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Without a feeling of hope in Allah's mercy, one is apt to feel doomed to punishmentregardless of future works-- and fall into despair. On the other hand, without any fear of Allah, one begins to feel immune from punishment regardless of his deeds. Hence, he becomes almost indifferent to performing an obligatory deed or performing a sin. One must, therefore, have both fear of Allah's punishment and hope of His mercy and forgiveness. However, the proper balance between hope and fear is something that the scholars have differed about over the years. lbn Uthaimeen presents the following views on this question: Some say that the aspect of hope should always be greater than the aspect of fear. Others say that the aspect of fear should always be greater than the aspect of hope. Others say that the aspects of fear and hope should be equally strong in the person's heart. If either of them dominates, the result is negative, as described above. Others say that when one is healthy, the two should be equally strong. However, when one is ill or close to death, the feeling of hope should dominate the feeling of fear. This is the view al-Nawawi supports in Riyaadh al­ Saaliheen. 1 Others say that while one is performing an act of obedience to Allah, he should be in a state of hope that Allah will accept that deed from him. But if he is about to perform a sin, the feeling of fear should overcome him such that it keeps him from performing that act. lbn Uthaimeen's own conclusion seems to be a sound one. He says that the person himself must be his own "physician". If he sees that he is beginning to feel safe from the punishment of Allah or that he is committing sins or falling into wishful thinking, he should correct himself. He corrects himself by developing within himself the fear of Allah. If, on the other hand, he finds himself becoming overly fearful or starting to despair of the mercy of Allah, then he must change his ways by increasing his hope in Allah. 2 Hence, there must be a balance between the two. The balance does not mean that the two are exactly equally strong in the heart at all times. But the balance does mean that the presence of each is strong enough to keep the 1 Al-Bugha and Mistu (p. 366-367) attribute this view to the Shafi'ees. But they add that when one looks to his own shortcomings, he should feel fear; when one looks to Allah's greatness, he should feel hope; as for the sick, hope should outweigh fear. 2 lbn Uthaimeen, Sharh Riyaadh, vol. 5, pp. 392-393. Hadith #42: "O son of Adam, as long as you call on Me . . . " believer from going to either extreme of not fearing Allah's punishment or despairing of Allah's forgiveness and mercy. "I have forgiven you for what you have done and I do not mind. 1 " Allah says in the Quran, (. J ,,. ,,. ,,,. / :&\ 01 .&\ ீJ if \)j-,3 ઐǕ; '-1 Ʒi T 1;,. 1_,j઒i ઓ:JI "5.)1 ď-·; Ï,,.  ; ,,. ,... \- :.... r...s- / ,,. .... u "Say: 0 My servants who have transgressed against their own souls, despair not of the mercy of Allah. Verily, Allah forgives all sins. Truly, He is Oft­ Forgiving, Most Merciful" (al-Zumar 53). This forgiveness is the result of the person's supplicating to Allah and maintaining hope in Allah. Both of these are acts of worship. The result of these acts is Allah's willingness to forgive the servant for the sin that he has committed. "if your sins were to reach the clouds" No matter how great or how many one's sins, they can never be greater than the potential forgiveness and mercy of the Compassionate, the Merciful, the Forgiving, the Oft-Relenting. Ibn Rajah quotes the lines of a poet who said, "O Lord, even if the number of sins becomes great I certainly know that Your forgiveness is greater If only the doers of good can put their hope in You To whom [else] could the sinner supplicate and put his hope I have no means of approach to You except hope and Your beautiful forgiveness and then the fact that I am a Muslim."2 "then you would seek My forgiveness, I would forgive you." The word for seeking forgiveness, al-istighfaar (.Jl.ill..'il) is derived from the word ghafara. This root implies the clothing that one wears to protect oneself from dirt, filth3 or harm.4 So, for example, a warrior wears a mighfar on 1 According to al-Teebi, what is meant by the last part of that phrase is, "He is not asked about what He does," instead of, "and I do not mind." Allah knows best. (Al-Teebi is quoted in al­ Mubaarakfoori, Tuhfah, vol. 9, p. 525.) 2 Quoted in ibn Rajah, Jaami, vol. 2, p. 407. 3 Cf., Sultaan, p. 364. 4 Cf., ibn Muhammad, p. 229.