I admit, I'm a coward. Many people are surprised by my admission, and often assume I'm just being humble. Unfortunately, as many close friends know, humble I'm not. For many a year, I struggled with this complex, which drove and guided my self-development and the directions I decided to go in.
The late Ustaz Hanafi of Silat Cekak once asked, "Where does fear go when courage appears? And where does courage go when fear appears?" Although the matter was couched in question form, but I never found an answer for it.
Guru Azlan Ghanie runs a column in SENI BELADIRI magazine titled 'Berani Kerana Benar' which means Courage In Truth. The obverse of this would of course be Cowardice In Falsehood. I asked him once, how do we become courageous when we are in the wrong? He answered, "Apologise".
From a purely Islamic point of view, the concept of taqwa exists. When translated into English, it approximates Fear. However, the nuance is Godliness, not simply fear of Allah's displeasure and pining for His pleasure. Fearing Allah and only Allah forms the basis of the fearlessness of a Muslim.
"If you fear man, you harbour the illusion that you can instill fear in men. But if you fear Allah, you are under no such illusions. Do not contrive to instill fear and Allah will instill fear of you into the hearts of men."
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