BITS OF EMAAN

10 ways to improve your Emaan

So I came across this wonderful website Steps to Paradise. So the next few articles are from it.

This may be a big article. But I promise this is worth your paitience.

10 Steps to Increasing our Iman(Faith)

The Prophet Muhammad (S) said: "Faith wears out in the heart of any one of

you just as clothes wear out, so ask Allah to renew the faith in your hearts"

(Mustadrak al-Haakim).

Our Iman is not always as sound and strong as we want it to be as it often fluctuates according to life circumstances. There are several causes for weakening Iman such as deficiencies in our prayers or the insinuating whispers from the Shaytan. Regardless of the cause, it is crucial for all of us to keep a check on our Iman and if we feel it is faltering in any way then we should take measures to restore it. It is our responsibility to know which things decrease our Iman and how to avoid them and those that increase our Iman and how to embrace them.

Signs of weak imaan:

• Committing sins and not feeling any guilt.

• Having a hard heart and no desire to read the Quran.

• Feeling too lazy to do good deeds, e.g. being late for salat

• Neglecting the Sunnah.

• Having mood swings, for instance being upset about petty things and bothered and irritated most of the time.

• Not feeling anything when hearing verses from the Quran, for example when Allah warns us of punishments and His promise of glad tidings.

• Finding difficulty in remembering Allah and making dhikr.

• Not feeling bad when things are done against the Shariah.

• Desiring status and wealth.

• Being mean and miserly, i.e. not wanting to part with wealth.

• Ordering others to do good deeds when not practising them ourselves.

• Feeling pleased when things are not progressing for others.

• Being concerned with whether something is haram or halal only; and not avoiding makroo (not recommended) things.

• Making fun of people who do simple good deeds, like cleaning the mosque.

• Not feeling concerned about the situation of Muslims.

• Not feeling the responsibility to do something to promote Islam.

• Being unable to deal with calamities, for instance crying and yelling in funerals.

• Liking to argue just for the sake of arguing without any proof.

• Becoming engrossed and very involved with dunya, worldly things, i.e. feeling bad only when losing something in terms of material wealth.

• Becoming engrossed and obsessive about ourselves.

Here are 10 ways that we can brighten up our Iman starting from today!

1. Recognise and Repent

As humans we all commit sins no matter how hard we try to avoid them because were created to be imperfect. Engaging in evil deeds decreases our Iman. Actions like lying, cheating and stealing, to name only a few, take a toll on the human heart and soul which makes us more susceptible to being lead astray from the Path of Allah. It is important for us to reflect upon our deeds and weed out the ones that are contrary to the teachings of the Holy Qur'an and Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad (S). Allah has gifted us with an innate sense of justice and the ability to reason and make sound judgements. Our fitrah (natural disposition) necessitates that we all know when we are committing a sin. And if we don't know, we certainly have a bevy of resources to find out from!