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﴿ فَاسْأَلُوا أَهْلَ الذِّكْرِ إِن كُنتُمْ لَا تَعْلَمُونَ ﴾

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How does a person know that he has reached the level of faith?

Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : Your Eminence, in a previous episode we discussed a question and learned the difference between a Muslim and a believer. I will read the question again. The listener says: "How does a person know that he has reached the level of faith?" Because one of my sisters says that she is a believer and that her faith is strong. How does a person know that his faith is strong? What are the conditions that make a believer strong in faith? And does a person know if his faith is strong or weak? I ask for clarification. May Allah reward you.

The Shaykh : Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and I send prayers and peace upon our Prophet Muhammad, the Seal of the Prophets and the Imam of the Pious, and upon his family and his Companions, and those who follow them with excellence until the Day of Judgment:
We have previously mentioned that faith is a higher rank than Islam. A person knows that he is a believer by the firm affirmation in his heart of what is obligatory to believe in, which is belief in Allah, His angels, His books, His messengers, the Last Day, and the divine decree, its good and its evil. He also knows this by the consequences of this faith, which are turning to Allah (Mighty and Majestic) by doing acts of obedience and repenting to Him from sins, loving good for the believers, loving victory for Islam, and other requirements of faith that clearly indicate that a person is a believer.
One can know this, meaning knowing that a person is a believer, by applying his words and deeds to what the Sunnah has brought, such as:
None of you will have faith till he wishes for his (Muslim) brother what he likes for himself. لا يؤمن أحدكم حتى يحب لأخيه ما يحب لنفسه
Sahih al-Bukhari 13
Let him look to see if he loves for his brother what he loves for himself, or if he loves to take advantage of his brother and not care about his affairs, or what?
And let him apply this to himself in his dealings as well. Is he sincere in his dealings with his brothers, or is he deceiving them?
Because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
Religion is advice, religion is advice, religion is advice. الدين النصيحة الدين النصيحة الدين النصيحة
They said: "For whom, O Messenger of Allah?" He said:
To Allah, to His Book, To His Messenger, and to the leaders of the Muslims and their masses. لله، ولكتابه، ولرسوله، ولأئمة المسلمين وعامتهم
Sahih Muslim 55a
.
It is established from him (peace and blessings be upon him) that he said:
Whoever cheats, he is not one of us. من غش فليس منا
Jami` at-Tirmidhi 1315Sahih (Darussalam)
Let him look at this. And let him also look to see if he is a good neighbor to his neighbors or the opposite? Because being a good neighbor is one of the signs of faith. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) said:
Narrated Abu Shuraih: The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "By Allah, he does not believe! By Allah, he does not believe! By Allah, he does not believe!" It was said, "Who is that, O Allah's Messenger (ﷺ)?" He said, "That person whose neighbor does not feel safe from his evil." والله لا يؤمن والله لا يؤمن والله لا يؤمن من لا يأمن جاره بوائقه
Sahih al-Bukhari 6016
And he (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
he who believes in Allah and the Last Day should treat his neighbour with kindness من كان يؤمن بالله واليوم الآخر فليكرم جاره
Sahih Muslim 47a
and other hadiths by which a person knows the strength or weakness of the faith he possesses.
So the rational, discerning person weighs his faith by the obedience to Allah he performs, the avoidance of His disobedience, and his love of good for himself and for the Muslims.
As for the one who says: "I am a believer and my faith is strong," if he says this by way of self-praise, he has done wrong, due to the saying of Allah the Exalted:
So do not claim yourselves to be pure; He is most knowing of who fears Him. فَلا تُزَكُّوا أَنفُسَكُمْ هُوَ أَعْلَمُ بِمَنِ اتَّقَى
[An-Najm 53:32]
But if he says it by way of mentioning the blessing of Allah and encouraging others to strengthen their faith, there is no blame on him in that, and there is nothing wrong with it. A person knows the strength of his faith, as we mentioned earlier, by its effects that follow from it. When faith becomes strong, the person becomes such that he witnesses the unseen that Allah has informed about, such that he has no slightest doubt in what Allah and His Messenger have informed about regarding the matters of the unseen.

The questioner : May Allah bless you.
Source alathar.net

The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.

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