Maintaining Iman
By Nouman Ali Khan | 2026-01-09T16:34:05.857951+00:00 | Topic: Iman
Maintaining Iman - Khutbah by Nouman Ali Khan
Opening Du'a
"O my Lord! Open for me my chest (grant me self-confidence, contentment, and boldness). And ease my task for me; And remove the impediment from my speech, so they may understand what I say. As for what comes after, Lord of the worlds, then indeed, Allah is Forgiving and Merciful."
The Verse About the Bedouins
"The bedouins say, "We have believed." Say, "You have not [yet] believed; but say [instead], 'We have submitted,' for faith has not yet entered your hearts. And if you obey Allah and His Messenger, He will not deprive you from your deeds of anything. Indeed, Allah is Forgiving and Merciful."
This is from the 49th surah of the Qur'an, in which Allah describes something very interesting. He talks about a group of people called the A'rab. The A'rab are Bedouins and before we understand the context of the ayah or the message of the ayah, we have to know something about these people that Allah is talking about.
Understanding the Bedouin Context
You know the Prophet gave da'wah in the city of Makkah, which is compared to the rest of the region is a very dense population. Then he migrates to the city of Medina, which is also a dense population. So it's a city, a lot of people live in close proximity to each other.
But a good number of Arabs at the time in that region were A'rab. And A'rab are people that did not live in the cities. They traveled around, they took their herds and they went through the desert.
Most of the time, most of the year they were out there in the middle of the wilderness. They were not people that lived in cities most of the time. And much of Arab life at the time was this Bedouin lifestyle where they would travel with a tent and they would travel with their goods and they would go from place to place to place to place.
Some of them would do trade and some of them would actually just sell the milk from their animals and things like that. So these are people that are not part of a dense population. And even some of them have now started to become Muslim.
But these people, not only are they in not regular contact with other people, obviously also they're not in regular contact with other Muslims. They're isolated. So they have very little exposure to Islam even though they've become Muslims.
The Bedouins' Lack of Etiquette
And so one of the first things we learn about these people in this surah is that because they're not in contact with people so much, they don't understand etiquette, manners. And it happens to people that don't live in a city or they don't live among other people. They don't know how to deal with people in a way that's expected.
So these people, when they came asking the Prophet some question, Allah describes them in the beginning of the surah:
"Indeed, those who call you, [O Muhammad], from behind the chambers - most of them do not use reason."
Allah says, they come to the Prophet's apartment and they start calling his name out loud from right outside his apartment. And they don't say (يَا رَسُولَ ٱللَّهِ - ya rasulullah) - you have to understand, the Messenger, even his own family calls him Rasulullah. They don't call him by his name.
His uncle doesn't call him by his name. His best friend doesn't call him by his name. Everybody around him calls him by the title Rasulullah, part of respect for the Messenger of Allah. But these Bedouins, they come out and they say (يَا مُحَمَّدُ ٱخْرُجْ عَلَيْنَا - ya muhammad ukhruj alayna) - Muhammad, come out, we have to talk to you.
And this was something very offensive to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. So even though this was something wrong, Allah first gave an excuse to them (أَكْثَرُهُمْ لَا يَعْقِلُونَ - aktharuhum la ya'qilun) - most of them don't understand. And now from their background, you know, why don't they understand? Because they're not in the company of the Prophet much.
They're not in the company of the Sahaba much. They're not trained. They're not educated the way that the other Muslims are educated.
So you can't expect from them the higher etiquette, the higher mannerisms that are expected from Abu Bakr as-Siddiq, that are expected from Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him). People like that, you know. You can't expect the same thing from them. But then again Allah decides to educate them:
"And if they had been patient until you [O Muhammad] came out to them, it would have been better for them. But Allah is Forgiving and Merciful."
Different Categories of Muslims
They shouldn't have been so impatient and start yelling and screaming outside the apartment of the Prophet. But I wanted to give you this little bit of a background to let you know that there are different
categories of Muslims even at the time of the Prophet. And this does not have to do necessarily with their level of iman.
Or their level of goodness or their better or worse. It actually has to do with the amount they got exposed. They didn't get to spend nearly as much time with the Prophet or with the company around them.
But they're nonetheless Muslims. The thing though is because they know so little and they're so less exposed, they're not part of this community that's constantly developing and growing. They're learning more about their religion.
They're getting stronger in their understanding. They're getting stronger as a community. They're not part of that.
