Iman is alive

Iman means faith: believing in Allah, His angels, His books, His messengers, the Last Day and qadr (Allah's decree). You can read about these six in Islam, iman and ihsan.

This chapter is about something every Muslim feels. Some days your heart is soft. Salah feels sweet and you want to do good. Other days your heart feels hard and far away. That is normal. Iman is not a switch that is only on or off. It is more like a plant. It grows when you look after it, and it gets weak when you leave it.

Ahl al-Sunnah (the main body of Muslims who follow the Sunnah and the Companions) agree on these points:

• Iman lives in the heart, is said with the tongue, and shows in actions.
• Its strength goes up and down.
• A Muslim who sins is still a Muslim.
• We need both belief and good deeds.

What the Quran says

Allah speaks about iman increasing again and again in the Quran:

• The true believers are those whose hearts shake when Allah is mentioned, and when His ayat (verses) are recited to them, it increases their iman¹.
• Allah sent down calm into the hearts of the believers, so that they add iman to their iman².
• When people tried to scare the believers, it only increased them in iman, and they said: Allah is enough for us³.
• When a new surah came down, it increased the believers in iman and they were happy⁴.

If something can increase, it can also decrease. That is why scholars say: iman rises with obedience and falls with sins.

Even the Companions felt this. One of them, Hanzalah, was so worried about it that he thought he had become a hypocrite⁵.

The branches of iman

Nabi ﷺ said: iman has over seventy branches (in another report, over sixty). The best of them is saying la ilaha illallah (there is no god but Allah). The lowest is moving something harmful off the road. And haya (shyness and modesty that stops you doing wrong) is a branch of iman⁷.

This hadith teaches three big things:

• Iman is wide. It is not only in the masjid. Belief, words, worship, manners and kindness to people are all part of it.
• Small things count. Picking up a piece of glass from the street is a branch of iman. No good deed is too small.
• People are at different levels. One person has many branches strong. Another has only a few. So never look down on anyone, and never feel your own good is enough.

What makes iman grow

Iman needs food, like the body does. These are the things that feed it:

• The Quran. When the ayat are recited, iman increases⁸. Even a few ayat a day, with the meaning, make a difference. Start on our Quran page.
• Dhikr (remembering Allah). Allah says: truly, in the remembrance of Allah hearts find rest⁹. Nabi ﷺ said the one who remembers his Lord and the one who does not are like the living and the dead¹⁰.
• Salah on time, and then extra good deeds. Allah says His servant keeps coming closer to Him with extra deeds until He loves him¹¹.
• Small and steady. Nabi ﷺ said the deed Allah loves most is the one done regularly, even if it is small¹². Two rakat every night beat ten rakat once a month.
• Good company. Nabi ﷺ said a good friend is like a perfume seller: he may give you some, you may buy some, or at least you smell something nice. A bad friend is like a blacksmith's fire: he may burn your clothes, or at least you smell smoke¹³.
• Remembering death. Nabi ﷺ said: remember often the thing that cuts off pleasures, meaning death¹⁴. This is not to make you sad. It helps you see what really matters, and stops small worries from taking over.
• Learning about Allah. The more you know His names and His mercy, the more you love Him. See The Names and Attributes of Allah.
• Dua. Ask Allah to make your heart firm. Iman is a gift from Him, so ask the Giver.

Feeling low right now? Read when your iman dips for small steps that help.

What harms iman

Just as some things feed iman, some things weaken it:

• Sins. Nabi ﷺ said a person who commits zina (sex outside marriage), steals or drinks alcohol is not a believer at the moment he does it¹⁵. Scholars explain: his iman is not complete at that moment. It is like a light that goes dim. It does not mean he has left Islam, as the next section shows.
• Forgetting Allah. Long days with no salah on time, no Quran and no dhikr leave the heart dry.
• Bad company. The blacksmith's smoke stays on your clothes¹⁶.
• Too much of this world. Chasing money, likes and status until there is no time left for Allah.
• Staying on a sin. Allah praises those who, when they do wrong, remember Allah, ask forgiveness, and do not keep doing it while they know¹⁷.

The good news: everything that weakens iman can be repaired. The last section of this chapter shows how.

A sinning Muslim is still a Muslim

In the early days of Islam, some people went to one extreme. They said a Muslim who commits a major sin is no longer a Muslim. Others went to the other extreme. They said sins do not harm iman at all.

Ahl al-Sunnah took the middle way: sins are serious and they weaken iman, but a Muslim who sins, and still believes, remains a Muslim. His matter is with Allah.

• Allah forgives all sins except shirk (worshipping others with Him), to whom He wills¹⁸. So any sin less than shirk is under His forgiveness.
• Two groups of believers fighting are still called believers by Allah¹⁹, and Allah says: the believers are brothers²⁰.
• Nabi ﷺ said: whoever dies without worshipping anything with Allah will enter Jannah. Abu Dharr asked: even if he committed zina and stole? He said: even if he committed zina and stole²¹.
• About big sins, Nabi ﷺ said: if a person is punished for it in this world, that is a kaffarah (it wipes the sin). If Allah covers it, it is up to Allah: He may forgive or punish²².
• Whoever has even a tiny grain of iman in the heart will in the end be taken out of the Fire²³.

None of this makes sin small. It means we hate the sin, not the sinner, and we never give up on anyone, including ourselves.

