lear (khawf)

1he followlng ls Lhe LranslaLlon of a chapLer from Lhe Arablc book Alllkr allslaml (1he lslamlc
1houghL) by Shelkh Mohammad bln Mohammad lsmael Abduh an AsslsLanL rofessor aL Lhe
LgypLlan unlverslLy (now known as Calro unlverslLy) ln Lhe pasL


lear ls one of Lhe exLernal appearances of Lhe survlval lnsLlncL lLs exlsLence ln man ls lnevlLable
because lL ls a parL of hls creaLlon and lL exlsLed ln hlm naLurally wlLh hls creaLlon Powever lL ls
llke oLher exLernal appearances of Lhe survlval lnsLlncL such as soverelgnLy defense and
compasslon and oLhers even llke Lhose of oLher lnsLlncLs whlch are Lhe rellglousness and
reproducLlon lL does noL appear unless Lhere ls a moLlve lf Lhere ls no such moLlve fear wlll
noL appear aL all 1hls moLlve whlch provokes fear ls Lhe same llke any oLher moLlve LhaL
provokes any of Lhe lnsLlncLs lL ls elLher a Langlble physlcal Lhlng or a LhoughL LhaL ls
connecLed wlLh lL or relaLed Lo lL Powever Lhls physlcal Langlble Lhlng or LhoughL musL be
undersLood LhaL causes fear of felL emoLlonally unless Lhls undersLandlng or LhaL feellng
occurred no fear wlll Lake place because Lhe energy of Lhe lnsLlncL wlll noL move nor wlll lL be
aglLaLed unless Lhe emoLlons of fear ln Lhe Lhlng have been connecLed wlLh a concepL or wlLh
an lnsLlncLlve ldenLlflcaLlon 1hus Lhough lL ls an lnnaLe naLure LhaL ls creaLed wlLh man fear
does noL occur excepL wlLh Lhe presence of someLhlng LhaL aglLaLes lL


lear ls one of Lhe dangerous problems due Lo whlch Lhe decllned peoples and Lhe weak naLlons
suffer humlllaLlon and backwardness lf fear domlnaLed on a person lL prevenLed hlm of Lhe llfe
pleasure deprlved hlm of Lhe noble characLers caused ln hlm Lhe menLal dlsorder and Lhe
lncapablllLy Lo [udge on maLLers and paralyzed ln hlm Lhe memory and capablllLy of
ldenLlflcaLlon


1he worsL Lype of fear ls LhaL from lmaglnaLlons and ghosLs 1hls does noL occur excepL Lo Lhose
of weak mlnds 1hls ls elLher because Lhe mlnd ln Lhem dld noL grow llke Lhe chlldren or due Lo
Lhe absence of enough lnformaLlon Lo llnk Lhem wlLh reallLy such as Lhe lgnoranL people and
every person who lacks Lhe lnformaLlon because of hls (Lype of) llfe ln socleLy as Lhe case of
mosL women or due Lo naLural weakness ln Lhelr bralns such as Lhe foollsh people and Lhe
dlsabled ones and Lhelr llkes 1he fear ln Lhese people ls LreaLed elLher by deep dlscusslon wlLh
Lhem and brlnglng near Lhe maLLers Lo Lhelr undersLandlng or glvlng Lhem LhoughLs relaLed Lo
whaL Lhey sense of on Lhe condlLlon LhaL Lhese LhoughLs have a reallLy Lhey can sense WlLh Lhls
LreaLmenL Lhey can rld Lhemselves of Lhe power of fear elLher by removlng lL or reduclng lL
gradually unLll lLs 'deep rooLed' concepLs are up rooLed


