What are the causes that lead to the increase and decrease of faith?
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Question:
He says that he is a young man, and periods pass during the day in which he feels an increase in faith, and other periods in which he feels that faith is decreasing. So he asks and says: What are the causes that lead to the increase of faith and to its decrease?
Answer:
This world is the abode of trial and testing; it is a laboratory in which a person is tested with what increases his faith and with what decreases his faith. Sometimes he recites the Qur'an, reflects upon the Qur'an, and increases in the remembrance of Allah, so his faith increases. Sometimes he keeps the company of the righteous and benefits from their knowledge and their good companionship, so his faith increases. He strives in the path of Allah, enjoins what is right, forbids what is wrong, and calls people to good, so his faith increases. And sometimes he is tested with bad companions, heedlessness of Allah, and turning toward the adornment of this world, so faith weakens and his faith decreases.
So a person in this abode is between ebb and flow. Whenever he is occupied with his Hereafter and with righteous deeds, his faith increases, and whenever he is occupied with the opposite of that, his faith decreases.
Faith, according to the people of the Sunnah and the community, increases and decreases, contrary to what the Khawarij and the Mu'tazilah say. The people of the Sunnah and the community hold that faith is speech, action, and belief. It increases with obedience and decreases with disobedience. Whenever he strives in obedience, the remembrance of Allah, the company of the righteous, and the various types of good, his faith increases and becomes strong. And whenever he is occupied with other matters: heedlessness, turning away from study, and from the company of the righteous, and turning toward the desires and adornments of this world, his faith weakens and becomes thin. He is between ebb and flow, in danger if he leans toward what weakens faith, and in great good if he adheres to what strengthens his faith.
So the believer must beware of the causes of decrease, and he must strive in the causes of increase. This is by turning to the Noble Qur'an and the pure Sunnah, increasing in obedience and the various types of dhikr, seeking forgiveness, repentance, and the company of the righteous, and by being wary of the proximity and company of the wicked, being wary of heedlessness, obeying the self that commands evil, and turning toward pleasures and desires, neglecting the command of the Hereafter and the command of Paradise and the Fire. There is no power and no strength except by Allah.
He says that he is a young man, and periods pass during the day in which he feels an increase in faith, and other periods in which he feels that faith is decreasing. So he asks and says: What are the causes that lead to the increase of faith and to its decrease?
Answer:
This world is the abode of trial and testing; it is a laboratory in which a person is tested with what increases his faith and with what decreases his faith. Sometimes he recites the Qur'an, reflects upon the Qur'an, and increases in the remembrance of Allah, so his faith increases. Sometimes he keeps the company of the righteous and benefits from their knowledge and their good companionship, so his faith increases. He strives in the path of Allah, enjoins what is right, forbids what is wrong, and calls people to good, so his faith increases. And sometimes he is tested with bad companions, heedlessness of Allah, and turning toward the adornment of this world, so faith weakens and his faith decreases.
So a person in this abode is between ebb and flow. Whenever he is occupied with his Hereafter and with righteous deeds, his faith increases, and whenever he is occupied with the opposite of that, his faith decreases.
Faith, according to the people of the Sunnah and the community, increases and decreases, contrary to what the Khawarij and the Mu'tazilah say. The people of the Sunnah and the community hold that faith is speech, action, and belief. It increases with obedience and decreases with disobedience. Whenever he strives in obedience, the remembrance of Allah, the company of the righteous, and the various types of good, his faith increases and becomes strong. And whenever he is occupied with other matters: heedlessness, turning away from study, and from the company of the righteous, and turning toward the desires and adornments of this world, his faith weakens and becomes thin. He is between ebb and flow, in danger if he leans toward what weakens faith, and in great good if he adheres to what strengthens his faith.
So the believer must beware of the causes of decrease, and he must strive in the causes of increase. This is by turning to the Noble Qur'an and the pure Sunnah, increasing in obedience and the various types of dhikr, seeking forgiveness, repentance, and the company of the righteous, and by being wary of the proximity and company of the wicked, being wary of heedlessness, obeying the self that commands evil, and turning toward pleasures and desires, neglecting the command of the Hereafter and the command of Paradise and the Fire. There is no power and no strength except by Allah.
Source
binbaz.org.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.