chidichidi
09-06-2006, 10:36 AM
Taqwa and its True Meanings
TAQWA is a central concept that has been frequently mentioned in the Holy Qur'an, especially in verses that deal with individual behavior in social relations. Some of the common English translations of the word taqwa are "piety" and "heed" or "God-fearing."
Each of these translations gives only a partial understanding of this word's true meaning because it is an attitude that combines many feelings, such as fear of God, heeding, and above all being God-conscious.
Is Taqwa Simply Fear?
The term fear, when used to refer to God-consciousness in the Islamic context, does not mean being scared of God because being scared excludes any feeling of love or respect.
Fear of God means to fear His disobedience and punishment, on the Day of Judgment, and to fear forgetting Him and losing His blessings.
Another partial meaning of fear, which is nobler, is the fear of displeasing God, the One Whom you love. For example, when two people love each other, you find each of them trying their best to please the other and to avoid even forgetting their anniversaries or birthdays. If this is the attitude of humans toward each other, then it is more appropriate that people fear God's displeasure. People should love God most because they owe everything to Him: their lives, property, and, above all, His guidance to know and worship Him.
So, fear of God is not founded on a vengeful concept of hate and fear of God. It is actually based on love, which leads to a feeling of fear of God's displeasure.
God-Consciousness
The meaning of taqwa was clarified in a statement made by Umar Bin Al-Khattab, the second Caliph after Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). Umar compared being God-conscious to a person going through a narrow path with thorns while he is trying to snatch his clothes in order to protect himself from any harm.
In Arabic, clothing is used as a metaphor for a person's character and the thorns are a metaphor for the temptations in life, such as greed and wanting to get money from any source whether legitimate or illegitimate, or temptation towards illicit relationships.
This similitude means that the person goes through life trying to protect his moral and pure character, which was endowed on him by God, from all other diversions, deviations, or temptations that surround him.
God-consciousness is the core of taqwa because God-consciousness is acknowledging, feeling, and realizing God's presence at all times, and knowing that He is looking after you and knows what you are doing and even what your soul whispers to you. This feeling results in trying to go through life according to God's orders and being ashamed of doing wrong in His presence, which is at all times.
So a person who has taqwa tries to avoid both: things that displease God and things that may harm himself or others. This is explained beautifully in a story that took place during the reign of Umar Bin Al-Khattab. A simple teenage girl had a mother who sold milk and in order to increase the amount of milk and earn money easily her mother added water to it. On seeing her mother, the girl advised her not to cheat but the mother said that they are alone and Caliph Umar cannot see them, so the girl told her that Umar cannot see them but the God of Umar can see them.
This story shows the degrees of God-consciousness and that reaching a high degree of God-consciousness is not necessarily measured by how often a person feels it on going to places of worship, but by a person tries to be conscious of God's presence at all times.
Taqwa and Divine Love
For centuries, philosophers and writers have tried to explore divine love but found that there are some feelings that just cannot be translated into words, especially when a person moves to higher degrees of divine love.
Divine love in Islam is not a type of superficial love but it is considered a mutual genuine feeling between God and man, which is referred to in the Qur'an : "... Allah will bring a people whom He will love them and they will love Him ..." (Al-Ma'idah 5:54).
The Qur'an connects divine love to taqwa in a verse that says what means: "... Verily, then Allah loves those who are Al-Muttaqun (the pious)." (Al Imran 3:76).
This shows that divine love is not only manifested in pure acts of worship like prayers, but it is also reflected in different aspects of life. That is why following the path of God is the real test for the genuineness of divine love.
Following this path that God has established for man results in a sense of dependence upon God and a sense of gratefulness to God for all His bounties.
Divine love requires commitment and steadfastness so a person can be prepared to face the different trials and tribulations in life. It also requires responsibility and sacrifice of some of the person's time, property, desires, and even a person's own life if necessary.
Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) also mentioned that one of the things that a person must achieve in order to feel the sweet taste of faith in his heart, is to love God and His Messenger more than anything else.
This divine love is also the foundation of love for other creatures in the universe because the deep and profound love for humans and other creatures would not be felt by someone who does not truly love God.
Translating Love into Good Deeds
Various verses in the Qur'an explain the characteristics that a person should have in order to receive God's love.
One of those traits is taqwa or God-consciousness.
Also, people who constantly repent to God deserve His love: Truly, Allah loves those who turn unto Him in repentance and loves those who purify themselves ..." (Al-Baqarah 2:222), which means that the door for repentance is open if a person sins, and not only does God accepts those who repent, but He also loves them.
A third characteristic is constant self-purification. The Qur'an says: "... And Allah loves those who make themselves clean and pure ... " (At-Tawbah 9:108).
People who do good were also mentioned in several verses:
Truly, Allah loves Al-Muhsinun (the good-doers). (Al-Baqarah 2:195).
" ... certainly, Allah loves those who put their trust in Him." (Al Imran 3:159).
" ... And Allah loves As-Sabirun (the patient)." (Al Imran 3:146).
People who are just or judge in equity are also mentioned in the Qur'an as receiving God's love: "Surely Allah loves those who judge equitably" (Al-Ma'idah 5:42).
