Imaan is barely hanging on...

[anonymous]

This has been quite an on going thing, where I've had this niggling voice in the back of my head, which has been growing louder and louder. My belief in Islam is getting less and less by the day. My problem does not lie with the Prophet Muhammed (saw), as I have no issues with his life or teachings. What I am finding hard to fathom is belief in God. Believe me I don't want to feel this way, but I need to put this to rest one way or another. I also find this whole concept of Heaven and Hell hard to grasp. So I'm asking all of my believing brothers and sisters who are firm in Islam here to help me understand Islam and attain the belief you have, because right now, it seems to me that the only reason I am muslim is because I was born one

 

[Umar001]

Wa Aleykum Salam Wa Rhametulah,

So if you are having a hard time believing in G-d then am guessing one side is saying that Muhammad, peace be upon him, made it all up??

That'd be pretty amazing.

 

[Woodrow]

Odd you should say that.

I am muslim is because I was born one

The only reason I am Muslim is because I choose to be one.

If you read through these threads, especialy the ones that are written by our Aethiest members, You will see there are very many logical reasons to believe Allah(swt) does not exist.

In the face of all of this logic there must be some reason why those of who do believe, believe so strongly. What things have we seen, heard or done that cause us to have such strong beliefs?

For myself it is a simple answer. I am convinced that the Qur'an is true and verifiable. My reasons for believing that would be an entire thread at least. So, without going into detail and to keep this thread on topic, I will just leave it at I know the Qur'an is true.

Now, that I know the Qur'an is true, why would I believe Islam is the only valid way to serve Allah(swt)? It seems there should be many ways to serve Him(swt) What logic is there to have us pigeon holed into one belief system?

That actually makes since, as with one system, it is a means that we can learn methods to support each other. We can see conrete evidence of when we wander off the path. It gives us a guide that allows us to give each other direction.

If I were to choose to travel from Austin, Texas to Poughkeepsie, New York. I believe I should use a map that directs me in that direction. I could use other maps but, I don't think my very good intentioned friends, who have a map of South Africa will be of much help to direct me to Poughkeepsie.

Since I know Jannah does exist and I know it is where I want to be. It only makes good sense to seek directions from People that have the road map. I have found that road map in Islam.

Since you were born Muslim, you did not have to conduct a life long search to find the direction, it was always in front of you. I spent many years wandering, it took removal of many doubts for me to accept Islam. But, it came to be, simply because 65 years of all other thoughts finaly lead me to the single conclusion that Islam is true.

 

[- Qatada -]

:salamext:


How about putting your questions which you're unsure about and we can try to clarify for you insha'Allaah or find answers? Maybe that might clear up the missing parts of the jigsaw for you?

 

[glo]

Greeting, anonymous

I think Woodrow is making a very good point:

Since you were born Muslim, you did not have to conduct a life long search to find the direction, it was always in front of you. I spent many years wandering, it took removal of many doubts for me to accept Islam. But, it came to be, simply because 65 years of all other thoughts finaly lead me to the single conclusion that Islam is true.

Converts to any given religion (as opposed to those 'born into a religion'), have actively chosen their faith, for different, personal reasons, such as personal experiences, religious studies or divine interventions. Whatever those reasons were, they had to be strong enough to convince each person that their faith is the right one. I know this, because it happened to me too - although my path did not lead me to Islam.

Those born into a religion may not have the 'benefit' of such soul-searching, studying and seeking of God.
Interestingly I know converts who envy those born into a faith their religious grounding and security, but I also know those brought up in a faith who envy the converts their personal journey towards God.
We each get what God has destined for us!

If you feel so unsure in your faith, then I suggest you have not really found where you stand with God.
I cannot give you Islamic advice in this, but I suggest you pursue God, seek him, plead with him, speak to him, and pray, pray, pray!

The Bible says 'Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. "For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.' (Matthew7:7-8)
I hope that this will also reflect your thinking of God.

May you walk with God, anonymous!

