Faith (Iman)

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I am 30 years old, not good-looking, and I don't have a stable career. I don't wish to delay marriage and want to complete half my faith but most importantly I am in fear of falling into sin. What should I do?

Amina Inloes, Amina Inloes is originally from the US and has a PhD in Islamic Studies from the University of Exeter on Shi'a hadith. She is the program leader for the MA Islamic Studies program at the... Answered 1 month ago

Inshallah you will find someone. As they say, there is somebody for everybody.

Attraction is somewhat different from conventional standards of beauty or handsomeness; sometimes two people like each other even if they don't fit society's definition of what is attractive. And, of course, different people have different ideas of what they find attractive in a mate. So, I am sure you have some features or qualities which are appealing!

And, of course, not everyone is looking primarily at physical appearance; some people value inner qualities such as compassion, helpfulness, reliability, and other things; or they admire other skills such as artistic skill, intellect, sports skill, charitable work, good conversation, or whatever. This is, of course, apart from religiosity.

If you really feel you are not physically appealing, then maybe it is good to focus on demonstrating the other personal qualities you have to offer, and this could make you look good in the other person's eyes. Most people would much prefer to be with someone who genuinely demonstrates they will look after them and be there for them or other demonstrations of good character (such as helping others) rather than someone who just looks good.

If you are male, you could consider that a lot of women don't look primarily at physical appearance especially if they are looking to settle down and have a stable life. If you need to convince the family, certainly most women's families couldn't care less what the man looks like. At the end of the day, physical appearance waxes and wanes, but a person's character remains.

As for career, do your best (and these are difficult times). But also remember that, these days, depending on where you live, there isn't always a social expectation that the man will be the sole provider (even if he is obliged to be by shariah). Also, as women get older, if they are single, they are more likely to have a career and income. So, this might become less important if you look to marry someone in a slightly older age bracket. Inshallah Allah will enrich you upon marriage, as the Qur'an says.

In my observation, the main factors for people getting married and staying married are not handsomeness/beauty and wealth, but, rather, having a good set of family values and a strong sense of commitment, as well as maintaining strong social ties with others. (This is somewhat counter to what people think.)

Put differently, most people who genuinely want to get married, do get married.

Often, when people don't get married, there is sometimes some underlying reason; for instance, they aren't really wanting commitment, they are unable to make up their mind, or there is something else pushing a potential spouse away (apart from financial reasons). So if you know someone who has good insight into human beings, you could ask the if there is anything that you might change in how you are looking for a spouse or how you are interacting with potential spouses or their families.

Of course, there could be nothing for them to say and it could simply be a matter of circumstances or simply not being the right time for you.

Anyway, inshallah, will do duas for your finding a good spouse. Continue to ask Allah especially on laylat al qadr and Allah is shy to reject duas!

Marriage . Fear . Sin . Faith (Iman)

Sayyed Mohammad Al-Musawi, Sayyed Mohammad al-Musawi is originally from Iraq and heads up the World Ahlul Bayt Islamic League in London. Other than being involved in various humanitarian projects, he frequently responds to... Answered 1 month ago

You should try your best to get married with a suitable believer as soon as possible. Outer looking is not important nor financial situation as far as faith and morals are nice.

Marriage itself opens gates of income as we read in the Hadeeth: Get married for more income, surely marriage brings blessings in income. تزوّجوا للرزق فإن فيهن بركة.

Keep on repeating Salawaat and Istighfaar and reciting the verse: إنّ هذا لَرِزقُنا ما له مِن نَفاد Sura 38, verse 54.

Wassalam .

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God (Allah) . Faith (Iman) . Imam Ali

Imam Ali (a) said about Allah’s existence that he did not see Him with his eyes but with the realities of faith. What is meant by that and how can we see Allah in such a manner?

