FEAR OF ALLAH

Coupled with the remarkable spirit of sacrifice, the Sa-habah had genuine and deep-rooted 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 whenever 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:

"0, 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 appeared on his face. I said to him once, '0, Prophet of Allah when clouds appear everybody is happy as they foretell rain, but why is it that I see you so much perturbed 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 gathering dense clouds, believing that they brought rain; but actually those clouds brought no rain but utter destruction 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 bringing 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." (XL VI: 24 & 25)

Look at the fear of Allah in the heart of a person who is the best of all creation (Sallallahu 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 wasallam) 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 phenomena 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 investigations.

What Hadhrat Anas (Radhiyallaho anho) used to do when a storm approached:

Hadhrat Nadhr-bin-Abdullah relates:
"One day while Hadhrat Anas (Radhiyallahu anhu) was alive, it became very dark during the day time. I went to him and said, "Did you ever see much a thing in the Prophet's time?" He replied, "I seek refuge in Allah! In those days if the breeze grew a little stronger than normal, we would hasten towards the musjid, fearing the approach of the Last Day."
Hadhrat Abu Darda (Radhiyallahu anhu) narrates:
"Whenever there was a storm, the Prophet (Sallallahu alaihe wasallam) would get perturbed and would go to the musjid."
Who thinks of going to musjid, now-a-days, even at the time of the worst of calamities? Leave aside the common people, even those who regard themselves as good and practising Muslims do not practise this Sunnat. What a deterioration!