Levels of faith:

There are levels of faith that every believer should be aware of. And once you understand the various of faith, the next step is to identify your level and works towards the next level until you reached the highest level of faith.

Generally faith and belief are used as synonyms but there is a difference between two. Belief is a strong bound, while faith is our certitude and the highest level of conviction and trust in something. A belief can be based on logical reasoning, sense-perception, circumstances, context, or may be what other have told you. It can be either empowering or limiting. This is not true with faith. Faith is always empowering based on personal profound experience and deep intuitive feeling. Faith is stronger than belief. Belief is more traditional, empirical, or rational while faith is more psychological, intuitive and spiritual.

For a better understanding of the difference between faith and belief we can use the example of the chair. Find chair, look at it closely, and examine its design. Is it sufficiently engineered? Will the material chosen by the manufacturer support your weight? Most likely, you will pick a chair that you think is suitable. That is a belief! You applied sense and logic to make an informed intellectual decision. Now sit in the chair and feel the experience. That is the faith! True living requires us to put our beliefs into practice and reflect. Intellectual belief without actionable faith is hollow and meaningless. When we declare our thoughts about something we our believers; and when we live according to those thoughts we are faithful.

In the light of some verse of Quran we came to know about three levels of faith. The first of three is LLm-ul-yaqin. It is the lowest level of faith which rests on knowledge and information alone. It is belief in a statement or a fact which is supported by such proofs and evidence that lead to inner conviction. In other words, a belief of the heart but which has its base of support in the mind.

The second level of faith is Ayn-ul-uaqin, a state of credence or belief which is based on personal witness in a state of awakening,; that one witnessed with one or more of this sense. This level of faith is higher or deeper than the Ilm-ul-yaqin in certitude and confidence.

The highest state of credence and faith Haqq-ul-yaqin is obtained through one’s personal involvement, direct and physical contact with something. Here, it is not so much the mind which is active, but rather, the heart and the soul.

                   “Verily, this! Is an absolute Truth with certainty.” (56:95 )

To put it yet differently: Every truth is itself certain, but certainty has degrees. First there is the certainty of reasoning or inference, known as Ilm-ul-yaqin. Next there is a certainty of sense-perception, known as Ayn-ul-yaqin. There is a certainty, the highest degree of it, the absolute certainty, with no possibility of error, either of judgment or perception and this is the term as haq-ul-aqin. A simple example may be cited. a person hears the existence of Kaaba. He believes it exists.  That is Ilm-ul-yaqin.

Then he happens to go to the Makkah and sees it with his own eyes. He ascends to the higher  Ayn-ul-uaqin. His belief about the existence of Makkah is now stronger, because he witnessed it. But if he happens to have been involved in the construction receiving Divine instruction and inspiration, then his belief in the existence of Kabah is of the level of Haqq-ul-yaqin. Someone who build the Kabah, will not deny its exisitence. He will not led to believe it eas a dream or hallucination, because those whp receive Divine instructions or inspiration, never suffer lose of his memory of this particular kind, nor undergoes hallucination touching upon, or damaging there spiritual experiences.

WHAT IS ISLAMIC SPIRITUALITY?

Islam doesn’t view ‘spirituality’ separately from everyday activities. In Islam everything is ‘spiritual’ because all actions must be in accordance with God’s pleasure. This view comes from the Islamic creed and the Muslim’s understanding of tawhid (the oneness of God).

‘There is no deity worthy of worship except God’ this convinction creates a world view, a perspective and a unique behaviour. It essential means that all actions – from having a shower to picking up litter from the floor – should be referred to the Creator. This establishes a constant awareness, mindfulness and consciousness of God in everything that the Muslim says or does.

The understanding of spirituality in Islam is unlike the secular understanding. It is the constant reference to God and ensuring that everything he or she does is in accordance with God’s pleasure.

This consciousness is not static, it is dynamic. The level of God consciousness is dependent upon how close the Muslim is with His Lord. This personal relationship is established and strengthened by following a unique programme of activities that have been prescribed by God Himself. This ‘spiritual’ programme is also an effective means to change the negative traits and habits of the Muslim. Some of these activities include remembrance of God, prayer, giving charity, fasting, reflecting on creation, meditation, reading and reflecting upon the Qur’an, memorising the Qur’an and daily supplications.

The Prophet Muhammad emphasised on developing a good character by engaging a constant practice of prayer, meditation, remembrance of God and other activities, as these actions change the heart and thereby bring one closer to God.

“Verily in the body there is a piece of flesh. If it is sound, the body is all sound. If it is corrupt, the body is all corrupt. Verily, it is the heart.”

God consciousness is an essential element in Islamic spiritual practice, without it, the Muslim’s behaviour and attitude are corrupted. The benefits of God consciousness as derived from the Qur’an are:

§  Guidance: because of His words “guidance for the muttaqeen (the people of God consciousness)”

§  Help: because of His words “Truly, Allah is with the people who have taqwa (God consciousness)”

§  Closeness with God: because of His words, “Allah is the close friend of the muttaqeen”

§  Love: because of His words, “Truly Allah loves the muttaqeen”

§  A way out from unhappiness, and provision from where one does not expect because of His words, “Whoever has taqwa of Allah He will make a way out for him and provide him from where he does not expect”

§  Facilitation of affairs because of His words, “Whoever has taqwa of Allah He will make ease for him in his affair”

§  Full covering over of wrong actions and magnification of rewards because of His words, “Whoever has taqwa of God He will cover over his wrong actions and magnify a reward for him”

Islam has a unique view on spirituality as it encompasses all aspects of the Muslim’s life. All actions that are referred to God are spiritual, and these actions include the supplications we utter before we go to bed to the type of bank account we hold. God has prescribed certain actions that develop positive characters as well as bringing the Muslim closer to God thereby attain God consciousness. This state achieves many things including God’s love, closeness and divine assistance.

