Iman (The Conviction)

When one speaks of Iman (conviction), today it is unfortunately a very small talk and not taken so seriously. However, if you take a closer look at the term Iman in Islamic terminology and read through a definition in the books, you will see that the Iman is something much larger than you would expect today.

Iman means Absolute Conviction. That in turn means that one is so convinced of something that no outside influence can dissuade you from this conviction.

To Iman means to be convinced of something as if you had seen it with your own eyes. For example, if you talk about doing Iman in God, you speak of absolute conviction as described above.

If someone asks me about Iman, I ask him this question.
Do you believe in Islam?
He answers yes.
Then I ask him:
What would have to happen to make you fall from the faith. So that you will be no Muslim anymore. Imagine the worst scenarios that could happen to you. Take all your imagination. What has to happen to lose your faith in Islam? …
If something has occurred to your mind, then you have no iman in Islam.

Here we come directly to the point. When one speaks of Iman, there is no turning back. This means that somebody who has Iman, later can not have no Iman anymore. That’s not possible.

Nowadays we mostly have the case of saying:
I do not believe in Islam anymore.
Or:
I do not believe in God anymore!
These are completely wrong sentences. If one speaks of iman, this is not possible.

If such a sentence falls, that person did not had Iman in it. You can not have Iman and then not anymore.

When talking about Iman, I like to take Elon Musk as an example. His goal has been to build rockets that can land back vertically. Many renowned physicists have made fun of him and meant that this was not possible.

Even in the media he was portrayed as a laughingstock. However, Elon Musk has had such a strong iman in his will that he has not listened to anyone and ultimately achieved his goal. He did not care what others say about him. He clung to his goal and achieved it. That’s Iman!

That a lack of Iman exists in the current society probably has to do with today’s education and the environment. The people are not exactly convinced of one thing but change their opinion again and again.

Today, they swear something and tomorrow they are completely against the oath. I am convinced that this also has to do with what you grow up with. If we look at the news or the post-democracy, this pattern of behavior becomes very clear.

It must be made clear to people that this labile way can be very dangerous and they can be used for anything if they do not learn that they need to build an absolute belief over time.