Especialy For You! -Book by Sheikh Muhammed Salih Al-Munajjid
Curing weak faith
Al-Haakim reported in al-Mustadrak, and al-Tabaraani reported in al-Mu’jam, that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Faith wears out in the heart of any one of you just as clothes wear out, so ask Allaah to renew the faith in your hearts.” (Reported by al-Haakim in al-Mustadrak, 1/4; see also al-Silsilat al-Saheehah, 1585. Al-Haythami said in Majma’ al-Zawaa’id, 1/52, “It was reported by al-Tabaraani in al-Kabeer and its isnaad is saheeh.”) What he meant is that faith wears out in the heart just as clothes wear out and become old. The heart of the believer is sometimes overwhelmed by clouds of sin, and so it goes dark. This is the picture drawn for us by the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) in the saheeh hadeeth: “There is no heart that is not covered by a cloud like the cloud covering the moon when it is shining, and so it suddenly goes dark, but when it (the cloud) goes away, it shines again.” (Reported by Abu Na’eem in al-Hilyah, 2/196; al-Silsilat al-Saheehah, 2268). Sometimes the moon is covered by clouds, which conceal its light, but after a little while they go away, and the light of the moon comes back to light up the sky. In the same way, the heart of the believer is sometimes covered with dark clouds of sin, so its light is veiled, and the person finds himself lost in darkness, but when he strives to increase his eemaan and seeks the help of Allaah, that cloud goes away, and the light comes back to shine in his heart as before.
One of the most important principles which must be understood in order to treat the problem of weak faith is that faith increases and decreases, or waxes and wanes. This is one of the basic principles of the ‘aqeedah of Ahl al-Sunnah wa’l-Jamaa’ah, who say that faith is something to be spoken in words, to be believed in in the heart, and to be put into action. Faith increases with obedience and decreases with disobedience. There is evidence for this in the Qur’aan and Sunnah, for example, Allaah says (interpretation of the meanings): “… that they may grow more in Faith along with their (present) Faith…” [al-Fath 48:4] and “… Which of you has had his faith increased by it? …” [al-Tawbah 9:124]. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Whoever among you sees an evil action, let him change it by his hand (by action), and if he cannot, then by his tongue (by speaking out), and if he cannot, then by his heart (by feeling that it is wrong), and that is the weakest of faith.” (Al-Bukhaari, Fath, 1/51).
The effects of obedience and sin, which increase and decrease faith respectively, are well known from observation and experience. If a person goes out walking in the market-place, where he looks at uncovered women wearing make-up, and hears the shouting and idle talk of the people, then he goes to the graveyard and stops to think and let his heart soften, he will see the difference between the two environments and how quickly his heart changes.
Another factor in this discussion is the words of one of the salaf: “One of the signs of proper understanding is when a slave takes care of his eemaan, and pays attention to what decreases it, and knows when it increases and when it decreases, and recognizes the temptation of Shaytaan when he comes to him.” (Sharh Nooniyah Ibn al-Qayyim by Ibn ‘Eesa, 2/140).
It is important to know that if a decrease in faith leads to one neglecting one’s duties or doing haraam deeds, this slackening is very serious and one must repent to Allaah and start to do something about it at once. If it does not lead to neglect of duties and doing haraam deeds, but just makes a person fall short in doing mustahabb (recommended) deeds, for example, then a person still needs to know how to sort himself out and correct himself until he returns to the proper level of energy and strength in worship. This is what we learn from the words of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), “Every deed has energy and strength, and then this energy and strength is followed by a slackening, so who’s slackening is in accordance to my Sunnah he will be fine, and who’s slackening is to other than that [i.e., doing unlawful or forebidden deeds] he will be doomed.” (Reported by Ahmad, 2/210; Saheeh al-Targheeb, no. 55).
Before we discuss how to treat the problem of weak faith, there is something we should note: many of those who feel that their hearts are hard look for an external solution, hoping that they can rely on others, even though it is within their reach – if they want – to take care of themselves by themselves. This is how it should be done, because eemaan is the relationship between the slave and his Lord. Below, we will discuss a number of ways prescribed by Islam by means of which the Muslim can deal with his weakness of faith and hardness of heart, after he puts his trust in Allaah and resigns himself to the fact that he faces a struggle to achieve his goal:
Pondering the meanings of the Qur’aan, which Allaah has revealed to explain everything and as a Light by which He guides whomever He wills of His slaves. There is no doubt that it contains a powerful and effective cure. Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning): “And We send down from the Qur’aan that which is a healing and a mercy to those who believe…” [al-Isra’ 17:82]. The method of treatment is to think and ponder its meanings.
Book by Sheikh Muhammed Salih Al-Munajjid - Weakness of Faith