The al-khawf or fear station is one of the most splendid stations of the road and the most beneficial to the heart. It is also mandatory upon everyone. Allah said:
“So fear them not, but fear Me, if you are believers.”
(Al-Qur’an 3:175)
“And fear none but Me.”
(Al-Qur’an 2:40)
and
“So fear not men but fear Me.”
(Al-Qur’an 5:44)
Allah, subhanahu wa ta’ala, also praised His people in His Book, saying:
“Verily! Those who live in awe for fear of their Lord … It is these who race for the good deeds and they are foremost in them.”
(Al-Qur’an 23:57-61)
‘Aishah, RadiyAllahu Anha, once asked the Prophet, Sallallahu ‘Alayhi Wa Sallam:
‘O Messenger of Allah, when Allah says, ‘And those who give that (their charity) which they give with their hearts full of fear … ‘ (Al-Qur’an 23:60) is he the one who commits adultery, drinks alcohol or steals?”
He (SAWS) said:
“No, daughter of as-Siddiq. It is the man who fasts, prays, and pays sadaqah. But he fears that none will be accepted from him.”
[At-Tirmidhi and others]
Al-Hasan al-Basri (ra) said:
‘By Allah, they performed the acts of obedience and struggled in them and they were afraid that their deeds will be rejected.’
The believer has combined good deeds and fear and the hypocrite has combined bad deeds and a sense of security.
Other terms have similar meanings to al-khawf but are not synonymous, such as wajal, khashyah and rahbah. Abul-Qasim al-Junayd (ra) said:
‘Khawf is to expect punishment as long as you breathe.’
It has been said that khawf is the restlessness of the heart because of the remembrance of the cause of fear. It has also been said that khawf is the strength in knowledge of the rulings and decrees. This is the reason for khawf and not khawf itself. It was also said that khawf is the escape of the heart from the occurrence of adversity when the heart senses it.
Khashyah is more specific than khawf. Khashyah is a quality that is particular of the people knowledgeable of Allah. Allah, subhanahu wa ta’ala, says:
“It is only those who have knowledge among His slaves that fear Allah.”
(Al-Qur’an 35:28)
As a result khashyah is associated with knowledge. The Prophet, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is reported to have said:
“Indeed I have the most piety for Allah and have the greatest khashyah for Him.”
[Agreed upon]
And he is the most knowledgeable of Allah.Khawf can be likened to a movement or a reaction but khashyah is involvement, action and tranquillity. A person who sees the enemy, floods or similar causes of fear will have one of the following two reactions: movement; i.e., running away from the cause, which is the state of khawf; or staying calm and staying in a place where the cause cannot reach him, and this is khashyah.
Rahbah is diligence in running away from adversity. The opposite of this is raghbah or longing which involves the travel of the heart toward its desires. There is symmetry between raghbah and rahbah both in their pronunciation and meanings.
Wajal is the shivering and breaking of the heart when remembering the One it fears, His authority, punishment or seeing Him.
Haybah is khawf associated with glorification and reverence. It’s peak is achieved when love and knowledge are strongly combined. Ijlal is glorification associated with love.
Khawf is for the common believers, while khashyah is for the knowledgeable and the scholars. Haybah is for those who love and ijlal is for those who are close (to Allah).
The presence of khawf and khashyah is according to how much knowledge is there, as the Prophet, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said:
“Indeed I am the most knowledgeable of Allah amongst you and have the most khashyah for Him.”
[Agreed upon]
He also said:
“If you would know what I know, you would laugh little and weep much. You would not have joy with your wives in bed and you would go out to high places and pray fervently to Allah, The Mighty.”
[Ahmad, Tirmidhi and others]
The person with khawf resorts to fleeing and holding. The person with khashyah resorts to holding to knowledge. Their similitude is like a person who has no knowledge of medicine and a skilled, highly trained and educated physician. The former resorts to diet and escape for treatment of his ills while the doctor resorts to knowledge of diseases and medicines.
Abu Hafs (ra) said: ‘Khawf is the whip of Allah. He corrects with it those straying from His door.’
He also said: ‘Khawf is a light in the heart, with it one can see the good and evil. Everyone you fear you run away from except Allah. When you fear Him, you run to Him.”
The person with khawf is a person fleeing from His Lord to His Lord.
For more details please visit http://islamichub.net/2014/03/the-station-of-al-khawf/