The Fastest Way To Get Your Imaan Back

What Is Iman, Really?

Iman is not belief. Iman is not faith. Iman is not just something inside. It's not everything that people have told you — that's not what it is. Iman is not your emotions or feelings.

When somebody says, "I felt very high Iman" — usually they're describing their vibes, feelings and emotions. And the next day they feel demotivated: "my Iman is very low."

No. Iman is not your vibes. It's not your belief. It's not your faith. It's not inside. Then you also get this — and this is my favourite one. You see somebody doesn't pray Salah, you say, "Brother, you're a believer, you should..." and they say, "My belief is in my heart." Or, "Sister, you should wear the Hijab, it's so important, it's part of..." and someone might say, "Somebody might not wear the Hijab and their Iman might be higher than you." Wow, I've heard this so many times.

Today is your D-Day, guys. You thought you could get away — don't worry, I'm here. Alhamdulillah, you're not going anywhere.

"You never know, don't judge — maybe his Iman is very high." Maybe his Iman is very high, he's playing Hip-Hop and he's smoking weed outside the Masjid. And this is Iman very high, yeah. This is amazing.

Imam Al-Bukhari's Definition of Iman

Okay — how? Then what is Iman? If it's not anything I explained to you, then what is it? Let me explain to you what Imam al-Bukhari said, then let me give it to you in plain English. He said:

(Imam al-Bukhari, Kitab al-Iman — definition of Iman)

Iman is statements and actions — قَوْلٌ وَفِعْلٌ — and it goes up and it goes down — يَزِيدُ وَيَنْقُصُ. When he says statements and actions, when he says actions, many people think he means Iman is a physical action. No.

Iman Is a Muscle

Remember this definition: Iman is a muscle. What does that mean? That means when you work it out, when you exercise it, it increases in strength. And when you don't exercise it, it weakens and it shrinks. The way your bicep size is dependent on your workout — your muscle of Iman is dependent on the workout that you do. The actions that you do.

What kind of actions are we talking about? Physical actions like Salah, like remembrance of Allah — absolutely. But not just physical actions. Iman is dependent on spiritual actions.

What is a spiritual muscle? Al-tawakkul — trust in Allah — is a muscle. The khawf of Allah is a muscle. The love of Allah is a muscle. These are muscles. If you activate them, if you work on them, you will find that your Iman increases. There are spiritual actions and there are physical actions. And this is the main thing Iman depends on.

So number one — Iman is a muscle. Which means there is a practical component. If somebody is extremely weak, has zero muscles, their legs look like toothpicks, and they say, "I don't ever exercise but maybe my strength is more than yours, my muscles are larger than yours" — absolutely hogwash. And similarly, somebody says, "I don't pray Salah, I don't wear Hijab, I don't do these things — but maybe my Iman is high. My Iman is in the heart."

You know there is a funny joke — someone says, "My Iman is in my heart." Then you should invite them to your house. Get a plate, put it in front of them. They will say, "Where is the food?" "Food is in my heart as well." "How is the taste?" "Maybe the food is even tastier — but you just don't see it." Oh, we got you now.

Iman is a muscle. A physical muscle you have to work out to see the fruits of it, to see it grow. And a spiritual muscle you have to manually activate to see it grow. That's one thing.

Iman Is a World View

The second way I will define Iman: Iman is a world view. World view means it's how you see the world. For example, somebody comes and hits your car. Somebody without Iman is saying, "Oh my gosh, my life is finished." Somebody with Iman is saying, "Alhamdulillah, Allah sent me someone to test me — this is going to improve my closeness to Him." Day and night difference. Why? It's just the glasses they wear. The Iman glasses make you see everything differently.

Somebody without Iman, they have a child — where do they head? Abortion clinic. "Let me get rid of this burden." Somebody who has Iman finds out their wife is expecting — they weren't planning to — and they say, "Alhamdulillah, a blessing from Allah." Why? Because of Iman. They see the world differently.

Somebody without Iman, their parents get old — they move far away, their parents say, "It would be nice if you came home some time other than Christmas," and they say, "Oh my gosh, these parents — what a burden, what an annoyance, what a nuisance." Somebody with Iman, their parents call them and say, "Where are you?" — before they finish the call, they're outside the door. Why? They see everything differently. Everything. That's why Iman is a world view.