So what happens to them over time is that whatever little they have, they become happy with it. And this is dangerous. When you have a little bit and you're happy with it.
The Problem of Overconfidence
So this is actually the problem highlighted in the ayah that I wanted to talk to you about. The Bedouins, they just come out and they just said, we have iman. We've believed.
We've accepted. They didn't just say we're Muslims. They say we have iman.
Now the Muslims who are with the company of the Prophet, they understand that actually saying that we believe comes with a lot of responsibility. When somebody says that I've accepted iman. I've believed.
Then that actually meant I've changed my entire life. The way I sleep. The way I wake up. The way I eat. The way I drink. The way I talk.
What's the most important thing in my life? What's the goal in my life anyway? All of the things that have to do with my life have changed because of one thing. Because I've believed. There's not a small thing to say.
But for these Bedouins, it was just okay, well there's one God and this man is his messenger and we believe in these words that come to him. They're called the Quran. So okay, fine.
I accept. It was a simple thing for them. It wasn't a complicated thing. It doesn't require that they transform themselves completely. Nothing. So they said (آمَنَّا - amanna). We've accepted iman. Fine.
But Allah corrects them and says:
Tell them. The messenger has to go out of his way and tell them (لَّمْ تُؤْمِنُوا - lam tu'minu) - You have not believed.
But say that we have accepted Islam.
Islam vs. Iman: The First Step vs. Mature Faith
And by the way saying that we've accepted Islam or we've submitted actually means we've only taken the first step. Iman is a more mature step. Islam is just your first step.
And you'll notice in the Quran, (آمَنَّا - amanna) is something praised. Generally when people say we've come to believe, you know, this is actually something good. But in the case of these people, you have to understand where they're coming from.
They're overconfident that they can hold on to their Islam. That their iman is already perfect. They know what they need to know.
I don't need to understand anymore. I don't need to dig any deeper. I don't need to transform anything inside of myself.
This overconfidence is problematic. So these Bedouins who are not in contact with a regular community, who are overconfident that they already have iman, that that's not a problem, have to be told all you have taken is the first step:
Why Iman Has Not Entered Their Hearts
Now, when Allah says that to them, they have to understand, why are you saying that we only have Islam, we don't have iman? We believe in Allah, we believe in the Messenger, we believe in the akhira. What's missing? What's the problem? How come you're saying we only have Islam and we don't have iman? We don't have this higher faith?
Allah Himself answers the question:
Iman, this gift of faith, of conviction, has not entered into your hearts yet.
That has not come into your hearts yet. Now in this we're learning a very profound reality. Iman is not something that just happens. You don't just get it on your own. And you cannot just assume that you have it. And it's not just something that you can keep on your own.
You have to maintain it. In another place in the Quran, actually Allah describes the analogy of rocks. Of rocks. And there's water deep inside the rocks. And that water is described to be as, you know, it's the
analogy of iman itself.
Now Allah is telling us in this ayah, let the Bedouins know that they cannot keep iman on their own just because they casually came into Islam.
The Modern Muslim Minority Context
They came to agree with some of its ideas and that's enough for them. Why am I sharing this with you? Because across the world, across the United States, across Europe, across Australia, in many parts, especially where Muslims are a minority, a lot of Muslim communities exist where they're very small in number. And the opportunities for them to learn, to grow, are very limited.
And so the parents for example in a community, they have very little knowledge of Islam. It's not their fault. They just know just a little bit about Islam. And then they have children and these children go to school and they spend 8 hours a day, 7 hours a day away from home. Father's at work. Now these kids come home, they spend 3-4 hours doing homework or whatever they do.
Then they need to play some video games and watch some TV. And by the time the day's over, you actually didn't do anything about Islam. If anything, you maybe forced your kids, hey, let's go pray or let's pray Maghrib.
Oh, come on, I have to pray now? And then, so these kids are actually very minimally exposed to Islam. They're very minimally exposed. Actually most of their waking life, they experience life as other than Muslims.
There's nothing really specific about Islam that they get hit with all the time that makes them say, this is who I am first and foremost. As a matter of fact, in these minority communities, these children they go to school and they look different from everybody else. They behave different from everybody else and it makes them feel left out.
And when they feel left out, one of the things that makes them feel left out is the fact that they're Muslim. So a lot of times they're even embarrassed to be Muslim in front of the other kids. They're embarrassed.
