2 Islamic articles on: iman (piety and mindfulness of God)

Table of contents for the topic iman (piety and mindfulness of God)
  1. Your low iman may actually be depression
  2. How to increase iman (piety and mindfulness of God)

IslamQA: Your low iman may actually be depression

assalamualaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh brother I hope you are well in sha Allah. I have recently been experiencing very low imaan, to the point where I no longer feel like praying. I don't know why but my salah feels empty, there's been a couple of times where I've purposely missed my prayers. I don't even make dua anymore either and this worries me. What can I do to fix this? I'm scared of displeasing Allah but at the same time I don't want to pray I just have to force myself.

Alaikumassalam wa rahmatullah wa barakatuh,

In my experience when Muslims speak of “low iman” it is not actually a problem with their faith, it is just that they are depressed and their depression makes them feel abandoned and unspiritual.

If you think you are depressed, then remind yourself that it is your psychology that has changed, not your relationship with God. Even if you get no satisfaction out of the acts of worship, continue to perform them as a proof of your faith in God. It is good to worship God when it makes you feel good. But it is even better to worship Him when you have to force yourself to do it, because remaining steadfast despite difficulties and turmoil is what distinguishes the best believers from the average ones.

If you feel as if God dislikes you and has turned away from you then realize that this is just your depression making you think these thoughts. Always think of God the way He describes Himself (the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful), regardless of how you feel. A saint is just someone who has reached a state where nothing that God does to them will reduce their love for Him. Even though they know that God is fully in charge of the universe, when they suffer they do not blame God for it and they never think negative thoughts about Him. They keep facing Him and striving toward Him regardless of what storms He sends their way, knowing that He is only giving them opportunities to prove their love for Him.

For more on getting back on the right track when you feel that your faith is low please see my essay: God has not abandoned you

You may also be interested in my essay:  Islam and Depression: A Survival Guide

IslamQA: How to increase iman (piety and mindfulness of God)

How do I deal with low imaan? recently I've suddenly felt like not praying. At first I would never miss my prayers but now I feel like I have to force myself. I've abandoned the sunnah prayers which I know is a sin.

Whenever you feel that you have low iman, ask yourself, “Have I spent an hour today doing the work that’s necessary to have high iman?” If you haven’t, then you know what to blame.

Among the things that increase iman are reading the Quran, spending 5 minutes in supplication after every obligatory prayer, reading the sayings of the great ascetics and teachers, and asking for God’s forgiveness thousands of times a day, because one of God’s punishments for sins is that they take away the pleasure we receive from worshiping God.

Sincerely repeat this prayer throughout the day and God will answer you:

Allahumma ainni ala zikrika wa taa atika wa husni ibadatika

O God, support me in remembering You, being obedient toward You, and worshiping You in the best way possible.

This prayer can bring us everything we desire in this world and the afterlife, because if we have God’s support in remembering Him, being obedient toward Him and being ardent in worship, then this will guarantee us everything else we could possibly desire.

Sometimes one cannot feel strong faith because of loneliness, or because of other things that make them feel miserable and emotionally drained. I’ve seen that this is often a consequence of sins, which cause us to lose God’s protection, so that He leaves us to suffer things that would force us to seek Him again:

“…and We afflicted them with suffering and hardship, so that they may humble themselves.” (The Quran, verse 6:42)

And remember that carrying out good deeds, worship and supplication will not necessarily make you feel good. Some people try these things and when they don’t make them feel any different, they abandon them. The true servant of God is the one who acts as a servant whether they feel like it or not. Umar bin Abdul Aziz says:

The best good deeds are those that one has to force the ego to perform.

Therefore start purifying yourself, and if possible, start to spend an hour every day in voluntary acts of worship, such as Quran-reading, supplication, or praying extra prayers, even if they do not make you feel any different at first, even if they feel like unproductive chores. Once you prove to yourself and to God that you are willing to do these for His pleasure and not for any worldly gain, and you continue this for a week or two, you will find many differences in your life inshaAllah.

Maintaining high iman requires daily work. There is no avoiding this. You cannot gain iman high and stay there without effort. Many people re-dedicate themselves to God in Ramadan from all the Quran-reading and worship they perform, and they start to feel very spiritual and pure. But once Ramadan leaves, they quickly revert to normal, because they abandon the deeds that gave them that high state of spirituality.

This is a lesson that repeats every single Ramadan and that we sadly continue to fail to learn from.

If you want to have a particular state of iman, you must do the minimum amount of daily work necessary to stay in that state. Skip a single day and you will find that your iman is lower, and that it is easier to engage in sinful behaviors.

Therefore, to repeat what I said in the beginning, if you ever feel that your iman is low, immediately ask yourself if you have been doing your daily duty of Quran-reading and worship. If you haven’t, then there is no surprise that your iman is low. There is no such thing as high iman without work. Our egos always revert to low iman.

Every morning I wake up feeling as if half of my iman is gone. Regardless of how spiritual I felt yesterday, I need to work today to regain my spirituality. There is no avoiding this. The work of regaining iman is a duty, a chore and sometimes, if we are blessed, a pleasure, that we must carry out daily. Abandoning this duty will guarantee low iman, because having high iman is not the natural state of humans.