Allah, the Almighty, said:

{There has certainly been for you in the Messenger of Allah an excellent pattern for anyone whose hope is in Allah and the Last Day.} [al-Aḥzâb 33:21]

Hope is the weakest of the stations for the mureed (seeker) because in a way it is interference, and in a way objection.¹⁸⁷ This is all but imprudence in the madh-hab of this assembly.¹⁸⁸ The only exception is that it entails one benefit, for which it was mentioned in the Revelation and the Sunnah, and it was included in the practice of the discerning individuals. This benefit is in cooling down the heat of fear, so that it does not turn into despair¹⁸⁹ Hope is of three levels:

The first level is a type of hope that:

1. entices the worker to excel


2. causes enjoyment of service


3. awakens one’s nature to refrain from prohibitions with ease

The second level is the hope of the practitioners of (spiritual) training in reaching a position whereby their intentions become purified (and this happens) by:

1. rejecting pleasures (of the dunyâ)


2. complying with the requirements of knowledge¹⁹⁰


3. excelling in self-restraint

The third level is the hope of the pure hearted, and this is hope in meeting the True (glorified is He), which:

1. causes longing


2. dampens (the pleasures of) this life¹⁹¹


3. causes disinterest towards the creations192

¹⁸⁷ The pure and recommended hope entails neither interference nor objection. The messengers, their companions, and their followers always asked Allah for His favors in this life and the next. Du‘â’ (supplication), which the Prophet ﷺ considered the essence of worship, is all about hope. The Qur’an demands us to invoke Allah’s mercy and generosity. Yes, some may lack acceptance of the decrees of Allah, and these people would be exhibiting interference with His will and objecting to it. This is not the hope that was praised in the Revelation and practiced by the greatest of believers.
¹⁸⁸ Imam Ibn al-Qayyim points out that the reason Imam al-Harawi may have erred in this point is his praiseworthy surrender to the decrees, which may have kept him from looking at the other sides of this issue. What Imam al-Harawi means to say here is that one should have no want other than what Allah has already wanted for them. One should be accepting of His decrees, even if they were decreed to be tormented. Ibn al-Qayyim says that they may be excused if they went through a stance where they felt extreme contentment and submission that they would think that they would be still accepting of any decree, including their own torment.
Ibn al-Qayyim teaches us how to disagree very politely, but very assertively, with someone while still calling them ‘my sheikh’ and ‘Shaykh ul-Islam.’ He apologizes to Imam al-Harawi that he had to disagree with him, but he points out that while Imam al-Harawi is beloved to him, the truth is even more beloved. Here is some of what Ibn al-Qayyim has said in this regard: