‘Imaan’, Faith or Belief
1. How important is “Imaan”?
Accruing Imaan is the ultimate human acheivement, not only in terms of religion only, but also in terms of human growth. Just as we learn to use our physical bodies to move and just as we learn to use our minds to read, we also have to develop our spiritual side so as to attain Imaan.
Just as learning to read is different to learning to walk, our spiritual side is also different, a third dimension. It’s beyond thoughts. It’s about feeings and perception. Our spiritual growth is centered on and built on learning about our Creator.
Of all things, attaining Imaan, or believing in Allah is the most Important thing to acheive in life.
The Holy Prophet Muhammad Salal lahu Alayhe wa salam has said that “Whoever recites with firm faith (Imaan) in his heart that ‘there is no deity but Allah’; give him the good news of Paradise.” Al Hadith, 1:1:2:27
2. What is ‘Imaan’?
Faith is primarily about believing in Allah. Faith (imaan) is all about, not just saying, but also understanding, believing and implementing in our lives the ‘Kalimah Shahada’, which is ‘there is none worthy of worship but Allah, Muhammad Salal lahu Alayhe wa salam is His Messenger.’
There are different levels to faith; Such as to listen to others talk about Allah and accepting this. A higher level is to actually get to know, experience and interact with Allah SWT and the highest level is to grow to love Him.
Imaan is therefore, not static but always growing and it’s something that needs to be pursued throughout life. It must be our main aim and duty in life.
To attain faith, is the goal of Islam, its teachings and its wisdom. It’s not just the rules, regulations and ritualistic acts. Faith is one of the five pillars, and to attain true faith is to know Allah.
3. So, how can we nurture and build our faith in Allah SWT, how can we get to know Him better?
Allah SWT is closer to us than anyone else yet knowing and experiencing our Creator, so as to truly believe in Him is not easy. This is so because our Creator is unique and beyond our physical senses. He is not made up of anything and He has no form.
This is our challenge, how do we see Allah who has no form. However, our Holy Prophet Muhammad Salal lahu Alayhe wa salam has shown us some practical steps to take towards interacting and getting to know our Creator and it all amounts to things we must do to improve on the way we think and behave.
This in turn leads to developing our spirituality and it is through our spirituality that we would most certainly see and know Allah SWT. In other words, we have to develop the ‘eyes’ that can see Him.
4. What are the steps that we can take towards knowing our Creator?
Firstly, the ‘Kalimah Shahada’ itself and the most important chapter of the Holy Quran, Surah Al Fatiha, gives us the first step. Its about following Allah’s Chosen ones.
The Holy Prophet Muhammad Salal lahu Alayhe wa salam told his companions that you will not believe until you love me more than you love your parents, your children and all of humanity.
The “you will not believe” part is an indication of a branch of faith.
So a believer is one who gives priority to loving Allah’s chosen ones (his spiritual guide/pir) for the sake of Allah SWT. Submitting and having the ability to follow someone else is very important because this keeps our pride in check and inculcates humility within us.
Submitting to Allah’s chosen ones is one of the steps we have to accomplish in our journey towards faith and Allah SWT.
We also need to take heed that this is not easy and even the likes of Hazrath Moosa AS had difficulty in following Hazrath Kizar AS. (Lengthy, intriguing incident related in the Holy Quran 18:60).
This is where shaytaan failed. He could not make prostration to Adam (AS) when Allah commanded him to.
Love is something that really motivates the beloved. A person truly in love will do anything for the beloved and this is the kind of commitment we need in this journey of knowing our Creator.
We have to grow to love our spiritual guide like the way the companions loved the Prophet Salal lahu Alayhe wa salam.
5. What is the next step towards knowing Allah?
I can’t say it’s the next step, but while we are talking about love, lets continue in this vein of love.
The Holy Prophet Muhammad Salal lahu Alayhe wa salam has said that you would not believe until you love for others what you would love for yourselves.
Divorce, abandoning our parents, fighting with our siblings and neighbours, cheating with inheritance, as well as profiteering on people’s plight by means of compounded rent increases to make huge profits and so forth are all detrimental to having faith.
A person of faith does not do such things. Loving and caring for others is important – extremely important.
How great is our religion – to love, to be good to others is what it stresses. This is being human, this is what we are created for. Love. Love is a very important part of developing our spirituaity to eventually attaining ‘Imaan” faith..
Our Pir O Murshid, Dr Hakim Hazrath Khwaja Sayed Shareef Ahmed Ali Shah RA (Hazrath Poona Wale Shah Saib RA) used to instruct us in this way; ‘kisie kha dill nay dookahana‘ (do not hurt anyone’s heart)
This love for others, which is secondary to loving the spiritual guide is the remedy to cure our spiritual ailments such as envy, hatred, greed and so forth. It is only a person that is free from these defects that can proceed towards knowing the Creator.
A person once asked the holy Prophet Muhammad Salal lahu Alayhe wa salam that ‘such and such a woman is reputed for much prayer, fasting and charity but she offends her neighbours with her tongue. He said: she will go to hell..” Al Hadith, 1:2:7:42
From such Hadith we learn that being good to others is an essential part of attaining faith and therefore, being good to others is more important than our ritual acts of worship.
7. How does knowing Allah benefit me, or can it benefit me?
This next branch of faith really shows how we benefit when we pursue faith.
It’s learning about who we are as individuals and then trying to improve on the way we behave. We all have these carnal desires and we need to recognise them and learn to control them.
Apart from greed (for wealth) and pride (in the form of seeking recognition for our piety), which we talked about, there is gluttony, lust and other such weaknesses that one may have.
Our Pir O Murshid, Hazrath Poona Wale Shah Saib RA used to always say ‘Kar paychanath app kie aur jaan kie thab hoe tojae paychanath Subhaan kie.’ (Strive to recognise yourself and life then you will be able to recognise Allah).
Think of it like this: just as we have to learn to walk, talk and develop all our skills, so too must we also strive to grow our spirituality by becoming masters of ourselves. This entails us being able to control ourselves and not letting these urges control us.
The Holy Prophet Muhammad Salal lahu Alayhe wa salam has said that striving against our carnal desires is the inner, more important ‘jihad’. So, one of the blessings of attaining faith is that we become more powerful, the masters of our desires.
8. What should we be mindful of when we treading the path of faith?
Islamic teachings are balanced and it teaches from different angles: Build on this but beware of that. The Holy Prophet Muhammad Salal lahu Alayhe wa salam has encouraged us to pray but warned us about showing off our piety. He calls this showing off ‘ria’ or secret greed. Being modest about our piety is so important that out of 70 branches of faith, he chose this to mention: ‘and modesty is a part of faith’.
We have to be wary and conscious of this. Showing off our piety is the most serious sin.
Modesty also relates to our dressing. We should not dress to show off our beauty or physique.
9. Leadership is also something that we should be careful of.
Being the leader is all too easy, it’s being the follower that’s difficult and without learning to follow one cannot truly lead.
“O you who believe! obey Allah and obey (His) Messenger and those who are in authority among you (to decide your affairs). …. ” Al Quran, 4|59
An important part of faith is to develop the ability to listen, to submit to and to follow the leader. Not only is this a part of faith but it is something that is very practical for the smooth functioning of families and society.
Once Sultan Mahmood asked his vizier, Ayaaz, to demonstrate to him ‘akal’. Ayaaz got the builders to build a fountain. They were halfway done when the army general asked him what he was doing and advised him to build the fountain in the corner. Ayaaz broke down the fountain and began to build it in the corner as was directed to him by the general. Just as he got going again, the cook stopped by and made enquiries as to what was happening. He told Ayaaz that he should rather build the fountain using a different kind of brick and so Ayaaz got the builders to demolish the structure again and to restart it using the suggested bricks. Then an ordinary passer-by did the same. By this time, the king watching from his secret spot, stopped all the drama and said: ‘If you continue in this manner, all my money will be spent and I will never have the fountain.’
There has to be a leader otherwise things would not work out. Everyone would want to do things their way. More importantly, we have to control ourselves and learn to follow. Even when it comes to being a good leader, it is the ability to listen to and follow that really counts in making one a good leader.
As an example, a good leader would listen to many different views and finally draw his conclusion based everyone’s input. He would either go with the best suggestion or with a blend of views.
So, a husband has authority over his wife, a parent has authority over his/her children, an employer has authority over his workers, government officers have authority over the public and most importantly, a spiritual guide has authority over his disciples (mureeds). The Holy Quraan instructs us to follow those in charge and this too, is a part of faith.
The very first sin in history and creation is one relating to this. Shaitaan refused to prostrate (submit by making sajdah) to Adam AS as commanded by Allah SWT. He said ‘I am better than him…‘ Refusing to obey is following satan.
Submitting to others is extremely difficult, almost impossible. However if we practice some things, it would become easier.
- Firstly – we all commit sins and we need to always remember our sins and think of ourselves as being weak and needing Allah’s help and guidance. Never think that we are better than anyone else no matter how simple or how illiterate or how badly dressed the other may appear to be.
- A spiritual malady that we will most certainly be tested with is that, when we pray or do good deeds or if we have a degree or wealth, then we tend to think that we are pious or better than others. Pride.
