Weeping for Fear of Allah
Question

                I am a man and I never cry. How can I make my eyes weep for fear of Allah in accordance with the hadeeth: “Two eyes that will never be touched by the Fire” in which it mentions “The eye that weeps for fear of Allah”? 

May Allah reward you with good.
Praise be to Allah.
    Undoubtedly your feelings of regret for 
    missing out on this blessing is a very good sign. You should note that the 
    Muslim can accustom himself to weep for fear of Allah, by doing the 
    following: 

    1 – Making yourself feel fear of Allah. 

    This weeping is the fruit of beneficial 
    knowledge, as al-Qurtubi says in his commentary on the verse (interpretation 
    of the meaning): 

    “And they fall down on their faces 
    weeping” [17:109] 
This 
    is an eloquent description of them and praise for them. It is the duty of 
    everyone who acquires knowledge to reach this level, so that when he hears 
    the Quran he is filled with fear and humility. In Musnad al-Daarimi it is 
    narrated from Abu Muhammad that al-Taymi said: Whoever is given knowledge 
    and does not weep, he deserves not to have any knowledge, because Allah has 
    described those who have knowledge; then he recited this verse. 

    Al-Jaami’ li Ahkaam il-Qur’aan, 
    10/341-342. 

    2 – Reading the Quran and pondering its 
    meanings 

    Allaah says (interpretation of the 
    meaning): 

    “Say (O Muhammad to them): Believe in it 
    (the Quran) or do not believe (in it). Verily, those who were given 
    knowledge before it, when it is recited to them, fall down on their faces in 
    humble prostration.

    And they say: Glory be to our Lord! Truly, 
    the Promise of our Lord must be fulfilled.

    And they fall down on their faces weeping 
    and it increases their humility” 
    [17:107-109] 

    “Those were they unto whom Allah bestowed 
    His grace from among the Prophets, of the offspring of Adam, and of those 
    whom We carried (in the ship) with Nooh, and of the offspring of Ibrahim and 
    Israel, and from among those whom We guided and chose. When the Verses of 
    the Most Gracious (Allah) were recited unto them, they fell down prostrate 
    and weeping” [19:58]

     It was narrated that Ibn Mas’ood (may 
    Allah be pleased with him) said: The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah 
    be upon him) said to me: “Recite the Quran to me.” I said: “O Messenger of 
    Allah, shall I recite it to you when it was revealed to you?” He said: “I 
    like to hear it from someone else.” So I recited Soorat al-Nisa’ to him, and 
    when I reached this verse – “How (will it be) then, when We bring from each 
    nation a witness and We bring you (O Muhammad) as a witness against these 
    people?” [4:41] – he said: “That is enough for now.” I turned to him and saw 
    his eyes were streaming with tears. Narrated by al-Bukhari andMuslim. 

    3 – Knowing the greatness of the reward 
    for weeping, especially when one is alone. 

    It was narrated that Abu Hurayrah (may 
    Allah be pleased with him) said: The Messenger of Allah said: “A man who 
    weeps for fear of Allah will not enter Hell until the milk goes back into 
    the udder, and dust produced (when fighting) for the sake of Allah and the 
    smoke of Hell will never coexist.” Narrated by al-Tirmidhi and al-Nasaa’i.

    “until the milk goes back into the udder” 
    is a metaphor for it being impossible, as in the verse where Allah says 
    (interpretation of the meaning): “and they will not enter Paradise until the 
    camel goes through the eye of the needle” [7:40]. Tuhfat al-Ahwadhi. 
And it 
    was narrated that he said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of 
    Allah be upon him) said: “There are seven whom Allah will shade with His 
    shade on the day when there will be no shade but His: a just ruler; a young 
    man who grows up worshipping Allah; a man whose heart is attached to the 
    mosque; two people who love one another for the sake of Allah, meeting and 
    parting on that basis; a man who is called (to commit sin) by a woman of 
    high status and great beauty and he says, ‘I fear Allah’; a man who gives in 
    charity so secretly that his left hand does not know what his right hand is 
    doing; and a man who remembers Allah when he is alone and his eyes flow with 
    tears.” Narrated by al-Bukhari and Muslim. 

    Weeping when alone is singled out because 
    being alone is a time when the heart tends to become harder and there is a 
    stronger motive to commit sin, and it is farthest removed from the 
    possibility of showing off. So if a person strives to do this, and makes 
    himself feel the greatness and might of Allah, and his eyes flow with tears, 
    then he deserves to be beneath the shade of the Throne of the Most Merciful 
    on the Day when there will be no shade but His shade. 

    4 – Thinking about your situation and your 
    boldness in committing sin, and fearing to meet Allah in such a state. 

