The Supplication of the Prophet ﷺ
The Sahabi narrated that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ supplicated and said in his du‘ā’:
اللَّهُمَّ حَبِّبْ إِلَيْنَا الْإِيمَانَ وَزَيِّنْهُ فِي قُلُوبِنَا، وَكَرِّهْ إِلَيْنَا الْكُفْرَ وَالْفُسُوقَ وَالْعِصْيَانَ، وَاجْعَلْنَا مِنَ الرَّاشِدِينَ
“O Allah, make us love belief. O Allah, make us love īmān and adorn our hearts with it. Make us hate disbelief, corruption, and disobedience. Place us among the rightly guided servants of Allah, Subḥānahu wa Ta‘ālā.”
Our journey with īmān, with faith, with the belief in Allah, has a beginning but has no end. It continually elevates you from one stage to another, never-ending. Faith entering the heart is not the end of the journey. It is only the beginning. One must take the necessary steps to allow faith to take root and find stability within the hearts of God’s servants, to be nourished, grow, and bear fruit deep within.
The Two Types of Faith
After you have faith, you must make sure to maintain two qualities:
- It takes root very deeply inside the heart.
- That it remains stable and nourished.
Faith must always be nourished, like a small plant you care for and water. It grows strong only with attention.
There are two types of faith in the hearts of God’s servants:
- A living faith – vibrant, transformative, and active in life.
- A stagnant faith – fragile and fading.
Each of us experiences both states at times. However, we must monitor, preserve, and care of our faith, because it is our capital. If you lose it, you lose everything.
The Increase of Guidance
Allah has told us in the Qur’an about the secrets of faith:
وَٱلَّذِينَ ٱهْتَدَوْا۟ زَادَهُمْ هُدًۭى وَءَاتَىٰهُمْ تَقْوَىٰهُمْ
“As for those who are ˹rightly˺ guided, He increases them in guidance and blesses them with righteousness.”
— Dr. Mustafa Khattab translation (47:17)
Allah rewards those who choose faith and belief in God with increased guidance. This verse suggests that guidance is not a single level, but rather multiple levels of guidance. The increase of guidance never ends; it is limitless.
The scholars agreed that faith increases and decreases. Sometimes your īmān rises, sometimes it decreases. Yet with each sincere step towards Allah, He increases you in light and guidance.
The Light of Faith
Guidance is a divine light. When it enters the heart and is activated, it does not sit silently—it pushes your thoughts, emotions, and limbs to act in righteousness. Every good deed strengthens this light, inspiring more good deeds to be done.
The Prophet ﷺ prayed:
اللَّهُمَّ حَبِّبْ إِلَيْنَا الْإِيمَانَ …
“O Allah, make us love īmān.”
This love becomes the energy that drives righteous actions. One good deed leads to another, and then another, until the heart becomes filled with light.
Elevation Through Faith
Allah says:
يَفْسَحِ ٱللَّهُ لَكُمْ ۖ وَإِذَا قِيلَ ٱنشُزُوا۟ فَٱنشُزُوا۟ يَرْفَعِ ٱللَّهُ ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ مِنكُمْ وَٱلَّذِينَ أُوتُوا۟ ٱلْعِلْمَ دَرَجَـٰتٍۢ ۚ وَٱللَّهُ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ خَبِيرٌۭ
“Allah will raise those who have believed among you and those who were given knowledge, by degrees.” (Qur’an 58:11)
Faith lifts a person upward. The journey to Allah is not flat—it is a climb, like an elevator that keeps rising. As īmān rises, everything about a person changes: their thoughts, intentions, speech, actions, priorities, dealings, and worship.
Preservation and Activation of Faith
Faith requires two essentials:
- Preservation – guarding it from disbelief and corruption.
- Activation – nourishing it with worship and good deeds.
Without preservation and activation, faith weakens. With it, faith becomes a light of life, a moral compass, and a source of mercy for all creation.