1. Imam Ali (AS) has the maximum and highest level of intellect after the Prophet Muhammad (SAWA), that is why his faith in Allah is the maximum after the Prophet (SAWA). The Hadeeth stated that the Prophet Muhammad (SAWA) told Ali (AS): O Ali, no one Knew Allah (properly) but myself and you.
2. Seeing Allah by eyes is impossible because He is above all senses and He can never be confined or limited to any sense. Allah is The Creator of all senses and whatever can be sensed and whatever can not be sensed.
3. Proper Intellect leads us to the fact that lot of things in the existence are comprehended and known by intellect and reason not by materialistic senses.
4. Realities of Faith in Allah (SWT) are in each and every thing in this universe, but many people don't see it because of their indulging in darkness of sins which disable their intellectual abilities. When the heart is clean from sins, mind is transparent and more able to see the realities which are behind the outer senses. These realities lead the human being to the absolute Truth of Allah.

5. Realities of faith are for every believer according to his degree in the purity of heart and proper thinking. More purity in heart leads to more proper thinking which in turn leads to discovering more realities of faith.

6. The Faith in Allah is the faith in the greatest Truth in the universe. Proper intellect can never deviate from clear facts, what about the greatest Fact. Faith in Allah increases by proper thinking which leads to comprehending more realities of faith.

Wassalam.

God (Allah) . Faith (Iman) . Imam Ali

Imam Ali (a) said about Allah’s existence that he did not see Him with his eyes but with the realities of faith. What is meant by that and how can we see Allah in such a manner?

Zoheir Ali Esmail, Shaykh Zoheir Ali Esmail has a Bsc in Accounting and Finance from the LSE in London, and an MA in Islamic Studies from Middlesex University. He studied Arabic at Damascus University and holds a PhD... Answered 2 months ago

Bismillah

Thank you for your question. What is being referred to in this hadith is perhaps along these lines: Physical beings are senses with the physical senses and since Allah is not confined to matter and doesn't have a material form He cannot be seen with the physical eyes. But the human is endowed with senses that are capable of comprehending the metaphysical. In order to make use of them a person cannot be in doubt of their existence. The realities of faith are sensed with these senses and this is the field of religious experience. God is seen through the veil of His Perfections deep within the being of a human.

May you always be successful

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Heart . Faith (Iman) . Death

Can the religious faith of a person become so low that it dies or leaves a person's heart?

It depends on the state of the heart and the love of Allah in the heart. There are faithful persons living the love of Allah in their hearts more than loving anything or anyone else, so they enjoy this love and get ample of blessings and bounties from the love of Allah. Love of Allah makes them always remember Him, obey Him and be with Him.
On the other hand, there are persons who forget Allah and ultimately forget themselves as we read in Quran about the sinners: They forgot Allah, so He let them forget themselves, those are the disobedient) (Sura 59, verse 19).

Faith in the heart can be healthy and it can be ill. Healthy faith can be more healthy (Allah grants more guidance for the guided believers)(Sura 47, verse 17). Unhealthily hearts in faith are caused from wrong thinking, following the evil desires and following Satan. Those who opt to ignore remembering Allah, and insist on turning their face from Allah will be joined by Satan to make them more blind and make their life more miserable.(Whosoever turns his face from remembering Me, his life will difficult and We will raise him up blind on the Day of Resurrection) (Sura 20, verse 124).

Remembering Allah and thinking about His countless bounties on us help us a lot to have a better life with strength and peace of mind. Repeating Estighfaar (Seeking forgiveness) and repeating Salawaat is very useful in gaining peace of mind and spirit.
Sinful acts leave blots on the heart which can be removed by sincere seeking forgiveness, but those who don't seek forgiveness will lose the light in their heart as they commit more sins till their heart can be blotted by their sins.

'We always need to seek from Allah to keep us on the right path and never let us deviate.(Our Lord, Let not our hearts deviate after You Have guided us, and grant us mercy from You, truly You are The Bestower) (Sura 3, verse 8).

Wassalam.

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Salah (Prayers) . Qur'an . Faith (Iman) . Yazid b. Mu'awiya . Huffaz

We often hear that the army of Yazid had people who prayed regularly and had memorised the Quran. Why did the faith of such people not get corrected since we hear that Namaz is a mentor that corrects faults within us?

Some Muslims pray but with out understanding the message of Prayers and don't obey the Prophet (SAWA), like the Kharijites of that time and ISIS of today.

