The Drawbacks of Restricting Faith to Fear and Hope
The drawbacks of restricting faith to fear and hope are that one is only willing to commit to faith when his surroundings and companions agree. As soon as those suggestions fade away, influence will fade. Plus, these fears and hopes cannot retain a true faith, as the Sire of all virtuous, Ali (Praise be upon him) denotes: “O dear God, I worship you not because of the fear of your hell and not because of the hope of your heaven, but because you are worthy of it.” What he means by these words is that I have gained knowledge of your essence and magnificence, and because of this knowledge and wisdom, I know that you are the creator, and I know and worship you. He means that I recognize this task as my earthly and imperative obligation, and I need no fear of hell and no fear of denial to heaven to carry out my obligation. This notion is how the faithful followers of his Excellency are, indeed, he taught a lesson to his followers using these words. What is the reason they do not learn this lesson, and why do they not seek faith entwined with the knowledge that is free of fear and hope for motivation?
In the first Epistle of John, chapter 4, it says: “And no man had seen God. If we love each other, God will be in our midst, and his love will be perfect amongst us.”
In the Avestan Hymns of the Gathas of the Zoroastrianism, it says: “One who is of good ethics and deed will understand these words very well, as the Mazda1 knows with his divine knowledge. Such good man will practice and employ justice along with righteous words and actions.”
Footnotes
- Ahura Mazda “wise lord,” a supreme deity of the Zoroastrianism.