Shaykh Ahmad Zarrūq (may Allah have mercy on him) defines rajāʾ (hope) as follows: "Rajāʾ is to trust in the grace of Allah Most High in every matter, with the testimony of one's deeds. If it is without deeds, it is self-delusion."[1]
Indeed, Allah Most High has encouraged us towards rajāʾ and has forbidden us from despairing of His mercy. In al-Zumar 39:53:
"Say, 'O My servants who have transgressed against themselves [by sinning], do not despair of the mercy of Allah. Indeed, Allah forgives all sins. Indeed, it is He who is the Forgiving, the Merciful.'"
Announcing the vastness of His mercy, in al-Aʿrāf 7:156:
"My mercy encompasses all things."
Describing those who hope for His mercy, in al-Baqara 2:218:
"Indeed, those who have believed and those who have emigrated and fought in the cause of Allah – those expect the mercy of Allah. And Allah is Forgiving and Merciful."
In many hadiths, there is encouragement to hope for the mercy of Allah Most High. One of them is narrated from Abū Hurayra (raḍiyallāhu ʿanhu). The Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "By Him in Whose Hand is my soul, if you did not commit sins, Allah would replace you with a people who would commit sins, then seek forgiveness from Allah, and He would forgive them."[2]
Abū Mūsā al-Ashʿarī (raḍiyallāhu ʿanhu) narrates from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): "On the Day of Resurrection, some people from among the Muslims will come with sins as great as mountains, but Allah will forgive them and place their sins upon the Jews and Christians."[3]
Ibn ʿUmar (raḍiyallāhu ʿanhumā) said: I heard the Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) say: "On the Day of Resurrection, the believer will be brought near to his Lord, and He will cover him with His mercy, make him acknowledge his sins, and ask: 'Do you recognize such-and-such a sin? Do you recognize such-and-such a sin?' The servant will say: 'O my Lord, I do.' Allah will say: 'I concealed it for you in the world, and today I forgive you for it.' Then he will be given the record of his good deeds."[4]
Rajāʾ is different from mere wishful thinking. The rājī (one who hopes) seeks Allah's pleasure and acceptance by adhering to the causes of obedience. The one who merely wishes abandons the means and struggle, yet still expects reward and recompense from Allah Most High. About such a person, the Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "The incapable one is he who lets his nafs (lower self) follow its desires, and yet hopes for salvation from Allah."[5]
Everyone who seeks hope from Allah Most High should roll up their sleeves and strive with truthfulness and ikhlas (sincerity), and exert effort until they attain their goal. For this reason, to teach the seeker of Allah's path, Allah Most High says in al-Kahf 18:110:
"So whoever would hope for the meeting with his Lord – let him do righteous work and not associate in the worship of his Lord anyone." If a servant is young and prone to sin, following the desires of the nafs, he should let fear outweigh hope; but at the end of his life, he should let hope predominate. For Allah Most High says in a hadith qudsi: "I am as My servant thinks of Me."[6]
As narrated by Jābir b. ʿAbd Allāh (raḍiyallāhu ʿanhu), the Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Let none of you die except while assuming the best about Allah (ʿazza wa jalla)."[7]
If a servant has set out on the path of nearness to his Lord, he should combine the maqām (spiritual station) of fear with the maqām of rajāʾ. One should not let fear predominate to the extent of despairing of Allah's mercy and forgiveness, nor should hope predominate to the extent of persisting in sin and rebellion. Rather, one should soar with both, continuing to draw near to the Divine Presence. As in the statement of Allah Most High in al-Sajda 32:16:
"They arise from [their] beds; they supplicate their Lord in fear and hope..."
That is, they supplicate their Lord, fearing His fire and hoping for His paradise, fearing distance and hoping for nearness, fearing abandonment and hoping for His pleasure, fearing severance and hoping for union.
Ibn ʿAjība (may Allah have mercy on him) explained that those who hope (rājīs) are not on a single level, but rather on several levels:
The rajāʾ of the generality is to turn to Allah with a beautiful tawba (repentance) in order to attain reward.
The rajāʾ of the elect is to attain riḍā (contentment with God's decree) and nearness.
The rajāʾ of the elect of the elect is to establish witnessing in the heart and to ascend further in the mysteries of the Sovereign Worshipped One.[8]
Notes
- Kawāʿid al-Taṣawwuf, p. 74
- Muslim, Kitāb al-Tawba
- Muslim, Kitāb al-Tawba
- Muslim, Kitāb al-Tawba; Bukhārī, Kitāb al-Riqāq
- Tirmidhī, Kitāb Ṣifat al-Qiyāma (declared ḥasan); Ibn Māja, Kitāb al-Zuhd, both from Shaddād b. Aws (raḍiyallāhu ʿanhu)
- Bukhārī, Ṣaḥīḥ, Kitāb al-Tawḥīd, from Abū Hurayra (raḍiyallāhu ʿanhu)
- Muslim, Kitāb al-Janna, Bāb al-Amr bi Ḥusn al-Ẓann bi-llāh
- Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn, vol. 4, p. 334
From the Erginli Dictionary
It means that one's ḥāl (spiritual state) of hope outweighs that of fear.
Zunnūn was asked, "What is uns (intimate companionship)?" He replied: "For the lover to be at ease in the presence of the Beloved, with formality falling away." (Taʿarruf, 76)
When Shiblī was asked what uns is, he replied: "Uns is to become weary of oneself."
Zunnūn said: "The lowest degree of the maqām of uns is that even if the servant is cast into the fire, this state does not prevent him from experiencing uns."
Some have said: "Uns is when intimacy through dhikr (remembrance of God) prevents one from seeing others." (Taʿarruf, 77)
Shawq (longing) is a state of anxiety and distress. In this state, a person contemplates majesty and sees with his own eyes the qualities of the hidden graces behind the veil of the unseen. This ma...
Source: Zafer Erginli (ed.), Dictionary of Sufi Terms with Texts.