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In Surah Ali Imran 3:123 it says:

And already had Allah given you victory at [the battle of] Badr while you were few in number. Then fear Allah ; perhaps you will be grateful.

The word by word translation from Quran.com of the phrase in bold is:

So fear - Allah SWT - So that you may - (be) grateful

What is the meaning of this phrase I don't understand. What is the relation between fear and being grateful.

Being grateful is being grateful for something of the past. But fear is, as far as I know (but CMIIW), is fear to something that may happen in the future. So how come fearing something makes somebody grateful? What's the relation? Can anyone explain on this.

Regards

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  • What do you mean by CMIIW?
    – Medi1Saif ♦
    Commented Aug 27, 2018 at 8:30
  • 1
    @Medi1Saif 'Correct Me If I'm Wrong'
    – Muslim_1234
    Commented Aug 27, 2018 at 10:31

1 Answer 1

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Allah says in the the Qur'an:

وَلَقَدْ نَصَرَكُمُ اللَّهُ بِبَدْرٍ وَأَنتُمْ أَذِلَّةٌ فَاتَّقُوا اللَّهَ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَشْكُرُونَ

- Surah Ali 'Imran, Verse 123

Maududi translates the verse as:

Indeed Allah had already succoured you in the battle of Badr when you were in a much weaker position, therefore you should refrain from showing ingratitude towards Allah: it is expected that you will be grateful now.

- Tafsir al-Maududi

According to this translation, the phrase means:

Since Allah helped you win in the Battle of Badr when you were vastly outnumbered,

  • you should refrain from showing ingratitude towards Allah

  • it is expected that you will be grateful to Allah for everything

There are many more translations which you could view in order to help understand the phrase, some suggest have fear in Allah so you may show Him gratefulness and others suggest be mindful of Allah but all of these translations suggest that:

  • Stay steadfast in the religion and observe it in piety and fear of Allah
  • Then you will be grateful to Allah (i.e remaining steadfast in the religion and observe it strictly suggests you will be rewarded with Paradise and then you will thank Allah for that.)
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  • First let me verify, is "fearing Allah SWT" and "being grateful to Allah SWT" the exact same thing? Or are they two different kind of things?
    – Tomsofty33
    Commented Aug 29, 2018 at 0:51
  • In this verse they are not the same thing but fearing Allah precedes being grateful to Allah.
    – Muslim_1234
    Commented Aug 29, 2018 at 7:06
  • Does that imply that you cannot be grateful to Allah SWT if you haven't feared Allah?
    – Tomsofty33
    Commented Aug 30, 2018 at 4:58
  • Yes since fearing Allah is obligatory as verse 3:175 suggests 'So fear them not, but fear Me, if you are [indeed] believers.'
    – Muslim_1234
    Commented Aug 30, 2018 at 15:12
  • I'm not quite understand. Fearing Allah is obligatory. Yes that is correct. But where and how does THAT implies that you cannot be grateful to Allah SWT unless you fear Him? Since those two, as you said, are two different things
    – Tomsofty33
    Commented Aug 31, 2018 at 1:31

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