 

[Abdul Fattah]

Selam aleykum
Sorry to hear about you problem with imaan. However do not despair, at least you're trying and even posting on forums asking for help, so that means that you must have a good intention and a willingness to believe right? since you didn't ask a straightforward question it's hard to give a straightforward answer. In general I found that most of the time when people have a problem with accepting a certain aspect of religion that that is because they have a wrong perspective in that. For example, people who think that God bears simularity to man might find it difficult to grasp that such an entity would have created the universe and maintaines it. That is because the wrongfull interpretation of God is inconsistent with reality. When we are told about such things like the essence of God or heaven and Hell it's very hard to imagen what it's like. In fact we are told not to even try, because anything we could imagen won't do Allah subhana wa ta'ala justice.

The best weapon you have against that nagging voice is knowledge. And teh easiest way to gain knowledge is by asking questions (to teh right persons) and reading. No matter how stupid you think the question might be, don't be afraid to ask it, it's better to have someone answer it and get it out of teh way rather then letting it grow in teh back of your head.

Which part of heaven and hell do you find hard to grasp? The physical part? How it will look like and be? Or more the underlying philosophy of punishment and reward? What do you find difficult to believe with Allah subhana wa ta'ala? His nature, his qualities as revealed by his 99 names? I'm sorry I can't help you more for now, you'll have to specefy your questions.

 

[Snowflake]

This has been quite an on going thing, where I've had this niggling voice in the back of my head, which has been growing louder and louder. My belief in Islam is getting less and less by the day. My problem does not lie with the Prophet Muhammed (saw), as I have no issues with his life or teachings. What I am finding hard to fathom is belief in God. Believe me I don't want to feel this way, but I need to put this to rest one way or another. I also find this whole concept of Heaven and Hell hard to grasp. So I'm asking all of my believing brothers and sisters who are firm in Islam here to help me understand Islam and attain the belief you have, because right now, it seems to me that the only reason I am muslim is because I was born one

Some years ago when my iman wasn't yet consistent, I came across Dr Gary Miller's website, 'The Amazing Quran.'

I found scientific verses of the Quran, backed up by detailed confirmations of truth from scientists from all around the world. I was awe-struck to read that these scientists were confirming that the knowledge in the Quran could not have come from any man but only God. Alhumdulillah, I would've been blind if any doubts would have remained after learning something so amazing.

Then think. Muhammed (pbuh) was illiterate. The Quran is the source of his teachings. Then how could a man who couldn't even read and write possess infinite knowledge of the creation of the Universe contained in the Quran? Even if he was literate, could he have known that iron is sent from heaven (recently confirmed by scientists)? Or the science of embryology? The water cycle? To name but a few scientific facts in the Quran...

You say you have no problem with Muhammed (PBUH) or his teachings. The teachings you believe in are Divine revelations from Allah. The wisdom in the Prophet's sunnah is also from what was revealed to him from Allah, through the angel Jibreel. Islam is the perfect religion which deals with every aspect of life, socially, morally, spiritually and personally. A system (islam) which lies a magnitude of wisdom cannot be designed by any human being on his own accord. If a humanbeing was able to by himself create such a system, then why out of the billions of people in the world, did only Muhammed manage to establish it? There is no doubt that only Allah coud've have created something so absolute and indisputable. It's illogical to acknowledge Muhammed but not his Creator - the Lord of the Worlds.


I recommend that you read the Holy Quran with translations if you do not understand. I am sure inshaAllah, that you won't fail to recognise the Truth.

Also may I ask if you offer salah if you are in doubt of Allah's existence, na udhu billah?

I pray to Allah to guide you and banish your doubts of His Majesty. Ameen. I shall keep you in my prayers.

 

[Eric H]

Greetings and peace be with you anonymous;

There are only two choices, God the creator of the universe exists fully and totally. Or there is no god.

If God exists fully he has to be as real as the chair you sit on and as real as the house you live in. You can prove the existence of your chair and house but there is no proof that God exists.

But !!!!

If and only if god exists he has to be as real as the chair you sit on and as real as the house you live in.

If God exists he has to be the most important thing in your life because he is ultimately responsible for your creation, BUT there is no conclusive proof only evidence. If there were conclusive proof then there would probably be only one religion because we would all have the same proof and therefore believe the same.

BUT !!!

There lies the dilemma; Woodrow is absolutely sure God exists and he is a Muslim. I am absolutely sure God exists and I am a Catholic.

My bottom line above all else is that God exists, he created both me and Woodrrow and people of all other faiths. Somehow above my Christian beliefs I believe more in interfaith relations. Somehow we have to get on with each other because the same God created us all.

