And fear Allah that you may succeed. Quran (2,189)
I can never pass on the opportunity to completely emphasize on the fact that the word taqwa does not translate to fear. The word taqwa, derived from the root word meaning itaq, is mindfulness; to be mindful of God.
Hence, the ayah is advising that we should become mindful of Allah so that we may be among those who are — considered in the sight of Allah — the successful ones. In other words, being mindful leads to success.
Ibn ‘Abbaas (radhiAllahu ‘anhu) said: I never benefited from the words of anyone after the Messenger of Allah (sallAllahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) as I benefited from a letter written to me by ‘Alee Ibn Abee Taalib, in which he said:
“A man would feel upset to miss out on what he could never have gotten, and he could be pleased to get what he never could have missed, so let your pleasure be in that which you get of matters pertaining to the hereafter, and let your regret be with regard to what you miss of that. Whatever you get of worldly gains, do not be too happy about it, and whatever you miss out on of worldly matters, do not be too upset about it; let your concern be what happens after death.”
“..The fasting person gives up his food, his drink and his desires.”
Reported as part of a hadeeth in Saheeh al-Bukhaaree in Kitaab as-Sawm (#1795).
نصيحة لطالبات العلم فيما يبدأن به في الطلب
السؤال: نطلب من شيخنا نصيحة للأخوات السلفيات بماذا يبدأن في طلب العلم؟ الإجابة: يبدأن بالأهم فالأهم.. التي تستطيع أن تحفظ القرآن تحفظ القرآن، والتي لا تستطيع أن تحفظ القرآن تحفظ ما يسر الله لها منه، ثم تأخذ قسطًا كبيرًا من علوم توحيد الله سبحانه…
And whosoever obeys Allah and His Messenger (sallallaahu alayhi wasallam), fears Allah, and keeps his duty (to Him), such are the successful ones.
[Soorah An-Nur 24:52]
The Prophet SallAllaahu ‘Alayhi Wa Sallam said: “Pray as you have seen me praying.” [Bukhari: Book 9 Vol 91 Hadith 352] (This is addressed to both men and woman.)
Shaykh al-Albaani said: “Everything that we have said above about the way in which the Prophet SallAllaahu ‘Alayhi Wa Sallam prayed applies equally to men and women. There is nothing narrated in the Sunnah which implies that women are exempted from any of that. Rather the general meaning of the words of the Prophet PBUH, “Pray as you have seen me praying,” include women too. [Sifat Salaat al-Nabi, p. 189]
Shaikh Ibn Uthaimeen said, “Women should do the same things that men do in the prayer, so they should raise their hands and spread their arms out when prostrating, and make their backs level when bowing and lift their stomachs up off their thighs, and their thighs up off their calves, when prostrating… they should sit on the left foot with the right foot held upright when sitting between the two prostrations and in the first tashahhud. In the last tashahhud of the prayer there is only one tashahhud, and they should sit mutawarrikan (with the left upper thigh on the ground and both feet protruding from one (the right) side) during the final tashahhud of three- and four-rak’ah prayers”. [Al-Sharh al-Mumti’, 3/304, 303]
