From time to time, the levels
of our faith do tend to dwindle. This weakness of faith manifests itself in
degraded quality of acts of our worship, negligence in remembering Allah,
feeling indifferent to His commands and, in general, us having a doubtful heart.
Experiencing any of these symptoms or others akin to them is an indication of a
weakness of faith that in turn may be depriving us of peace, tranquility, and
closeness to our creator and sustainer.
This weakness or weariness of faith (Eeman), whether due to a weak understanding
of truth, or the strength of external negative forces, is to be expected.
Consider what the Prophet (SAWS) said in this context:
“Faith wears out in your heart as clothes wear out, so ask Allah to renew the
faith in your hearts.” (narrated by al-Haakim in his Mustadrak and al-Tabaraani
in his Mu’jam with a saheeh isnaad).
Here are a few steps that we can take immediately to renew our faiths.
Seek Allah’s Help
As the prophet mentioned in the aforementioned hadith, we should first and
foremost ask Allah to renew and reinforce the faith in our hearts. We should
make this call part of our regular Duas. In doing so, we should also be mindful
of why we believe in the message of truth in the first place. We believe because
we can relate the message of truth revealed in the Quran to the realities of
this universe and what we find within ourselves and our hearts. We believe
because as humans, a deeper intellectual and spiritual introspection has caused
our hearts to resonate with the message of truth. We believe because after
having pondered over the messages of the Quran, we comprehend them and have
internalized them in our psyche. But more importantly, we believe in the truth
of the Quran and Islam because of Allah’s unchallengeable, unequivocal and
logical assertion as the creator, sustainer, and sole power of this universe.
Thus, being convinced of His deity and majesty and the nobility of His Messenger
and Prophet, we have consciously chosen to believe and live that message of
truth.
Reinforce truth with knowledge
Next, let’s get clear about the meaning of truth as Islam has defined it. The
clearer the message of truth in our hearts, the stronger our faith will be. Part
of the renewal is therefore to actively engage in understanding the message of
truth in our hearts and minds through studying the Quran, studying the
traditions of the Prophet (SAW) as documented in the books of hadith and poring
over the knowledge of known scholars who have helped elaborate on that message.
The process of renewing our faith thus requires an active and personal effort to
reach out to learn the various truths defined in Islam. The more we strive for
it, the more we will increase our levels of awareness and faith.
Remember, the longer you keep your heart locked up from learning more, the less
you will be able to reason and comprehend the message of truth, and the more you
will rely on blind faith alone to live the message of truth.
As Allah says in the Quran,
“Will they not then ponder over the Qur’an, or is it that they have their locks
on (their) hearts (which bar them from reason).” [47:24]
Beware of symptoms of rejection
Finally, be wary of what in your heart could be blurring your view of the
message of truth. Imaam ibn Katheer, in his famous Tafseer ibn Katheer, mentions
the reasons that prevent people from believing the message of truth. If any of
those reasons are seeping into your psyche and have started to blur your vision
and impacting your faith as a result, you need to actively step in and cleanse
yourself of those symptoms. The reasons that ibn Katheer had mentioned included:
Kufrul-’Inaad (Disbelief out of stubbornness)
Kufrul-Inkaar (Disbelief out of denial)
Kufrul-Kibr (Disbelief out of arrogance and pride)
Kufrul-Juhood (Disbelief out of rejection)
Kufrul-Nifaaq (Disbelief out of hypocrisy)
Kufrul-Istihaal (Disbelief out of trying to make HARAM (illegal) into HALAL
(legal)
Kufrul-Kurh (Disbelief out of detesting any of Allah’s commands)
Kufrul-Istihzaha (Disbelief due to mockery and derision)
Kufrul-I’raadh (Disbelief due to avoidance)
Kufrul-Istibdaal (Disbelief because of trying to substitute Allah’s Laws)