They feel like I don't fit in, you know, in front of the other children. And they're embarrassed to, for example, make salah or something. Or their friends come over and their mom is praying or something.
Mom, could you pray in the other room? My friends think it's weird, you know. They're not comfortable with the Islam. And actually, even the parents, and I'm talking about what happens with the kids, but really my khutbah is about the parents.
When Parents Become Complacent
The parents who had a little bit of Islam, but got comfortable with it. That's good enough, we're Muslim.
Alhamdulillah, we know what we need to know. Everything's fine. And you know what? Everything is not fine until the kid turns 15, 16 years old. When the same child is 20 years old.
And when the same child says, I don't see the point of praying. I don't see why, you know, you're Muslim, that's good for you, that's not my thing. That's not really my thing.
We have to understand that this deen is not automatically transferred. It's not an automatic thing. Just because you're Muslim, and you make salah, and you recite Quran, and you tell your children to pray, does not mean that iman will enter into their hearts.
As a matter of fact, it can only enter into their hearts if you're making an effort to enter it into your hearts. If Islam has become something casual for you, something on the side, okay, Alhamdulillah, you take the time out to come to Jumu'ah prayer. That's great.
May Allah accept all of our ibadah, and all of the effort that we make. We come and make Jumu'ah prayer. But outside of that, at home, there's nothing about Islam, really.
There's really nothing there. There's no conversation there. Our kids don't know who the Prophet is, صلى الله عليه وسلم. They don't know what the Quran is, except you just teach them to memorize certain short surahs, and that's it. That's their religion.
Then actually, we're not that different from these Bedouins, who were in minimal contact with Islam, and they were overconfident that they have it.
And Allah told them, it hasn't penetrated your hearts yet:
Because if it, once it enters into your heart, something happens. Something happens that is indescribable.
Iman Makes You Independent of Environment
Everyone else is a product of their environment. You could be, you know, you could say, I'm around non-Muslims all the time, so my iman goes weak. I'm in an environment where there's not any place to learn, any place to share, any place to reinforce my values, that's why it becomes weak.
It's true. But you know what? Once iman enters into the heart, you could be all alone, by yourself, and you'll still have iman. You could be in the middle of a cave, like Ashab al-Kahf, and you'll still have iman.
You could be like Ibrahim, who was (كَانَ أُمَّةً - By himself) and he's an ummah, with no company around him. So we cannot use our environment as an excuse. The Bedouins were not given that excuse.
Well, you know, you don't live in the city, so it's okay for you. No.
If you continue to obey Allah and His Messenger...
The Importance of Obeying the Messenger
Now saying the Messenger here is really important (وَإِن تُطِيعُوا اللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُ). Why? Because they cannot be out in the middle of the desert and obey the Messenger صلى الله عليه وسلم. Obeying the Messenger for us is different.
Obeying the Messenger for those Bedouins is different. You have to understand their context. They cannot know what the Messenger is telling them to do unless they're with him. Unless they're with him. Unless they have someone who can tell them what the Messenger said صلى الله عليه وسلم. So in order for them to grow they actually have to be in a company where they're learning.
Where they're growing. Where they're discussing.
By the way (آطاعة) in Arabic isn't just about obedience. It's also about paying attention. (آطَاعَة) from (طع) actually has to do not only with volunteering or obeying but also has to do with paying attention. If you pay attention and then listen, obey Allah and His Messenger صلى الله عليه وسلم, none of your deeds will be taken away.
So on the one hand they're being told you don't really have iman yet. You have to grow to that point. But on the other hand they're also being told, listen that doesn't mean that all the good things you do have gone to waste.
If you continue to obey Allah and His Messenger none of your good deeds are going to be taken away. This is a very very serious matter.
The Danger of Taking Iman Casually
Because you know in another place in the Qur'an in Surah Al-Hadeed, Allah describes the consequences for people who took their iman casually. They just thought, whoa wait we're Muslim alhamdulillah that means everything's fine. No, everything is not fine. Is there any possibility that somebody becomes a believer and over time their iman starts getting weaker and weaker and weaker to the point where they even start doubting Islam itself.
Is that possible? Absolutely. As a matter of fact before I get to the ayah of Hadeed in this surah itself:
"(Quran 49:15)"
True believers are those who believed in Allah and His Messenger and then after that they never fell into doubt. Why would Allah say they never fell into doubt? Because that possibility exists.