Real Prayer which purifies us is performed with humble obedience of Allah (SWT) and the Prophet (SAWA) and Ahlul Bayt (AS).

Wassalam.

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Narrations . Imamah . Meaning . Faith (Iman) . Taqiyya (Dissimulation)

What do the Imams mean by the prohibition against divulging their secrets that is mentioned in certain narrations? What is exactly meant by concealing faith?

My understanding of this is that it is with respect to spiritual matters, particularly the spiritual position of Ahl al-Bayt (A) in that if some people who did not have an understanding of this heard some people talking about it openly, they might react negatively due to ignorance.

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Faith (Iman)

What can one do to assure and strengthen their faith so that they always stay Muslim?

Two suggestions are:

* Qur'anic du'as, such as Qur'an 3:8.

* Spending time with believers (that is, Muslims who appear to have genuine faith and demonstrate good character, and who conduct themselves in a way that embodies the values of the Qur'an) and prioritizing living in an area with a strong and healthy Muslim community - ideally, somewhere where one can attend congregational prayers often. We become like those whom we spend time with.

I am sure there are some other good suggestions that will be mentioned too.

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Wife . Husband . Sunni-Shi'a . Faith (Iman) . Children

If a wife is Shia and husband is not Shia and she cannot practice her faith in front of him and is unable to teach Shia faith to her kids, will she be held accountable on the day of Judgment for not teaching her kids the correct path? What can she do?

Every Muslim is responsible to teach his/her children the True Faith in Allah, the Prophet (SAWA) and Ahlul Bayt (AS). Shia wife must do whatever she can to teach her kids the Truth about Islam of the Prophet Muhammad (SAWA) and Ahlul Bayt (AS). Allah knows her abilities and she must use all her abilities in this regard.

'Wassalam.

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Heaven . Faith (Iman) . God (Allah)

I lost my faith in religion but I still pray 5 times a day and fast. I want to know whether I will go to heaven or not? And how can I regain my faith and believe in Allah (swt)?

When you pray all the obligatory Prayers and fast the month of Ramadan, it means that you definitely have faith in Allah in your heart. You might have had some doubts or wrong thoughts which are not been dealt with properly and not been cleared yet. Such thoughts might make you think that you lost your faith in religion but in fact you did not.
These are few important points which usually help in similar cases:

1. Be very frank with your doubts and never suppress any question but face it and discuss it by evidence, reason and logic taken from authentic knowledgeable scholars.

2. Don't fear any question and have self confidence that you will find the real answers in the book of Allah and the sayings of the Prophet (SAWA) and his holy Progeny Ahlul Bayt (AS).

3. Seek more guided knowledge from authentic sincere scholars (Ulama) who have experience in similar cases of doubts and questions.

4. Recite Quran with voice which you can hear and try to understand and ponder on its meanings.

5. Recite the sayings of the Prophet and Ahlul Bayt especially in Nahjul Balagha on the subjects of your question. No doubt, the wisdom of the Prophet and Ahlul Bayt (AS) is the best wisdom for any human being who seeks the truth.

'Wassalam

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Life . Hereafter . Faith (Iman) . Tribulation

Is it true that the more faith someone has the more God afflicts him with trials and hardships? And is it true that the more one struggles in this life the more reward one will receive in the hereafter?

The believers are purified by hardships and tests to remove their errors and raise their degrees in Paradise. The Hadeeth says: More tests come with more faith كلما زيد في ايمانه زيد في بلائه

More hardships and tests make the believer more remembering Allah and seeking His help and avoid the believer the feeling of pride or arrogance.

There are many Hadeeths that the the believer who struggles in this life for noble cause, will be more rewarded in the hereafter. We read in Quran: Those who face the hardships with patience (Sabr) for the sake of Allah will have countless reward (Sura 39, verse 10).

We also have Hadeeths that the status of Sabr ( patience) from Faith is like the status of the head from the body.

Wassalam.

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Islam . Faith (Iman)

Does Islam require blind faith?

Not at all. Blind faith with out evidence is not accepted in Islam.

Wassalam.