Iman and the Environment

One time, one of my children came home from school. They said, "Baba, you are not driving to school." I said, "Why?" "You're not driving to school because the teacher told us global warming is because of gas from cars." I said, "Yeah — global warming is because of me and my car and that three-minute drive?" You know who caused global warming? Global warming is caused because of the lack of Iman.

Let me explain to you. Global warming is caused because of the oil conglomerates who frack in the ocean and they destroy sea life. They have no Iman. So they're only obsessed with exploiting people, maximizing profit. They will enslave tens of thousands of people in China or Nigeria if it means they can increase their profits. These people destroy the environment — not me in my car for three minutes, thank you very much.

It is the lack of Iman that caused the death of the global economy. It is the lack of Iman that caused the rupture of sea life and the destruction of nature. It is the lack of Iman that causes discrimination. It is the lack of Iman that causes low mental health.

Iman and Mental Health

Mental health people — I'm coming for you as well now. Don't worry. Iman is linked with your mental and your physical health. Iman is inextricably linked. You can't divorce it.

Where are the places with the highest levels of positive mental health in the world? Muslim countries. Where are the places with the highest levels of negative mental health in the world? Places with no Iman. Why?

Let's zoom in to a woman in Gaza. A missile has destroyed her house. Her husband has been martyred. She has lost everything. And she's standing there saying, "Alhamdulillah, Allah will find us a way out and I'm never leaving this land." May Allah grant victory to the people of Palestine. May Allah grant them steadfastness in what they're doing. They taught us what is Iman. And what is mental health.

Why is it that the highest levels of suicidality, depression, and anxiety are in the places with the greatest levels of material prosperity — wealth, money, status, fame, cars, etc.? The places with the greatest stability? I grew up in a country where there is a very poor part and a very rich part. All the mental health clinics are only in the rich part of the country. My father used to say, "Why do the poor people not have depression? Why only the rich people? What's going on?" MashaAllah, the therapists made a lot of money. Jazakumullahu khairan. We hope you guys are enjoying your cash.

Iman is linked to your mental health. Who is it that split the human into mental and physical and spiritual? No — it's all one. Your mood, your happiness is linked to your Salah. It's linked to your connection with Allah. Because the woman in Gaza is going to teach you: how you see the world affects your emotions. How you interpret things that happen in your life affects your emotions. And your spiritual muscles — your fear, your love of Allah, your hope for the afterlife, your disdain for this world — these spiritual muscles are emotional. The fear of Allah, when we describe it, it's something that makes you cry. Emotion and Iman are linked. The love of Allah, when you think of it, it makes you emotional. It's linked.

This is why it's very crucial to understand: Iman affects your entire being. Iman is a muscle, Iman is a world view. There's no such thing as "Iman is only in my heart." Iman is the most crucial thing that we have.

What Affects Iman?

Your Environment

Your Iman is very sensitive to your environment. Part of this deen, part of protecting your Iman, is running away from fitna — staying away from things that are going to reduce your muscles, weaken your muscles. The Prophet ﷺ said:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 19)

There will come a time when the best asset a believer can have is a group of cattle, goats or sheep that they take to the mountains — running away from tests and trials that will weaken your faith, weaken your Iman. So going from the city to the countryside will improve my Iman? Yes, it can. Didn't you go from your home to the masjid? Can you not feel the strength of that muscle? Not because Iman is vibes and feels, but because you're working the muscle of Iman through your spiritual and your actual behavior. Behavior is what moves Iman. It moves the needle up.

Knowing Allah

It's very important for us — if this is going to enter us into Jannah — to understand how to increase Iman and to understand what to do when it goes down. In a sub-chapter of Kitab al-Iman, the Prophet ﷺ says:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 20)

"I know Allah best out of all of you." Why did Imam al-Bukhari mention this hadith in the chapter of Iman? Because this is the secret of Iman — knowing Allah. The more you know Him, the more you love Him, the more you fear Him, the more it moves your body and your bones. The most important thing that pushes your Iman needle upwards is knowing Allah — knowing His names and His attributes, feeling them in your bones, spending time with them, and letting the emotions seep into your heart.