- Never make this mistake. Never let our religious or worldly successes get to our head. Everything belongs to Allah SWT and it is only through His graces that we came to be and that we were given so many privileges.
Secondly, we need to inculcate the ability to say ‘I am sorry’. Never lose out on an opportunity to say ‘I am sorry’. The more we say this, the easier it becomes to say it. It does not matter who the person is. Whether it is a cleaner, our children, our wife or even a vagrant on the street, if we are wrong, we need to be able to apologise.
If we do not counter our pride and learn humility, we could end up mocking those whom Allah SWT has put in leadership positions.
Never ever mock or belittle a man of Allah by twisting words…2|104|.
10. Materialism
The Holy Prophet Muhammad Salal lahu Alayhe wa salam has said that a person of faith (imaan) is not materialistic.
Its natural for us all to want things but we have to learn to control this greed. Instead, we should focus on trusting and relying on Allah. We must get rid of the attitude of being self-reliant and independent but instead we become more dependent on Allah SWT.
11. Seeking Allah’s Help
“O you who believe”, Seek (God’s) help with perfect patience and Prayer, for surely Allah is with the patiently persevering. Al Quraan, 2|153
Its a part of being a believer to be always seeking Allah’s Help. In this way we are always talking to Allah SWT and this, in essence, is being in prayer.
Prayer must never be just words but it must be backed by feelings and sincerity. It must come from the very depths of our hearts and souls. We must want it so badly that we must shed tears.
“he entered the mosque and advanced to the mihrab (to pray): the prayer carpet was bathed in the kings tears. ………
When from the depths of his soul he raised a cry (of supplication), the sea of Bounty began to surge.” Matnawi, vol 1 verse 55.
Allah SWT even teaches us what to seek out or what to strive towards. Seek guidance (‘Siratul Mustaquim’ as in Surah Al Fatiha). This is all important. Beg Allah SWT with tears in our eyes for this.
Finding the right path is not easy. There are just too many religions and too many sects. Only Allah SWT can rightly guide and we need to trust Him and seek His guidance. Most surely we would be misled if we depend on ourselves.
Once Allah SWT guides us on the ‘Sirutul Mustaquim ‘ then we must know that striving on this path is not easy. It requires lots of patience and perseverance. If we want to achieve anything in life, such as getting a degree, then it means striving, sacrificing and so too it is with religion, finding the ‘Siratul Mustiquim’ and attaining faith.
In seeking guidance and the answers to life, there is a lot to learn, there are many changes we have to make within ourselves and there are many people we have to interact with in the best possible way. It requires patience, perseverance and prayer throughout our lives.
Religion is something that we should make our priority because this is the thing that, we not only need to grow ourselves to the fullest of our being and potential, but it is something that will grant us the ultimate success to our life.
And when we seek Allah’s aid with patience and perseverance then this verse teaches that Allah will be with us. What more can we ask for.
12. More on Faith
Similarly the Holy Prophet Muhammad Salal lahu Alayhe wa salam has said that there are 70 some odd branches of faith, the highest is to believe in Allah, the lowest is to remove an injurious object from the pathway and modesty is a part of faith.
There are some key words in the Holy Quraan and the Hadith that we must pay attention too if we want to learn more about faith. In the Holy Quraan, if a verse starts off with ‘O you who believe… “, then it is something to do with faith and in the Hadith, if the Holy Prophet Muhammad Salal lahu Alayhe wa salam starts off with “you will not believe… “ then it also has something to do with faith. We need to pay special attention to such verses because becoming a believer (momin) is the crux of Islam.
If we attain faith then we will not only attain success in the hereafter, but we will also live a very meaningful, fruitful, enlightened dynamic, peaceful, happy way of life, right here on earth.
This is so because attaining faith involves transforming ourselves or growing ourselves to become the enlightened, spiritual beings that we are created to be. Imagine living life without walking. That’s exactly what it boils down to if we do not develop our spirituality.
Over the years, the Rabbiul Awwal Special also covered a lot on faith such as ‘cleanliness is half of faith’ and marriage is half of faith. You can find such articles on this website. End.
Published by Anjuman e Waris e Mohammedi.
Anjuman e Waris e Mohammedi was foundered by Dr Hakim Hazrath Khwaja Sayed Shareef Ahmed Ali Shah RA (lovingly known as Hazrath Poona Wale Shah Saib RA)
Author: Mahomed Hassan Gaffoor WhatsApp +27849101486
NOTE 1: Watch our KZN Juloos Meelad un Nabi (PBUH) introduction: https://youtu.be/tf86eS-BQq4?feature=shared
NOTE 2: listen to a beautiful naath on this theme: The Light Of Muhammad (PBUH)
NOTE 3: Read our novel, also based on this theme – Doolhun The Bride.