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Signs of Weak Faith (Imaan)

MUHAMMAD AWAIS TAHIR

Muhammad.Awais.Tahir@gmail.com
 In the name of Allah the beneficent, the Merciful

Signs of Weak Faith(Imaan)

*1* Committing sins and not feeling any guilt

*2* Not feeling bad when things are done against the Shariah (Commandments of ALLAH)

*3* Neglecting the Sunnah

*4* Prefering this world over the last one

*5* Not feeling the responsibility to do something to promote Islam

*6* Feeling bad only when losing something in terms of material wealth

*7* Thinking bad of others

*8* Not loving for your brother/siter what you love for yourself..

*9* Over attachment with this world life

*10* Belief in materialistic things more than the belief in ALLAH

*11*Speech is Void of the Etiquette of the Qur'an and Sunnah

*12*Lack of Tranquility

*13*Hardening of the Hearts

*14* Performing acts of Worship poorly

*15* Getting no Effect from Verses of Quran

*16* Not wishing to get more close to ALLAH

*17* No urge to learn more about religion

*18* Arrogance

*19*Belittling Good Deeds

*20* Not caring about the affairs of the Muslims

*21*Showing Grief and Fear When Afflicted by a Hardship or When in Difficulty

*1* Committing sins and not feeling any guilt

All of us commit sins but the dangerous stage comes when stop considering the sins as sins.This is the stage
which is depicted by

i-Openly Admitting the sins in front of others

Some people insist on committing the same sins over and over again. As a result, repugnance of sins is
slowly withdrawn from their heart to the point that they commit these sins openly as described in this
Hadith:

"All of my followers will be forgiven except those who commit sins openly. Such is the case of a man
commits a sin at night and Allah had his sin concealed till the morning comes. But, he says openly: 'O so
and so, I did such and such yesterday.' Allah had covered his sin, but he uncovered the veil of Allah from it."
Sahih Bukhari and Sahih Muslim

ii-Not feeling any guilt on commiting the sins

Hazrat Ali (R.A.) said “If you fell guilt on commiting a sin and happiness on doing a good deed then you are
a Momin”

A Hadith says “Abdullah bin Mas'ud related to us two narrations: One from the Prophet and the other from
himself, saying: A believer sees his sins as if he were sitting under a mountain which, he is afraid, may fall
on him; whereas the wicked person considers his sins as flies passing over his nose and he just drives them
away like this."
Bukhari :: Book 75 :: Volume 4 :: Hadith 320

*2* Not feeling bad When Things are done against the Shariah(The Commandments of ALLAH)

How often we see our friends leaving their Salat(Prayers). How often we see people backbiting others. How
often we see our friends listening to Music. Do we ever feel the need to stop that thing? Did we ever feel
that thing bad in our hearts? If not then this surely symbolizes extremely weak Iman.

A Hadith says : He who amongst you sees something abominable should modify it with the help of his hand;
and if he has not strength enough to do it, then he should do it with his tongue, and if he has not strength
enough to do it, (even) then he should (abhor it) from his heart, and that is the least of faith.
Muslim :: Book 1 : Hadith 79

Least faith means that there is no faith if you don’t even feel the evil bad in your heart.

*3* Neglecting the Sunnah

The Holy Prophet (S.A.W) said ” He who loves my Sunnah loves Me"

Loving the Prophet is an integral part of Iman and this hadith shows that loving the prophet means loving his
Sunnah i.e. implementing his sunnah in our lives..

One more hadith explains this further..

Also the prophet said “ None of you can be a Momin until he loves me more than his children, his parents
and the whole Mankind”
Sahih Bukhari

*4* Prefering this world over the last one

This is our real Test in this world. Allah has created this life a test for us. And it is mentioned in many places
in the Holy Quran that the decision of Hell or Heaven on the day of judgement will be done by seeing Did
he Prefer Akhirat OR Did he Prefer Duniya?

It is easy for us to say that we prefer Akhirat but we have to judge our lives if its actually the case or not. We
work so hard when we have to make a house in this world but have we ever thought about our house where
we’ll live for ever. We get so sad when loosing some materialistic thing in this world but we never feel that
sad on commiting a sin although we know that we are accountable for whatever we do.
*5* Not feeling the responsibility to do something to promote Islam

We know of many Sunnah of the Prophet but there Is a sunnah which the Prophet carried out day and night
for complete 23 years and that sunnah is DAWAH. Promoting Islam in our own disciplines. A Momin is a
walking-talky daee. Wherever he goes he leaves his impact on the people.

The Holy Quran Stresses on Amr bil Maaru Wa nahi anil Munkar(Promoting the Good and suppressing
the bad) so many times.