When faith is present, justice shines, mercy spreads, and love awakens. But when it disappears, darkness spreads, tyrants rise, and life falls into ruin.
Every spark of faith is like a glowing candle. Many candles together bring light to society. However, when they are extinguished, darkness and fear prevail. Then no one sees anyone anymore, and no one recognises anyone anymore. Then fear begins to grow within that society. So the faith and the īmān of the believer are a source of safety to the believer and to the non-believer as well. As a believer benefits from the faith of the believer, the non-believer also benefits from that faith. Because at its core, īmān, faith, brings security and justice to all creation of God without exception. Even the word īmān is derived from amān, which means peace, safety, security, protection, trust, justice and hope. The word itself presents all of these beautiful meanings that every creature of Allah needs to survive on this earth; that’s exactly why the oppressors have always feared true faith, regardless of its sources. The oppressors always fear īmān because they seek to enslave people by spreading fear among them. That’s their plan. Fear about their present and their future. The oppressors always want to make sure people live in fear so they can control them more easily. Fear about their present life, fear about their future, fear over their jobs. They don’t feel secure, fear for their education, or even their health, as we recently witnessed with the pandemic that has changed the world. Fear remains the strongest weapon of control, and the only refuge and protector from this fear is faith in God.
Faith Versus Oppression
Oppressors always fear true faith because faith breaks their most potent weapon: fear.
History has always witnessed two forces in conflict:
- Those who stand for faith and freedom.
- Those who thrive on tyranny and subjugation.
This pattern repeats itself in every age, never stops since the beginning of life. And what we see today in Gaza is merely a reflection of an old reality that existed a long time ago, one that keeps repeating the struggle between these two forces.
This pattern existed between Prophet Mūsā (ʿalayhi as-salām), the symbol of faith, light, and freedom, and Pharaoh, the symbol of oppression, tyranny, and enslavement, and it continues today, as seen in Gaza.
But be sure what the requirements and the fruits of your faith, your relationship with Allah, require from you. Number one is giving for the sake of Allah. Giving from every single blessing that Allah has blessed you with. It’s either in knowledge, time, skill, money, or anything, and to sacrifice it. This faith cannot be accepted without sacrifice for Allah, the Creator, for His religion that is made to save and protect the creation of God, as well as the sacrifice for all the creation of Allah. Therefore, all the beautiful meanings that come from faith will not shine until the faith is activated within the heart of the believer. Examine the system of acts of worship, or ibadah, in Islam. You will see that all of it is designed for this activation. Take a look at ibadah. What do you have? You have ablution (wudu), five daily prayers (salaah), Quran recitation, remembrance (zikr), fasting (siyam), bonds of brotherhood, support for the oppressed people, the kindness and mercy to the weak people and feeding the hungry ones and and the seasons of of iman like season of Ramadan, Hajj, season of the memories we have in Islam, the history, all of these things. The reason for it, the purpose of its existence, is from Allah to Allah. Allah doesn’t need our ibadah; it is for you to keep this faith always active. The primary purpose is that your faith must remain active continually, so that it remains alive in your heart, always active. That is the difference between our time and our faith, and the faith of the earliest Muslims. Their faith is always activated, so that’s why their response to Allah is always faster than ours. Our responses are not really activated to Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala (Allah, Glory be to Him, the Exalted).
Faith and Human Rights
The message of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ honoured human dignity and freedom. Islam respected people’s choices, even allowing idol worship.