If that possibility does not exist there's no need to mention it. We don't actually get to hold on to our iman just because. It's an active effort. It's an active active effort.
The Outside vs. The Inside
Now the thing that I want to bring to your attention is the outside versus the inside. This is actually one of the most profound lessons of this ayah and this teaching to the Bedouins.
The outside versus the inside. When you're praying it's an act on the outside. When you're making wudu it's an act on the outside. When you're reciting Quran it's an act on the outside. These are things that you can do. These are behaviors that somebody else can see.
If you're praying I can tell that you're praying. But there's something else happening on the inside. Something else is happening on the inside.
Somebody could be praying and their head is somewhere else. Somebody could be reciting Quran and they're not paying attention to what they're reciting. You understand? And Allah wants to see a transformation happen on the inside.
Iman hasn't entered into your hearts. Deep inside your heart what are you thinking about? What's your goal in life? Why are you making your money? Why do you have your job? What are you going to do with your kids? What's your purpose? Why do you exist?
What Are Your Goals for Allah?
Everybody has financial goals. You have this much money I want to make this year, this much I want in savings, this is where I want to buy the property, this is how much payments I want to pay off, this is the car I want to get.
You have these goals in your head. What are your goals for Allah? That's the question I have to ask myself and you have to ask yourself. And those questions that you have about money and about the car and about school and about marriage, all of these questions that you have they take up space in your heart.
You think about them all the time. When you're driving to work you're thinking about them. When you're sitting home you're thinking about them. Before you go to bed you think about them. Meaning these things have a place in your heart and Allah wants that place. He's not saying you get rid of those concerns but where is Allah when it comes to that? What have I done for Allah? What have I done for Allah?
Religion as Culture vs. True Faith
Other religions they are actually, this is a phenomenon in the world now, sociologists, especially people in the study of sociology of religion, they talk about this all the time. How generations of people that are Christians, Hindus, Buddhists, Jews, Muslims even, they're actually taking their religion very casually. It's this thing that was passed down from their parents. So most children that are being raised today and young adults, they're not religious.
Because this was part of the culture of their parents. They don't see this as something you believe in, it's actually you see it as something that's part of your culture. Just like you dress a certain way, it's a part of your culture.
You eat certain kinds of food, it's part of your culture. Well in our culture we pray like this. In our culture we have these rituals, we have this Eid and this stuff.
It's just cultural stuff. But you know what? Our kids are picking up a new culture. They're not into biryani or baklava, they're into pizza. And they want a burger. They're different. So when they get rid of the old culture, for a lot of people in the world, they're getting rid of the old religion too.
It's gone. Because all it was for them, all these kids, all the religion was, was a culture. It was just a set of practices on the outside. The religion had nothing to do with what was going on on the inside. This is a very serious matter. Because you can lose entire generations of Muslims this way.
The Mexico City Example
This last year, I was in Mexico for just a day, in the Mexico City. When I was there, one of the most densely populated cities in the entire world, 38 million people in one city. And I had my Zabiha restaurant app with me to look for some halal food because I had 6-7 hours to spend in the city with my wife.
And we found two restaurants. And I went to one of them, a Moroccan restaurant. And I go, and the Moroccan brother started this restaurant in 1972, he lives there in Mexico City. It's the only halal restaurant other than another one, a Pakistani restaurant, in the entire city.
And we start chatting and I was like, how do you do any business? Where are your customers? The entire city, they have Jumu'ah, maybe 200-300 people come for Jumu'ah. In the city of Mexico. Maybe two masjids combined, about 300 people. And one of the masjids is an old woman who became Muslim, she gave her house as a masjid. And that's where they hold Jumu'ah.
And I said, is that the only population of Muslims? He said, no. This is not the only population of Muslims. Actually, in the 70s and the 80s, Mexico opened up its borders because they were wanting to do a lot of development and engineering.
So they opened up their borders and people from Syria, Jordan, Bangladesh, people came from all over the Muslim world in hundreds of thousands. Hundreds of thousands. And they got engineering jobs, and they got mechanical jobs, and they got all these technical jobs that were working in this place.
So I was like, did they all move back? Did they all move back after the 70s? No. They stayed. Their children are just not Muslim anymore. Hundreds of thousands of people. And there's a couple of hundred people making Jumu'ah. This is very real.
This is what happens when you only worry about work, and you put food on the table, but you don't feed any hearts. You don't feed any hearts. Oh, we're Muslim, it's okay, alhamdulillah, what else is there?
