1.1.8 Love, Fear, and Hope in Allah

The Heart’s Journey to Allah

The purpose of creation is to know and worship Allah. Within this worship, three inner qualities must be present for faith to be sound: loving Allah, fearing Him, and hoping in Him. These three are the life of the heart and the secret of sincere devotion.

Classical scholars often described them as similar to a bird. Love is the head, and fear and hope are its two wings. If the head is cut, the bird dies. If a wing is broken, it cannot fly properly. In the same way, the believer’s heart cannot reach Allah without love as its center, supported by balanced fear and hope.

In this chapter we focus on what is unique to these three qualities, without repeating the broader idea of worship, which is treated elsewhere.

Love of Allah

The greatest and most central emotion in Islam is love of Allah. A Muslim does not worship a distant force, but a Lord who is known by His mercy, generosity, wisdom, and perfection, and who deserves to be loved above everything.

Allah praises the believers for loving Him more than anything else.

“But those who believe are stronger in their love for Allah.”
(Qur’an 2:165)

Love of Allah is not only a feeling of affection. It is a love that leads to obedience, gratitude, and loyalty. A person may claim love, but true love appears when there is a choice between pleasing Allah and following desire.

Allah links love with following His Messenger, because the Prophet ﷺ is the guide to what pleases Allah.

“Say, [O Muhammad], ‘If you love Allah, then follow me, Allah will love you and forgive you your sins. And Allah is Forgiving, Merciful.’”
(Qur’an 3:31)

The Prophet ﷺ showed that the perfection of faith is tied to loving Allah and His Messenger more than all else.

The Prophet ﷺ said: “None of you truly believes until I am more beloved to him than his child, his father, and all people.”
(Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim)

This love does not cancel natural love for family or lawful pleasures. Rather, it places Allah above all, so that if there is a conflict, the believer chooses Allah.

Signs of Loving Allah

The Qur’an and Sunnah show practical signs of this love.

First, the believer prefers Allah’s commands to his own comfort. Allah describes those who love Him as people of obedience and struggle for His sake.

“O you who have believed, whoever among you turns back from his religion, Allah will bring forth [in place of them] a people He will love and who will love Him, [who are] humble toward the believers, mighty against the disbelievers, striving in the way of Allah and not fearing the blame of a critic. That is the favor of Allah; He bestows it upon whom He wills.”
(Qur’an 5:54)

Second, the believer frequently remembers Allah. You naturally remember the one you love. Allah mentions that those who believe are comforted by His remembrance.

“Unquestionably, by the remembrance of Allah hearts find rest.”
(Qur’an 13:28)

Third, the believer is eager for what brings him close to Allah. In a famous hadith qudsi, Allah speaks about how He loves His servants who draw near to Him.

The Prophet ﷺ said that Allah the Exalted said: “My servant does not draw near to Me with anything more beloved to Me than the religious duties I have imposed upon him. And My servant continues to draw near to Me with voluntary acts until I love him. When I love him, I become his hearing with which he hears, his sight with which he sees, his hand with which he strikes, and his foot with which he walks. If he asks Me, I will surely give him, and if he seeks refuge in Me, I will surely protect him.”
(Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī)

This hadith shows that love expressed through obligatory and voluntary worship becomes a path toward being specially loved by Allah.

Loving for the Sake of Allah

A special fruit of loving Allah is loving others for His sake. The believer loves the Prophets and the righteous, and he loves his brothers and sisters because they obey Allah, not because of worldly benefit.

“And [yet], among the people are those who take other than Allah as equals [to Him]. They love them as they [should] love Allah. But those who believe are stronger in their love for Allah.”
(Qur’an 2:165)

The Prophet ﷺ stated that loving others for Allah’s sake is a part of the sweetness of faith.

The Prophet ﷺ said: “There are three qualities, whoever has them will taste the sweetness of faith: that Allah and His Messenger are more beloved to him than anything else, that he loves a person only for the sake of Allah, and that he hates to return to disbelief just as he would hate to be thrown into the Fire.”
(Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim)

This kind of love builds a pure community, because it is not based on wealth, race, or status, but on shared devotion to Allah.

Fear of Allah

Fear of Allah is not like the fear of a wild animal or a tyrant. It is fear mixed with awareness of His greatness and a deep respect that makes one avoid His anger and punishment. It is the fear of losing His pleasure and being deprived of His mercy.

