Omar Suleiman - Faith Revival

Assalamualaikum.

http://productivemuslim.com/6-steps-to-get-closer-to-allah/

I've been listening to this site's audios - https://www.muslimcentral.com/playlists/

Omar Suleiman

Faith Revival audio - How to renew your iman

1.      Ask Allah swt to renew your faith

Faith wears out in your heart the way garments wear out. It’s natural that your iman goes up and down. Iman is faith that settles your heart.

2.      Protect your tongue

Tongue needs to speak in a faithful manner. Whoever believes in Allah and the last day, speak well or be quiet. A person who sins frequently with the tongue, is reckless with the tongue. A person cannot be pure if they constantly commit sin with the tongue. You cannot have faith settle in your heart when you cannot settle your tongue with faith. Allah will not build iman in a heart with a sinful tongue. Tongue is the medium where we commit sin. When you speak, ask yourself, how is this going to affect my heart and my iman. Is it not with the remembrance of Allah that the heart finds tranquillity?

3.      Avoid major sins at all costs! Do not insist on minor sins

Destructive sins, should not do even in your lowest of imans. When a man commits zina, Allah removes the roof above him in his iman. Until he stops committing that act and repents to Allah, He will put the roof back. A person does not commit adultery, steals, drink alcohol, kills while he is a believer. In the moment of those deeds, the person is devoid of faith – iman leaves him (temporary departure). They are worshipping their own desires. a believer cannot be a liar. A person’s belief is sound so long as he doesn’t murder. Not all sins are equal especially when it affects our faith. You do not want death to come to you when you are in that state – as a disbeliever – you don’t want to meet Allah at that state. Stay away from major sins and do not insist on the minor sins, even at our lowest imans. Repent immediately, do not leave this world without repenting.

4.      Have a good opinion of Allah (He is Exceeding Merciful, and Most Forgiving)

Allah forgives all sins as long as you do not insist on them. Even if you commit zina and steal. As long as you repent and say to Allah ‘la illah ha ilallah’. Story of the murderer (100 murders). “O my servants who transgress against themselves, don’t despair from the mercy of Allah. Allah forgives all sins. You need to turn back to the path of Allah.” As long as you disperse from your previous sinful path. Whoever has an Adam’s worth of faith of your heart. Syaitan tries to get us to think that you are doomed just because you have a low iman. Die in the state of repentance.

5.      Set realistic standards in your good deeds and MAINTAIN your obligations to Allah (5 pillars)

How is your spiritual heart beating? Imagine a line graph. It doesn’t die. There are healthy fluctuations of faith for every human being, even for the Prophet’s sahabah. When you’re not in the good environment, don’t undo the good deeds that you’ve done in those good environments (eg, in the masjid compared to when at a public mall). “Do not be like the woman who undid her knot after it was strong.” Don’t be like the woman with your oaths to Allah, to other people. Don’t undo your good deeds when you’re not in your optimal condition. Sometimes, you set unrealistic standards for yourself. And dive in at one time to get close to Allah swt. It will collapse if you’re not building on a strong foundation.

Iman is meant to be settled, cannot be crazy like completely doing major sins at one time and then doing all obligations and good deeds at another point in life. (all the good deeds will perish from the major sins you’ve done). Every action has its peak and every peak has its low point. Our peak has to be reasonable and focus on the low points (prevent yourself from the crash). What is between belief and disbelief is the prayer. Never not pray your obligatory prayers. Allah will not punish you for not doing good deeds, but will punish if you don’t perform your obligations (5 pillars). Don’t ever underestimate that your 5 prayers are important. Never allow your crashing point undo all the good you’ve done. Maintain steadiness.

6.      Be vigilant against major sins, even if you think you’re far from it.

Humans are not like angels who don’t have free will. Unlike the angels, we can fall. We are not secured from our desires. no matter how high we reach, we have to worry about our iman. Fear for yourself, that you may fall into sins. No one fears hypocrisy except for a believer and no one feels safe from it except a hypocrisy. “Oh Allah, protect me from hypocrisy, drinking alcohol or committing adultery.” “Verily, a man is snatched away from his religion in a moment and it escapes.” Iman can leave you in a moment, when we become complacent. Not being paranoid with our iman but we are being vigilant and feel overly protective with our iman. The more we fear hypocrisy, the more we are protected from it.

7.      Take the time to continuously settle your heart

The very vessel that holds your iman (the heart) is always inconsistent, in movement. The person has to keep it still with iman. Iman settles the heart, but the heart is always moving so you need to keep filling it with iman. Take time to internalize your faith, learn slowly (gain knowledge, understand it, apply it and only then, move on) slowly stabilize the heart rather than taking in too much. Iman grows gradually, and you need to keep your heart consistent.

The most frequent supplication of the Prophet saw: “Oh, Turner of hearts, make my heart firm on your path.” Even the Prophet saw feared hypocrisy. Another dua “O Director of hearts, direct my heart to your good deeds.

8.     How much am I doing to guard my iman?

Your iman can never be too much, it just needs to be consistent. Some iman is deep in their hearts where others cannot see. Just like how a garment protects the body from harm, the iman / your deen protects your heart from the punishment from the Hellfire. Distinguish between truth and falsehood, and safeguard your faith. 

