How Doubting Islam Made My Imaan Unshakable

As-salaamu ‘alaykum wa rahmatullah, I just wanted to ask for a small favor — could you kindly respond to this email and move it out of your spam into your main inbox? That would really help me a lot, barakAllahu feekum!

Now, here is the thing.

When we read or hear the word “doubt,” different things come to mind.

It’s not just one word, it’s not just one concept, it’s not just one form.

It takes different sizes, forms, and appearances.

It takes different tolls on people: some make wudu extensively, others cannot escape the pressuring thoughts within their heads, and others just don’t know what is right anymore.

In fact, humans love certainty — and when they cannot make sense of a certain matter, they will try, think, and think again to finally understand:

This poem basically just proves what we have been taught by Allah all along:

humans need purpose, they need meaning, they need deeper understanding.

While on the other hand, animals only follow their empty instinct to survive.

No meaning.

So doubting is, in a sense, a natural thing your brain does. It asks because it needs an answer to its “why.” This is literally its food, its purpose.

But that can become problematic too.

So let’s try to understand.

The Glorification of Doubt

One of the things that the modern world pushed is the glorification of doubt.

Question everything.
Doubt everything.
Don’t trust anyone.

It’s just really extreme.

I remember sitting in philosophy class during A-levels, and honestly, as a Muslim who knew all the necessary answers to life, I was genuinely not interested if a paper can still be named a paper when it’s burned to ashes (that was literally an experiment).

The thing is that I get that even in Islamic history, many great scholars answered many of the most pressing questions to human nature and curiosity by being great thinkers.

But even they knew their limits; they just knew when to stop and when questioning becomes too much.

When you are not aware of Allah and His rulings on everything that happens in this world, then you give yourself unlimited freedom.

And in my opinion, this is what happens to non-Muslims and Muslims alike: they literally confuse themselves with matters that Allah has either

• answered,

• not answered.

Now, as a functioning Muslim you would just think to yourself: okay, Allah put a full stop here, so I can never question this again.

Great, moving on.

If you have a shaky foundation though, you will not understand — and on top of that, Shaytan will use every moment to lure you into any type of doubt.

Believe me, I have been there.

If you are anything like me, despite all the craziness of philosophical questioning, you kinda find it intriguing.

You find it interesting, and you genuinely got curious to the question:
Is this paper still paper when it’s burnt to ashes?

Allah never kept us from asking. Allah never told us to just believe and be happy.

He literally tells us in multiple places in the Qur’an that we should think.

Okay but, why are my doubts sinful?
When are they sinful?
And literally: what do I do when I notice doubts creeping up within myself?

Glad you asked.

Doubts In Islam

The harsh truth is: if you don’t believe in the oneness of Allah, the Prophet Muhammad as the last messenger, and the Qur’an to be Allah’s words — you are not a Muslim.

Because being a Muslim literally consists of these things:

لا إله إلا الله محمد رسول الله

There is no God worthy of worship except Allah, and Muhammad is His messenger.

That’s the shahada, the proclamation of faith, the basis of Islam.

But wait — I’m getting ahead of myself. Let’s start from the beginning.

Where Do Your Doubts Come From?

Before we start digging into that pressing matter, reflect:

When did these thoughts start?
Who are/were the people you are friends with?
What shows/movies do you consume?
How much time do you spend with Allah & His words?

You know how the average person that has doubts usually lives their life?

In ghaflah — total heedlessness.

In most cases, these thoughts started when you started drifting away from Islam.

Or you started hanging out with friends who do not follow Islamic guidelines, who don’t fear Allah — and most likely, in the company of these “friends,” you start developing hobbies and interests that do not align with Islam at all.

Maybe you start getting yourself into haram relationships, movies, series, and ultimately acts. And then you start thinking to yourself: man, Islam is so limiting!

Let me ask: is Islam limiting, or are you in bad company?

Then the doubts creep in.

How true is Islam really?
Is the Prophet actually a prophet?
What is this whole preservation of Qur’an thing anyway?

Let me ask: did you ever learn the proofs of Islam?

Does Islam have too little evidence, or have you never learned them?
Does the Qur’an offer too little information on its validity, or did you never read it?
Did the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ not exist, or do you just not know him?

These are the hard questions you need to ask yourself — because here is the start of you working on your doubts. Right here.

Let me just assure you: doubts do not come from nowhere. They have a source, a history, a pattern.

But it does not need to end here. This is not the end.

Allah made you read this. Allah made you seek answers. And maybe I went through so much so you can read this today.

Allahu a‘lam.

Let’s talk solutions.

How To Get Out Of Darkness Into Light

I will just give you a really simple guide on how to go about this issue — for you to tick the boxes, in shaa Allah.

Understand Your Situation

Like I explained above, you need to know three basic things:

• What kind of doubts am I facing?

• What did I do that led to those doubts?

• Why do I want to fix them?

Write them down. Really take your time to do this with the intention to resolve them.

Ignore your guilt, your fears, the shaytan from here on.

