Question on iman and death

i feel like im struggling and feel quite depressed about what is happening over the world be it in war-torn countries or natural disaters such as the recent earthquake and tsunami. its really bothering me.

This leaves me wondering where my iman is at and how i ought to perfect it. tbh, i feel quite anxious and i wonder if there is any real iman there at all.

Question 1: its normal human nature and even the most rebellious of people do this, but being in certain situations, one tends to recourse to Allah and ask for help, etc etc. In that present moment one may realize how much (or rather how less) their iman is at. in that split second you wish you were a good Muslim (or you are a non-Muslim you would wish you were muslim) and make the utmost resolve never return to the bad again. basically your iman in that present moment probably couldn't be any better.
but once that situation is gone and the hardship is removed, one seems to go back to their old ways.

So how do you apply that iman that you had in that hardship, how do you apply it in your life 24/7? how do you take your iman seriously and really and truly have your heart connected to Allah where you fear Him all the time and hope for His reward all the time. how do you stop yourself from being arrogant in not submitting properly to Allah.

there seems to be a barrier in your heart, what is that barrier and how do you get rid of it.

those situations of comfort that one may have...well you may never realize where your iman is at during them because we're always sitting back and enjoying life but we dont know if we are really destroying our iman. we also ask allah for His mercy and help, but what are we doing to earn it? god im optimistic aren't I :hmm:


Questions 2: for the Muslim, is it normal to feel anxious/worry about death? not in the sense that you havnt prepared well for it...no, not that type of worry, but in the sense like you would feel anxious if you were to face a beast of prey. like that type of anxiety its a different thing,no? ... because, facing a beast of prey and death you know that's going to be the end of your life?

is this a sign of nifaq that we worry about death for hte above described reasons i.e where we feel anxious about it. because if one had a good conscious and ones a3mal (actions) were all good, why would you be worried...i mean shouldn't one feel ready for death knowing that to Allah we return anyway, so why should we be worried about dying if our a3mal are in good nick? is there any type of comfort for the Muslim during this life concerning their death? does this paranoia mean anything, like perhaps one's heart is worried over the wrong things.

any advise?

Ummu Sufyaan said:

i feel like im struggling and feel quite depressed about what is happening over the world be it in war-torn countries or natural disaters such as the recent earthquake and tsunami. its really bothering me.

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:wasalamex

Remember that this Ummah [nation of Prophet Muhammad (sal Allahu alayhi wasalam)] is blessed because it get's alot of it's punishments in this life. This way, less will be for them in the next life, insha' Allah.

This leaves me wondering where my iman is at and how i ought to perfect it. tbh, i feel quite anxious and i wonder if there is any real iman there at all.

Question 1: its normal human nature and even the most rebellious of people do this, but being in certain situations, one tends to recourse to Allah and ask for help, etc etc. In that present moment one may realize how much (or rather how less) their iman is at. in that split second you wish you were a good Muslim (or you are a non-Muslim you would wish you were muslim) and make the utmost resolve never return to the bad again. basically your iman in that present moment probably couldn't be any better.
but once that situation is gone and the hardship is removed, one seems to go back to their old ways.


So how do you apply that iman that you had in that hardship, how do you apply it in your life 24/7? how do you take your iman seriously and really and truly have your heart connected to Allah where you fear Him all the time and hope for His reward all the time. how do you stop yourself from being arrogant in not submitting properly to Allah.

Click to expand...

The main thing is, as obvious as it sounds; We need to increase in Dhikr [remembrance of Allah].

The best Dhikr is the Qur'an. So i strongly recommend you search for videos of; Nouman Ali Khan - he is a kool talker. He explains the LinguisticMiracle of the Qur'an. So that whenever you listen to it - you understand the Qur'an word for word and see how it's miraculous.

Once you understand the words of the Qur'an word for word, you find it easier to memorize it. The more you recite it - the more your Emaan increases (because you visually get to imagine the Judgment Day, Hellfire and Paradise.) And the more you appreciate the miraculousness of the Qur'an. And that continuously increases you in emaan.

there seems to be a barrier in your heart, what is that barrier and how do you get rid of it.

those situations of comfort that one may have...well you may never realize where your iman is at during them because we're always sitting back and enjoying life but we dont know if we are really destroying our iman. we also ask allah for His mercy and help, but what are we doing to earn it? god im optimistic aren't I :hmm:

Click to expand...