TAQWA is a central concept that has been frequently mentioned in the Holy Qur'an, especially in verses that deal with individual behavior in social relations. Some of the common English translations of the word taqwa are "piety" and "heed" or "God-fearing."
Each of these translations gives only a partial understanding of this word's true meaning because it is an attitude that combines many feelings, such as fear of God, heeding, and above all being God-conscious.
Is Taqwa Simply Fear?
The term fear, when used to refer to God-consciousness in the Islamic context, does not mean being scared of God because being scared excludes any feeling of love or respect.
Fear of God means to fear His disobedience and punishment, on the Day of Judgment, and to fear forgetting Him and losing His blessings.
Another partial meaning of fear, which is nobler, is the fear of displeasing God, the One Whom you love. For example, when two people love each other, you find each of them trying their best to please the other and to avoid even forgetting their anniversaries or birthdays. If this is the attitude of humans toward each other, then it is more appropriate that people fear God's displeasure. People should love God most because they owe everything to Him: their lives, property, and, above all, His guidance to know and worship Him.
So, fear of God is not founded on a vengeful concept of hate and fear of God. It is actually based on love, which leads to a feeling of fear of God's displeasure.
God-Consciousness
The meaning of taqwa was clarified in a statement made by Umar Bin Al-Khattab, the second Caliph after Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). Umar compared being God-conscious to a person going through a narrow path with thorns while he is trying to snatch his clothes in order to protect himself from any harm.
In Arabic, clothing is used as a metaphor for a person's character and the thorns are a metaphor for the temptations in life, such as greed and wanting to get money from any source whether legitimate or illegitimate, or temptation towards illicit relationships.
This similitude means that the person goes through life trying to protect his moral and pure character, which was endowed on him by God, from all other diversions, deviations, or temptations that surround him.
God-consciousness is the core of taqwa because God-consciousness is acknowledging, feeling, and realizing God's presence at all times, and knowing that He is looking after you and knows what you are doing and even what your soul whispers to you. This feeling results in trying to go through life according to God's orders and being ashamed of doing wrong in His presence, which is at all times.
So a person who has taqwa tries to avoid both: things that displease God and things that may harm himself or others. This is explained beautifully in a story that took place during the reign of Umar Bin Al-Khattab. A simple teenage girl had a mother who sold milk and in order to increase the amount of milk and earn money easily her mother added water to it. On seeing her mother, the girl advised her not to cheat but the mother said that they are alone and Caliph Umar cannot see them, so the girl told her that Umar cannot see them but the God of Umar can see them.
This story shows the degrees of God-consciousness and that reaching a high degree of God-consciousness is not necessarily measured by how often a person feels it on going to places of worship, but by a person tries to be conscious of God's presence at all times.
Taqwa and Divine Love
For centuries, philosophers and writers have tried to explore divine love but found that there are some feelings that just cannot be translated into words, especially when a person moves to higher degrees of divine love.
Divine love in Islam is not a type of superficial love but it is considered a mutual genuine feeling between God and man, which is referred to in the Qur'an : "... Allah will bring a people whom He will love them and they will love Him ..." (Al-Ma'idah 5:54).
The Qur'an connects divine love to taqwa in a verse that says what means: "... Verily, then Allah loves those who are Al-Muttaqun (the pious)." (Al Imran 3:76).
This shows that divine love is not only manifested in pure acts of worship like prayers, but it is also reflected in different aspects of life. That is why following the path of God is the real test for the genuineness of divine love.
Following this path that God has established for man results in a sense of dependence upon God and a sense of gratefulness to God for all His bounties.
Divine love requires commitment and steadfastness so a person can be prepared to face the different trials and tribulations in life. It also requires responsibility and sacrifice of some of the person's time, property, desires, and even a person's own life if necessary.
Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) also mentioned that one of the things that a person must achieve in order to feel the sweet taste of faith in his heart, is to love God and His Messenger more than anything else.
This divine love is also the foundation of love for other creatures in the universe because the deep and profound love for humans and other creatures would not be felt by someone who does not truly love God.
Translating Love into Good Deeds
Various verses in the Qur'an explain the characteristics that a person should have in order to receive God's love.
One of those traits is taqwa or God-consciousness.
Also, people who constantly repent to God deserve His love: Truly, Allah loves those who turn unto Him in repentance and loves those who purify themselves ..." (Al-Baqarah 2:222), which means that the door for repentance is open if a person sins, and not only does God accepts those who repent, but He also loves them.
A third characteristic is constant self-purification. The Qur'an says: "... And Allah loves those who make themselves clean and pure ... " (At-Tawbah 9:108).
People who do good were also mentioned in several verses:
Truly, Allah loves Al-Muhsinun (the good-doers). (Al-Baqarah 2:195).
" ... certainly, Allah loves those who put their trust in Him." (Al Imran 3:159).
" ... And Allah loves As-Sabirun (the patient)." (Al Imran 3:146).
People who are just or judge in equity are also mentioned in the Qur'an as receiving God's love: "Surely Allah loves those who judge equitably" (Al-Ma'idah 5:42).