Allah repeatedly praises those who fear Him, and He tells us that true knowledge leads to such fear.

“Among His servants, only those who have knowledge truly fear Allah.”
(Qur’an 35:28)

This fear is a protection from sin. When temptation is strong, the believer remembers that Allah sees and hears him.

“But as for he who feared standing before his Lord and restrained himself from [unlawful] desires, then indeed, Paradise will be [his] refuge.”
(Qur’an 79:40–41)

The Prophet ﷺ described seven types of people whom Allah will shade on the Day of Judgment. One of them is a person who chooses Allah over secret sin.

The Prophet ﷺ said: “And a man who is called by a woman of beauty and position, but he says: ‘I fear Allah.’”
(Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim)

This hadith shows that true fear of Allah appears when a person could sin in secret but chooses Allah instead.

The Right Kind of Fear

The correct fear is fear that leads to action. It causes the believer to leave what Allah hates and to hurry to repentance when he falls.

Allah praises those who combine worship and fear.

“They arise from [their] beds, they supplicate their Lord in fear and hope, and from what We have provided them, they spend.”
(Qur’an 32:16)

The Companion Ibn Masʿud described how the believer’s and the hypocrite’s fear differ. In reports from him, he said that the believer sees his sins as a mountain about to fall on him, but the hypocrite sees his sins like a fly on his nose that he just brushes away. This illustrates that a sincere heart does not feel safe while disobeying Allah, even with “small” sins.

However, this fear is not fear without knowledge. It is fear grounded in knowing Allah’s names and attributes, such as His justice and punishment, but also His forgiveness and mercy. Without knowledge, fear can turn into mere anxiety. With knowledge, fear becomes a balanced and useful quality.

Excessive Fear

Some people misunderstand fear of Allah and sink into hopelessness. They imagine that they are too sinful for Allah to forgive. This is a major spiritual danger.

Allah directly forbids the believer from despairing.

“Say, ‘O My servants who have transgressed against themselves, do not despair of the mercy of Allah. Indeed, Allah forgives all sins. Indeed, it is He who is the Forgiving, the Merciful.’”
(Qur’an 39:53)

The Prophet ﷺ also told us that Allah’s mercy is far greater than our sins.

The Prophet ﷺ said: “Allah is more merciful to His servants than a mother is to her child.”
(Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim)

So, true fear does not erase hope. Instead, it makes a person careful not to waste the mercy that is available to him.

Hope in Allah

Hope in Allah is the believer’s trust that Allah’s mercy, forgiveness, and generosity are real and near, as long as he turns to Him sincerely. It is not empty wishful thinking. It is hope joined with effort and repentance.

Allah commands the believers to hope for His mercy.

“Indeed, those who have believed and those who have emigrated and fought in the cause of Allah, those expect the mercy of Allah. And Allah is Forgiving, Merciful.”
(Qur’an 2:218)

The word “expect” in this verse carries the meaning of hoping and waiting with confidence.

Hope is especially important after sin and during hardship. When a servant has wronged himself and then returns to Allah, he should not think that Allah will reject him.

“And whoever does evil or wrongs himself but then seeks forgiveness of Allah will find Allah Forgiving, Merciful.”
(Qur’an 4:110)

The Prophet ﷺ informed us that Allah is pleased when a servant returns to Him.

The Prophet ﷺ said: “Allah is more pleased with the repentance of His servant than one of you would be if he were in a barren land and his camel, carrying his food and drink, escaped from him, then he lost hope of it, then he came to a tree and lay down in its shade having lost hope of his camel, then suddenly it is standing over him, so he takes hold of its reins and then out of intense joy he says: ‘O Allah, You are my servant and I am Your Lord,’ making a mistake because of the joy.”
(Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim)

This image shows that Allah is not waiting to reject the penitent. On the contrary, He rejoices over them.

The Danger of False Hope

While despair is forbidden, so is careless optimism that ignores obedience. Some people say, “Allah is Forgiving,” but use this as an excuse to continue in sin freely. This is not the hope that the Qur’an praises.

Allah connects hope with righteous action.

“Indeed, those who believed and those who emigrated and strove in the cause of Allah, those expect the mercy of Allah.”
(Qur’an 2:218)

Allah also warns against feeling safe from His plan.