In the spirit of growing in faith together despite our differences.

Eric

 

[anonymous]

Ok, here goes:

1. Regarding the Heaven and Hell issue, I don't for a second doubt the ability for them to exist Physically. The doubts I have concerning Heaven and Hell, are more on the Philosophical side. e.g. How a mass murderer can attain infinite Paradise, as long as he sincerely repented before death, in contrast to a non-believer, who did good deeds all their life, never said a bad word to anyone, could go to hell for eternity, just for failing to believe in God. I mean many people don't go out of their way to research religions, they may have heard about them, but thats about it. How many of us can truly say we have studied other major religions with depth and sincerity? So why would non-believers who did good all their lives, be subject to infinite torture, just for not going further in depth, into a topic that serves of no interest to them. You could say that the Quran tells them to accept God, and gives them signs, but I'm talking about the people who have heard of Islam, know it exists, have a rough idea of what the beliefs are, but never really looked into it, at least not enough for them to give up a lifetime of beliefs.
2. Regarding the Holocaust, and other such travesties. When people are being massacred on a large scale, why aren't those peoples prayers being answered? These people are suffering, inhuman acts, injustice can be seen around the world, why wasn't a monster like Hitler stopped? Was it because he has freewill, and he was given a chance to repent? Then the question begs, that where is the opportunity of those millions who were slaughtered, to repent? Were their opportunities sacrificed so that tyrants could have theirs?

I'll leave it at that for now, once these two issues are cleared up, I'll move on

 

[Eric H]

Greetings and peace be with you anonymous;

How a mass murderer can attain infinite Paradise, as long as he sincerely repented before death, in contrast to a non-believer, who did good deeds all their life, never said a bad word to anyone, could go to hell for eternity, just for failing to believe in God.

This is probably one of the most common questions asked about Christianity also.

Anyone one who has an opinion about God could be called a theologian. It has been said that theologians reveal very little about God, rather they reveal more of what is in their own heart.

I think when we are searching for an answer we almost have to look outside our own religion. God has to be greater than the sum of all the religions in the world put together. God is eternal and has had just a few life times to ponder this question. God has to be more fair and just than you or me; and justice has to be fair to all people.

After all God created all people, and there is another niggling question to be asked.

What about the person who says ‘I didn’t ask to be created; I have been given free will so why should I be condemned to hell for not following a particular way of life that is not my choice’

There has to be a fair and just solution to this question

In the spirit of searching

Eric

 

[MinAhlilHadeeth]

Converts to any given religion (as opposed to those 'born into a religion'), have actively chosen their faith, for different, personal reasons, such as personal experiences, religious studies or divine interventions.

Hi glo.

I'm not sure if I misunderstood you, but are you implying that those who are born into a faith have not actively chosen their faith? If you are, then I have to disagree because this is not always the case. I was 'born into' Islam and I chose to follow it at the age of 13. Before that I was not praying or practicing in most ways, and if I did then it was because I was ordered to by my parents. Although I wanted to practice before that, I found it very hard! It's only when I saw the reality of this life and the beauty of Islam that things came into perspective.

I apologise if i've misunderstood.

 

[glo]

Hi glo.

I'm not sure if I misunderstood you, but are you implying that those who are born into a faith have not actively chosen their faith? If you are, then I have to disagree because this is not always the case. I was 'born into' Islam and I chose to follow it at the age of 13. Before that I was not praying or practicing in most ways, and if I did then it was because I was ordered to by my parents. Although I wanted to practice before that, I found it very hard! It's only when I saw the reality of this life and the beauty of Islam that things came into perspective.

I apologise if i've misunderstood.

You are right, Umm 'Abdullah.

As far as I understand most religions have a ceremony/official declaration, when a young person who has become old enough to make important life choices confesses his/her faith publically.
In Christianity it is called Confirmation, in Judaism Bar Mitzvah. Is there a specific name in Islam?

I did not mean to imply that people born into a faith don't have to make a conscious decision to accept it for themselves ... but I still believe that the searching and decision-making process for a non-believer to convert to a faith is more intense and possibly harder than that of somebody born into the faith.
(I hope this makes it clearer)

Peace

 

[MinAhlilHadeeth]

You are right, Umm 'Abdullah.