Family and Friends

The third thing I want to mention about Iman is that Iman is inextricably linked to parenting and family. Any young person I have dealt with between the ages of 18 and 25 who is doubting their Iman or who is about to enter into disbelief — kufr — one of two things: either they came from a terrible household, a terrible family, or they came from a terrible environment, the wrong friends. And they didn't realize the Iman muscle reduced and reduced and reduced until it came to the point that there was no muscle left — and they thought, "I don't even know if I'm a Muslim anymore."

Watch the reduction of your good deeds. The missing of your Salah. The reduction of your prayers, the reduction of your time in the Qur'an. Watch your behavior — because if you're not careful, you will end up at the point where you may be questioning the whole thing. Family and friends — these are the two extremely sensitive factors that affect Iman.

How do I know this? Imam al-Bukhari mentioned — not in Kitab al-Iman but in Kitab al-Jana'iz, the chapter of the funeral prayer:

Every child is born upon the natural disposition — the fitrah. Their parents make them Christian or Jewish or Zoroastrian. How? Through conditioning. Every human being is born with this muscle of Iman — this natural disposition towards Iman. But slowly over time, this world view and these muscles get reduced, reduced, reduced until maybe they leave.

Your parents affect your Iman. Your friends affect your Iman. Your practice — you need to have a weekly workout, a daily workout, for this Iman to grow, for this muscle to grow.

The Levels of Iman and the People of Jannah

One of the beautiful things, if you think about it — the motivation to really work hard on your Iman — is a sub-chapter Imam al-Bukhari has in Kitab al-Iman:

(Imam al-Bukhari, Kitab al-Iman — chapter heading)

The chapter of how the people of Iman have a discrepancy — high Iman means more good behavior, you see it on them; low Iman means less good behavior, you see it on them. And this determines your place in Jannat al-Firdaus or in the lowest level of Jannah. It is dependent on your level of Iman. Iman has levels.

In that chapter, Imam al-Bukhari mentions a very interesting hadith — that depending on how strong your muscle and your world view was, you'll be in the highest levels of paradise or the lowest levels of paradise. And in that hadith, there is a sentence:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Kitab al-Iman — narrated with Imam Malik's noted uncertainty over one letter)

The people of Jannah will get to a point where they will be put into a river — called the river of حَيَاء or حَيَاة with a ت. He says: شَكَّ مَالِكٌ — one of the narrators, Imam Malik ibn Anas, was unsure about one letter. So Imam al-Bukhari documented it. In Kitab al-Iman. To show you: if there is one letter that any narrator in the chain was a bit unsure of, he is going to let you know.

The Precision of Hadith Scholarship

This is the level of scrutiny, the level of precision that Imam al-Bukhari and all hadith scholarship brought when recording these narrations. You know, one of the beautiful things when you read a hadith book is that you can't get to the hadith before reading the names of the men who transmitted it to you. Each man has a story, a life. You have to realize the number of people who sweated, the number of books that were written, the number of people who were examined and criticized for this line to reach you. Many thousands of people sweated for this line to reach you.

In Kitab al-Iman is one of the hints that every single word in this book has been preserved, has been examined, cross-referenced, written on bones, written on papers, memorized in chests, tested, critiqued, peer-reviewed — until even if there is one letter of uncertainty, he documents it. "Hey, one of my narrators was unsure about one letter — just to let you know." And this is the beauty.

The Qur'an as a Source of Iman

Allah says in the Qur'an:

The people of Iman are people who, when Allah's name is mentioned, their hearts tremble with emotion and fear. And when His verses are recited, it increases this muscle of Iman. And they trust Allah.

One of the greatest methods for the increasing of Iman — for developing a world view that is strong, resilient, does not make you weak mentally; for developing a muscle which brings the best character out of you — is understanding the ayat of the Qur'an.

What's Coming Next

Insha'Allah, next session we'll go a little bit deeper into surfing the waves of Iman. How do you deal with the fluctuations? How do you make sure that when you have an Iman dip, you don't end up going to a dark place that you never return from? How do you leverage your Iman for the best family, the best health, the best career — the best everything? It's all dependent on your Iman.

Insha'Allah, there is more to come every Friday after Maghrib Salah — in the greatest masjid in the world after Masjid al-Aqsa and Masjid al-Haram.

Barakallahu fikum.