Fear and Grieve
"We said, "Go down therefrom, all of you; and when guidance comes to you from Me, those who follow My guidance have nothing to fear, nor will they grieve". (Q 2:38)
No human being escapes the feeling of fear and grieves and most people go through life in misery because they do not know how to handle their emotions, or how to overcome them. This is nothing new and this human trait is a old as man himself. Through the ages, fear and grieve have been identified and associated with many things; as many solutions and remedies have been concocted to cure these human ailments. Most of the "remedies" are quick Band-Aids, which perform like painkillers, which dampens the pain but do not address the cause. Thus, every now and then, people go through fear and grieve after painkillers lose its effect.
Fear and grieve
are human emotions and are not to be handled as one would handle
something tangible when broken it is patched up, or pasted
together with plaster or glue. Good advise helps to prevent and
kind word distresses. But as well all kinds of diseases and
problems, getting to the root of it - the cause, lies the answer.
It is in the Quran that one could learn the cause and the
solution.
"O people, this is an enlightenment from
your Lord, and a healing for the hearts, and a guide and mercy
for the believers". (Q 5:57)
"We have revealed the Quran in a blessed night, that we may warn, in it, every matter of wisdom is explained". (Q 44:3-4)
The cause of all human miseries is insecurity. With insecurity comes fear and grieve resulting in all other negative human traits, eg. Envy, greed, anger, etc. Human then translates these negative traits into actions like lying, cheating, stealing and killing. Thus far, the only way humans handle the problems are by creating and introducing laws to prohibit actions which are detrimental to fellow humans and punishing the perpetrators. The result, as well are all aware, has not been that effective and the problems still haunt the human race.
It is a belief that peace is achieved when one attains happiness. A person, removed from all things that causes, or threatens unhappiness will have stability in body and mind. In this situation he is in a state of peace and happiness, free from the threats of his well being; he feels secured. The security he seeks is primarily in worldly material form - financially through either business or employment and with enough reserves for rainy days. Financially secured, a man believes, bring alone the love and the home happiness. This is of course not true but until such time a better solution comes, most people settle for this. Until an adversity afflicts him, man is happy materially. It is better to be rich and sad than, to be poor and sad. So they say.
Unhappiness is defined today as the 'less syndrome' i.e. homeless, moneyless, jobless, childless and a string of other 'lesses'. In other words, all the 'lesses' are insecurities. Put any man in any of the 'lesses' situation, he will feel insecure. The familiar lines of a man with 'less syndrome' is - "What will happen to me, my family?" What follows then, will be fear and grieve.
What and why makes a man feel insecure? Man has been indoctrinated to be independent and self-sufficient, otherwise he will not survive. This indoctrination leads to disbelief in God, which heightened during and after the industrial revolution. The disbelief in god is the cause of insecurity which produces fear and grieve.
The only way for man to be rid of fear and grieve is to submit totally to his Creator and Protector. This is the only way to security and happiness in this life and the hereafter. This life and all its wealth is only temporary and just an illusion. Man is being put to the test and in this life he will not get what he wishes and only after he succeeded the test will he get what he wishes, in the promised garden, in the life hereafter. This is the concept propounded in the Quran and until and unless man understands and believes this, he will be in total loss. He will always be in fear and grieve although he is surrounded with worldly wealth; he faces problems that are attached to it. The world media reports daily on corruptions, divorces, wars, crimes and stress related diseases and many other social ills.
"The wicked actually suffer retribution in this life, without realising it". (Q 52:47)
Any disaster that hits you is the results of your own works and He overlooks much more". (Q 42:30)
"Know that this life is temporary play, waste, vanity, boasting among yourselves and hoarding of monies and children. It is like rain that produces plants that pleases the disbelievers, then grow and turn yellow, then blow away as hay. In the hereafter, there will be either terrible retribution, or forgiveness from God and pleasure. This life is no more than a temporary illusion". (Q 57:20)
"We will surely put you to the test, by means of some fear, hunger and loss of money, lives and crops. Give good news to those who steadfastly preserve". (Q 2:155)
"do not covet what We bestow upon the various kinds of people, for these are temporary vanities of this life, We only test them herewith. Your Lord's blessings are far better and everlasting". (Q 20:131)
"Everyone will taste death; you are now being tested through adversity, as well as prosperity, then you will be returned to us ". (Q 21:35)
"You will see the wicked frightened by their own works, knowing that the consequences are unavoidable. As for those who believe and led a righteous life, they will be in gardens of Paradise where they have anything they wish. This is the great achievement". (Q 42:22)
"O my servants, do not worry about anything today; nor shall you grieve. They believed in Our revelations and totally submitted. Enter Paradise, you and your spouse and rejoice. Trays made of gold will be passed around them and cups. They will have anything their souls desire or their eyes wish. They abide therein forever". (Q 43:68-71)
Understanding and believing in God's revelations is thus the key to success and happiness. Having said this, it is important to understand and observe God as He should be observed. Only then can one totally submit and trust Him and remove all doubts, fear and grieve from oneself. No one is independent of God and acknowledging the fact that one depends on God actually comfort the soul and frees itself from all insecurities. He is the Knower, the wise.