As far as I understand most religions have a ceremony/official declaration, when a young person who has become old enough to make important life choices confesses his/her faith publically.
In Christianity it is called Confirmation, in Judaism Bar Mitzvah. Is there a specific name in Islam?

I did not mean to imply that people born into a faith don't have to make a conscious decision to accept it for themselves ... but I still believe that the searching and decision-making process for a non-believer to convert to a faith is more intense and possibly harder than that of somebody born into the faith.
(I hope this makes it clearer)

Peace

Hi

As far as I know there is no such ceremony in Islam. But I understand where you are coming from, it's definitely harder to revert to a faith that your family don't adopt!

Peace

 

[Abdul Fattah]

Selam aleykum

Regarding the Heaven and Hell issue, I don't for a second doubt the ability for them to exist Physically. The doubts I have concerning Heaven and Hell, are more on the Philosophical side. e.g. How a mass murderer can attain infinite Paradise, as long as he sincerely repented before death, in contrast to a non-believer, who did good deeds all their life, never said a bad word to anyone, could go to hell for eternity, just for failing to believe in God. I mean many people don't go out of their way to research religions, they may have heard about them, but thats about it. How many of us can truly say we have studied other major religions with depth and sincerity? So why would non-believers who did good all their lives, be subject to infinite torture, just for not going further in depth, into a topic that serves of no interest to them. You could say that the Quran tells them to accept God, and gives them signs, but I'm talking about the people who have heard of Islam, know it exists, have a rough idea of what the beliefs are, but never really looked into it, at least not enough for them to give up a lifetime of beliefs.

Well the thing is we don't know who will be forgiven and go to heaven or who will be punished and go to hell. Every deed shall have a wight in the scales, and no one will be judged unjustly. Intentions of actions are also very important, some people may do bad things but do so out of ignorance while others do bad things because of malevolence. That's a huge difference. This, and other things all teach us that we do not have certainties. So just conveniently saying the testimony of faith right before dying doesn't give you any guarantees.

Regarding the Holocaust, and other such travesties. When people are being massacred on a large scale, why aren't those peoples prayers being answered? These people are suffering, inhuman acts, injustice can be seen around the world, why wasn't a monster like Hitler stopped? Was it because he has freewill, and he was given a chance to repent? Then the question begs, that where is the opportunity of those millions who were slaughtered, to repent? Were their opportunities sacrificed so that tyrants could have theirs?
I'll leave it at that for now, once these two issues are cleared up, I'll move on.

The most important thing here is indeed free will. Allah subhana wa ta'ala has created us with free will and has put us here on earth to test us to see what we do with that free will. So If Allah subhana wa ta'ala would stop tyrants then that would defeat the purpose of creating us with free will. It's not about giving them time to repent. They just have enough time to be tested, just as any other human being, some test (=people's lives) take longer then others. Some people have generally easy lives while others endure a lot of hardship. So the "tests" people receive might be different, but that will be taken into perspective when we are judged. Now some people score very very bad on this test, and we tend to focus mainly on the wrong answers instead of the score and henceforth judge this world as "unfair". You could compare that to different students who all get different questions on the final exam. Some students might claim the test aren't fair since some questions are easier then others; however the professor might grade the answers proportionally to the difficulties and hence keep it fair. So it's really biased to claim things are unfair before we even get the results in.
I hope this somewhat covers the basic of your questions, don't hesitate to ask follow-up questions.

Selam aleykum

 

[glo]

This has been quite an on going thing, where I've had this niggling voice in the back of my head, which has been growing louder and louder. My belief in Islam is getting less and less by the day. My problem does not lie with the Prophet Muhammed (saw), as I have no issues with his life or teachings. What I am finding hard to fathom is belief in God. Believe me I don't want to feel this way, but I need to put this to rest one way or another. I also find this whole concept of Heaven and Hell hard to grasp. So I'm asking all of my believing brothers and sisters who are firm in Islam here to help me understand Islam and attain the belief you have, because right now, it seems to me that the only reason I am muslim is because I was born one

There is a Christian writer whose books I very much admire.
What I like about his books is that they reflect his walk with God - including and especially those times when he had severe doubt and questions.

