بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In the name of God, the Gracious, the Merciful
إِنَّ أَكْرَمَكُمْ عِندَ اللَّـهِ أَتْقَاكُمْ
Indeed, the most noble of you in the sight of Allah is the most righteous of you.
(The Holy Qur’an – 49:14)
The root meaning of Taqwa is to avoid what one dislikes. It was reported that `Umar bin Al-Khattab asked Ubayy bin Ka`b about Taqwa. Ubayy said, “Have you ever walked on a path that has thorns on it” `Umar said, “Yes.” Ubayy said, “What did you do then” He said, “I rolled up my sleeves and struggled.” Ubayy said, “That is Taqwa.”
عَنِ النَّبِيِّ صلى الله عليه وسلم قَالَ عَبْدُ اللَّهِ إِنَّ الْمُؤْمِنَ يَرَى ذُنُوبَهُ كَأَنَّهُ فِي أَصْلِ جَبَلٍ يَخَافُ أَنْ يَقَعَ عَلَيْهِ وَإِنَّ الْفَاجِرَ يَرَى ذُنُوبَهُ كَذُبَابٍ وَقَعَ عَلَى أَنْفِهِ قَالَ بِهِ هَكَذَا فَطَارَ
Al-Harith bin Suwaid said:
“‘Abdullah [bin Mas’ud] narrated two Ahadith to us, one of them from himself and the other from the Prophet (s.a.w). ‘Abdullah said: ‘The believer sees his sins as if he was at the base of a mountain, fearing that it was about to fall upon him. The wicked person sees his sins as if (they are) flies are hitting his nose” he said: “Like this” – motioning with his hand – “to get them to fly away.” (Jami at-Tirmidhi – Vol. 4, Book 11, Hadith 2497)
Various meanings of Taqwa:
- God-fearing
- God-fearing obedience
- Pious God-fearing
- God-fearing piety
- Pious vigilant awareness of God
- Godliness
- Devoutness
- Devout uprightness
- Holy fearfulness
- Pious vigilance
- God-wariness
- True devotion
- Abstinence
- Pious abstinence
- Abstinence from what is evil
- Uprightness
- Fear of God
- Fear of chastisement (iqab)
- Fear of separation (firaq)
- Fear that generates observance of the commandments of God
- Fear of God regarding the final consequences of one’s affairs
- Dutifulness
- Faithful observance
- Reverential dutifulness
- Reverential behavior towards God
- Heart’s awe of God
- Heart’s vigilance to not pursue passion
