Fear of his shortcomings makes him hesitant about loving to meet Allah

Our advice to you with regard to this matter is that you
should differentiate between two types of fear:

1.
Fear of Allah that leads to one fearing Allah in all that
one does, by being keen to do acts of obedience and to avoid prohibited
things, to do a lot of naafil (supererogatory) acts of worship, and to treat
people kindly. This is praiseworthy fear for which one will be rewarded, by
Allah’s leave.

2.
Fear of meeting Allah that leads to despairing of His
mercy and being overwhelmed with worry about His punishment, without that
having any visible effect on your conduct and deeds. This is blameworthy
fear which is of no benefit; rather it stems from the whispers of the
Shaytaan who strives to make the slaves of Allah despair of His Mercy.

So think about which of these two types of fear of Allah do
you have?

Although the Muslim is commanded to constantly fear Allah and
fear His punishment, he is also commanded to keep in his heart a large
amount of hope in Allah, and hope for His forgiveness and kindness, hope
that makes him aspire to the mercy of Allah and does not make him lazy in
doing righteous deeds or make him fall into that which is prohibited. These
are subtle distinction of which every Muslim must be aware so that he will
know how to  relate to Allah on that basis.

It was narrated that Jaabir ibn ‘Abdullah al-Ansaari (may
Allah have mercy on him) said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (blessings and
peace of Allah be upon him) say, three days before he died: “No one of you
should die except thinking positively of Allah.”

Narrated by Muslim (2877)

The mercy of Allah, may He be exalted, encompasses all
things, and He is more merciful towards us than our mothers and fathers.
Hence Imam Sufyaan ath-Thawri (may Allah have mercy on him) said:

I would not like my reckoning to be at the hands of my
father, for my Lord is better for me than my father. End quote.

An-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him) said:

The scholars said: what is meant by thinking positively of
Allah, may He be exalted, is thinking that He will have mercy on you and
forgive you. They said: When a person is in good health, he should feel fear
and hope, in equal measure. And it was said that fear should be more
prevalent. Then when the signs of death appear, hope should outweigh fear,
or should prevail completely, because the purpose of fear is to prevent one
from committing sins and abhorrent deeds, and make one keen to do a great
deal of acts of obedience and good deeds, but that – or most of it – is no
longer the case in this situation, so it is recommended to think positively
of Allah, acknowledge one’s need for Allah, may He be exalted, and surrender
to Him. This is supported by the following hadith: “Each person will be
resurrected as he dies.” Hence Muslim quoted that after the first hadith.
The scholars said that what is meant is that he will be resurrected in the
state in which he died. The other hadith which comes after it is also
similar to that: “Then they will be resurrected according to their
intentions.” End quote.

Sharh Muslim
(17/210)

Imam al-Bukhaari included a chapter in his Saheeh
entitled “The Chapter on Hope with Fear”. Al-Haafiz Ibn Hajar (may Allah
have mercy on him) said in his commentary:

The words “The Chapter on Hope with Fear” mean that this is
mustahabb (recommended), so one should not think of hope without fear, or of
fear without hope, lest the former lead to disappointment and the latter
lead to despair, both of which are blameworthy.

The purpose of hope is that whoever falls short should think
positively of Allah, and hope that He will erase his sin; likewise, whoever
does acts of obedience should hope that they will be accepted. However, if a
person persists in sin, hoping that he will not be brought to account for
it, and does not regret it or give it up, then he is deceiving himself. How
good are the words of Abu ‘Uthmaan al-Jeezi: One of the signs of being
blessed is that you do acts of obedience and fear that they will not be
accepted; and one of the signs of being doomed is that you do acts of
disobedience and hope that you will be saved (from punishment).

Ibn Maajah narrated via ‘Abd ar-Rahmaan ibn Sa‘eed from his
father from ‘Aa’ishah that she said: O Messenger of Allah,
“And
those who give that (their charity) which they give (and also do other good
deeds) with their hearts full of fear”
[al-Mu’minoon 23:60],
does this refer to the one who steals and commits zina? He said: “No; rather
it refers to the one who fasts, gives charity, and prays, and fears that it
will not be accepted from him.”

There is scholarly consensus that all of this is mustahabb
(recommended) when one is in good health, although it was said that it is
preferable for fear to be greater when one is in good health, and when one
is sick for it to be the opposite. However at the time of death, some
scholars regarded it as recommended to focus on hope, because hope in that
situation is an expression of one’s need of Allah, may He be exalted, and
because the possible negative outcome of forgetting about fear are not
applicable (when one is dying). So in this case one should focus on thinking
positively of Allah, by hoping for His pardon and forgiveness. This is
supported by the hadith, “No one of you should die except thinking
positively of Allah.”