    One of the righteous people used to weep 
    night and day, and something was said to him about that. He said: “I am 
    afraid that Allah will see me committing sin and will say: ‘Go away from Me 
    for I am angry with you.’” Hence Sufyan used to weep and say: “I am afraid 
    that my faith will be taken away at the moment of death.” 

    Isma’il ibn Zakariya described Habeeb ibn 
    Muhammad, who was a neighbour of his. He said: “Every evening I heard him 
    weeping and every morning I heard him weeping, so I went to his wife and 
    said: ‘What is the matter with him? He weeps in the evening and he weeps in 
    the morning!’ She said to me: ‘By Allah, when evening comes he fears that he 
    will not live till morning and when morning comes he fears that he will not 
    live till evening.’” 

    The salaf (righteous predecessors) used to 
    weep and grieve a great deal. When Yazeed al-Raqaashi was criticized for 
    weeping a great deal and it was said to him, “If the Fire had been created 
    exclusively for you, you would not weep more than this,” he said: “Has the 
    Fire been created for anyone other than me and my companions and brothers 
    among the jinn and mankind?” 

    When ‘Ata’ al-Sulaymi was asked: “What is 
    this grief?” he said: “Woe to you! Death is close at hand, the grave is my 
    house, on the Day of Resurrection I will stand and my path is over a bridge 
    across Hell, and I do not know what will become of me.” 

    Faddalah ibn Sayfi used to weep a great 
    deal. A man entered upon him when he was weeping and said to his wife: “What 
    is the matter with him?” She said: “He says that he wants to undertake a 
    long journey and he does not have proper provision for it.” 

    One night al-Hasan woke up weeping, and he 
    disturbed the other people in the house with his weeping. They asked him 
    what was the matter and he said: “I remembered a sin that I committed and I 
    wept.” 

    It was narrated that Tameem al-Daari (may 
    Allah be pleased with him) recited this verse (interpretation of the 
    meaning): “Or do those who earn evil deeds think that We shall hold them 
    equal with those who believe (in the Oneness of Allah- Islamic Monotheism) 
    and do righteous good deeds” [45:21] and he started repeating it and weeping 
    until morning came. 

    Hudhayfah (may Allah be pleased with him) used to weep intensely, and it was 
    said to him: “Why are you weeping?” He said: “I do not know what is ahead of 
    me – Divine pleasure or divine wrath.”  

    Sa’d ibn al-Akhram said: I was walking 
    with Ibn Mas’ood and he passed by the blacksmiths, who had brought a piece 
    of iron out of the fire. He stood and looked at the molten iron and wept. 

    5 – Making yourself feel regret and 
    feeling that you have fallen short in your duties towards Allah.  

    The tears of the repentant at night 
    quenches thirst and cures sickness, as the Shaykh of the Mufassireen (exegetists), 
    Abu Ja’far al-Tabari, said in his commentary on the verse (interpretation of 
    the meaning): 

    “Do you then wonder at this recitation 
    (the Quran)?

    And you laugh at it and weep not”
    [53:59-60] 
Do not 
    weep at the warnings contained therein to those who disobey Allah, when you 
    are people who commit sin, “Wasting your (precious) lifetime in pastime and 
    amusements (singing)” [53:61] – you are heedless of the lessons and 
    reminders contained therein, turning away from its verses. 
Jaami’ 
    al-Bayaan ‘an Ta’weel Aayi al-Qur’aan, 27/82. 
6 – 
    Weeping out of fear of a bad end. 
It was 
    narrated that Ibn ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said: When the 
    Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) passed by al-Hijr 
    (the land of the people of Thamood) he said: “Do not enter the dwellings of 
    those who wronged themselves, lest what befell them befall you, unless you 
    are weeping.” Then the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be 
    upon him) covered his head and walked quickly until he had left the valley. 
    Narrated by al-Bukhari and Muslim. 
Al-Nawawi 
    included this hadeeth in a chapter entitled “Weeping and feeling fear when 
    passing by the graves of the wrongdoers and the places where they were 
    killed, and expressing one's need of Allah, and being careful not to be 
    negligent in that.” Riyadh al-Saliheen. 
7 – 
    Listening to moving speeches and lectures that will soften the heart. 
It was 
    narrated that al-‘Irbad ibn Sariyah (may Allah be pleased with him), who was 
    one of those who used to weep, said: “The Messenger of Allah delivered a 
    deeply moving speech at which our eyes began to overflow and our hearts 
    melted.” Narrated by al-Tirmidhi, Abu Dawood and Ibn Maajah. 
May Allah help us and you to do that which our Lord loves and is pleased with him.