Title: My Weakening Faith Question: I am a muslim.I feel like just I am carrying a muslim name. I know very well about Islam. My problem is that, from a recent period,I am always doubting in Islam, I don't feel to do any prayers for the god. I am so scared that will I get rid of Islam. Please, could you help me to be my self? Yours, Sincerely, Sister in Islam Answer: Assalamu Alaykum, I think the very fact that you reflect on your thoughts and feelings is a very big advantage that God has given you. Many of us do not even bother or do not have the time to reflect on ourselves. The journey of life is an adventurous one that involves a roller coaster of feelings and beliefs. We should not lose hope when we feel down and we should not be too proud when we feel we are doing well. As for 'doubting', very broadly speaking, one may say that there can be two reasons for 'doubting' about a belief (no matter if the belief is correct or not): 1. 'Doubt' that may occur when a person encounters arguments or evidences that are apparently against his belief. This is a kind of 'doubt' that can be perceived as a constructive one which with some efforts can be replaced with 'better understanding of truth'. This type of 'doubt' is inline with the very nature of the human being as a thinking creature. Those, whose only reason for doubting their belief is the above, only need to study the reliability and rationality of the arguments against their belief and to study their belief in more depth. In doing so, we should let these arguments freely challenge our belief and we should put ourselves in the place of a fair, just and intellectual judge. We should not fear the result of such a challenge and we should be prepared to accept what we understand to be the truth, no matter what. 2. 'Doubt' that may occur when a person is engaging himself with practices that are against his belief or are distracting him from his belief. Unlike the first one, this is a kind of 'doubt' that can be perceived as a damaging and negative one. One's beliefs and practices should be in accordance with each other; otherwise they will work against each other. In such a situation, if the belief is not strong enough to change the practices then it is well possible that the practices change the belief or turn it to an artificial, nominal belief. To put this within the context under discussion, Islam wants its followers to reach the state of Tazkya (purity of heart). To reach this state, a Muslim is advised to adopt certain practices. Among them are praying, doing good deeds, avoiding lust ( Fahsha ) and useless affairs ( Lahw ), etc... If someone does not follow the above in the least satisfactory way then it is quite natural that one's belief may start to suffer. The above two reasons of 'doubting a belief' are not mutually exclusive. In fact, one's belief can easily and rapidly perish if one encounters arguments against one's belief (category 1 above) while being engaged with practices against the belief (category 2 above). The problem is, some times we think our belief is shaking because of an argument we have encountered, while the reality is, it is our 'not practicing according to our belief' that is shaking it. I am in no position to judge which of the above might be the reason for your doubts. However in general, these (very briefly) are what I think we should do in situations similar to what you described (the first three relate to the first category of 'doubt' and the rest relate to the second category of 'doubt', as described above): We need to educate ourselves about Islam. The more we learn about a system of belief the more we feel attachment to it. In doing so, rather than engaging ourselves with minor issues our first priority should be to understand the purpose of Islam as a religion as well as to appreciate the authority and position of the two main sources of understanding Islam that are the Qur'an and the Sunnah of the Prophet (pbuh). If we encounter any arguments against Islam we first need to understand the argument, its background and its conclusions with no prejudice and with an open mind. Only then, we can and we should seek explanation about the argument from Islamic sources. In looking at arguments and counter-arguments, two important criteria to judge which argument is closer to truth should be: 'being relevant' and 'being in accordance with logic and rationality'. While practicing the above, and as far as we consider ourselves Muslims, we should practice our religion as instructed by our Lord and His Prophet (pbuh). Any religiously obligatory action that is not fulfilled and any religiously forbidden action that is committed will be a damaging strike to our belief. As far as we consider ourselves Muslims, we should not allow our daily life and the engagements of the 21 st century totally occupy our mind, leaving us with nearly no time or mood to be mindful about the relationship with our lord. In particular, we should consider that our daily prayers are the first and the last bonds between the Lord and us (as Muslims). The total time that we need to do our seventeen units of daily prayer may be something around 15 minutes or less. This is about 1% of the time we have in 24 hours of our life. As long as there is a tiniest sign of belief (in Islam) in our hearts, we should not give up this tiny (in terms of effort) but crucial (in terms of effect) religious practice, even if we feel that some times we are doing it unwillingly. As a Muslim, we should not undermine the effect of reading and understanding the Qur'an. It is advisable to set a certain number of verses of the Qur'an to read and understand as a daily target. I think if we do the above with a sincere heart, God willingly we are in the way of strengthening our religious belief. If after doing the above (and any other necessary measure based on individual circumstances) one still finds that one's belief is perishing, then at least there will be no need to be scared. This is because (according to Islam) we are only responsible for things that are within our limited capacity. Abdullah Rahim