FEAR OF ALLAH. The Prophet's (Sallallaho alaihe wasallam) Apprehensions at the time of a storm.

Coupled with the remarkable spirit of sacrifice, the Sahabah had genuine and deeprooted fear of Allah in their hearts. I wish today's Muslims could have an iota of that fear of Allah. Here are a few stories about this aspect of their lives.

The Prophet's (Sallallaho alaihe wasallam) Apprehensions at the time of a storm.

Hadhrat Aishah (Radhiyallaho anha) relates that when-ever a strong wind bringing dense clouds started blowing, the Prophet's (Sallallaho alaihe wasallam) face turned pale with the fear of Allah. He became restive and would go in and out with perturbation. and would recite the following prayer:

"O, my.Allah! I ask of Thee the good out of this wind, the good out of that which is in this wind, and the good out of that which is the outcome of this wind. I seek refuge in Thee from the evil of this wind, from the evil out of that which is in this wind, and from the evil out of that which is the outcome of this wind."

She says:

"And further when it began to rain, signs of delight ap-peared on his face. I said to him once, 'O, Prophet of Allah when clouds appear everybody is happy as they foretell rain, but why is it that I see you so much per-turbed at that time?' He replied, '0, 'Aishah! How can I feel secure that this wind does not portend Allah's wrath? The people of A'ad were punished with the wind. They were happy when they beheld the gather-ing dense clouds, believing that they brought rain; but actually those clouds brought no rain but utter destruc-tion to 'A'ad."

The Prophet (Sallallaho alaihe wasallam) was, obviously, referring to the following verses of the Qur'an:

"Then, when they (A'ad) beheld a dense cloud coming toward their valleys, they said: "Here is a cloud bring-ing us rain." Nay, but it is that very calamity which you did seek to hasten, a wind wherein is grievous penalty, destroying all things by commandment of its Lord. And morning found them so that naught could be seen. save their dwellings. Thus we treat the guilty folk." (XLVI: 24 & 25)

Look at the fear of Allah in the heart of a person who is the best of all creation (Sallallaho alaihe wasallam). In spite of a clear verse in the Qur'an that Allah would not punish the people so long as the Prophet (Sallallaho alaihe wasal-lam) was with them (Al-Qur'an VIII: 33), he has so much fear of Allah in him that a strong wind reminds him of the punishment awarded to the people in the past. Now let us peep into our own hearts for a moment. Although we are fully saturated with sins, yet none of the unusual phenom-ena viz: earthquake, lightning, etc., arouses the least fear of Allah in our hearts and, instead of resorting to Istighfaar or Salaat at such times, we only indulge in absurd investiga-tions.