9.0 Iman - Its Ups and Downs

9.0 What is "Iman - Its Ups and Downs"?
Iman, in conventional context, is faith. It is having faith over a matter. Iman, in Islamic context on the other hand, is having faith towards knowing and believing the existence of Allah Azza wa Jal (Mighty and Majestic is He). Hence, knowing it is an intangible matter of mentality without a doubt it has its fluctuation over time. Let us study on how can we be aware of its fluctuation. There are two factors playing their roles in affecting our iman, both internal and external, which are respectively: knowledge and associations (a.k.a. circle of influence).

9.1 The Internal and External Players

Beforehand starting, let's understand this picture. Why is it in the form of gears? It is in the form of gears due to the fact when Gear A moves, it triggers Gear B which results in triggering the Gear C. The basic understanding for this is all of the gears are interrelated, wherein in this topic: (1) knowledge acts as the ignition for an individual, (2) an individual acts as a medium to absorb knowledge and practice upon it and also to either influence his/ her associations or be influenced, and (3) associations act as either an aftermath of your persona or the otherwise.

9.2 Gear A - The Knowledge

Knowledge, the internal player, acts as the root player in forming the persona of an individual. Knowledge can be gained from various sources such as books, videos, forums, seminars, articles/ journals, etc. The key is to understand which sources have its highest significance to our iman, and the their ease of accessibility.

"To often practice little good deeds is better than to rarely practice big good deeds." - Muslim

Let's take a look into the examples of books and seminars.

9.2.1 Books

A book is the norm for gaining knowledge. It contains the intel we seek. The book that serves as the ultimate intel provider in having effect to our iman is undoubtedly the Al-Quran. Why Al-Quran? Within it contains the knowledge that transcends all because its contents are messages from our One Creator - Allah Azza wa Jal - to us. It is advisable to read it and ponder on its meanings with proper guidance from the knowledgeable scholars such as Nouman Ali Khan and Mufti Ismail Menk.

9.2.2 Seminars

Another example is to attend seminars that will provide us self-empowerment knowledge in evolving our persona into something better. Take part in a truly effective seminar where it teaches us the basics and consequent bases of a subject matter, involve us in the subject matter, and, finally, enable us to actually practice the subject matter. Insha'Allah, it'll result in us becoming better humans in comparison to our previous persona. All in all, gain benevolent knowledge that enables us to act upon it.

9.3 Gear B - The Individual

The individual is you. You - your persona - is a result of the, subjected but not limited to, absorption of the knowledge. All of the knowledge gained thus far will be reflected through your speech and action. That is your level of iman. Consequently, you have the power to affect your associations' iman, but on that note, your associations have the power to affect your iman in a similar way. It all comes to the nature of whose root of iman stands stronger than the other.

9.4 Gear C - The Associations (Circle of Influence)

The associations are who you surround yourself with. It can be your family members, friends, colleagues, pious scholars, teachers, etc. Understand how it affects our iman, and that is through two forms: speech and action.

9.4.1 The Speech

The speech of our associations affect our iman in a way the words we listen deriving from a conversation. Our iman can be affected in descending manner should we associate with those who cuss and engage in non-benevolent topics in their dialogues, whereas it can be affected in ascending manner should we associate with those who speak in good manner with a pious character.

9.4.2 The Action

The action of our associations affect our iman in an indirect way that is unaware to us. That is correct: unaware. Those who are aware of this form of influence are particularly the psychologist, social scientist, and others who study the topic of human behaviors. The significance of our associations' action having effect to our iman ranges variably depending on how do we perceive them. An influential person, for example a respectable employer, may affect us into indirectly absorbing his/ her actions which consequently will affect our school of thought. On the other hand, a non-knowledgeable person, for example a stranger at a cafe, who rambles on anything that goes into his/ her mind will not have any effect on our school of thought. Let's ponder into this simple advise in finishing this topic:

"Be careful with who you associate with." - Mufti Ismail Menk

I hope this topic will prove beneficial to you as much as it has benefited myself, la hawla wa la kuwatta ila billah. Insha'Allah, the next topic will be posted in the near future.