5.9. THE MEANING OF GOD-CONSCIOUSNESS (TAQWA)
The fact that all that has thus far been mentioned is included in the counsel of Allah becomes clear once we know that God-consciousness, or taqwa, means that one abides by all of Allah’s orders, which either signifies obligations or recommendations and all of His prohibitions that either signify unlawfulness or detestability. This covers the rights of Allah and the rights of His servants.
However, since the Prophet sometimes used the word God- consciousness in reference to the fear of the punishment that makes one abstain from the unlawful, the intended meaning was clarified in the hadith of Mu’adh (radiyAllahu ‘anhu). The hadith of Abu Hurayrah (radiyAllahu ‘anhu) related and authenticated by TirmidhI also says: “It was said: ‘O Messenger of Allah, what makes people enter Paradise the most?’ So he said: ‘God-consciousness towards Allah and fine character.’Then it was said: ‘What makes people enter Hell the most?’ so he said: ‘The two hollow things; the mouth and the private part.
The hadith of ‘Abdullah Ibn ‘Umar (radiyAllahu ‘anhu) in the Sahih says: ‘The Messenger of Allah said: The most complete believer in faith is the best of them in character,’ In this hadith, the prophet joined completeness of faith (Kamil al-iman) with completeness of character (Kamil husn al-khuluq), and it is well-known that faith is all about having God-consciousness towards Allah.
By Shaykhu’l-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah
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