He has used his periods of doubt to search God all the more, to push harder into God's will and to deepen his own understanding and faith.
Reading his books I am learning to see those times of doubt and weak faith as opportunities to become stronger and get to know God more.

We all have times when our faith is weak. Admitting it is the first step.
Don't ever try to pretend that you are the perfect follower of God, because you are not ... nobody is!

Peace

 

[snakelegs]

anonymous,
you have raised some valid questions - stuff i've thought about as well.
i don't know if this is acceptable in islam but i would say that there are many questions we simply do not know the answers to. this does not mean that god doesn't exist - just that our understanding is limited.

 

[- Qatada -]

:wasalamex

Ok, here goes:

1. Regarding the Heaven and Hell issue, I don't for a second doubt the ability for them to exist Physically. The doubts I have concerning Heaven and Hell, are more on the Philosophical side. e.g. How a mass murderer can attain infinite Paradise, as long as he sincerely repented before death, in contrast to a non-believer, who did good deeds all their life, never said a bad word to anyone, could go to hell for eternity, just for failing to believe in God. I mean many people don't go out of their way to research religions, they may have heard about them, but thats about it. How many of us can truly say we have studied other major religions with depth and sincerity? So why would non-believers who did good all their lives, be subject to infinite torture, just for not going further in depth, into a topic that serves of no interest to them. You could say that the Quran tells them to accept God, and gives them signs, but I'm talking about the people who have heard of Islam, know it exists, have a rough idea of what the beliefs are, but never really looked into it, at least not enough for them to give up a lifetime of beliefs.

I think you need to realise that Allaah will guide anyone who is sincere in searching for the truth. We know this in the example of Waraqa ibn Nawfil - the uncle of Khadija, the wife of the Messenger of Allaah (peace be upon him.) Who when young would go out with his companions to search for the religion of truth, they knew that all the other ways of life never made sense. They knew that the polytheists way of life wasn't right. Allaah also gives us fitrah [a natural inclination] to believe in One God, and to do good, stay away from evil etc.

This [following] Hadith was also collected by At-Tirmidhi who said that it is Hasan Gharib.


Also, when Zayd bin `Amr bin Nufayl went with some of his friends - before Islam - to Ash-Sham seeking the true religion, the Jews said to him, "You will not become a Jew unless you carry a share of the anger of Allah that we have earned.'' He said, "I am seeking to escape Allah's anger.'' Also, the Christians said to him, "If you become one of us you will carry a share in Allah's discontent.'' He said, "I cannot bear it.'' So he remained in his pure nature and avoided worshipping the idols and the polytheistic practices. He became neither a Jew, nor Christian. As for his companions, they became Christians because they found it more pure than Judaism. Waraqah bin Nawfal was among these people until Allah guided him by the hand of His Prophet, when he was sent as Prophet, and Waraqah believed in the revelation that was sent to the Prophet may Allah be pleased with him.



Tafsir Ibn Kathir

​

Allaah has given us all a long enough life to try to search for the truth, and we know that if someone finds it and accepts it, Allaah will remove all their past sins, out of His Mercy. We also know that the people who are good, if they search for the truth - their traits will fit in with the fitrah and teachings of islaam, so it should be easier for these people to actually accept islaam than people who are indulging in sins without no regret.


Now we also know that everyone has an intention when doing any act. Some people when doing some act of good might do it for respect, some people might do it for money, some might do it for their idols/deities. In islaam, whenever we do any action - we do it to please Allaah.

There may be people who do actions to please God, but at the same time doing it maybe to gain honor, or money, or for Jesus (peace be upon him) etc. However in the sight of Allaah, for any act of worship to be accepted - it has to be done sincerely for the sake of Allaah Alone. We do this act of worship in order to gain Allaah's Mercy so that He may allow us to enter His paradise. This has been explained by the Messenger of Allaah (peace be upon him) himself, when he said that he could only enter paradise through Allaah's Mercy too.



What does this mean?

It mean's that anyone who's been really good in this life, if they never did an act to please Allaah. They won't gain their reward from Allaah, rather on the day of judgement Allaah will tell this person to get their reward from the one they did the act for. So if they performed a good deed in order to please Jesus (peace be upon him), they will have to get their reward from him, which obviously they won't be able to. Because the only reward on that day will be from Allaah. The same can be said about the people who did acts for the sake of their stone idols etc.

