Faith - What's it all about?

Those who have faith and do righteous deeds,- they are the best of creatures. (1)

What is faith and does everyone have it?
Many people don't see faith in Allah (swt) and his Messenger (saws) as a basic human faculty; they see it more as the absence of reason. Others are even more cynical, claiming that faith in Allah (swt) is a sign of weakness, something to resort to when all else fails. In earlier times, this mindset goes, faith was a necessity because man didn't have science to help explain the laws of nature; but in the face of reason and all of man's brilliant accomplishments, we have outgrown our need for faith. Isn't faith just a creation of our imagination meant to deal with issues that we can't comprehend?

But Muslims see that people inherently believe in something greater than themselves. This feeling is inside all of us; we only need to know how to access it. But how do we cultivate faith? Isn't it something you either have or don't?

We are all born as Muslims. It is neither acquired nor taught; it is our most natural state. A young child, for instance, just has natural faith.

But as the child grows older, he accepts less and less at face value. His faith becomes obscured by reason and he realizes that his faith has been constantly abused. After years of experiencing hypocrisy and being lied to, he learns to distrust his own inner beliefs.

Abu Huraira (ra) reported Allah's Messenger (saws) as saying: The mother of every person gives him birth according to his true nature. It is subsequently his parents who make him a Jew or a Christian or a Magian. Had his parents been Muslim he would have also remained a Muslim. Every person to whom his mother gives birth has two aspects of his life; when his mother gives birth Satan strikes him. (2)

We cannot allow our reason to drown out the inner voice that tells us what we know to be true with every fiber in our being. We must learn to cultivate our natural faith.


How do we cultivate true faith?
True faith constitutes not only a belief in Allah (swt) and His Messenger (saws), but a trust that Allah (swt) always does what is just and right. True faith does not waiver, even if things do not work out as we would have liked. Yes, we may have doubts. Yes, we may feel saddened by the neediness and suffering in the world. Yes, we may want to confront Allah (swt) for allowing tragedies. But abandoning your faith in Allah (swt) means that you are compromising yourself. When we witness suffering at the hands of other people, we should direct our anger where it belongs - at man. If anything, war and oppression teach us that our faith in man can be misplaced, but never our faith in Allah (swt).

Anas ibn Malik narrated that the Prophet (saws) said: Three things are the roots of faith: to refrain from killing a person who utters, "There is no god but Allah" and not to declare him unbeliever whatever sin he commits, and not to excommunicate him from Islam for his any action; and jihad will be performed continuously since the day Allah sent me as a prophet until the day the last member of my community will fight with the Dajjal. The tyranny of any tyrant and the justice of any just ruler will not invalidate it. One must have faith in Divine decree. (3)


Is believing in Allah (swt) for the weak minded?
Many people today still have trouble believing in Allah (swt) and are plagued with questions. Is this skepticism healthy or not? Is it an honest search for the truth or a justification for self-serving behaviour?

For some, the first step in the search for faith might be to assure yourself that you are indeed ready to listen and grow, that you are willing to accept the responsibility of faith. The next step is dealing with your doubts concerning existence of Allah (swt).

Then we must allow our inner voice to speak. We know that Allah (swt) exists just as we know we have a ruh - not because we can see or touch it, but because we can feel it. We feel the effects of our ruh. We sense its hunger for meaning, its thirst for knowledge and wisdom, and we feel satisfaction when we nourish it. We feel purpose and direction when we feel Allah (swt) in our lives; we feel there is meaning in everything we do.

For a moment, stop what you are doing. Let your mind be at peace, and allow yourself to hear the small, still voice of Allah (swt). When you set yourself free, you will realize that your faith is much closer to the surface than you had imagined.

Those who believe, and work righteousness,- their Lord will guide them because of their faith: beneath them will flow rivers in gardens of bliss. (4)


Footnotes
1) 98:07
2) Muslim - Book 033, Number 6429
3) Sunan Abu Dawud - Book 14, Number 2526
4) 10:09