The Quest of a Curious Muslim

The Quest of a Curious Muslim — Page 86

I GET ANXIOUS WHEN THINKING ABOUT RELIGIOUS 86 things like snakes, harmful animals, disease, etc. Instead, the verse implies that belief in God should not be lip-service and should be “something real and living”. 50 “Fear of God” as discussed in Islam and other religions is not a fear of the Being of God Almighty. It is a fear of His punishment. Hazrat Mirza Tahir Ahmad rh observes, “The fear of God which we find mentioned in Divinely revealed religions has nothing to do with the idea of terror related to beasts and other fearsome objects. The threat of Divine punishment is merely used as a deterrent against crime, preventing people from transgression against them selves”. 51 Just as a person fears causing displeasure to his or her loved ones, so too does religion encourage fear of displeasing God Almighty. In the first chapter of the Holy Quran, Surah Al-Fatiha , this point is made clear, as the believer beseeches God for guidance to the right path; that is, the path of those who have been blessed by God, and not of those who incurred His displeasure (Holy Quran, 1:6-7).