From An Explanation of a Summary of al‐‘Aqeedatul Hamawiyyah of ibn Taymiyyah by Shaykh Muhammad Ibn al-Uthaymeen.
Islam & Eemaan
There are many ways to increase oneʹs Eemaan (faith in Allaah, His Books,
His Messengers, etc.). Some of them are as follows:
1. Knowing Allaahʹs Names and Attributes: Indeed, each time the servantʹs knowledge of them increase, knowing what they mean and their effects, then his Eemaan in his Lord likewise increases as well as his love and honor for Him.
2. Reflecting upon Allaahʹs signs in the universe as well as His Aayaat:
Whenever the servant reflects upon them, thinking deeply over what they include of Perfect Capability and Supreme Wisdom, then no doubt his Eemaan and certainty will increase.
3. Performing actions of obedience, seeking nearness to Allaah: Eemaan
increases according to the quality, quantity, and type of deed. Whenever the deed is performed in the best way, the increase in Eemaan is greater because of it. And the quality of the action is increased in righteousness by sincerity and following of the Sunnah.
As for the type of action, those actions Allaah has ordered their performance are better than the optional ones. Some acts of obedience are better than others are ‐ the greater the action, the greater the increase in Eemaan. As for the quantity of actions, Eemaan also increases according to it because action is itself a part of Eemaan so surely, when the quantity increases, so does Eemaan.
4. Abandoning sins, fearing Allaah: Whenever the urge to commit a sin is stronger, the increase in Eemaan by abandoning it is even greater. This is because suppressing a strong desire to sin is an indication of the strength of Eemaan present within the servant. He gives precedence to what Allaah and His Messenger like over what his own soul desires.
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There are also many ways for oneʹs Eemaan to decrease. Some of them are as follows:
1. Remaining ignorant of Allaah and His Names and Attributes.
2. Negligence and turning away from reflecting upon the Aayaat of Allaah, His rules, and His signs throughout the universes: This results in a sickness of the heart or its death due to being overcome with desires and false beliefs.
3. Committing acts of disobedience to Allaah: Eemaan decreases according to the type of action, its degree of sin, considering it to be insignificant, and the strength or weakness of oneʹs urge to commit it.
As for the type of action and the degree of sin, then surely the decrease in Eemaan by committing major sins is greater than minor sins. It decreases, for example, more by the murder of an innocent person than stealing oneʹs wealth.
As well, it decreases more by committing two sins than only one, and so on.
As for considering a sin to be insignificant, this occurs from a heart that considers the One he is disobeying to be insignificant, having little or no fear of Him; this causes the decrease in Eemaan to be that much greater. Alternatively, the decrease in Eemaan is less when the notion to sin occurs to a heart that honors Allaah, fearing Him yet he just happened to make a mistake and sin.
The strength of the urge to sin also has to do with the decrease in Eemaan. If a person commits a sin while having only a weak urge or desire to do it, then his Eemaan decreases significantly more than one whose urge is much stronger. For this reason, a poor person behaving arrogantly, and an elderly man committing adultery is a greater sin than the arrogance of a rich and powerful man or a young man committing fornication, as in the Hadeeth,
ʺThere are three people whom Allaah will not even speak to, He will not look at them on the Day of Resurrection, He will not purify them, and they will have a painful punishment...ʺ
(Recorded by Muslim (107) and at‐Tabaraanee. Al‐Haythamee and al‐Mundhiree said the men in the chain of narrators are the quality of those in an authentic chain. Al‐Albaanee declared it Saheeh in Saheeh at‐Targheeb (1788).)
He then went on to mention the three types of people including a grey‐haired, elderly fornicator and a poor arrogant person due to the weakness of their urge to commit the sins.
4. Abandoning acts of obedience to Allaah: The decrease in Eemaan is according to the degree of the act of obedience. So if the level of obligation is of a higher degree, then the decrease in Eemaan higher. Perhaps one could lose Eemaan totally such as is abandoning prayer.
The decrease in Eemaan for abandoning acts of obedience is of two types: the type that the person could be punished for, such as leaving an obligation with no excuse; and the type that one will not be punished for, such as leaving an obligation due to a legislative or legitimate excuse; or leaving an optional act of obedience. Examples of the second type would be a woman leaving prayer due to her menses or a person leaving the optional forenoon (Duhaa) prayer, and Allaah know best.
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