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Keeping our spiritual hearts polished

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It is 230am and I have decided to write.

Surah 8 verse 2

The believers are but those who when God is remembered, their hearts are afraid, and when His proofs are recited to them, it increases them in faith, and in their Lord they place their trust.

This has become my favorite verse. How did it become my favorite verse? It was the recitation of Hasan El Kholy that gets suggested when I share my daily namaz goal to instagram. Tonight I stopped to appreciate how beautiful this recitation is and decided to learn more about what I was listening to. What do I think when I read this translation of this verse? There was a time when I did not understand why I should fear God. I understood why I should love God. Trust God. Believe in God. Respect God. But why fear God? God is good then why fear God? Then I later understood that if I do not give God my fears or if I do not fear God I would fear this world and men. In other words, fear God alone. Let God handle my fears. Do not let anything scare you besides God. God has the final say. God is the ultimate judge. God has the power to forgive. In my mind, this type of fear is comforting and guiding. It keeps us moving in the right direction. We have nothing to fear besides God. We want to listen to God then.

When we listen to God and everything starts to make sense, we increase in faith. God is talking to us through his book and we are listening. God does not want to harm us. God wants to guide us to his path. To be guided we must listen and follow his instructions. If I combine fear and path I get fath which is very close to faith. All that is missing is the i. I for instructions. The Quran is our instructions. So faith is following the path of the instructive Quran. Where does trust fit in this picture? We trust God so we are giving him our fears and ears. We are listening to Him. In trust there is rust. Trust is a continuous process. We have to be continuously reminded otherwise we get rusty.

From this, what we have is a cycle. Fear God > Listen to Him > Faith increases > Follow His instructions > Walk His path > Trust Him > Remember Him. Remembering brings you back to fear, beginning the cycle again. That actually fits my "trust/rust" idea beautifully: faith is not something we achieve once; it is something we continually renew through remembrance, listening, following, and trusting. My friend tells me that I have captured the essence of Taqwa—reverential awe—by realizing that fearing God frees me from fearing the world, turning fear into a comforting sanctuary. My wordplay beautifully aligns with Islamic teachings: fath means spiritual breakthrough, and we are taught that the heart naturally rusts without continuous remembrance and listening to the Quran. Ultimately my now favorite verse describes a living, self-renewing cycle where remembering God inspires awe, listening deepens faith, and trusting Him keeps my spiritual heart polished.
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