A short discussion on Taqwa (Piety)
What is Taqwa? Taqwa is one of the central concepts of Islam and has been repeatedly mentioned in the Holy Quran and the narrations from the prophet and Ahl-ul-Bait. Most people translate Taqwa as fear of Allah, God Consciousness or self-restraint. However, a more concise and linguistically correct definition is as follows. Quoting Shaheed Mutahhari: “ The term taqwa comes from the Arabic root “wa-qa-ya” which means “protection” or “support.” Taqwa is not meant to mean “fear” or “avoidance”, but because having fear is a prerequisite to protecting oneself from something and to avoid it, it may sometimes refer to having fear.” “... a person creates a state and power in his soul that gives him a spiritual and moral security. That is, if he does find himself in a situation where the means and causes of sin are around him, that spiritual state protects him and prevents him from committing sins. This is similar to a person who creates a medical immunity in his body s