Take breaks when necessary but those hard questions need to be answered to move forward.

The reason I put the last question is for you to know your why.

It is crucial if you want to work on yourself efficiently — because if you have no why, anything and everything will phase you.

Stay focused.

And most importantly: take responsibility.

The whole Islamic tradition is about knowing your mistake and owning up to it.

You may not attain Jannah because of your deeds, though — but because of how much you tried your best.

So instead of running away, trying to convince yourself of the opposite of the truth, and blaming others and everyone: start within yourself.

This will get you farther along in life than most of the people on earth, believe me.

Start Taking Action

Now it’s time to plan, work, and really get uncomfortable.

When I faced my darkest time, I did not sit around. I started researching. And during that time, I didn’t have the resources, people, and knowledge of today.

It was so much harder — that’s why I am so happy how far we’ve come, tbh.

• Start asking shuyukh about your questions without mentioning the doubts you have.

• Start genuinely reading books and understanding matters about doubt in Islam (resources at the end of this newsletter).

• Make lots and lots of du‘a. Whenever you can. Your only anchor is Allah.

The hardest part about taking action is to stay consistent. To stay aligned with your why and to never give in to Shaytan’s whispers.

This will take time.

Sometimes you will even feel like you are not getting anywhere or that you are working in vain.

Sometimes it might even get worse. The most important thing here is:

Keep going. Keep working on yourself. Allah will open that door eventually.

What You Need to Keep in Mind About Doubts

Not every doubt needs your attention.

In actuality, most of what I have experienced throughout my life were just intrusive thoughts — waswas — from Shaytan.

Ignoring them was half the work, and that’s good. Because whispers from Shaytan are there to misguide you — but in the end, that’s what they are: whispers.

They have no power, no weight, and no substance. So let them starve by ignoring them.

What is also necessary to know is that Allah will not punish you for your thoughts as long as you don’t act upon them or speak of them.

You can still seek answers in private with the intention to understand and work on yourself — wallahu a‘lam. That’s what I learned, at least.

I think most of us did not learn the basics of Islam, which is what shows in the hardest moments in our lives.

If your foundation is strong, no matter how far away you are in life, you will eventually get back. But if it’s shaky, then you might never return — even if you were the most religious.

But in the end, it’s all part of Allah’s bigger plan.

So don’t give up.

You Will Be Better

If there is one thing I can and will tell you, it’s this: it will get better — if you put your effort into it.

Don’t be fooled by the Shaytan who will inevitably try to convince you otherwise.
Don’t be fooled into thinking you’re not worth it or that you won’t get where you want to be.
Don’t be fooled into thinking that this is not solvable.

But you need to be sincere. You need to be ready to actually admit your faults, work on yourself, and put in the effort.

Pray when you “don’t feel like it.”
Fast when it’s difficult.
Make du‘a whenever you get the chance — even if you’re in the middle of something.

Show Allah that you mean it. Get to work.

This is a serious matter. Because if you do not work on your doubts, you could fall out of the fold of Islam — depending on the severity of it, obviously.

In fact, most of the negative emotions you feel are because you haven’t either understood your purpose or you might not even know it (yes, even as a Muslim).

Let this letter be a reminder for you to work on whatever needs work.

Take baby steps.

And don’t forget to check out the resources I listed down below — look into the channels and books, in shaa Allah.

I pray that Allah eases your pain and that He makes us steadfast on the Deen.

Allahumma ameen.

Now that was a lot to take in - I know.

But these are the pressing matters we need to work on to be better Muslims.

I will leave you with this for now and I would love to hear your thoughts on this!

Down below I have listed the necessary resources that will help you through this in shaa Allah. if there is anyone who needs to read this: share it with them.

Until then, Ill leave you

في امان الله _{(in the protection of Allah)}

❦ Dunja ❦

When you do the steps I told you about above, you will know which topic is most pressing for you. Choose the biggest “problem” first and work yourself through the resources.

Especially online you will find a lot in schaa allah, as I have stated above. And with YouTube in particular, just type in your concern with the names behind them.

But please: be extremely cautious when it comes to “online imams”. I have given you the most important resources and people above, in addition you can ask your local sheikhs. Be aware of who you ask.

Dr. Zakir Naik is known for his scientific and more “logical” explanations on matters.

Ustadh Belal Assad is very compassionate and has long series on important matters regarding Islamic teachings & mental health.

Ustadh Ali Hammuda also has a lot on islamic teachings, mental health and more.

Brother Mohammad Hijab has a mix of content, even political which I think is even more important when it comes to the topic of doubt. Sapience institute was established by him, they have a YouTube channel too.

Same with Brother Daniel Haqiqtjou from “The Muslim Skeptic”, mostly commenting on political matters in the islamic and non-islamic world but also on topics of the “isms” like feminism, atheism etc. Very, very important!

My personal favorite is Br. Muhammad Ali from “The Muslim Lantern”, very calm and insightful on all the topics of above, he has longer series too. 100% worth the watch.

He also has frequent lives where you can ask questions as a non-muslims.