“Do they feel secure from the plan of Allah? But no one feels secure from the plan of Allah except the losing people.”
(Qur’an 7:99)

So, there are two wrong extremes. One is despair, which denies Allah’s mercy. The other is feeling completely safe while ignoring His commands. The correct path is hopeful fear and fearful hope.

Balancing Love, Fear, and Hope

Love, fear, and hope must be held together. If any one is missing or dominates completely, the heart goes astray.

If someone claims love without fear and hope, he may live in disobedience while believing that his love is enough. Some groups in history fell into this, reducing religion to emotion without law. Allah refuted this by linking love to following the Prophet ﷺ.

“Say, [O Muhammad], ‘If you love Allah, then follow me…’”
(Qur’an 3:31)

If someone focuses only on fear, he may despair and think that Allah only wants to punish him. This contradicts clear verses about Allah’s mercy.

“My mercy encompasses all things.”
(Qur’an 7:156)

If someone relies only on hope, he may stop striving and fall into sin while assuming that everything will end well for him without repentance.

The Qur’an constantly combines these three qualities. When describing those close to Him, Allah says:

“Their sides forsake their beds. They call upon their Lord in fear and hope, and from what We have provided them, they spend.”
(Qur’an 32:16)

In this verse, love is implied through their sacrificing sleep and giving charity. Fear is present so they do not rely on themselves, and hope is present so they do not despair of acceptance.

Changing Balance in Different Times

Scholars explained that the proportion of fear and hope may change with one’s situation, while love remains constant at the center.

For a young and healthy person who can act and may be tempted by desires, stronger fear can protect him from sin. For a person near death, stronger hope is recommended so that he dies while thinking well of Allah.

This is based on a hadith about how a believer should feel when death approaches.

The Prophet ﷺ went to a young man at the time of his death and said to him: “How do you find yourself?” He said: “I hope in Allah, O Messenger of Allah, and I fear my sins.” The Prophet ﷺ said: “These two (feelings) do not gather in a servant’s heart at a time like this except that Allah gives him what he hopes for and protects him from what he fears.”
(Sunan at-Tirmidhī)

Another hadith commands good expectations from Allah at the end of life.

The Prophet ﷺ said three days before he died: “None of you should die except while assuming the best about Allah.”
(Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim)

So, throughout life, a believer keeps fear and hope together, with love always drawing him forward. Near the end of life, hope should become stronger, while fear does not disappear, because the believer still respects Allah’s justice.

The Fruits of a Heart Filled with Love, Fear, and Hope

When these three qualities are present in a balanced and correct way, they transform the believer’s life.

First, worship becomes a joy, not a burden. The one who loves Allah finds delight in prayer and remembrance. The Prophet ﷺ expressed this when he said about prayer:

The Prophet ﷺ said: “The coolness of my eyes has been placed in the prayer.”
(Sunan an-Nasāʾī)

Second, sins become bitter. Love makes disobedience feel ugly. Fear reminds the believer of consequences. Hope whispers that the door of repentance is open, so he returns quickly.

Third, hardship becomes bearable. Fear of Allah reduces fear of people. Hope in Allah’s reward and His help gives strength in trials. Love makes patience meaningful, because the believer endures for the sake of the One he loves.

Allah mentions that His close friends are free from real fear and grief because of their faith and taqwa.

“Unquestionably, the allies of Allah, there will be no fear concerning them, nor will they grieve. Those who believed and were fearing Allah.”
(Qur’an 10:62–63)

Fourth, relationships change. The believer begins to love others and dislike others for Allah’s sake. He forgives people because he hopes for Allah’s forgiveness. He avoids harming them because he fears Allah’s judgment. He is kind to them because he loves what Allah loves.

In a hadith qudsi, Allah explains the special status of those who love each other for His sake.

The Prophet ﷺ said that Allah the Exalted said: “Where are those who loved each other for My glory? Today I will shade them in My shade on a day when there is no shade but My shade.”
(Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim)

Finally, death becomes a meeting with the Beloved, not just an end. The one who lives with love, fear, and hope looks forward to seeing Allah’s mercy, though he does not feel secure from judgment. This balanced state is the way of the Prophets and the righteous.

“Say, ‘Indeed, my prayer, my sacrifice, my living and my dying are for Allah, Lord of the worlds.’”
(Qur’an 6:162)

When a heart lives by love of Allah, fear of His displeasure, and hope in His mercy, then the purpose of creation becomes personal and real. Worship is no longer only a command, but a journey of the heart back to its true Lord.