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Fear Allah
and everything changes
Bismillah
Sometimes the most powerful reminders are the ones that feel like they were written for this exact moment of your life
Recently
I came across something from the early generations -
statements so sharp
so clear
so full of wisdom that they almost shake the dust off your heart
Today’s reflection is built around two voices :
Ali ibn Abi Talib ر and Hasan al-Basri ر -
both known for seeing the world with a clarity most of us only pray for
“None of you should hope except from his Lord”
Ali ر starts with a simple
almost intrusive question :
Where does your hope really come from?
We say Allah
but our hearts often say :
“My plans will save me.”
“People will understand me.”
“The right opportunity will appear.”
“Things will eventually sort themselves out.”
But hope that leans on creation eventually breaks
Hope that leans on Allah never does
“And none of you should fear except his sins”
Imagine shifting your fear from “What will they think of me?” to “What does Allah think of me?”
We fear embarrassment
failure
judgement
people’s opinions -
everything except the one thing that truly matters :
our own actions
Ali ر is teaching us where to place our emotional energy
Sin is what truly harms
Repentance is what truly heals
People’s opinions?
They’re just noise
“Do not be ashamed to say: I do not know”
This one hits deep
especially today
We live in a time where everyone feels pressured to have an explanation
and angle
a take
But humility is part of knowledge
Saying “I don’t know” is not ignorance -
it’s truthfulness
And Allah elevates those who are truthful
“Patience to faith is like the head to the body”
If iman is a body
patience is the head
Take the head away -
the body collapses
Your faith doesn’t collapse when you feel weak
It collapses when you give up being patient
Patience is not a heroic
dramatic moment
It is the quiet refusal to fall apart
“Whoever wants richness without wealth… let him leave sin and honour the service of Allah”
Richness is not a bank balance -
it’s a heart state
Ali ر is saying something profound :
if you feel spiritually poor…
empty…
scattered…
It may not be your circumstances
It may be your sins
And if you want a life that feels rich
honoured
dignified -
Then serve Allah
Not perfectly
Not flawlessly
Just sincerely
Hasan al-Basri ر adds a final layer:
“Whoever fears Allah
He will make all things fear him
Whoever fears people
Allah will make him fear everything”
If your fear is placed correctly
you become unshakable
If your fear is misplaced
everything starts to shake you
A heart filled with taqwa walks through the world with quiet confidence
A heart filled with fear of people walks through life exhausted
And this is the difference between living anchored…
and living anxious
These sermons are not meant to overwhelm us -
they’re meant to realign us
Hope in Allah
Fear your sins
not people
Don’t pretend to know
Seek what you’re ignorant about
Hold onto patience like your life depends on it
And if you want to feel rich
walk away from sin and walk toward Allah
May Allah make us people of clarity, sincerity, and wisdom
Ameen
until the next letter,
— hidvyaa