Kufr and nifaq: warnings for the heart

Two serious words appear in the Quran and hadith:

• Kufr: disbelief, rejecting Allah or His message.
• Nifaq: hypocrisy, showing Islam on the outside while hiding disbelief inside.

Sometimes the hadith use these words for sins done by Muslims. For example, Nabi ﷺ said: insulting a Muslim is a sin, and fighting him is kufr²⁵. Yet Allah calls two fighting groups believers²⁶. So scholars explain: here the word is a strong warning. It means this is an action of disbelievers, very serious, but it does not on its own take a Muslim out of Islam.

In the same way, Nabi ﷺ named the signs of a hypocrite: when he speaks he lies, when he makes a promise he breaks it, and when he is trusted he cheats²⁷. In another report he added: when he argues he becomes nasty and unfair²⁸.

How should we use these hadith?

• As a mirror, not a stick. Read them and ask: do I lie? Do I break promises? Then fix it.
• The Companions feared nifaq for themselves, like Hanzalah did²⁹. They did not go around calling others hypocrites.
• Allah sees the heart. Nabi ﷺ said Allah does not look at your faces or your wealth, but He looks at your hearts and your deeds³⁰. We cannot see anyone's heart, so we cannot judge it.

Never call a Muslim a kafir

Calling a Muslim a kafir (disbeliever) is called takfir. It is one of the most dangerous things a tongue can do.

Nabi ﷺ said: if a man says to his brother, O kafir, then it comes back on one of them³¹. In another report: if the other person was not like that, it comes back on the one who said it³².

So what should an ordinary Muslim do?

• Never say about any Muslim: he is a kafir, or: she has left Islam. Not online, not in anger, not as a joke.
• Saying that a certain action is kufr is one thing. Saying that a certain person is a kafir is something else. Many conditions must be checked first: did they know? Did they mean it? Were they forced? Were they confused? Only senior scholars and courts can look at that. It is not our job.
• If someone says or does something wrong, advise them kindly and make dua for them.

The door back: tawbah

Whatever has weakened your iman, the way back is tawbah (repentance), turning back to Allah. Allah says:

Say: O My servants who have wronged themselves, do not lose hope in the mercy of Allah. Allah forgives all sins³⁵.

• His hand is open day and night. Nabi ﷺ said Allah stretches out His hand at night, so that the one who sinned in the day can repent, and He stretches out His hand in the day, so that the one who sinned at night can repent, until the sun rises from the west³⁶.
• Allah is happy with your return. He is happier with a servant's tawbah than a man who lost his camel, with all his food and water, in the desert, and then found it again³⁷.
• Even again and again. A servant sins and says: my Lord, forgive me. Allah says: My servant knows he has a Lord who forgives. I have forgiven him. Then he sins again and asks again, and Allah forgives again³⁸.
• Bad deeds can turn into good ones. For those who repent, believe and do good, Allah changes their bad deeds into good deeds³⁹.
• Allah loves those who turn back. Nabi ﷺ said: if you never sinned, Allah would bring people who sin and then ask forgiveness, and He would forgive them⁴⁰. This is not permission to sin. It shows how much Allah loves forgiving.

How to make tawbah

• Stop the sin.
• Feel sorry in your heart.
• Decide not to go back to it.
• If you wronged a person, give back their right or ask them to forgive you.
• Then do a good deed. Pray two rakat, give some charity, and keep going.

If you fall again, repent again. Never stop coming back. Allah calls it sincere tawbah⁴¹, and He never gets tired of forgiving.

Common questions

I used to cry in salah. Now I feel nothing. Have I lost my iman?

No. Feeling low is not the same as losing iman. Even Abu Bakr and Hanzalah felt it⁴². The fact that it worries you is a sign of iman. Keep your five prayers, add a little Quran and dhikr each day, and ask Allah to soften your heart. Feelings come back.

I keep falling into the same sin. Is my tawbah fake?

No. If you are sorry when you repent and you really mean to stop, your tawbah is real. If you fall again, repent again⁴³. Also change what leads you to it: the app, the place, the friends. Small changes help.

My friend drinks alcohol but still prays. Is he a hypocrite?

Do not call him that. Drinking is a major sin, but he is still a Muslim, and his salah is a good thing to protect. Remember: do not curse him, he loves Allah and His Messenger⁴⁴. Be a good friend, advise him kindly, and make dua for him.

Someone online keeps calling other Muslims kafir. What should I do?

Do not join in, and do not argue in anger. Calling a Muslim a kafir comes back on the one who says it if it is not true⁴⁵. Those questions belong to senior scholars. Unfollow, mute, or kindly share this hadith.

I read the signs of a hypocrite and I recognized myself. Now I am scared.

Those hadith are a mirror to help you fix things, not a judgement on you. Being scared of nifaq is a good sign: the Companions felt it too. Start with one sign. If you lie, practice telling the truth this week. Keep the promises you make.

I did something very bad before I became practicing. Can Allah forgive that?

Yes. Allah forgives all sins for the one who repents⁴⁶, and He can even change bad deeds into good ones⁴⁷. If the sin hurt someone, try to make it right. Then turn the page.

How do I keep my iman up when I work long hours?

Keep it small and steady⁴⁸. Pray on time at work. Listen to Quran on your commute. Say Subhan Allah and Alhamdulillah while you walk. Find one or two friends who remind you of Allah.