Taqwa (God-consciousness)

التقوى

That the servant sets between himself and what he fears a guard to shield him — his taqwa of his Lord being a guard against what he dreads of His anger, displeasure and punishment, namely doing His obedience and avoiding disobedience; this is Ibn Rajab's root definition in the commentary on 'fear God wherever you are'; taqwa is ascribed to God's name as the guarding against His wrath — the greatest of what is guarded against — and to His punishment like the Fire and His time like the Day of Resurrection; complete taqwa includes doing the obligations and leaving the forbidden and the doubtful, its highest degree adding the recommended and leaving the disliked; among the early generations: Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz held taqwa is not fasting the day or praying the night but leaving what God forbade and performing what He imposed, Talq ibn Habib that it is working in obedience upon light from God hoping His reward and leaving disobedience upon light fearing His punishment, Abu al-Darda' that its perfection is guarding to an atom's weight until some of the lawful is left as a screen from the unlawful, al-Thawri that they were called muttaqun for avoiding what need not be avoided, and Ibn Masud glossed 'fear God as He should be feared' as being obeyed and not disobeyed, remembered and not forgotten, thanked and not denied; taqwa is God's counsel to the first and the last and His messenger's bequest to his community — he counselled the commander of every expedition with it, told Abu Dharr 'I counsel you with taqwa, for it is the head of the whole matter', and the pair 'taqwa of God and good character' is what most admits people to Paradise.