"If God were to increase the provisions for His servants, they would transgress; this is why He sends it down in exact measure, as He wills. He is fully cognisant of His servant's needs, Seer". (Q 42:27)
"Anything that happens on
earth, or to you, is already recorded in a record before the
creation. This is easy for God. Knowing this, you should not
grieve over anything you miss, nor should you be proud of
anything you attain. God does not love any arrogant
show-off". (Q 57:22-23)
The Quran is also known as
Al-Furqan, which means 'the standard of discerning the truth from
falsehood'. Therefore it is the guide and reference to check if
one is in the path of god, or if one has gone astray. If one says
he believes in God and still goes through life in fear and
grieves, one should stop and ponder where one goes wrong.
"O children of Adam, when
messengers from among you come to you preaching My revelations,
those among you who observe righteousness and reform, will have
nothing to worry about, nor will they grieve". (Q 7:35)
This verse is addressed to all
descendants of Adam and it is repetition of verse (Q 2:38) at the
beginning of this article which is a verse addressed to Adam.
This is an important warning to the people to believe in God and
His revelations in order to attain peace and happiness on earth
and in the hereafter, but most people do not take heed.
"If you ask them, "Who
created the heavens and the earth and subdued the sun and the
moon?" they will answer, "God". How come they
deviate?" (Q 29:61)
"They never value God as He should be valued. The whole earth is within His fist and the day of resurrection and the heavens are folded in His right hand. God be glorified; He is the most high, far above any idols". (Q 39:67)
Ironically, most people
regardless of their creed or religion believe in God, but they
still go through life in fear. Kings, Presidents and Prime
Ministers move around surrounded by body-guards, their castles
and homes are manned by security guards on top of the
sophisticated security and alarm systems being installed. Lately,
even the wealthy and not-so-wealthy hire body-guards. Their
limousines too are bullet-proof. This is evident of the people's
disbelief in God; they do not believe that God is able to protect
them, or perhaps they want to evade death?
Those who say, "Our Lord
is god" then maintain righteousness, the angels descend upon
them saying, "You have nothing to fear, nor will you grieve.
We deliver to you good news that Paradise awaits you. We are your
protectors in this life, as well as in the hereafter
"
(Q 41:30)
"
Others, however, were more concerned about
their own lives. They harboured wrong thought about god that were
not right, similar to those of the days of ignorance.
They said, "Are we not supposed
to control everything?" Say, "Everything is controlled
by god. "..They said, "If it were really up to us, none
of us would have been killed here!" Say, "Had you
stayed in your homes, those destined to die would have crawled
into their own death beds
" (Q 3:154)
"Wherever you may be, death will catch up with you,
even if you are in formidable castles
" (Q 4:78)
Thus it is very clear in the Quran that total submission to God is the only way for anyone to attain peace and security and be rid of all fears and grieve. This is God's promise. It has been said 'Lets go and let God's'.
God promise those
among you who believe and work righteousness, that He will make
them kings on earth, as He did for those before them and that He
will establish for them their religion that he choose for them
and that He will substitute security in place of their fears. All
this because they worship Me alone, without idolising anything
besides Me. If anyone disbeliever's after this, then these are
the wicked". (Q 24:55)
"Is it not time
for the believer's to wholeheartedly submit to this message of
God and the truth that He revealed herein? Do not be like those
who received previous scriptures, then their hearts became
hardened by the passage of time; many of them are wicked".
(Q 57:16)
"Ironically,
when you ask them who created them, they would say,
"God" why then did they deviate? They will be declared
as disbelievers. Therefore, disregard them and say,
"Peace" for they will eventually find out".
(Q 43:87-89)
Praise be to God,
Lord of the universe (Q 1:2)