Those who did good in this world like said earlier had intentions when doing an act, some did it for honor while others did it for money etc. Like mentioned earlier. Now because these people did it for those specific reasons, due to Allaah's justice - He will actually allow these people to have what they wanted. So maybe Ghandi had the intention of uniting people in peace, but at the same time he probably wanted to get famous, get attention. He got that, but did he die as a believer? Did he actually do these acts for the sake of Allaah Alone? If no - then he got that respect which he wanted, and if he rejected the hereafter - then he doesn't get no share of it.



What about those who believe and do good to please Allaah Alone?


On the day of judgement, everyone will get the reward off the one they did the act of worship for. There may have been believers who did many sins, and they may get punished for these sins in the hellfire for a temporarily while. They may have done acts to please others besides Allaah, and they may be liable to the punishment of Allaah or gain Allaah's Mercy.

But what if, what if they did one act of worship sincerely for the sake of Allaah Alone? What if this deed was salaah [the 5 daily prayers] for example? Now because they did this deed sincerely for the sake of Allaah Alone, with no associates attatched - who would they get their reward off? If they've been punished for their sins for a temporary amount of time in the hellfire, and Allaah accepted this deed off them - they will get the reward off Him, the Almighty right? Because they never did it for no-one besides Allaah. Even if they did an atoms weight of good, it will not be ignored by Allaah and He will reward them for it inshaa'Allaah.



Now this person did this act of worship for Allaah Alone, so He never associated partners [i.e. idols, other humans, philosophies etc.] with Allaah. He did it in order to please Allaah Alone. And obviously this act of worship has to be done according to the way of the Messenger of Allaah to be accepted. So if this is accepted by Allaah, this person's reward is with Him. Whereas those who didn't do anything for the sake of Allaah Alone, and never believed in Allaah and His signs, then they don't have anything left for them of the hereafter.



And Allaah Almighty knows best.


PS: Sorry if this was long.

1. Regarding the Holocaust, and other such travesties. When people are being massacred on a large scale, why aren't those peoples prayers being answered? These people are suffering, inhuman acts, injustice can be seen around the world, why wasn't a monster like Hitler stopped? Was it because he has freewill, and he was given a chance to repent? Then the question begs, that where is the opportunity of those millions who were slaughtered, to repent? Were their opportunities sacrificed so that tyrants could have theirs?

I'll leave it at that for now, once these two issues are cleared up, I'll move on

First of all, i think one of the main reasons why these jews were massacred according to history was because they started lending money out to the germans, and along with that they used interest/usury to get extra money from these people.

Now we know that according to the jewish scriptures, riba/usury was prohibited. The same way its prohibited in the ummah of Muhammad, the Messenger of Allaah (peace be upon him.) But the jews now say that it is only forbidden to deal with riba for jews, and not for non jews. So they dealt with these germans in riba.


We also know that Allaah has said in a hadith qudsi and in qur'an that Allaah wages war against two types of people; People who wage war against Allaah's awliya [friends, supporters etc.] and those people who deal in riba. [Qur'an 2:279]


Due to the fact that these people dealed in riba, the truth may have been clear to them, but they turned away from it anyway and carried on in their sin. If Allaah's forbidden it, then why are they still continuing? Due to the truth being apparent - but them turning away, Allaah may have humiliated them and this may have been one of the reasons for this holocaust. And Allaah knows best if this is true or not.



Also remember that Allaah only destroys a nation once they reject the truth after a warner has been sent to them. That is Allaah's sunnah [way.] And Allaah isn't unjust to any of His servants. The tyrant may have done alot of injustice, but he will be responsible for it and hold an even more heavier burden on the day of ressurection, unless he/she repents and change their ways - according to Allaah and His messenger's.


So what we realise is that a nation is destroyed only once Allaah has sent a warner, and if the people reject this warner. These people only turn away from this warner because of their sin, like we know from many stories in Qur'an of the previous prophets.

The tyrant is humiliated too, in this world and the hereafter.



Allaah isn't unjust to any of His servants. And may He forgive us on our wrongdoings and mistakes. ameen.



Allaah Almighty knows best.



:salamext:
​