Other scholars said that (the one who is dying) should not
completely neglect the aspect of fear by feeling certain that he is safe.

This is supported by the report that was narrated by at-Tirmidhi
from Anas, according to which the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be
upon him) entered upon a young man as he was dying, and said to him: How do
you find yourself? He said: I have hope in Allah but I am afraid because of
my sins. The Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him)
said: “These two feelings (fear and hope) do not coexist in a person’s heart
in this situation but Allah will give him what he hopes for and keep him
safe from what he fears.”

End quote.

Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allah have mercy on him) said:

The difference is clear between thinking positively and being
deluded. If thinking positively motivates one to do good deeds, and it
encourages, helps and pushes one to do that, then it is sound, but if it
calls one to be idle and to persist in sin, then it is delusion. Positive
thinking is hope, so if a person’s hope motivates him to do acts of
obedience and deters him from acts of disobedience, then it is sound hope.
But if a person’s idleness is based on hope, and his hope results in
idleness and heedlessness, then he is the one who is deluded. End quote.

Al-Jawaab al-Kaafi
(p. 24)

Shaykh ‘Abd al-‘Azeez ibn Baaz (may Allah have mercy on him)
was asked:

Is it required of the believer not to fear death? If that
happens, does it mean that he does not want to meet Allah?

He replied:

The believer, male or female, is required to fear Allah, may
He be glorified, and put his hopes in Him, because Allah, may He be
glorified, says in His holy Book (interpretation of the meaning):

“so fear them
not, but fear Me, if you are (true) believers”

[Aal ‘Imraan 3:175]

“Therefore
fear not men but fear Me”

[al-Maa’idah 5:44]

“and fear
none but Me”

[al-Baqarah 2:40]

“Verily, those who have believed, and those who have
emigrated (for Allah’s Religion) and have striven hard in the Way of Allah,
all these hope for Allah’s Mercy”

[al-Baqarah 2:218]

“So whoever hopes for the Meeting with his Lord, let him work
righteousness and associate none as a partner in the worship of his Lord”

[al-Kahf 18:110].

And there are many similar verses.

So it is not permissible for a believer, male or female, to
despair of the Mercy of Allah or to feel safe from His wrath. Allah, may He
be glorified, says (interpretation of the meaning):

“Say: “O
Ibadee (My slaves) who have transgressed against themselves (by committing
evil deeds and sins)! Despair not of the Mercy of Allah, verily Allah
forgives all sins. Truly, He is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful”

[az-Zumar 39:53]

“and never
give up hope of Allahs Mercy. Certainly no one despairs of Allahs Mercy,
except the people who disbelieve”

[Yoosuf 12:87]

“None feels
secure from the Plan of Allah except the people who are the losers”

[al-A ‘raaf 7:99].

All Muslims, whether male or female, are required to prepare
for death, and to beware of being heedless concerning it, because of the
verses quoted above, and because of the report narrated from the Prophet
(blessings and peace of Allah be upon him), according to which he said:
“Frequently remember the destroyer of pleasures”– meaning death. That is
because being heedless about it and not preparing for it are among the
causes of meeting a bad end. It is proven from ‘Aa’ishah (may Allah be
pleased with her) that she said: The Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace
of Allah be upon him) said: “Whoever loves to meet Allah, Allah loves to
meet him, and whoever hates to meet Allah, Allah hates to meet him.” I said:
O Prophet of Allah, do you mean hating death? For all of us hate death. He
said: “That is not so; rather when the believer is given the glad tidings of
the Mercy of Allah, His pleasure and His Paradise, he loves to meet Allah,
so Allah loves to meet him. But when the disbeliever is given the tidings of
the punishment and wrath of Allah, he hates to meet Allah, so Allah hates to
meet him.” Agreed upon.

This hadith indicates that there is blame attached to hating
death and fearing it, and that is not indicative of not wanting to meet
Allah, because when the believer hates death or fears its approach, that
encourages him to do more acts of obedience to Allah and to prepare to meet
Him. By the same token, when the believing woman fears death and hates its
approach, that will motivate her to do more acts of obedience and prepare to
meet her Lord. End quote.

Fataawa ash-Shaykh Ibn Baaz
(6/313)

To sum up: with regard to fear of Allah and fear of meeting
Him, if the reason is that one is falling short in one’s duties towards
Allah, there is nothing wrong with that; rather that is something
praiseworthy, and it should motivate one to prepare for that day by doing
righteous deeds, repenting sincerely, and avoiding sins.

For more information, please see the answer to question no.
100451

And Allah knows best.