Abdullah Junaid

20221-32498
Question 1:

Taqwa is an Islamic term for being conscious and cognizant of God, of truth, "piety, fear
of God." This term is most often found in the Quran. Those who practice taqwa — in the words
of Hazrat Ibn Abbas (May Allah the Almighty be pleased with him), "believers who
avoid Shirk with Allah The Almighty and who work in His obedience" — are called muttaqin”

In other words, the overall meaning of Taqwa and its interpretation can be based on two broad
perspectives, mainly:

 To have absolute fear of Allah the Exalted.

 To abstain from sins, which in other words means, staying away from any and every
form of disobedience of Allah the Exalted, whether it is a minor or major form of
disobedience, it is all included in the context of the term “sin”.

Hence we can conclude from this that taqwa is abstaining from sins and disobedience of Allah
the Almighty through attaining the fear of Allah the Exalted in one’s heart.
 This fear can be in terms of the fear of punishment , fear of entering the hellfire, fear of
displeasing Allah the Exalted. So once this fear is implanted inside a believer’s heart, mind, body
and soul it will eventually protect and prevent him from doing any such act which might lead to
the displeasure and disobedience of Allah the Glorious and result in punishment and penalty in
this world and Hereafter. Importance of taqwa is also enlightened in Holy Quran and Sunnah

In surah Al-Baqarah, chapter 2: verse 2, in the beginning Allah the Almighty has
mentioned that this Quran is a book or scripture in which there is no doubt and in it
there is guidance for those who possess Taqwa.

The Prophet ‫ ﷺ‬used to begin most of his Khutbas or sermons to the believers by the
words: “ I give you command to be wary and fearful of Allah the Exalted.
The Levels of Taqwa:
There are three levels of taqwa or God consciousness as pointed out by various Muslim scholars
and shariah experts on spiritual purification or tazkiyah.They are as below.

1. Highest Level of Taqwa: ( Characteristics of Muttaqin)

Ideally this is the level which every believer should strive and aim for. As this is indeed the level
of the most pious predecessors who observed piety of the highest degree. This highest level
entails removal of all entities other than Allah the Almighty from the heart and negation of self
as well. This is the level achieved by all Prophets (May Allah the Almighty have mercy on them ),
the Wali or spiritual shaykh, the truthful and sincere ones like the companions.

2. Lowest Level of Taqwa:

This is the bare minimum level of taqwa.It is complete and absolute abstinence from shirk or
polytheism. This is essential for every muslimto retain, if he or she wants to remain on Islamic
aqeedah or islamic creed.

Moderate level of taqwa:

A believer should not go below this level. He should aim for this level and after attaining it
sustain this level to the utmost degree. This level consists of staying away from every form of
sin and disobedience of shariah commandments.
Question no 2:

The Arabic word for orphan is Yateem. Any child (male or female) who has no
father or whose father has died or who has lost his both parents and the child has
not reached the age of puberty is classified as a Yateem in Islamic Jurisprudence.
It is estimated that 6.5% of the total number of children in the world are orphans.
There is no doubt that an orphan segment is supported by all the religions; even
by those who do not believe in any religion. But Islam is the only religion that has
extensively talked about orphans in the glorious Quran and the blessed Ahadees.
The word ‘Yateem’ has been mentioned more than 20 times in the glorious
Quran, highlighting the significance of the most marginalised segment of society.

َ
The Blessed Rasool  ‫سلَّم‬
َ ‫و‬ ‫صلَّى هللاُ َعلَ ْي ِه َو ٰالِ ٖه‬
َ  has stated:

“I and he who look after the orphan in the heaven would be like this, (pointing
to the space between his first and second finger)”

The Holy Prophet ‫صلَّى هّٰللا ُ َعلَ ْي ِه َو ٰالِ ٖه َو َسلَّم‬

َ  was also an orphan as he lost his father
before his birth, then lost mother and grandfather at a very early age. He himself
experienced the sufferings faced by an orphan, and then there came a time when
he brought a great comfort to orphans in the form of Islam, providing them their
own rights like others. Holy Prophet ‫صلَّى هّٰللا ُ َعلَ ْي ِه َو ٰالِ ٖه َو َسلَّم‬
َ encourage us to treat
orphans well. This golden teaching of treating orphans with kindness and raising
them is a definite way or improving human life and making individual an
honorable person of society. For this very reason, in the hadith our attention has
been directed to the rights of orphans and the biggest reward is narrated for
those who nurture an orphan with pure intention that we get the closeness of the
Holy Prophet‫صلَّى هّٰللا ُ َعلَ ْي ِه َو ٰالِ ٖه‬
َ in Jannah like two fingers are close with each other.