Broadly speaking, faith is the strong and unshakable belief in something, mainly without proofs. In the religious world faith in the conviction of the truthfulness of a religious doctrine. Certainly faith can be blind , but religious faith is based on scriptures brought up by prophets who backed most of them with miracles. In motivating people to believe and worship the only one God that created the universe and everything it encompasses, you will face opposition due to pride and lack of fear of God. A believer however must be a virtuous person who because of the fact that he fears God will avoid sins. We are all sinners but the believer is the sinner who struggle to escape the condition of sin. Jews are convinced that their faith is the right one and many of them cannot be dissuaded. And Christians, at least the major sects of Christianity believe that if you accept Jesus as your Lord then you are on the right faith because he died for your sins. And Muslims are convinced that if you rely upon the oneness of God and do not join any partner with him then everlasting happiness and joy will be your reward in paradise. But religion is basically at the origin of our main universal ethical values that constitutes the foundation of Law. But how can we know that we have faith that there is a creator and that it is the reason for our adherence to a religious doctrine?
The main attitude that shows you that you have faith is that you will feel annoyed after committing a sin. Everyone is a sinner but only people with faith will regret a sin and repent. Faith is thus the greatest gift of all as it makes you understand that sins are wrong and should be avoided. Thus many people cling on religious doctrine with the concept of salvation without taking into account the fact that a man of faith is put in trials all the time.
Faith is test and bound us to seek knowledge. Seeking spiritual Knowledge is a duty for every believer and is a continues process as we are all humans and different from the prophets. And knowledge must be applied otherwise it becomes a proof against the believer himself.
No religious doctrine suffices to challenge evil as the battle between the soldiers of Satan and the virtuous and righteous people is a constant one. Avoiding sins is the key to strive on the straight path and no ideology can be more effective. A sinner who claims to be a believer is just like a creeping plant who claim to be tree. The tests of live are likely to proof him wrong as he will not be able to overcome evil. There is a group of scholars and religious sages who withdrew themselves to encounter the signs of the divine. There is a whole science that emerged from their experiences that proofs that relying on the unity of God is the foundation of true religious faith.
Another sign that will distinguish true believers from others is humility. The acts of worship and the obedience that people of faith practice is only for the sake of God. A believer does not boost and enjoin what is recommended and right for the sake of God.
The goal of religious belief is everlasting happiness in the next world. Worldly happiness is always short and never satisfying. Those who practice religion aspire a better life after this one. But the condition for success will vary from religion to religion. But true faith ,must be only for the sake of God, and his messengers. The quran is clear about the fact that those who hear about the guidance will embrace it if they are believers but reject it if they are disbelievers. Those who never received any guidance will dwell on an elevated place between Hell and Paradise and will therefore gain security without fortune or success.
Some Muslims will think that it suffices to be born Muslim and that it guarantee that they have faith but unfortunately faith must be conquered trough application of the teachings of the prophet and the sunna. Indeed there is a great advantage to be born with the blessing of faith but God require us to be grateful for every single gift and put it in his service. Indeed the prophet(pbuh) is the ideal of the believer but knowing him and loving him can only lead to success when efforts are undertaken to implement his teachings in our own life. The essence of faith is within mind. Uttering the Tawhid(There is no deity but God) should not be done only with tongue but must be an unshakable conviction in the mind. But still a Muslim must adhere to the Law because some people believing in Tawhid can still go to hell if they are notorious sinner who do not repent.
And the Christians who think that Jesus(Issa(pbuh)) has already died for their sins and that they will inherit paradise as a matter of fact are unfortunately not necessary on the right path of faith. There is evidence both in the Bible and the qu’ran that God is unique for all folk and does not commit any injustice but everyone will account according to his own deeds and actions. It is taught by all monotheistic religions that disobedient sinners will be the dwellers of Hell fire. If a sinner obtain intersession of Prophets, Imams, or saints he will be forgiven. If someone is warned and fears God he can also be saved by the mercy of God on High. According to Islamic teachings, people who die with faith will be taken out of Hell after a period of time. It should be therefore obvious that apart from the mercy of God and the hope of intercession, our actions must be in accordance with the basic teachings of the prophets for us to aspire success in the herefater.
« Whoever has done an atom’s weight of good will see it and whoever has done an atom’s weight of evil will see it »(qu’ran 99 : 6-7)