You are the best of the nations raised up for (the benefit of) men; you enjoin what is right and forbid the
wrong and believe in Allah; and if the followers of the Book had believed it would have been better for
them; of them (some) are believers and most of them are transgressors.
Surah Ale Imran 3:110

*6* Feeling bad only when losing something in terms of material wealth

In this materialistic era we are so deeply caught in the clutches of materialism that we often forget the
purpose for which we were sent to this world. The Holy Quran explains it “ And I have not created the
Humans and Jinns except that they worship me”
Surah Al Zaariyat 51:56

How sad we are when we loose some amount of Money but are we sad when we leave our Salat ?? Islam
deals a lot with spiritualism. Islam does not want to see us excelling only in terms of material things , infact,
the main stress is laid on spiritual happiness about which most of us are ignorant these days.

*7* Thinking bad of others

Quran says
O you who believe! avoid most of suspicion, for surely suspicion in some cases is a sin, and do not spy nor
let some of you backbite others.
Surah Hujrat 49:12

A good muslim puts limit to his thoughts as well. He does not think bad of others. He is humble and always
puts a veil on bad habits of others and advises others in the best possible manner. A true Muslim Loves and
his Creations.

A Hadith says : Do not shun each other; do not ignore one another; do not hate one another, and do not envy
one another, and be brothers, O servants of Allah. No Muslim is allowed to shun his brother for more than
three days.
Sahih Muslim and Jami Tirmidhi

*8* Not loving for your brother/sisters what you love for yourself..

The Holy Prophet said said, “ None of you is a momin until he loves for his brother what he love for
himself”.
Sahih Bukhari

Islam has made all of us brothers. We are a single unit. If we don’t feel this unity and attachment with the
Ummah then there is surely some weakness in our Imaan.

The Holy Prophet said, ” Whole Muslim Ummah is like a single body. When one part of the body is hurt the
whole body feels it”

*9* Over attachment with this world life

In this materialistic and ego centric world our thoughts and wishes are getting confined to this world only.
Sometimes over attachment with this world puts a veil on our eyes and we forget the reality of this world.
We get very sad on small things. A small loss makes us so sad that we forget all the blessings of Allah on us
in this world. This much attachment with this world is surely a sign of weak faith. We get so much attached
with this world that we forget the next one. We are so attached with the small problems of life that we forget
that we are going to face ALLAH one day.

*10* Belief in materialistic things more than the belief in ALLAH

Everything that happens in this world is by the will of Allah. Nothing is possible if he doesn’t will. There
should be firm belief in our mind that if Allah doesn’t will we cannot even move our hand. Didn’t the fire
become cool for Hazrat Ibrahim (R.A) when ALLAH wished. Everything is in his hand. We have firm belief
that Money will help us that is why we try so hard to acquire it but we don’t work that hard to make Allah
happy. Deep within the hearts all of us have more belief in the material things than we have in Allah and we
claim our selves to be muslims.

*11*Speech is Void of the Etiquette of the Qur'an and Sunnah

Quran and Ahadith have given us the complete code of conduct regarding our speech. Prophet Muhammad
S.A.W said , “A true muslim is one from whose hands and tongue other muslims are safe” (Sahih Muslim),
but, in our daily lives we can see ourselves harming so many people daily by useless and harsh use of our
tongue. Allah forbade us from backbiting, calling bad names, lying etc so many times still these things have
become a part of our lives.

The Prophet (PBUH) said, "Whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day should speak good or be silent"
(Mawtta Imam Malik).

*12*Lack of Tranquility

Quran says that “ Verily Peace lies in the Remembrance of Allah” (Surah Al Raad 13:28). If we see the
people of the world we will find that all of them are trying to get peace of the heart some of the other. Some
are trying to peace through money, some through status and some through sex and lust but it’s the challenge
of the Quran that you will get peace only when you remember Allah throughout your day. Holy Prophet
advised us to look at the people below us in worldly matters and to see the people above us in the religious
matters. If we just follow this single hadith surely there will be a great amount of tranquility in our lives.

*13*Hardening of the Hearts

The person reaches a stage where he feels that his heart has turned into a solid rock that is not affected by
anything. Allah says: "And yet, after this, your hearts hardened and became like rocks, or even harder."
(Surah Al Baqarah, 2:74). A hardened heart is not affected by anything - even seeing people die and
attending funerals would not move it. The person with a hardened heart may even carry a corpse and bury it,
yet, he walks in the graveyard as if he were strolling between pine trees!

*14* Performing acts of Worship poorly

Such a person remains absent-minded during prayers and while reciting the Qur'an. He also does not
contemplate upon the meaning of the supplications he is making. As a result, he recites them in a
monotonous tone void of any reflections. He does not think for a moment about the value of these
supplications. He forgets that: "Allah does not accept the supplication from an inattentive, heedless heart."
(Jami Tirmidhi).

His acts of worship are reduced to hollow movements with no spirit behind them. Allah describes the
hypocrites: "And they do not remember Allah but little." (Surah Al-Nisa', 4:142).
Furthermore, he does not feel remorse if he misses obligatory duties and does not try to perform the different
Sunnah prayers or invocations that he misses. He ignores them, convincing himself that they are only
Sunnah!

