How Does Allah Fulfill the Hope of Those Who Place Their Hope in Him?

Answered by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Question

Could you explain what it means that He will fulfill the hope of those who place their hope in Him? I read this in one of your answers. It was beneficial, but I’m not sure I understand what this is based on and how to apply it in my life.

Answer

In the Name of Allah, the Merciful and Compassionate.

“Allah fulfilling the hope of those who place their hopes in Him” means that Allah’s answer is a guarantee, one He has made by His own promise.

No one who places their hope in Him is turned away empty-handed. How and when Allah Most High chooses to fulfill that hope is up to Him: it could be (a) in this life or the next, (b) by giving what you asked, (c) or by turning harm away from you, (d) or by granting you something better for you.

Hope Is the Heart’s Attachment to Allah

Hope is a central virtue in our religion (din), deeply emphasized in the Quran, and one of the fruits of faith (iman) and consciousness of Allah Most High.

So what is hope? Imam Qushayri (Allah have mercy on him) defines hope (rajaʾ) as the heart’s attachment to something longed-for that will come about in the future, while taking the means of attaining it.

By hope, Imam Qushayri says, hearts find their life and their footing. Among the definitions he relays: hope is trust in the generosity of the Generous, the Loving; and hope is looking to the vastness of Allah’s mercy. [Qushayri, al-Risala]

Hope arises from knowing that Allah, our Creator and Sustainer, is Merciful, Generous, Giving, and Caring. Thus, we seek from Him, and we know that He has guaranteed His response. Thereafter, our duty is to take the means of attaining it.

Ibn Ataʾillah cautions that it is only hope when coupled with taking the means to attain what is hoped for. Otherwise, he warns, it is mere wishful thinking (umniya). [Ibn Ataʾillah, al-Hikam]

So hope looks to Allah and expects good from Him, and then one takes the right means of attaining that good, whether in worldly or next-worldly matters.

Hope Grows Out of Faith:

Surat al-Ikhlas and What Distinguishes Our Understanding of Tawhid

We hope because we know who Allah is.

Allah Most High says, “Say: He is Allah: the Wholly One Divine Reality Alone. Allah is the Sole Indomitable Recourse for all needs.” [Quran 112:1–2; Keller, The Quran Beheld]

Allah Most High tells us in the first two verses of Surat al-Ikhlas about what distinguishes our understanding of the Divine Oneness (tawhid):

One. Allah is al-Ahad, which Shaykh Nuh Keller translates, based on classical exegesis (tafsir) and theology, as “the Wholly One Divine Reality Alone.”

Two. Allah is al-Samad, which he translates as “the Sole Indomitable Recourse for all needs.”

He needs none to sustain Him, and He is the One who creates and sustains all things, at all moments, in every way. [Ghazali, al-Maqsid al-Asna; Ibn Ajiba, Tafsir al-Fatiha al-Kabir]

Allah’s Encompassing Mercy: The Basmala and Fatiha

He has power over all things, and nothing happens outside His will. And He has chosen, with nothing obliging Him, to deal with His creation by mercy: “He has inscribed mercy bounden on Himself.” [Quran 6:12; Keller, The Quran Beheld]

We affirm this each time we say the Basmala or recite the Fatiha, calling Him al-Rahman and al-Rahim, “Most Merciful and Compassionate.” [Quran 1:3; Keller, The Quran Beheld]

Allah’s Name al-Rahman emphasizes that Allah’s Mercy is absolutely encompassing, reaching all existent things.

Allah’s Name al-Rahim emphasizes Allah’s deep, caring Mercy, reaching each servant in what they need. This “particular” Mercy is attained through the faithful hope of believers.

Hope Is Rooted in Key Meanings of Faith

Hope is a living, positive relationship with Allah Most High as Lord. It is rooted in certitude (yaqin), reliance (tawakkul), and trust (iʿtimad) upon Allah.

The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) relates that Allah says, “I am as My servant thinks of Me.” [Bukhari]

Our hope is fulfilled to the measure of our certitude in Allah: in His attributes, His actions, His wisdom, and His mercy.

But this faithful hope is that of true slavehood (ubudiyya) to Allah Most High, and entails the core meanings affirmed in the Fatiha:

“You alone we humbly adore and in You alone we seek help.” [Quran 1:5; Keller, The Quran Beheld]

Such hope arises from:

One. Putting Allah first in all matters: “You alone…”

Two. Knowing our first duty and purpose: “humbly adoring” Allah (ubudiyya).

Three. Seeking Allah’s help in all matters.

Four. Seeking only what is pleasing to Allah Most High.

