Fear Allah Wherever You Are: Commentary on the 18th Hadith of Nawawi

He (RH) said:

The eighteenth Hadith: On the authority of Abu Dharr, Jundub bin Jundub,

and Abdurrahman bin Mu'adh bin Jabal (RA),

from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, who said:

“Fear Allah wherever you are,

and follow up a bad deed with a good deed, and it will wipe it out,

and behave towards the people with good character.”

Related by at-Tirmidhi, who said it is Hasan, and in some copies Hasan Sahih.

O Allah, send blessings upon Muhammad ﷺ.

This Hadith is from the concise prophetic speech.

The Prophet ﷺ uttered three statements,

spoken by his mouth, peace and blessings be upon him.

As for the first of them, it is his saying ﷺ: "Fear Allah wherever you are."

This taqwa is among the greatest matters a Muslim advises his brother with.

And if every Muslim advised his brother with taqwa,

and reflect on the meaning of Taqwa and know its meaning,

for this is among the greatest of advices.

Therefore, some scholars said that it is obligatory in the Friday sermon

to have an admonition in each of the two sermons,

and the minimum admonition is to say: "Fear Allah ﷻ,"

for this is the least admonition a Muslim gives his brother,

namely, to say: "Fear Allah ﷻ."

They said it is not specific; one need not say "Fear Allah ﷻ" exactly.

If he says "Be wary of Allah ﷻ" using another word, it suffices.

My point is that the least you can admonish your brother with

is to say: "Fear Allah ﷻ."

The Prophet's ﷺ saying: "Fear Allah ﷻ wherever you are"

shows us that adhering to Taqwa must be in secret and in public,

and in all states of the servant,

even when he is in a private place relieving himself

and no one can see him, for indeed, in this is piety.

Look at the life of 'Umar (RA), or 'Uthman bin 'Affan (RA),

when he entered his private place — what did he do out of shyness before Allah ﷻ?

The scholars (RH) said that Taqwa, like faith, has degrees.

Taqwa is not the same among people,

Rather, a person may be more pious on one day than another,

on one day his Taqwa decreases, and on another it increases.

Taqwa increases and decreases according to what is settled in the heart

and the actions performed by the limbs.

So fear Allah ﷻ wherever you are,

regarding the actions of your heart, and regarding what your tongue utters,

and regarding what your limbs do.

The most knowledgeable about piety are those who know most about the Sharia of Allah ﷻ,

and the most knowledgeable of them about Allah ﷻ

is the one whose heart is attached to Him ﷻ.

The one who knows Allah's Sharia best guards his limbs and tongue the most,

so he does not speak or act except in what pleases Allah ﷻ,

or, at the very least of Taqwa, he does not do anything that angers Allah ﷻ.

So, learning knowledge... for whoever learns it knows the Taqwa of Allah ﷻ,

Therefore, there is a correlation between Taqwa and knowledge. Where is that?

In the saying of the Prophet ﷺ: "I know Allah best among you and fear Him most."

And the "and" implies absolute association, as the scholars (RH) said,

This indicates that knowledge of Allah and His Sharia...

...necessitates the Taqwa of Allah ﷻ for most people, except the hypocrites.

The second statement is in the saying of the Prophet ﷺ:

"Follow up a bad deed with a good deed, it will wipe it out."

This is a fundamental principle of Sharia regarding the expiation of bad deeds.

The expiators of bad deeds are many, and among the best who compiled a treatise on them

is Al-Hafiz Abu al-Fadl Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani (RH).

He compiled a treatise on the expiators of bad deeds, including this Hadith,

which is following a bad deed with a good one.

And the mercy of Allah ﷻ is vast in expiation, covering both minor and major sins.

The other matter is the great, universal principle which

a Muslim must keep in mind during every interaction with other people,

which is his statement ﷺ: 'And behave with people with good conduct.'

The greatest advice in dealing with people with good conduct: in buying and selling,

at work, at home, in the street, on the road, in the masjid,

wherever you are, treat people with good conduct.

Yes. May Allah send blessings upon him.