Signs of Weak Faith and Ways to Increase Your Faith

The most important thing that a religion requires from a follower is firm belief. There is no religion in the world that wants its followers to be skeptic about the instructions of the religion and not follow it. Every religion wants the followers to be strong believers and act upon the commandments of the religion wholeheartedly.

When a person does not follow the basic commandments of the religion, he or she exhibits the weakness of the faith. The weaker the faith gets the more a person deviates from the path of religion. Islam also commends its followers to pay proper attention to the elements of faith and not weaken the faith by staying oblivious or ignorant of them. Today, The QuranTutor.com has made this post highlighting some major signs that represent the weak faith of a Muslim and how should a Muslim recuperate from them.

Being Boastful Of Sins:

Being human makes us prone to sins. In our lives we all commit sins sometimes they are intentional and sometimes they happen without any intention. Regardless of whatever the nature of the sins is, a person is to ask forgiveness from Allah Almighty. However, at present people are boastful of their sins and the sins for which they should seek forgiveness they boast about it in people. Regarding it Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said in His hadith:

“All of my followers will be forgiven except those who commit sins openly. Such is the case of a man commits a sin at night and Allah had his sin concealed till the morning comes. But, he says openly; ‘O so and so, I did such and such yesterday’. Allah had covered his sin, but he uncovered the veil of Allah from it.” (Bukhari)

From the hadith it is clear that all those who commit sins will eventually be forgiven, however, those who boast about their sins when Allah had covered them would not be forgiven. Therefore, being boastful about sins shows lack of faith and a Muslim should avoid it by keeping quiet on if the sin is committed and seeking forgiveness from Allah.

Worshipping Without Intention:

Whether it is Salah, fasting or any other form of worship, they all require intention. If the intention of worshiping Allah Almighty is not there, then all that is left is just exercise and a person receives minimal reward for it. Moreover, not giving proper attention to worshiping means that a person does not realize the importance of the act that is for the praise of Allah Almighty. Such type of attitude towards worshiping and prayers is what represents the weak faith of a Muslim.  Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said in a hadith:

“Allah does not accept the supplication from an inattentive, heedless heart.” (Tirmidhi)

Therefore, If a Muslim wishes to get the supplications accepted and perform worship in the right spirit then he or she needs to give the full attention of mind and heart to the act of worshiping undertaken.

Not Befriending People:

Man is a social animal and in order to be happy and move on in the society, a man needs to interact with people other than his or her family as well. Among the people he or she interacts, there are some who grow closer to the person and are qualified as friends. Being friends with people is one of the recommended acts in Islam, and if a person does not make friends or no one likes to be his or her friend, then it shows the lack of goodness or faith in that person. As Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said in one of His hadith about a believer:

“He makes friends and is befriended and there is no goodness in (one who)does not make friends or is not befriended.” (Tirmidhi)

Therefore, having friends shows the goodness there is in a person and the presence of goodness means the presence of faith. Hence, one should not take pride in not having friends, rather with the goodness in character one must make friends.

Pretentious Prayers:

Offering prayers out of humility and with the intention of worshiping Allah Almighty brings countless reward to a person and has profound implication on the soul of the person. However, when the prayers are not offered in this spirit, then all that is left of them is movement of body and exhibition for the people watching. Prayers undertaken with such a mood and intentions do not represent the remembrance of Allah but they show negligence from it. As Allah Almighty says in the ayah of Quran:

“And when they stand up to pray, they stand with laziness and to be seen of men, and they do not remember Allah but little.” (4:142)

Therefore, a Muslim must never take the prayers lightly and do them so that other people could see and praise him or her for the prayer. This comes under hypocrisy, which is definitely not one of the strong aspects of faith. Ergo, prayers should never be done for praise and affirmation of other people.

Arrogance:

Without any doubt, arrogance is something that is not liked by anyone in a society. Therefore, it seems quite ridiculous that someone would encourage it, let alone a religion like Islam. When a person is arrogant, it means that he or she thinks of himself better than others and thinks that he or she can treat others the way they want to treat them. Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said in a hadith:

“The one who is pleased that the slaves of Allah stand up for him, then let him be assured of his place in the Fire.” (Bukhari)

In the world of today, a person is qualified as arrogant if he or she thinks little of others and treats them in the same way. Condescending on others and patronizing them are the traits associated with arrogance. However, if one considers the aforementioned hadith, from it the fact is clear that even having the thought in mind or taking pleasure from people standing up for a person is a sign of person going to fire, meaning that it resembles arrogance. Therefore, if a religion detests any feeling that could lead to arrogance to such an extent, then the ordinary definitions of arrogance are definitely condemned in Islam and show the weak faith of a person. At another place, Prophet (PBUH) said:

“Let not a man make another one stand for him then sit in his place.” (Bukhari)

Therefore, a Muslim is to avoid even the slightest inclinations of arrogance and stay away from them by adopting the abode of humility. Being humble is the only counter to arrogance and one can achieve humility if one thinks of others as equals and realize that Allah is the only Supreme and arrogance only belongs to Him.

Conclusion:

In short, no one wants to be a person of faith yet have a weaker faith. Therefore, it is imperative that a Muslim mends his or her actions and try performing them with the right intentions in the right way so that they resemble and represent someone with a stronger faith.