What are the conditions of faith?
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The questioner : May Allah reward you, he saysThe questioner : What are the conditions of faith?
The Shaykh : Faith, yes. The two names reside in the heart, and their condition is that no doubt, hesitation, or denial remains in the person. For faith is that a person feels reassured by a matter and accepts it such that no discomfort or hesitation in accepting it remains in his soul. But we ask: Does faith increase or decrease, or does it not? Is the answer the second one or the first?
The student: The first one.
The Shaykh : The first: it increases and decreases. Even the faith in the heart increases and decreases. If a trustworthy man informs you of a report, you feel reassurance in his report and faith in his statement. If another informs you, does that certainty and faith increase or not?
The student: It increases.
The Shaykh : It increases? Be careful, everyone. Do not rush to answer. A trustworthy person informed you of a report, so you accepted it and believed in it. Then another trustworthy person came and informed you of the same report. Does your faith in it increase or not?
The student: It increases.
The Shaykh : It increases, there is no doubt in this. Now, what if a third person informs you?
The student: It increases.
The Shaykh : It increases even more. The more the paths for proving this report multiply, the more you increase in certainty. Listen to the story of Ibrahim:[Al-Baqarah 2:260] He was confident in the report of Allah and believed in it, but the report is not like witnessing. If he saw it, his faith would be greater. So faith increases and decreases, even in certainty and reassurance it increases and decreases. Hearts are not always in the same state. Sometimes Allah opens your heart, and you find yourself as if you are seeing what Allah and His Messenger informed you of regarding the unseen matters as if they were before your eyes. And sometimes heedlessness overtakes you, and this faith decreases. The sensible person is the doctor of his own self. If he sees a decrease in his faith, he turns to Allah (Mighty and Majestic) to establish it, and he should reflect upon the Qur'an, increase in the remembrance of Allah and righteous deeds, and stay away from bad company, so that Allah may restore to him what was previously established in his heart.
The questioner : May Allah keep you safe.
The Shaykh : Faith, yes. The two names reside in the heart, and their condition is that no doubt, hesitation, or denial remains in the person. For faith is that a person feels reassured by a matter and accepts it such that no discomfort or hesitation in accepting it remains in his soul. But we ask: Does faith increase or decrease, or does it not? Is the answer the second one or the first?
The student: The first one.
The Shaykh : The first: it increases and decreases. Even the faith in the heart increases and decreases. If a trustworthy man informs you of a report, you feel reassurance in his report and faith in his statement. If another informs you, does that certainty and faith increase or not?
The student: It increases.
The Shaykh : It increases? Be careful, everyone. Do not rush to answer. A trustworthy person informed you of a report, so you accepted it and believed in it. Then another trustworthy person came and informed you of the same report. Does your faith in it increase or not?
The student: It increases.
The Shaykh : It increases, there is no doubt in this. Now, what if a third person informs you?
The student: It increases.
The Shaykh : It increases even more. The more the paths for proving this report multiply, the more you increase in certainty. Listen to the story of Ibrahim:
when Abraham said, "My Lord, show me how You give life to the dead." [Allah] said, "Have you not believed?" He said, "Yes, but [I ask] only that my heart may be satisfied."
قال رب أرني كيف تحيي الموتى قال أو لم تؤمن قال بلى ولكن ليطمئن قلبيThe questioner : May Allah keep you safe.