Our Responsibility for Future Generations
You know, you might be thinking about your career and your savings and your future, but let me tell you, one of those scariest things that you and I all have to think about is when we stand in front of Allah, and we have to explain to Allah why the gift of la ilaha illa Allah that was given to you, that was given to me, the gift of Muhammadur Rasulullah صلى الله عليه وسلم, that we could so easily have planted inside the hearts of our growing generation, we failed to do it because we were too busy with other things, too busy with other things, so that two generations down the road, one generation down the road, there's nobody left to say la ilaha illa Allah.
We're going to have to answer Allah for that one.
A long period passed, their hearts became hard, most of them are corrupt. That's why I share these ayat with you.
Even Ibrahim Was Worried About His Children
This concern is real. Don't think, everybody thinks their own family is immune, their family is safe. If anybody had a right to think that their family is safe, it would have been Ibrahim عليه السلام.
Ibrahim عليه السلام could say, I raised my kids properly. And he did. His kid is so willing to submit to Allah:
Do whatever you've been told. If Allah is telling you to cut my neck, cut it, my father, it's okay. It's for the sake of Allah.
When they both submitted and he put his head down.
And even that father, Ibrahim , he's so worried about his kids, he turns to Allah and says:
I am shocked at these words. Allah, keep me and keep my sons from worshipping idols. If he said (ذُرِّيَّتِي) it would have meant keep me and my children and their grandchildren and their grandchildren and their grandchildren from worshipping idols.
He's not even thinking that far. He's worried that himself and his own kids, even after they've come to Islam, Ya Allah, that does not mean we're safe. You're the only one who keeps us safe.
Keep us from falling into the worship of idols.
I am shocked at that du'a. I'm just absolutely shocked. That's the house that he built. That's the house that he built with his son. And he comes back and it's this thriving city where everybody worships Allah.
And he's still worried that Ya Allah, keep me and my children from worshipping idols, from falling into that.
Modern Day Idols
So now, the last thing I want to share with you just about our kids, just to think about how Islam has to become a conscious thing, not just some practices, not just we used to go to Jummah. That's not going to be enough, I'm telling you now.
You might be offended by what I'm saying, but that's okay. I'd rather you get offended and do something than not. For your own selves, for your own families.
This is our matter. Every child that falls into doubt, every child that cares more about video games than they care about Allah's book, that's our loss. What I want to tell you about is idols.
Ibrahim was worried about idols. We don't have that problem. There's no statue over here. There's no cross over here. We're not worried about our kids falling into the worship of idols, but you need to
understand what idols are. What a sanam is.
Every generation has its own idols. Every era has its own idols. By the way, an idol is something you worship, something your hopes are associated with, something you think about all the time, something that replaces the place of Allah in your heart.
That's an idol. And very easily in our times, technology can become an idol. Very easily in our times, money can become somebody's idol that they worship.
All they care about is money. All they care about is looks. All they care about is the gadget.
People are crying. People are crying because they can't make hajj. And now you have people crying because they don't have the iPhone 6 plus. They're having a spiritual crisis because they don't have that video game. I only have a PS3. I don't have a PS4.
Our kids are bawling tears over this stuff. What have we done? We are creating idols for our children. They're innocent. What you put in front of them, they will become obsessed with. And then you cannot blame them for their obsession. I'm not saying you don't.
My kids play games. I play games with them. They do. But there's a balance that has to be achieved. Your job is not just there to give your kids these luxuries in life and nothing else. Then these things will become their idol.
This is all they will worship. This is all their life will amount to. How many times I hear stories about teenage Muslim boys and girls. I don't believe in God. And I'm not talking about across the world. I'm talking about Texas.
In Texas. I don't believe in God. Leave me alone. I just want to play my video games. Leave me alone. And those two things are not unrelated.
That God got replaced with another God. That's what happened. When you're gaming 8 hours, 10 hours a day. But we think, at least we go pray Jumu'ah. At least we do something at Eid. We make some pakora at Eid.
So we should be fine.
If you continue to obey Allah and His Messenger, none of your deeds will be wasted away.
Guidance Is in Allah's Hands
The last bit of advice that I want to give myself and to all of you, is actually the Iman and the guidance of our children is not in our hands. The guidance of our children is not in our hands. Allah guides who He
wills.
You can provide the best environment. You can