Allah says in a ḥadīth qudsī:
يَا عِبَادِي إِنِّي حَرَّمْتُ الظُّلْمَ عَلَى نَفْسِي، وَجَعَلْتُهُ بَيْنَكُمْ مُحَرَّمًا فَلَا تَظَالَمُوا
“O My servants, I have forbidden oppression upon Myself, and I have made it forbidden among you, so do not oppress one another.” (Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim)
Oppression is never justified, regardless of religion, race, or background. History has proven that only the Messengers of God preserved humans’ freedom. No one else in this life has come to provide humans with their rights to be treated as humans except the Messengers of God. Especially for this ummah, for this nation, it is the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. The Quran and His Sunnah (path or example) respected the rights of humans, regardless of who they are or what they worship. Islam allowed them to worship anything they want, even if they choose to worship idols. Islam respected that and allowed them to worship idols. That’s fine. If that’s your choice, go ahead. They have no problem with that. Islam gave them their freedom completely. Allah said,
قُلْ فَلِلَّهِ ٱلْحُجَّةُ ٱلْبَـٰلِغَةُ ۖ فَلَوْ شَآءَ لَهَدَىٰكُمْ أَجْمَعِينَ
Say, “Allah has the most conclusive argument. Had it been His Will, He would have easily imposed guidance upon all of you.”
Dr. Mustafa Khattab translation (Q 6:149)
It’s easy for Allah. He could do that. But why didn’t He? Because He gave you freedom of choice and respects your choice. However, you must accept the consequences of your choice. And that’s Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala (Allah, Glory be to Him, the Exalted).
The Disbelievers (109:6)
لَكُمْ دِينُكُمْ وَلِىَ دِينِ
You have your religion, and I have my religion.”
(Quran 109:7)
Thus Allah considers their false religion as a religion, and calls it such in Islam, and even considers their false gods, whom Allah called aliha (aliha is the plural form of ilah. Ilah itself means “a god” or “object of worship”). So your gods that have been adopted by you, Allah recognises that you’ve done so. It shows you how Islam gives humans their rights completely, and this cannot be found anywhere else. So He, Allah, had forbidden wronging and oppressing others, seizing their rights and taking their lives, lands and wealth.
Allah says:
Allah says in a ḥadīth qudsī:
يَا عِبَادِي إِنِّي حَرَّمْتُ الظُّلْمَ عَلَى نَفْسِي، وَجَعَلْتُهُ بَيْنَكُمْ مُحَرَّمًا فَلَا تَظَالَمُوا
“O My servants, I have forbidden oppression upon Myself, and I have made it forbidden among you, so do not oppress one another.” (Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim)
This is a command of God. No one is allowed to harm or wrong one another. “Oh, I’m wronging him because he doesn’t follow my religion, because he doesn’t believe in it.” That’s not an excuse to do wrong to them. There is no excuse for wronging anyone at all, regardless. Those are the main foundations of Islam.
The Court of Allah
Now, many people are asking why no one can take these criminals to court and put them on trial for what they are doing to the oppressed and the poor people. Some answers that they are above international law. That’s why nobody can control them. They can do whatever they want to do, and they’ve been doing it for two years. Nobody can do anything. But the truth runs deeper than that. And keep in mind that courts in this world come in many forms. Some are small, some are grand, and some are even more authoritative. These are the courts among humans, each with judges of different ranks, levels, and powers.
Each crime requires a court that matches its severity. Each crime requires a court that matches its weight. And what we are witnessing today in Gaza is not just a crime. It is one of the gravest crimes in all of human history. That’s why no court on earth is fast enough to contain its truth or just enough to deliver its judgment. No system of law, no council of nations and no human judge can truly do justice. Some crimes are so immense that no human court can contain them. Worldly courts cannot bring justice for every crime. Such oppression awaits only one court:
The Supreme Court of Allah on the Day of Judgment, with Allah Himself as the Judge.
Keeping the Light of Faith Alive
So what can we do? Keep the candle of faith alive in our hearts. Maintain, preserve, and activate it. The moment faith shines, the darkness of oppression disappears, just as night vanishes instantly when the sun rises. Focus on your heart. Turn on the light of īmān through prayer, Qur’an, remembrance, charity, fasting, and supporting the community.
I ask Allah Subḥānahu wa Ta‘ālā to grant us the proper knowledge, a knowledge that benefits us in our dīn and in our life, a knowledge that elevates our īmān, and a knowledge that helps us change ourselves to become better people who please Allah.
(The above is an edited version of a Jummah khutbah (sermon)).
