13.1, Weeping out of fear and yearning for Allah

I begin in the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful, Who says in the Qur’an, “And when they listen to what has been sent down to the Messenger (Muhammad (SAWS)), you see their eyes overflowing with tears because of the truth they have recognised. They say: ‘Our Lord! We believe; so write us down among the witnesses.

And why should we not believe in Allah and in that which has come to us of the truth? And we wish that our Lord will admit us along with the righteous people.’

So because of what they said, Allah rewarded them Gardens under which rivers flow (in Paradise), they will abide therein forever. Such is the reward of al-muhsinoon (the good-doers).” (5: 83-85)

My aim in writing this article is simple: to give advice after advice, example after example to demonstrate the humility that the Prophet Muhammad (SAWS) and the Companions (RA) had before Allah. I intend to do this here by focusing on just one manifestation of this humility, which was their weeping out of fear and yearning for Allah.

Insha-Allah each of us will come away from this article wanting to take a time-out, lock our self away, sit in private, reflect and weep out of fear of Allah and out of a yearning to meet Allah (SWT) in a good state.

I intend to cover this topic in two parts: In the first part, by selecting just three Sunan (actions and sayings) of the Prophet (SAWS), I hope to establish the high merit of weeping out of fear of Allah. In the second part I hope to provide two inspiring examples of the Prophet (SAWS) himself weeping out of fear of Allah.

The first Hadith: Anas bin Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Messenger of Allah (SAWS) delivered a Khutbah to us the like of which I had never heard from him before. In the course of the Khutbah, he (SAWS) said:
“If you knew what I know, you would laugh little and weep much.”
Thereupon those present covered their faces and began to sob.

(al-Bukhari and Muslim)

What do we see here? We see here proof of the fact that the Companions of the Prophet (SAWS) would sometimes weep out of fear of Allah when they heard sermons and preaching. A stark contrast to today; preachers like me that utter words that have not yet reached our hearts and audiences that are present in person, physically, but whose minds are elsewhere.

The second Hadith: Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Messenger of Allah (SAWS) said:
“One who weeps out of fear of Allah, will not enter the Hellfire till milk returns back in the udder; and the dust raised on account of fighting in the path of Allah and the smoke of Hell will never exist together.”

(At-Tirmidhi)

A person who has such a fear and awareness of Allah that he weeps on account of it; it is hard to imagine that he can be disobedient to Allah. Rather, his would be a life spent in obedience of Allah and strict abstinence from sins, and we can quite comfortably say that it is impossible for such a person to go to Hell just as it is impossible for milk to return in the udders.

Similarly, one who fights for the sake of Allah, and Allah (SWT) knows best who fights in His path, is perfectly safe from Hell because the dust that falls on him whilst he is out in the path of Allah cannot mix with the smoke of Hell.

Indeed, such is the excellence of fearing Allah that it keeps us away from disobeying Him (SWT), and such is the excellence of shedding a tear out of fear of Allah that it is a drop beloved to Allah.

Not only does weeping out of fear of Allah make the Hellfire forbidden for us, but this category of people are one of the seven whom Allah will provide His Shade on the Day (of Resurrection) when there will be no shade other than this shade.

“… a man who remembers Allah in solitude and his eyes become tearful.”

(al-Bukhari and Muslim)