9.      When Allah calls you, act immediately

When you spend too much time after Allah gives you opportunities, act immediately so that syaitan cannot intervene with your thoughts and cause your heart to harden. Think about the wake up calls, catalyst moments that Allah sends to you (saved you from something bad). Capitalize from what Allah already has given you. Do not let time pass and your heart to harden. "Even the worse disbelievers, if they find themselves in darkness, will call themselves to Allah." Anyone in that state of desperation can call upon Allah when He sends them those moments. "Isn't it time for those who believe to soften their hearts to the truth that has been revealed?" There are major moments that Allah invites us to wake up/ re-establish your connection with Him. Jump into those opportunities so that your heart will soften. Commit yourself to Allah. If you don't act with immediacy, time will pass, you'll go back to your heedlessness and your heart will be harder and it will be more difficult for the next opportunity to work.

10.      Catch yourself when committing sins, picture yourself facing Allah s.w.t. on Judgement Day and stop yourself immediately

Just as a believer is about to commit a sin, when Allah’s name is mentioned, their hearts shake. The believer, just as he is about to commit a sin, he remembers his standing in front of Allah swt, he turns away from the sin, he says astarghfirullah (seeks refuge in the words of Allah swt and his faith is increased) and repents due to fear of Allah. As soon as you remember Allah, stop. Don’t say you’re already halfway through, let me finish this sin then repent afterwards. Right away, Stop! When syaitan whispers, remember Allah. Catch yourself. Place yourself in front of Allah like on Judgement Day. Remember Allah’s sight on you as if you are right in front facing him. Believers can’t stop sinning, but we can change our attitude towards sins. Humble. How can I take my iman at risk for the sake of that temporary pleasure? To replace, do a good deed instead of doing the bad deed (sin), or even thinking of doing a sin. Replace what would have been a sin, with a good deed (eg, reading the Quran). Faith increases with obedience and decreases with disobedience.

11.      Have faith in Allah first, then seek guidance (Iman, then hidayah)

‘roosh’ is a more intensified form of hidayah. Guiding every action you do. Is your heart willing to take the steps in surrender to Allah swt?

12.      Feeling guilty for having that doubt

Syaitan is always going to whisper. You don’t want that whisper to turn into actions. “we hate thinking about these things. And would never want these thinking to turn into actions” All praises is due to Allah to reduce syaitan’s plans to whispers. Don’t worry about your thoughts, as long as you fear Allah and deal with the thoughts with remembrance of Allah.

13.       

Intellectually, increasing yourself with knowledge increases your faith. It is ok to ask questions. “I do have iman but I wish to further deepen my iman.” – Prophet Ibrahim as

When our faith is challenged, say “Allah is sufficient for us, and He is the best disposer of our affairs.”- Nabi Ibrahim as said when he was about to enter the fire

14.       

What is the most dangerous threat to your iman? There is nothing more dangerous to a person’s faith than two hungry wolves that go into a flock of sheep. The wolves represent the love of wealth and the love of fame. It will make you start having expectations on those things, resorting to unethical behaviour and being lead to being away from Allah.

Prevention?

a.      Charity. Every time you earn. Make it routine.

b.      Not be extravagant. Need or want?

c.       If you have the comfort of something, don’t be in that luxury often so that you will appreciate it more (eg. Don’t always sleep in your comfy bed, don’t always eat good food.)

Never pursue something for the sight of the people (it is a hidden shirk). You turn them into gods by acting for pleasure of their sight. A person has to make the sight of Allah more that the sight of others. Forget about being famous on the people.

15.       

Poverty may lead to disbelief. Poverty is a difficult test to a person’s iman. In poverty, you may do things that will harm your faith. When a person is in debt, he may tell lies and do crimes and this may lead to disbelief. If a person is forced into poverty (not self-afflicted!), seek refuge in Allah: “Oh Allah, I seek refuge in you from disbelief and poverty.” “and I seek refuge on you from the torment of the grave.”

Society’s responsibility to eradicating poverty, not the individual. (just like da’wah, educating people about Islam for those who do not know) Not one of you believe and sleeps at night while your neighbour goes hungry.

16.       

Faith and envy (the bad kind where you want the other person to fall) cannot co-exist in your heart

Stinginess and faith cannot co-exist in your heart

Aka. Wanting something of this world and wishing harm on them.

Prevention?

For envy - When you see something that someone else has, make dua for them that Allah swt keeps that blessing for them. Disconnect yourself from it, don’t keep looking at it.

For stinginess - If you are the one who has the wealth, if you hold back, that is syaitan’s doing. Just give it away.

17.       

You will not taste the reality of faith until you understand that the one (situation) that comes to you was not meant to have missed you, and the one (situation) that does not come to you was meant to miss you.”

It is so easy to talk about faith when you’re not parched. Faith is put to the test when you get hit with something of divine decree that you were not expecting. Someone of real iman can respond to the test.

Starts with knowledge.

Never start with “if”, like “if I had done this… etc”. come to realise that even if you did all those things, your situation will still happen regardless. My circumstances are beyond my control. All of this has already been written, only Allah knows.

18.       

Taste the sweetness of faith.

a.      Love someone purely for the sake of Allah swt.

b.      Allah and His messenger are more beloved to me above ALL else

·       They would hate to return into disbelief (back to placing importance in worldly things) more so than being thrown into a fire

c.       Your iman is more precious to you than the love of worldly things

“we are living in happiness and the sweetness of iman.”