“Allah has caused faith to be dear to you and has made it beautiful within your hearts.” (Qur’an 49:7-8)
Allah says: “Take one step towards Me and I will take ten steps towards you; walk towards Me and I will run towards you.” (Hadith)
Faith is not something we have to obtain or earn, but rather it is a journey of unveiling what we have already been given by God. Whereas disbelief leads to covering the self with illusion and misperceptions based on musings of the ego, faith is the journey of uncovering and discovering the higher self. The word for “disbelief” is often used interchangeably with the Arabic word kafir, which literally means “the one who covers the truth.” In fact, when a farmer plants a seed in the earth and covers it with soil, in Arabic It would be said that he is performing the act of kufr. In a spiritual context, kafir is someone who covers the priceless jewel of faith in their own heart. In the Qur’an, the word kufr is used as the opposite of shukr or gratitude, because covering up the truth is the greatest act of ingratitude.
As the Qur’an says, “Be grateful to God: he who is grateful, is grateful only for the good of his own soul. But if anyone is ungrateful (kafara), then surely God is Self-Sufficient and Praiseworthy.” (31:12) For a Muslim, a true disbeliever is not one who is genuinely seeking the truth, but rather one who is aware of God’s existence, but out of arrogance or ingratitude refuses to obey Him. In other words, being a kafir could be understood as a state of resisting the natural state of what it means to be human.
Nonetheless, it is important to point out that you can never force someone to convert or accept the message of Islam. The merit and value of faith comes from a human being’s freedom to choose whether or not to accept what God has already given to them. This is why the Qur’an very clearly states, “There is no compulsion in religion” (2:256). Every single person on Earth already carries the seeds of faith within them; how those seeds grow depends on what God has planned for them and to what extent they strive spiritually. “Whoever believes in Allah – He will guide his heart.” (Qur’an 64:11)
This blog is an excerpt from A. Helwa’s recently published best-selling book, “Secrets of Divine Love: A Spiritual Journey into the Heart of Islam.” Her book is available on Amazon.com
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About A. Helwa
A. Helwa believes that every single person on Earth is deeply loved by the Divine. She is a writer who has inspired hundreds of thousands of readers through her passionate, poetic, and love-based approach to spirituality. Her popular blog @quranquotesdaily, was established while obtaining her Masters in Divinity, as a means of helping others overcome personal and spiritual struggles on their journey of experiencing divine love.
With over 15 years of experience writing and speaking on Islam and spiritual development, A. Helwa draws from her personal experiences and traditional sources to help her readers access ‘Divine love in everyday life.’