Fear and its antidote

Allah tells us:

“We said: ‘Get ye down all from here: And if, as is sure, there comes to you Guidance from Me, whosoever follows My guidance, on them shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve.” Qur’an 2:38.

“Those who believe and those who follow the Jewish and the Christians and the Sabians – and any who believe in Allah and the Last Day, and work righteousness, shall have their reward with their Lord; on them shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve.” Qur’an 2: 62.

“Nay – whoever submits his whole self to Allah and is a doer of good – he will get his reward with his Lord; on such shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve.”  Qur’an 2: 112.

“Those who spend their substance in the cause of Allah, and follow not up their gifts with reminders of their generosity or with injury – for them their reward is with their Lord; on them shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve.” Qur’an 2: 262.

“Those who believe, and do deeds of righteousness, and establish regular prayers and regular charity, will have their reward with their Lord: on them shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve.”  Qur’an 2: 277

The promise of ‘no fear upon them, nor shall they grieve’ is repeated many times, but always it requires some action, such as believing, doing good deeds, regular prayers, or regular charity.  Clearly, fear is removed for those who take the best actions.

But how does taking action remove fear from us? Is it that we don’t take action because we have a lack of trust in ourselves? Negative suggestions from other’s fears affect us, as does our own internal voice that can be constantly criticising us or denigrating us, such that we consider this voice to be the whispering of Shaytan.  An example of such whispering is the fear that we cannot handle being alone, and have to seek out any sort of company or unsuitable relationships, rather than facing life alone.  This then may lead us into difficulties that could compromise our deen. Or we may feel we have to stick in uncomfortable situations because we feel unable to take any action because of our fear of change, for example.

We must realise that we will always be aware of our fear at the point where we are trying to grow, develop or change. This is always true whilst we develop our capabilities; but taking action enables us to push through the fear and thus remove it.   Clearly, our Qur’an gives us examples of the best actions to take to remove fear, and we need to apply these actions at all the points we encounter fear to enable us to move forward.

A recent story of overcoming fear is in the example or four sisters who were together in Mecca for Umrah and Hajj.  They set out together one night to perform a supererogatory Tawaaf around the Kaaba.  They had fear that the four of them might not be able to resist the pushing and pressure from so many people but they undertook their worship for the sake of Allah.  For the first three Tawaaf they found that it wasn’t too difficult and their steps remained sure and safe, reciting and making dua at every step.  Then one of the sisters suggested that they try to touch the Kaaba.  The rest felt very afraid, but then sought Allah’s pleasure in attempting this, and decided, Inshallah, that if Allah willed, they would touch the Kaaba.  It was a difficult task, as this was Hajj time, and even in the mid-hours of the night, the ground around the Kaaba was crowded, and they had fears that they may be crushed to death or knocked to the ground and trampled, ending up badly injured. However, they put their trust and assurance in Allah, and started by making dua and taking small steps towards their aim.  Little by little, the crowd thinned in the direction towards the Kaaba and soon they were within sight of the walls with just a few people between them and it.  The final moves to reach the walls of the house were difficult, even stretching at full reach, their fingers failed to touch the house - then they were there, by virtue of Allah’s mercy, and their fear had gone.

By taking action, by prayer and by physically taking small steps, they were able to overcome their fears and the result of touching the house increased their self-esteem, self-confidence and their love for Allah(swt).

Everybody feels fear when they encounter unfamiliar situations or ground, but dealing with the situation despite their fear is actually more empowering then giving into the feeling of helplessness that comes from fear: if you trust in Allah you know you can bear any situation.

So how can you know that you can bear any situation and thus know that you can overcome any fear? Perhaps, this is because of the trust that Allah gives us in the Qur’an:

“On no soul doth Allah place a burden greater than it can bear. It gets every good that it earns, and suffers every ill that it earns...”  Qur’an  2:286