Developing A Taste For Faith

﷽

ذاقَ طَعمَ الإيمانِ مَن رَضيَ باللهِ رَبًّا، وبالإسلامِ دينًا، وبمُحَمَّدٍ رَسولًا.

“The one who is content with Allāh as his Lord, with Islam as his religious way of life, and with Muḥammad ﷺ a messenger, has truly tasted faith.” — Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 34

The Sweetness of Faith

In the ḥadīth above the Prophet ﷺ described faith as having both a “sweetness” (ḥalāwah/حلاوة) and a “taste” (ṭaʿm/طعم). These are not merely figures of speech. Faith can produce a real inward experience of tranquility, pleasure, and contentment when it settles into one’s heart.

Qāḍī ʿIyāḍ, the great North African Mālikī scholar explains that tasting this sweetness means that a person’s faith has become sound and whole (صحّ إيمانه), that the soul has found rest in it (اطمأنت به نفسه), and belief has permeated the inner self (خامر باطنه). A faith such as this imbues one with firm knowledge of Allāh (دليل لثبوت معرفته) and penetrating spiritual insight (نفاذ بصيرته).

So while we have a definition of what this sweetness is, we should also look at those things which lead to making it difficult to experience: the scattering of the heart (shattā).

Our hearts are pulled in competing directions all the time by desires, anxieties, distractions, and conflicting loyalties. The Qurʾān speaks of this scattering as shattā:

إِنَّ سَعْيَكُمْ لَشَتَّىٰ

“Surely the ends you strive for are diverse!”

So our hearts cause our efforts to be dispersed rather than gathered including our efforts at obeying and worshipping God. However, when the heart is unified upon faith, obedience becomes easier and even pleasurable.

al-Aṣbahānī, the great Shāfiʿī muḥaddith, explains in his commentary on Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim that being pleased with Allāh means refusing the drive and impulses that lead to these scattering paths that compete for our allegiance. Instead, we follow the guiding light brought by Muḥammad ﷺ. This is closely connected to the Prophet’s statement:

ذاقَ طَعمَ الإيمانِ مَن رَضيَ باللهِ رَبًّا، وبالإسلامِ دينًا، وبمُحَمَّدٍ رَسولًا.

“The one who is pleased with Allāh as Lord, Islam as religion, and Muḥammad as Messenger has tasted the flavor of faith.”

Contentment and Happiness

If there is one thing which can frustrate this effort of achieving contentment with Allāh it is confusing and conflating happiness with contentedness.

Human impulses in general, and our society in specific, extol happiness as a virtue but it is merely an emotional state. If contentedness (riḍwān/رضوان) is to be found with whatever Allāh decrees that we must understand the difference between decree and command.

In summary, Allāh decrees all manner of things: some pleasurable, some painful. You meet the man/girl of your dreams. Your mother/father pass away from cancer. These are decrees. And we experience them in various states: happiness, grief, frustration, boredom, etc. But contentedness is a virtue. It sits deeper in our souls, possessing a penetrating wisdom (نفاذ بصيرته) of understanding things in their context: we meet our spouses and we are grateful for this gift from Allāh; our mother passes away and we understand that every soul must taste death. In other words, decrees are neither good nor bad in themselves though they can cause pleasure or pain. Commands however are entirely different.

Allāh only commands (amr/أمر) to good, either as an imperative (pray, give to charity) or a prohibition (do not consume the wealth of orphans). The subtle difference between these two is crucial in order for the heart to gain tranquility (اطمأنت به نفسه) and acceptance of its Lord’s actions especially when those actions result in loss or grief.

Divine Decree and Fatalism

The doctrine of divine decree (qaḍā/قضى) can itself be misused when it becomes an excuse for laziness or a way of avoiding responsibility. ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib رضي الله عنه reported that the Prophet ﷺ once came to him and Fāṭimah رضي الله عنها at night and asked, “Will you not pray?” ʿAlī replied that their souls were in Allāh’s hand and that He would awaken them if He willed. The Prophet ﷺ turned away, striking his thigh and reciting:

وَكَانَ الْإِنسَانُ أَكْثَرَ شَيْءٍ جَدَلًا

“Man has always been, above all else, argumentative.”

Allāh’s decree does not remove human responsibility. Allāh decrees all that occurs, including hardship and tragedy, but He commands only what is good. Confusing divine decree with divine command can become a way of justifying inaction or, worse, becoming malcontent with Allāh in both command and decree.