See;
http://www.islamicboard.com/advice-support/29091-advice-flame-emaan-i-once-had-dying-out.html

Questions 2: for the Muslim, is it normal to feel anxious/worry about death? not in the sense that you havnt prepared well for it...no, not that type of worry, but in the sense like you would feel anxious if you were to face a beast of prey. like that type of anxiety its a different thing,no? ... because, facing a beast of prey and death you know that's going to be the end of your life?

is this a sign of nifaq that we worry about death for hte above described reasons i.e where we feel anxious about it. because if one had a good conscious and ones a3mal (actions) were all good, why would you be worried...i mean shouldn't one feel ready for death knowing that to Allah we return anyway, so why should we be worried about dying if our a3mal are in good nick? is there any type of comfort for the Muslim during this life concerning their death? does this paranoia mean anything, like perhaps one's heart is worried over the wrong things.

any advise?

Click to expand...

It's bad if you're sinning alot, because then it shows that you havn't repented and you feel bad that you will return to Allah in a sinful state.

If you've got emaan and you fear it out of fear that you havn't done enough good deeds (although you are still doing alot of good deeds) - this is a good thing.


Because your emaan isn't strong (as you say), then it might be bad that you fear death. Because it shows that you feel too attached to the world without much emaan feelings to make you a good believer.

So again, I would recommend the Nouman Ali Khan and the LinguisticMiracle Qur'an thing to increase you in emaan. (this is what continuously gives me certainty and emotion in the religion.) Otherwise, yeah, you can feel dead in your heart.


Allah knows best.

Remember that this Ummah [nation of Prophet Muhammad (sal Allahu alayhi wasalam)] is blessed because it get's alot of it's punishments in this life. This way, less will be for them in the next life, insha' Allah.

Click to expand...

i've actually never heard of this, do you have a reference?

Because your emaan isn't strong (as you say), then it might be bad that you fear death. Because it shows that you feel too attached to the world without much emaan feelings to make you a good believer.

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how does one know if they are attached to the dunya? what are the causes of getting attached to the dunya and how do you get rid of this disease?

also, im wondering, ones livelihood (job), family, etc...basically things that are essential in life that you need and cant give up...these things are obviously part of the dunya and its only normal for someone to get attached to them and love them. Is that a bad thing? I mean im not saying that one should quit their job, etc what im trying to say is that these things you are naturally going to get attached to them not only because they are important to you, but also because you may have worked very hard for them (in case of a livelihood) and therefore since you work hard for them, its only natural that they wont be easy to give up....

for example one builds a house with their own hands...this takes up their time, money and tremendous efforts. In addition, building their own home may mean and bring other benefits/fruits with it, such as feeling good that they have a roof over their heads or feeling confident that they have reached some type of goal, etc. So its not difficult to imgaine why they dont want to let go of it.

In such a case, is that a bad and condemnable thing? does that mean that you are attached to the dunya if you cant give up something? is there a difference between an attachment due to your work/family. is there an acceptable type of attachment to the dunya and a non-acceptable type of attachment to the dunya. why is being attached to the dunya a bad thing? what is the reality of the dunya?

Ummu Sufyaan said:

i feel like im struggling and feel quite depressed about what is happening over the world be it in war-torn countries or natural disaters such as the recent earthquake and tsunami. its really bothering me.

Click to expand...

Peace, Ummu Sufyaan.

The question is why are these bad things happening? If you knew and understood why then you would not feel so depressed.

as a human our eman cannot be constant at one level. obviously in some conditions its goes up and sometimes (mostly in luxury) we forgot Allah SWT. so its natural thing, we need not to fear for nifaq for this reason.
2ndly if a person dont like death just bcz he think himself not well prepared, and he is struggling for it, its sign of eman...its not a nifaq. he fears bcz iman is btw fear and hope.

Hiroshi said:

Peace, Ummu Sufyaan.

