What are the hindrances to faith and what promotes it?
Praise
be to Allah
Firstly:
There are many
things that promote faith, of which we will mention the following:
1.
Knowledge
Allah, may He be
exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning):
“But
those firm in knowledge among them and the believers believe in what has
been revealed to you, [O Muhammad], and what was revealed before you”
[an-Nisa’ 4:162].
2.
Accepting the truth and not being arrogant
Allah, may He be
exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning):
“That home of
the Hereafter We assign to those who do not desire exaltedness upon the
earth or corruption. And the [best] outcome is for the righteous”
[al-Qasas 28:83].
3.
Reflecting upon the signs of Allah in the universe
Allah, may He be
exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning):
“Indeed, in the
creation of the heavens and the earth and the alternation of the night and
the day are signs for those of understanding”
[Aal ‘Imraan
3:190].
4.
Thinking of and reflecting upon the fate of the disbelievers
Allah, may He be
exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning):
“So
have they not traveled through the earth and have hearts by which to reason
and ears by which to hear?”
[al-Hajj 22:46].
5.
Pondering and reflecting upon the Book of Allah and its
verses
Allah, may He be
exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning):
“[This is] a
blessed Book which We have revealed to you, [O Muhammad], that they might
reflect upon its verses and that those of understanding would be reminded”
[Saad 38:29].
6.
Not following whims and desires
Allah, may He be
exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning):
“So to that
[religion of Allah ] invite, [O Muhammad], and remain on a right course as
you are commanded and do not follow their inclinations but say, “I have
believed in what Allah has revealed of the Qur’an”
[ash-Shoora
42:15]
“Then We put
you, [O Muhammad], on an ordained way concerning the matter [of religion];
so follow it and do not follow the inclinations of those who do not know”
[al-Jaathiyah
45:18].
7.
Keeping company with people of faith and not keeping company
with disbelievers and sinners
Allah, may He be
exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning):
“And the Day the
wrongdoer will bite on his hands [in regret] he will say, ‘Oh, I wish I had
taken with the Messenger a way.
‘Oh, woe to me!
I wish I had not taken that one as a friend.
‘He led me away
from the remembrance after it had come to me. And ever is Satan, to man, a
deserter’”
[al-Furqaan
25:27-29]
8.
Using sound reasoning
Allah, may He be
exalted says (interpretation of the meaning):
“And they will
say, ‘If only we had been listening or reasoning, we would not be among the
companions of the Blaze’”
[al-Mulk 67:10].
9.
Loving righteousness and hating disbelief and sin
Allah, may He be
exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning):
“but Allah has
endeared to you the faith and has made it pleasing in your hearts and has
made hateful to you disbelief, defiance and disobedience. Those are the
[rightly] guided”
[al-Hujuraat
49:7].
10. The
most important cause of promoting faith is the will of Allah, may He be
glorified and exalted, and His decreeing good for His slave
Allah, may He be
exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning):
“And Allah
invites to the Home of Peace and guides whom He wills to a straight path”
[Yoonus 10:25].
Secondly:
The hindrances
to faith are many, including the following:
1.
Ignorance, and not abiding by the sublime teachings of faith
Allah, may He be
exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning):
“Rather, they
have denied that which they encompass not in knowledge and whose
interpretation has not yet come to them. Thus did those before them deny.
Then observe how was the end of the wrongdoers”
[Yoonus 10:39]
“But most of
them are ignorant (towards the Message)”
[al-An‘aam
6:111]
“but most of
them do not know”
[al-An‘aam 6:37].
2.
Envy and rancour, as in the case of the Jews
Allah, may He be
exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning):
“Many of the
People of the Scripture wish they could turn you back to disbelief after you
have believed, out of envy from themselves [even] after the truth has become
clear to them”
[al-Baqarah
2:109].
3.
Disbelief (kufr)
Allah, may He be
glorified and exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning):
“I will turn
away from My signs those who are arrogant upon the earth without right; and
if they should see every sign, they will not believe in it. And if they see
the way of consciousness, they will not adopt it as a way; but if they see
the way of error, they will adopt it as a way. That is because they have
denied Our signs and they were heedless of them”
[al-A‘raaf
7:146].
4.
Turning away from the truth
Allah, may He be
exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning):
“But if they
turn away – then We have not sent you, [O Muhammad], over them as a
guardian”
[ash-Shoora
42:48]
“…And We have
certainly given you from Us the Qur’an.
Whoever turns
away from it – then indeed, he will bear on the Day of Resurrection a
burden,
[Abiding]
eternally therein, and evil it is for them on the Day of Resurrection as a
load”
[Ta-Ha
20:99-101]
“So turn away
from whoever turns his back on Our message and desires not except the
worldly life”
[an-Najm 53:29]
“And whoever is
blinded from remembrance of the Most Merciful – We appoint for him a devil,
and he is to him a companion”
[az-Zukhruf
43:36].
5.
Rejecting faith and not accepting it after having come to
know of it and understood its proof, and denying it after coming to know of
it
Allah, may He be
exalted, says:
“Those to whom
We have given the Scripture recognize it as they recognize their [own] sons.
Those who will lose themselves [in the Hereafter] do not believe”
[al-An‘aam 6:20]
“Thus were those
[before you] deluded who were rejecting the signs of Allah”
[Ghaafir 40:63].
6.
Indulging in luxury and extravagance
Allah, may He be
exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning):
“And the Day
those who disbelieved are exposed to the Fire [it will be said], ‘You
exhausted your pleasures during your worldly life and enjoyed them, so this
Day you will be awarded the punishment of [extreme] humiliation because you
were arrogant upon the earth without right and because you were defiantly
disobedient’”
[al-Ahqaaf
46:20]
“Indeed they
were, before that, indulging in affluence”
[al-Waaqi‘ah
56:45].
7.
Looking down on the truth and its followers
Allah, may He be
exalted, says of the people of Nooh (peace be upon him) (interpretation of
the meaning):
“They said,
‘Should we believe you while you are followed by the lowest [class of
people]?’”
[ash-Shu‘ara’
26:111].
8.
Evildoing; disobeying Allah and obeying the Shaytaan
Allah, may He be
exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning):
“Thus the word
of your Lord has come into effect upon those who defiantly disobeyed – that
they will not believe”
[Yoonus 10:33].
9.
Hard-heartedness
Allah, may He be
exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning):
“Then why, when
Our punishment came to them, did they not humble themselves? But their
hearts became hardened, and Satan made attractive to them that which they
were doing”
[al-An‘aam 6:43].
10.
Resentment against what Allah has revealed.
Allah, may He be
exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning):
“But
those who disbelieve – for them is misery, and He will waste their deeds.
That is because
they disliked what Allah revealed, so He rendered worthless their deeds”
[Muhammad 47:8-9].
See also the
answer to question no. 31807.
And Allah knows
best.
