The Weakness of Faith According to Islam: Understanding the Causes and Remedies

The Islamic Book Cafe·29 March 2023·5 min read

Every believer, at some point, feels his faith dip — worship becomes heavy, the heart feels hard, and acts that once brought sweetness feel routine. This experience of weak faith is real, and recognising it honestly is the first step toward renewal. The good news is that faith can always be revived. This article looks at what the weakness of faith is according to Islam, what causes it, and the remedies the Qur'an and authentic Sunnah prescribe to strengthen it.

Faith Increases and Decreases

A foundational belief of Ahlus-Sunnah wal-Jama'ah is that faith (iman) is conviction in the heart, statement upon the tongue, and action of the limbs — and that it increases with obedience to Allah and decreases with disobedience. Allah describes the believers:

"The believers are only those who, when Allah is mentioned, their hearts become fearful, and when His verses are recited to them, it increases them in faith; and upon their Lord they rely."
(al-Anfal 8:2)

Imam al-Bukhari and the scholars of Ahlus-Sunnah — among them ash-Shafi'i, Ahmad ibn Hanbal, and Abu 'Ubayd — cited this verse and others like it as proof that faith rises and falls. So to feel your faith weaken is not a sign that you have left Islam; it is a signal from the heart that it is time to return to the means that strengthen it.

The Causes of Weak Faith

Distance from Knowledge and the Qur'an

The heart is nourished by knowledge of Allah and by His Book. When a person stops learning his religion and stops engaging the Qur'an, that nourishment is cut off and faith grows thin. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:

"If Allah wants to do good to a person, He makes him comprehend the religion. I am just a distributor, but the grant is from Allah."
(Sahih al-Bukhari 71)

Falling into Sin

Sins leave a mark on the heart. Each one, left without repentance, dims its light until the heart is veiled from the remembrance of Allah. Allah says of those who persist in wrongdoing:

"No! Rather, the stain has covered their hearts of that which they were earning."
(al-Mutaffifin 83:14)

Heedlessness and the Passage of Time

When long stretches of heedlessness pass over a person, the heart can harden — a danger Allah warned the believers about directly, lest they follow earlier nations whose hearts grew cold:

"Has the time not come for those who have believed that their hearts should become humbly submissive at the remembrance of Allah and what has come down of the truth? And let them not be like those who were given the Scripture before, and a long period passed over them, so their hearts hardened; and many of them are defiantly disobedient."
(al-Hadid 57:16)

Bad Company and Harmful Environments

The people we sit with shape our hearts. Surrounding oneself with heedlessness and sin pulls faith down, while righteous company lifts it. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) drew the contrast clearly:

"The example of a good companion (who sits with you) in comparison with a bad one, is like that of the musk seller and the blacksmith's bellows (or furnace); from the first you would either buy musk or enjoy its good smell while the bellows would either burn your clothes or your house, or you get a bad nasty smell thereof."
(Sahih al-Bukhari 5534 and Sahih Muslim 2628)

Trials and Hardship

Financial strain, illness, and loss can shake a person's faith if he forgets that hardship is a test from Allah — one that, met correctly, raises the believer rather than ruins him. The diagnosis of these symptoms is laid out in greater depth in our excerpt on 22 Symptoms of Weak Faith.

Remedies for Strengthening Faith

Seek Beneficial Knowledge

Because ignorance is a root cause of weak faith, knowledge is its first remedy. The more a believer learns about his Lord — His names, His commands, and His promise — the more his love and awe of Allah grow, and the more his faith is renewed. Study the Qur'an with its meanings, sit with people of knowledge, and return to the authentic Sunnah.

Guard the Five Daily Prayers

Prayer is the daily renewal of a believer's bond with Allah and the strongest shield against sliding into heedlessness. Guarding the five prayers on time, with presence of heart, steadily rebuilds weak faith. For the conditions, pillars, and method of salah as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) prayed it, see our companion post: Salah: The Second Pillar of Islam.

Remember Allah Often

Dhikr is the direct cure for a restless, hardened heart. Allah says:

"Those who have believed and whose hearts are assured by the remembrance of Allah. Unquestionably, by the remembrance of Allah hearts are assured."
(ar-Ra'd 13:28)

Return to Allah in Repentance

Weak faith caused by sin is healed by sincere tawbah — and no sin is too great for Allah's forgiveness. The believer must never despair:

"Say, 'O My servants who have transgressed against themselves [by sinning], do not despair of the mercy of Allah. Indeed, Allah forgives all sins. Indeed, it is He who is the Forgiving, the Merciful.'"
(az-Zumar 39:53)

Keep Righteous Company

Just as bad company weakens faith, good company restores it. Seek out gatherings where Allah is remembered and people of iman who encourage you toward good, as the musk seller in the hadith above perfumes all who sit near him.

Be Patient and Trust Allah Through Trials

When hardship strikes, patience and trust in Allah transform the trial into a means of drawing closer to Him:

"And We will surely test you with something of fear and hunger and a loss of wealth and lives and fruits, but give good tidings to the patient, who, when disaster strikes them, say, 'Indeed we belong to Allah, and indeed to Him we will return.'"
(al-Baqarah 2:155-156)