Balance Between Fear and Hope within the Believer
20-5-2025 | IslamWeb
Question:
I always fear that I will die in a state of disbelief despite doing my obligatory duties and even voluntary acts. I try to tell myself think positively of Allah and this is waswas but then I remember dua like dua (3:8) of Quran, or dua of Prophet yusuf to die as a Muslim. So if doing obligatory deeds guarantees you don’t fall to misguidance why do we make dua to not allow our hearts to deviate or to die upon Islam? So I worry that even if I do good I might apostate Please answer new fatwah
Answer:
All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad, sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.
Firstly, we ask Allah to bless you with good expectations of Him.
Secondly, the believer, while worshipping Allah, combines both hope and fear, maintaining a balance between the two so that neither of them dominates his heart.
Praiseworthy fear is that which prevents a person from committing the prohibitions of Allah. However, if it goes beyond this, it may lead to despair of Allah's mercy and losing hope in His relief.
Whereas, praiseworthy hope is the hope of a person who obeys Allah, guided by His light, and thus hopes for His reward; or a person who has sinned, then repented sincerely, and now hopes for Allah's forgiveness.
However, if a person continues to be negligent and immersed in sin, hoping for Allah’s mercy without taking action, then this is nothing but delusion, wishful thinking, and false hope.
As for supplicating for steadfastness and asking Allah not to let the heart deviate, what is the issue with that? As the believer never assumes that the good deeds he performed have fully met the conditions for the acceptance of good deeds by Allah, or that they were free from heedlessness, flawed intentions, or anything else that could reduce their reward.
Moreover, acceptance of good deeds is the grace and generosity of Allah. No matter how much effort a servant puts in, he can never fulfil what Allah truly deserves or what befits His Majesty.
Lastly, the believer also fears that there may be hidden corruption within himself that he is unaware of, so he asks Allah for steadfastness and a good ending, which includes supplicating for protection from the hidden evils of the soul.
Allah knows best.