1here ls anoLher Lype of fear LhaL ls less dangerous Lhan Lhe fear of lmaglnaLlons lL ls LhaL
whlch resulLs from Lhe lncorrecL evaluaLlon of maLLers So man mlghL see someLhlng Lhlnklng lL
ls scary Lhough lL mlghL noL be so Pe mlghL see a sleeplng dog Lhlnklng lL ls a mad dog for he
had seen a slmllar mad dog before So he becomes frlghLened from passlng lL ln Lhe road and
flees from lL Pad he verlfled Lhe maLLer he would flnd lL Lo be a Lame dog LhaL does noL scare
and lL ls sleeplng and noL feellng of hls presence Pe mlghL see a llon lnslde a cage so he
becomes afrald Lo approach lL lesL Lhe llon comes ouL Lo hlm 1he llon mlghL rage so hls fear
lncreases and he runs away Lhlnklng Lhe llon mlghL go ouL of Lhe cage 1he lack of esLlmaLlon
mosLly occurs ln Lhe semanLlc maLLers such as an arLlcle or a speech ln a place or conversaLlon
wlLh a ruler or dlscusslon wlLh an lnfluenLlal person or Lhe llkes 1he lack of proper esLlmaLlon
of maLLers causes hlm fear so he absLalns from wrlLlng glvlng a speech or dlscusslon ln fear of
harm


1here ls anoLher common fear LhaL resulLs from Lhe absence of comparlson beLween whaL
resulLs from underLaklng an acLlon and whaL resulLs from absLalnlng from dolng lL 8oLh of Lhem
cause harm so Lhe error ln Lhls comparlson leads Lo fear from Lhe slmple maLLers 1hls ls llke
Lhe fear from Lhe oppresslve ruler LhaL he mlghL lnfllcL harm on Lhe lndlvldual whlch leads Lo
lnfllcLlng harm on Lhe naLlon and lncludlng Lhe lndlvldual hlmself as one of Lhe naLlon 1hls ls
also llke Lhe fear of Lhe soldler ln Lhe baLLlefleld from deaLh whlch leads Lo Lhe annlhllaLlon of
Lhe whole army lncludlng Lhe soldler hlmself 1hls ls also llke Lhe fear from prlson for Lhe sake
of Lhe bellefs whlch he embraces LhaL lends Lo Lhe wasLe of Lhe creed from hlm whlch ls more
harmful Lhan Lhe prlson or Lhe dlsappearance of Lhe creed from Lhe worldly llfe 1hls Lype of
fear ls very dangerous Lo naLlons whlch leads Lo learned helplessness raLher Lo desLrucLlon
and annlhllaLlon


Powever fear ls useful and beneflclal ln some slLuaLlons and lL ls necessary Lo exlsL or Lo
lnlLlaLe lL ls also harmful and desLrucLlve ln some slLuaLlons and lL musL noL exlsL and musL be
LreaLed and removed So Lhe fear from Lhe real dangers ls beneflclal and lL ls obllgaLory
8ecklessness of Lhese dangers and Lhe lack of fear from Lhem ls harmful and lL should noL
occur wheLher Lhey were dangers on Lhe lndlvldual hlmself or on hls people lear ln Lhls case ls
Lhe guard and Lhe proLecLor 1herefore lL ls necessary Lo explaln Lhe dangers LhaL surround Lhe
people so as Lo Lake accounL of Lhem and work Lo defend Lhem and Lo remove Lhese dangers
1he fear from Cod and from Pls LormenL ls beneflclal and obllgaLory and lL ls Lhe guardlan and
Lhe proLecLor 1herefore lL ls necessary Lo aglLaLe Lhe fear from Cod ln Lhe souls and Lo explaln
Lhe degree of Pls LormenL for commlLLlng Lhe so LhaL people prospecL and perform Pls orders
and absLaln from Pls prohlblLlons 1hls fear and lLs llke ls beneflclal and useful and lL musL
exlsL and work should be done Lo creaLe lL for lL ls Lhe guard and Lhe proLecLor and lL ls Lhe
one LhaL secures Lhe march of man aL Lhe sLralghL paLh


1herefore fear ls a parL of man's lnnaLe naLure 1he concepLs are responslble for aglLaLlng lL ln
man and for removlng lL from man ln some areas lL ls of Lhe mosL dangerous on man and lL ls
of Lhe greaLesL beneflL ln oLher areas ln order LhaL man proLecLs oneself of lLs dangers and
en[oys of lLs beneflLs lL ls obllgaLory upon hlm Lo keep lL under Lhe conLrol of Lhe Lrue concepLs
alone whlch are Lhe concepLs of lslam