[23]

o   This ayah is a formula for a successful life: fear God daily through obeying commandments and abstaining from prohibitions – then you achieve a good death in Islam.

o   Prophets Ibrahim and Yaqub commanded their children to die only as Muslims.[24]

 

 

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[1] Jabir al-Jazairi, Calls from the Most Merciful (Karachi: Darul-Ishaat, 2003), 103-107.

 

[2] Ibid., 104.

 

[3] Ibid.

 

[4] Surah al-Baqarah 2:233. (see also 2:286)

 

[5] Surah at-Taghabun 64:16.

 

[6] al-Jazairi, Calls from the Most Merciful, 104-105.

 

[7] Nur al-Din Ahmad al-Kazaruni, The Straight Path: A Commentary on the Holy Qur’an, trans. Khalid Williams (Cambridge: The Royal Aal Al-Bayt Institute for Islamic Thought & The Islamic Texts Society, 2023), 1:109; Seyyed Hossein Nasr, ed., The Study Quran: A New Translation and Commentary (New York: HarperOne, 2015), 158.

 

[8] Salahuddin Yusuf, An English Translation of Tafsir Ahsanul-Bayan, trans. Mohammad Kamal Myshkat (Riyadh: Maktaba Dar-us-Salam, 2010), 1:342, fn. 1.

 

[9] Mohammed Akram Nadwi, “Tafsir of Surah al-Mu’minun,” video lecture, by Al Salam Institute, n.d., session 5, https://ondemand.alsalam.ac.uk/course/tafsir-of-surah-al-muminun.

 

[10] al-Jazairi, Calls from the Most Merciful, 105.

 

[11] Abdur-Rahman Nasir as-Sa’di, Tafseer as-Sa’di, trans. Nasiruddin al-Khattab, ed. Huda Khattab (Riyadh: International Islamic Publishing House, 2018), 2:28; Ibn Abi Hatim, 2:446, as quoted in Abu al-Fida Ismail ibn Kathir, Tafsir Ibn Kathir Abridged, abr. Safiur-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri, 2nd ed. (Riyadh: Maktaba Dar-us-Salam, 2003), 2:227, fn. 2.

 

[12] Muhammad Shafi, Ma’ariful Qur’an: A Comprehensive Commentary on the Holy Quran, trans. Muhammad Shamim, 4th ed. (Karachi: Maktaba-e-Darul-Uloom, 2007), 2:131.

 

[13] al-Jazairi, Calls from the Most Merciful, 106.

 

[14] Ibid.

 

[15] Ibid., 107.

 

[16] Shabbir Ahmad Usmani, The Noble Qur’an: Tafseer-e-Usmani, trans. Mohammad Ashfaq Ahmad (New Delhi: Islamic Book Services, 1999), 1:233, fn. 125.

 

[17] Sayyid Qutb, In the Shade of the Qur’an, trans. Adil Salahi & Ashur Shamis (Leicester: The Islamic Foundation, 2001), 2:162.

 

[18] Ibid.

 

[19] as-Sa’di, Tafseer as-Sa’di, 2:28.

 

[20] Ibid.

 

[21] Nasr, The Study Quran, 158.

 

[22] Shafi, Ma’ariful Qur’an, 2:131.

 

[23] Ibid., 2:132.

 

[24] Nasr, The Study Quran, 158. See Surah al-Baqarah 2:132.