Ways of strengthening Faith:

 Sometimes it’s natural, during hardships and calamities, to get swept by the affliction of the moment. During such trial of faith, unless you are careful, shaytan (evil) can inject fear and plant doubts in your heart and mind. Your beliefs in such vulnerable states may become overpowered by feeling of the moment resulting in the dwindling of your faith. You may start questioning the fairness and wisdom underlying some divine decisions while others may get mired in a blame game. You may find yourself lost, helpless, and stalled finding it difficult to gather your energy and move forward.

For such situations, you should stay in control; by hanging on to the power of your faith. Only strong faith can help you cope with highly critical challenges. The strength of faith does not come automatically but you will have to do something consciously to strengthen your faith. Following are the some suggestions to develop and increase the strength of faith.

As human beings, no doubt, we are conscious and intelligent beings, but that is not enough for our success in all situations. Many a times in life we feel that we are in need of Higher Power than our own. Faith in such Higher Power gives you confidence and strengthens your ability to face challenges in life. Also in some highly emotional moments you experience Divinity in yourselves. Those are the moments of your profound personal divine experience. Noticing such experience can also strengthen your divine faith.

Faith is reinforced when it is properly fed. You can feed your faith with positive testimonies of other people. When your heart or read the positive results that the other faithful have received and contributed, you get motivated. If there are no people around you who are in the habit of testifying, read books and other materials. There are numerous books that can help you feed your faith. The most effected, of course, is the Holy Quran. This is the book of faith, guidance, and wisdom. You can also read other holy scriptures and the books written by successful, qualified, and experienced people. Biographies are considered good source of inspiration. However, you should be careful while selecting reading material. Books can do wonder of your faith but not all pf them.

Upgrade your faith from the level of traditional discipline and rituals to the level of rational investigation followed by personal spiritual experience. It can be done by challenging the claimed truths logically and rationally and answering the doubts and delusions that come to mind. If you upgrade your beliefs from imitation to rational level flowered by your personal experience, it will be out of question for you to lose your faith in critical moments and to die without the belief in the last breath. One should not be afraid of questioning his own traditional beliefs and paradigm. Critical thinking helps you to identify the strength and the weakness of a traditional belief system. It is evident that those who had the opportunity to struggle with tough questions regarding their paradigm and perception especially during academic life seemed to have a healthier faith in practical life. Applying the scientific methods of enquiry helps you upgrade you beliefs from traditional to sense-perception level. Logical investigation gives you the intellectual justification to your stereotypes and personal experience converts your belief into faith.

Man is known by the company he keeps. The company of highly, faithful, and truthful people can helps you to improve your own faith and character

  

Allah says in Holy Quran:

“O you who believe! Be afraid of Allah, and be with those who are true”

Reflection is also a good way of strengthening faith. It cleans off grime and tries to discover the truth – truth that manifest divine nature. And is connected to higher dimensions in the universe reflection transform experience into wisdom and wisdom into faith. It foster a sense of deeper awareness and consciousness. 

Faith And Success

WHAT IS FAITH.?

In Quran ALLAH said. "Verily successful are those who have faith". Faith is to "To put trust in something; to be committed to something; to be persuaded of something; to place confidence in something; and to rely upon something". Faith is a sacred, deep, emotionally kind of trust.

• Relationship between faith and success.

   Faith according to Qur'an, is the most important requirement of the success.The dept of you faith determines the level of you success. No success is possible without trust and certitude.
Following quote beautifully explains the nature of relationship between faith and destiny.

            Sow a thought, reap an action;
            Sow an action, reap a habit;
            Sow a habit, reap a character;
            Sow a character; reap a destiny;
     

Your achievements in life are strongly affected by your beleifs and paradigm. Your success depends upon your actions and actions are non-other than the manifestation of your dreams.

 This is how dreams affects are our destiny. It requires a strong faith to achieve something big. Without faith dreams won’t come true.

The power of faith is the real power of making things possible. Believing that you can achieve you goals is of the great importance for successful attainments of your targets.

As someone fairly said “ He who loses money, loses much. He who loses relationship loses more, But he who loses faith loses all” .

Faith is not fanciful; it is scientific, logical, and practical. It is not belief without prove, but yes a trust without reservation. Perhaps your faith cannot move mountains. But what’s to stop you from climbing them?  Faith provides the power for facing adversities and serves as a bulwark aganist undesirable reactions of despair and hopelessness.

Once you have faith, you will start focusing on what you can do, rather than what is not possible. Obstacles and deviations will stop bothering you. Failures will not matter anymore. People around you may be discouraging you, but you will not give up. You will become stubborn in pursuit of your dreams, till you achieve it. We cannot change the past but we can create future with the power of faith.!

 Mahatma Gandhi said                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            

  You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty.”