The Quest of a Curious Muslim — Page 87
87 Similarly, the concept of khashyah or fear of God is mentioned in the following verse of the Quran: و َ ا 6 7 ِ ﻳ ۡ ﻦ َ ﯾ َ ﺼ ِ ﻠ ُ ﻮ ۡ ن َ ﻣ َ ﺎ ۤ ا َ ﻣ َ ﺮ َ ا Q ّ ٰ ُ ﺑ ِ ﻪ ٖ ۤ ا َ ن ۡ ﯾ K ﻮ ۡ ﺻ َ ﻞ َ و َ خي َ ۡ ﺸ َ ﻮ ۡ ن َ ر َ هب 7 ُ ﻢ ۡ و َ خي َ َ ﺎ ﻓ ُ ﻮ ۡ ن َ ﺳ ُ ﻮ ۡ ۤ ء َ ا ﻟ ۡ ﺤ ِ ﺴ َ ﺎ ب ِ ؕ ﴿ ۲٢ ﴾ That is, “And those who join what Allah has commanded to be joined, and fear their Lord, and dread the evil reckoning” (Holy Quran, 13:22). Here too the fear of God is connected to “reckoning” or accountability, not the fear of God Himself. Explaining this verse, Hazrat Mirza Bashiruddin Mahmood Ahmad ra states that khashyah refers to the “fear of losing something that has excellent attributes, after having recognized its greatness and beauty”. 52 This is not a fear of harm or injury, but a fear of losing something very valuable due to one’s carelessness. Considering it in relation to God, it means that human beings cannot bear to even think of losing their connection with God in whom they have come to find their true comfort, peace, contentment, and excellence. As such, they are always worried about protecting this relationship, 53