I didn't write this, someone else did & I thought this is a powerful message so I decided to share it here:
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
The theological & moral issues that are usually the first to chip away at the faith of Muslims (who become Apostates/drowning in shubuhāt) that lead to greater doubts are known by all:
So; the committed Muslim & the one in doubt BOTH know about the "issues":
The existence of hellfire, existence of evil or offensive warfare to conquer disbelieving lands (jihād at-talab), concubinage, the marriage of the Messenger ﷺ with Sayyidah A'isha رضي الله عنها, the hudūd etc.
So what makes the difference?
It truly comes down to submission. Submission is what separates both groups. Most of the heresies we find in modern man are rooted in (if I was to summarize) man's inability to realize that he is the slave and Allāh is the Lord. One must know, numerous apostasy cases include huffāz of the Qur'ān, or those who were once upon a time giving da'wah themselves, and those who do actually know about the religion. So know, that one could learn all the rebuttals against the arguments of Islam thrown at him from an intellectual standpoint, but still have uncertainty in his Islam, simply because his heart never completely submitted, for imān isn't just an intellectual exercise for the mind, rather it's a spiritual conviction in the heart (that Allāh gives His slave) tied with the intellectual certitude.
Imām Abū Ja'far Al Tahāwī رَحِمَهُ الله beautifully summarized:
"For none is safe in his religion except those who surrender themselves to Allāh Almighty and to His Messenger (ﷺ), and relinquishes the knowledge of what is ambiguous to the One who knows it.'' The Imām رَحِمَهُ الله also says: "A man's footing in Islām is not firm unless it is based on SUBMISSION and surrender."
The one in doubt thinks "how can Allāh possibly legislate this”? Whereas he, the committed Muslim is content in whatever Allāh wills and whatever He revealed.
One can argue, only if these people who had left the religion grounded themselves in foundational 'Aqīda (creed) with a firm grounding, I say:
This is a fair point, yet first of all we must know that Allāh guides whom He wills and secondly one should realize that even if people learn the foundational creed for a 1000 years from the greatest theologian to have ever lived, BUT if this person never internalized what he learned in his heart by complete & total submission to Allāh, His Will, His Decree, His rulings & His Divine Wisdom, he would still waiver!
This is why it is not a matter of just knowing, but a matter of submitting like the story of Ibrahīm عليه السلام, Allāh raise his ranks, was commanded to slaughter his own!
So what truly separates the believer and people of doubt and those who went astray is:
Submission - to know that we are broken slaves of Allāh who have limited knowledge and affirming Allāh is our Lord, the King of Kings!
And Allāh knows best.
He also wrote:
"Many Muslims don't realise that many murtaddīn ("ex-Muslims") were practicing & serious about the Dīn and it isn't the case they abandoned this path merely because 'they wanted to do zina/alcohol'. Rather, it's simply the case, many looked at Islam through the lens of the world, so couldn't reconcile their values (usually subjective secular humanist values) with the Sharī'ah, and left. This is why it's important to seek the aid of Allāh for we never know our state tomorrow let alone at our deaths."
And also:
"By Allāh, I'll tell you what this all comes down to:
Belief in the Messenger ﷺ. This is the foundation
One either sincerely, genuinely and firmly believes him as a true Prophet, and so believes in everything he came with or they reject/doubt his Prophethood and so there is no foundation."
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
The theological & moral issues that are usually the first to chip away at the faith of Muslims (who become Apostates/drowning in shubuhāt) that lead to greater doubts are known by all:
So; the committed Muslim & the one in doubt BOTH know about the "issues":
The existence of hellfire, existence of evil or offensive warfare to conquer disbelieving lands (jihād at-talab), concubinage, the marriage of the Messenger ﷺ with Sayyidah A'isha رضي الله عنها, the hudūd etc.
So what makes the difference?
It truly comes down to submission. Submission is what separates both groups. Most of the heresies we find in modern man are rooted in (if I was to summarize) man's inability to realize that he is the slave and Allāh is the Lord. One must know, numerous apostasy cases include huffāz of the Qur'ān, or those who were once upon a time giving da'wah themselves, and those who do actually know about the religion. So know, that one could learn all the rebuttals against the arguments of Islam thrown at him from an intellectual standpoint, but still have uncertainty in his Islam, simply because his heart never completely submitted, for imān isn't just an intellectual exercise for the mind, rather it's a spiritual conviction in the heart (that Allāh gives His slave) tied with the intellectual certitude.
Imām Abū Ja'far Al Tahāwī رَحِمَهُ الله beautifully summarized:
"For none is safe in his religion except those who surrender themselves to Allāh Almighty and to His Messenger (ﷺ), and relinquishes the knowledge of what is ambiguous to the One who knows it.'' The Imām رَحِمَهُ الله also says: "A man's footing in Islām is not firm unless it is based on SUBMISSION and surrender."
The one in doubt thinks "how can Allāh possibly legislate this”? Whereas he, the committed Muslim is content in whatever Allāh wills and whatever He revealed.
One can argue, only if these people who had left the religion grounded themselves in foundational 'Aqīda (creed) with a firm grounding, I say:
This is a fair point, yet first of all we must know that Allāh guides whom He wills and secondly one should realize that even if people learn the foundational creed for a 1000 years from the greatest theologian to have ever lived, BUT if this person never internalized what he learned in his heart by complete & total submission to Allāh, His Will, His Decree, His rulings & His Divine Wisdom, he would still waiver!
This is why it is not a matter of just knowing, but a matter of submitting like the story of Ibrahīm عليه السلام, Allāh raise his ranks, was commanded to slaughter his own!
So what truly separates the believer and people of doubt and those who went astray is:
Submission - to know that we are broken slaves of Allāh who have limited knowledge and affirming Allāh is our Lord, the King of Kings!
And Allāh knows best.
He also wrote:
"Many Muslims don't realise that many murtaddīn ("ex-Muslims") were practicing & serious about the Dīn and it isn't the case they abandoned this path merely because 'they wanted to do zina/alcohol'. Rather, it's simply the case, many looked at Islam through the lens of the world, so couldn't reconcile their values (usually subjective secular humanist values) with the Sharī'ah, and left. This is why it's important to seek the aid of Allāh for we never know our state tomorrow let alone at our deaths."
And also:
"By Allāh, I'll tell you what this all comes down to:
Belief in the Messenger ﷺ. This is the foundation
One either sincerely, genuinely and firmly believes him as a true Prophet, and so believes in everything he came with or they reject/doubt his Prophethood and so there is no foundation."