Shaykh Nuh Keller explains in Sea Without Shore that slavehood (ubudiyya) means devotion to Allah alone and worshipping Him because He is the Lord, for His sake alone. Slavehood means making demands on oneself for Allah, not on Allah for oneself. It also entails upholding the limits of Allah, seeking only Allah’s pleasure, and consigning all things to Allah. [Keller, Sea Without Shore]

Fulfilled in One of Three Ways

Allah Most High has promised: “Call on Me and I will answer you.” [Quran 40:60; Keller, The Quran Beheld]

Hope shows itself in du’a. The Beloved of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, “No Muslim calls on Allah with a supplication that holds no sin and no cutting of family ties except that Allah gives him one of three: either his supplication is hastened for him, or He stores it up for him in the Hereafter, or He turns away from him an equal harm.” The Companions said, “Then we’ll ask much.” He said, “Allah has more.” [Ahmad]

Ibn Ataʾillah (Allah have mercy on him) draws the lesson: when you feel that Allah’s response and His gift are slow to manifest despite your persistent asking, you must never despair, because Allah “has guaranteed you an answer in what He chooses for you, not in what you choose for yourself, and at the time He wills, not at the time you will.” [Ibn Ataʾillah, al-Hikam]

In his commentary on the Hikam, Sidi Ahmad Zarruq (Allah have mercy on him) shows that all of this is from the implications of the Quranic verse “Call on Me and I will answer you.”

He says that Allah guaranteed the answer by His promise and left it unrestricted, because He didn’t say: with the very thing you asked, nor when you wish, nor how you wish. [Zarruq, Sharh al-Hikam]

Sometimes, the answer is kept for later, and this too is Mercy. Sidi Ahmad Ibn Ajiba (Allah have mercy on him) writes, “He may defer it for you to the abode of honor and permanence, and that is better for you and more lasting.” [Ibn Ajiba, Iqadh al-Himam Sharh al-Hikam]

Hope Asks and Acts

Imam Abu l-Qasim al-Qushayri separates hope from wishful thinking: wishing leaves a person idle and off the road of effort, while the one who truly hopes walks that road. [Qushayri, al-Risala]

So ask, and keep asking. Take the means. And receive whatever comes as His answer: the gift, the harm turned away, or the delay kept for the abode of which Allah Most High says, “While the final abode is far better and more lasting.” [Quran 87:17; Keller, The Quran Beheld]

And Allah is the giver of success and facilitation.

Faraz Rabbani

Related Answers

One. The Unconditional Hope — Shaykh Faraz Rabbani: Our hope rests in Allah, not in circumstances, plans, or means.

Two. What Does Having Unconditional Hope in Allah Mean? Is It for Entering Paradise? — Shaykh Faraz Rabbani: What true hope entails and what we hope for.

Three. What Is the Impact of a Good Opinion of Allah on the Heart and Inner Peace? — Shaykh Faraz Rabbani: How expecting good from Allah settles the heart.

Four. Should We Have Full Hope that Allah Will Give Us Exactly What We Want? — Shaykh Abdullah Anik Misra: Hoping in Allah without insisting on one outcome, since He may give something better.

Courses for Further Study

One. Towards Allah’s Nearness: Understanding Hope and Closeness in Islam — Shaykh Faraz Rabbani: Hope and its place on the way to closeness to Allah.

Two. Supplication is the Essence of Worship: The Reality and Proper Manners of Asking Allah (Du’a) — Shaykh Faraz Rabbani: The reality of du’a and its manners, including whether your du’as are being answered.

Three. Faith and Reliance on Allah: Ghazali’s Book of Divine Oneness and Trust Upon Allah Explained — Shaykh Faraz Rabbani: Ghazali on how divine oneness grounds reliance on Allah.

Four. What Muslims Believe and Why: Dardir’s Kharida al-Bahiyya — Shaykh Faraz Rabbani: A first formal study of what we believe about Allah’s attributes and actions.

Five. Quran: The Fatiha and Short Suras Explained in Depth — Shaykh Faraz Rabbani: The Fatiha we recite in every prayer, explained.

النصوص · Source-Texts

[القشيري، الرسالة] «الرجاء تعلق القلب بمحبوب سيحصل في المستقبل … وبالرجاء عيش القلوب واستقلالها» … «وقيل: الرجاء ثقة الجود من الكريم والودود … وقيل: هو النظر إلى سعة رحمة الله تعالى».

[البخاري] «يقول الله تعالى: أنا عند ظن عبدي بي».

[أحمد] «ما من مسلم يدعو بدعوة ليس فيها إثم، ولا قطيعة رحم، إلا أعطاه الله بها إحدى ثلاث: إما أن تعجل له دعوته، وإما أن يدخرها له في الآخرة، وإما أن يصرف عنه من السوء مثلها». قالوا: إذا نكثر؟ قال: «الله أكثر».

[ابن عطاء الله، الحكم] «لا يكن تأخر أمد العطاء مع الإلحاح في الدعاء موجبا ليأسك؛ فهو ضمن لك الإجابة فيما يختاره لك، لا فيما تختاره لنفسك، وفي الوقت الذي يريد، لا في الوقت الذي تريد».

[زروق، شرح الحكم] «وذلك كله مضمن في قوله تعالى: ﴿ادعوني أستجب لكم﴾، فضمن الإجابة بوعده، وجعلها مطلقة؛ إذ لم يقل: بعين ما طلبتم، ولا متى شئتم، ولا كيف شئتم».

[ابن عجيبة، إيقاظ الهمم] «وقد يؤخر لك ذلك لدار الكرامة والبقاء، وهو خير لك وأبقى».

[القشيري، الرسالة] «والفرق بين الرجاء وبين التمني أن التمني يورث صاحبه الكسل ولا يسلك طريق الجهد والجد، وبعكسه صاحب الرجاء».