*15* Getting no Effect from Verses of Quran

The promises, warnings, commands, prohibitions, and descriptions of the Day of Judgment do not make his
eyes flood with tears, or his heart quiver, or his soul shiver. Consequently, he gets bored and tired when he
listens to the recital of the Qur'an. It is a quality of the true believers that when they listen to the Quran their
Iman is increased and their hearts start trembling with the fear of Allah. But some people have absolutely no
effect when the verses of Holy Quran are recited in front of him. They can judge themselves where there
Iman lies.

*16*Not wishing to get more close to ALLAH

Actions speak louder than words. All of us are seen saying, “ want to get more close to Allah” and statement
like this but our actions don’t speak the same. We don’t really wish to get close to Allah. When we wish to
be a rich person we work so hard to achieve that wish but when we wish to love Allah more and to get more
close to him we hardly put in any additional effort for it. Quran says, “Those who believe have extreme
Love for Allah” (Surah Baqarah 2:165). Some have reached this state of extreme Love. Some are striving
hard to get more close to Allah and some are just caught in the clutches of Satan satisfying themselves by
the mere lip service.

*17* No urge to learn more about religion

The Ultimate goal of a true Momin (a true believer) is to do everthing that makes Allah happy and to abstain
from everything that makes Allah angry. How can we achieve this goal if we don’t know what Allah orders
Allah has revealed for us. What are the things which Allah has kept Haram for us. In order to make Allah
happy with him a true believer always strives to know more an more in depth about the teachings Allah has
sent down for him.

*18* Arrogance

We see many people out there who don’t follow the Sunnah of the Prophet because they are too personality
cautious. They think following the Sunnah will shatter their image in the eyes of others. This is arrogance.
Arrogance is a sign of extremely weak faith. Think there are many people who sleep by the road sides, who
are dressed in rags, who have shabby clothes, who don’t have food to eat. Can you think that they are same
as you. They are humans as you are. If you are unable to establish this thinking in yourself then be careful
there is some arrogance hidden in you.

*19*Belittling Good Deeds

There is lack of concern on the part of the sick at heart to perform small deeds of righteousness contrary to
what the Prophet sallallahu alayhe wa sallam has taught us when he said: "Do not belittle any small act of
kindness even if it is to pour water from your bucket into the vessel of the one who asks for it or to talk to
your brother with a cheerful face." (Masnad Ahmed)
So, acts that appear to be minor should not be underestimated. Hence, meeting a fellow Muslim with a
smiling face and removing trash and dirt from the Masjid - even as little as a straw - entails great rewards. It
may be that a small deed becomes a reason for the forgiveness of major sins. Allah thanks His slave for
these small deeds and forgives him. The Prophet sallallahu alayhe wa sallam said: "Once, a man saw the
branch of a tree in the middle of a road. So, he said, 'By Allah, I will remove this from the path of the
Muslims so they may not be hurt.' For this action, he was put in Paradise." (Sahih Muslim).

*20* Not caring about the affairs of the Muslims

A person with a sick heart does not react to the needs of Muslims by making supplications, giving charity, or
offering assistance. He does not care if his brothers are afflicted by a hardship in any part of the world such
as being overwhelmed by the enemy, being persecuted, or being stricken by disasters. It is enough for him
that his conditions are good! This is because of his ailing Iman; A believer is the opposite of that as
described by the Prophet sallallahu alayhe wa sallam: "A believer feels pain for the believers, just as the
body feels distress over what is troubling the head." (Related by Ahmad)

*21*Showing Grief and Fear When Afflicted by a Hardship or When in Difficulty

Such a person is often found to be shaky in offering obligatory duties, unbalanced, absent minded, lost, and
fidgety. He is not able to face reality with unwavering limbs and a firm heart. All of this is due to ailing
Iman.

If the Iman were strong, he would have been firm and faced the greatest of hardships with strength and
steadfastness. Iman gives us faith that whatever is happening with us is from Allah. Either it is a test for us
or either it is a punishment for something bad we did. If it’s a test than a believe tries his best to be patient
and keep Allah Happy. And if it’s a punishment from Allah then a believer admits his mistake in front of
Allah and asks Allah to forgive me and this earns him spiritual blessing.

Dear Muslims!!

It’s a Request for You. Judge yourself in light of the above weak signs. Because this faith will help you to
get the spiritual blessing in this world and more importantly this is the main certificate for your success in
the coming phases: The Phase of graveyard, the Day of Judgement, the Pul e Sirat. Everywhere your success
is based on the quality of iman you had. If you have good Iman and good intentions then even a small good
deed can do wonders for you but without iman even great deeds might get multiplied by zero.

So Its my humble request do judge yourself in light of the signs I mentioned so that when you leave this
word you have the certificate to enter Paradise.

The Prophet said, "Whoever said "None has the right to be worshipped but Allah and has in his heart
good (faith) equal to the weight of a barley grain will be taken out of Hell. And whoever said: "None
has the right to be worshipped but Allah and has in his heart good (faith) equal to the weight of a
wheat grain will be taken out of Hell. And whoever said, "None has the right to be worshipped but
Allah and has in his heart good (faith) equal to the weight of an atom will be taken out of Hell."
(Sahih Bukhari)

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