Prophet Jesus foretold that there would come a time of wars and earthquakes (Matthew 24:7). The question is why are these bad things happening? If you knew and understood why then you would not feel so depressed.

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the theme of this thread isnt about why these things are happening (i dont recall asking anything like that). i kindly request that you dont post any biblical verses in my thread and ask that you remove them peace. though thank you for your advise.

peace to you too.

Ummu Sufyaan said:

the theme of this thread isnt about why these things are happening (i dont recall asking anything like that). i kindly request that you dont post any biblical verses in my thread and ask that you remove them peace. though thank you for your advise.

peace to you too.

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Request granted.

Let me see if I can offer something useful:

1. Iman is not a permanent state of affairs. The Holy Prophet (saw) said that iman is like your clothes. You wash them clean but you still have to wash them again because they will get dirty. In my mind, I think of iman as something in a leaky bucket. You have to keep on adding to it because it is leaking away all the time. Iman is also something that does not appear by itself. Allah has challenged us with the question, "Do you think you have iman before you are tested?" So, basically, it is in times of hardship that you really know whether you have iman or how strong your iman is.

What happens when we are not faced with hardship? Let me put it this way. What do soldiers do in times of peace? They keep on training so that when the time comes they can perform their duty. Likewise, when we are not faced with hardship, we have to make the effort to strengthen our iman. There are many ways. My favorite is dzikir. For me, in dzikr, the aim is to reach the point that the heart repeats the Kalimah Tayyibah with every beat. Then when we are faced with hardship, our iman will be able to stand the test. Insha Allah.

2. For a Muslim, life and death are totally in the hands of Allah, so there is nothing to be worried or to be anxious about. Just keep on practicing Islam as best as you can and accept with total willingness whatever Allah gives you. If Allah decides that you should not see the next dawn, so be it. It's, to use a very rough analogy, like working for a big company. If the company decides to send you to work at another branch, you don't have to worry about how to get there. The company will arrange for everything - tickets, traveling expenses, lodging at the new branch, in short, the whole works. All you have to do is do your job and follow orders. Likewise, when we live as slaves of Allah, there is nothing to worry or to be anxious about. Just do what Allah told us to do. Allah will take care of everything. Insha Allah.

:salamext:

Ummu Sufyaan said:

i've actually never heard of this, do you have a reference?

Click to expand...

I've read a hadith about it a long time ago from this forum. I've been trying to find it for a while but i can't find it now.

how does one know if they are attached to the dunya? what are the causes of getting attached to the dunya and how do you get rid of this disease?

Click to expand...

You remember Allah less and thank Him less in the day. The greater your emaan, the more you feel thankfulness to Allah in your heart, and the more you be aware of Him whenever you do any action.

also, im wondering, ones livelihood (job), family, etc...basically things that are essential in life that you need and cant give up...these things are obviously part of the dunya and its only normal for someone to get attached to them and love them. Is that a bad thing? I mean im not saying that one should quit their job, etc what im trying to say is that these things you are naturally going to get attached to them not only because they are important to you, but also because you may have worked very hard for them (in case of a livelihood) and therefore since you work hard for them, its only natural that they wont be easy to give up....

for example one builds a house with their own hands...this takes up their time, money and tremendous efforts. In addition, building their own home may mean and bring other benefits/fruits with it, such as feeling good that they have a roof over their heads or feeling confident that they have reached some type of goal, etc. So its not difficult to imgaine why they dont want to let go of it.

In such a case, is that a bad and condemnable thing? does that mean that you are attached to the dunya if you cant give up something? is there a difference between an attachment due to your work/family. is there an acceptable type of attachment to the dunya and a non-acceptable type of attachment to the dunya. why is being attached to the dunya a bad thing? what is the reality of the dunya?

Click to expand...

If you've read the story of Ka'b ibn Malik when he never went to the Battle of Tabuk, you see that his attachment to his home/wealth etc. was something bad.

Yet you can enjoy your world, so long as it is not in preference over the hereafter.



So some tips;
Once you go through this phase, you will gradually re-live the sweetness of Emaan which you had at the start.

And also, I strongly recommend you re-read the Ahadith Qudsi, since they are always an emaan boost.