Does iman increase and decrease?

What iman is, and why it varies

The reason the question even arises is the definition. Shaykh Ibn 'Uthaymeen explains that with Ahl al-Sunnah, iman is iqrar bil-qalb, nutq bil-lisan, 'amal bil-jawarih — affirmation of the heart, speech of the tongue, and action of the limbs. Once iman includes all three, variation is unavoidable, because each of the three admits of degrees.

The heart's affirmation is not one uniform act. Believing something you have been told is not the same as believing it after two people tell you, and neither is the same as seeing it yourself. Ibn 'Uthaymeen draws on Ibrahim's request, عليه السلام, to be shown how the dead are revived — not because he doubted, but so his heart would be at rest. The heart's states of love, hope, fear, reliance and certainty rise and fall, and iman rises and falls with them.

The tongue varies in quantity and quality: the one who remembers Allah ten times is not like the one who remembers Him a hundred. The limbs vary too — the one who prays four rak'ah is not like the one who prays two, and a prayer offered with presence of heart is not like one offered with a wandering mind.

The evidence

The Qur'an states the increase plainly. Allah says:

"It is He who sent down tranquillity into the hearts of the believers, that they may increase in faith along with their faith."— Qur'an 48:4

And in Surah al-Tawbah, describing the reaction to a newly revealed surah:

"And when a surah is revealed, among them are those who say, 'Which of you has this increased in faith?' As for those who have believed, it has increased them in faith, and they rejoice."— Qur'an 9:124

The Prophet ﷺ stated the decrease. Addressing the women, he said:

"I have not seen anyone more deficient in intellect and religion, more able to take away the mind of a resolute man, than one of you."— Sahih al-Bukhari 304, from Abu Sa'id al-Khudri

When asked what the deficiency in her religion was, he ﷺ explained that when she menstruates she does not pray or fast. Ibn 'Uthaymeen notes the point carefully: she is not blameworthy for that — she is commanded to leave it — yet the act itself is missed, and so a deficiency in religion is established by the Prophet's ﷺ own words. That is a decrease in iman through a decrease in action.

The causes of increase and decrease

Shaykh Ibn 'Uthaymeen sets out the causes on both sides.

Causes of increase:

• Knowing Allah through His names and attributes: the more a person knows of them, the stronger his iman — which is why the people of knowledge often exceed others in this dimension.
• Reflecting on the signs of Allah, both the created signs in the universe and the revealed signs in the Qur'an and Sunnah.
• Abundance of obedience, whether verbal or physical — dhikr, prayer, fasting, Hajj — increasing iman in both quantity and quality.

Causes of decrease:

• Ignorance of Allah's names and attributes.
• Turning away from reflection on His signs, which at minimum causes iman to stagnate rather than grow.
• Committing sin, which leaves real effects on the heart and on iman. The Prophet ﷺ said: "The adulterer does not commit adultery while he is a believer."
• Abandoning obedience. Here Ibn 'Uthaymeen distinguishes two cases: if the act was obligatory and left without excuse, it is a deficiency for which one is blamed and punished; if it was not obligatory, or was obligatory but left with a valid excuse, it is a deficiency for which one is not blamed — as with the woman's prayer during menstruation.

Shaykh Ibn Baz puts the same principle in the simplest terms: iman increases through the five prayers and the regular sunnahs, and decreases when a person neglects them, or neglects zakat, or fasting, or maintaining family ties. Every act of obedience adds to it; every sin and every abandoned obligation takes from it.

Two conditions that decide whether an act counts

Not every good deed raises iman. The author of Majmal Usul Ahl al-Sunnah states that increase in iman is conditional on two things: sincerity to Allah with a sound intention, and following the Sunnah. A person may exhaust himself in good works seeking something other than Allah's face, and the result is not increase but loss. The same work, done with ikhlas and in accordance with the Prophet's ﷺ guidance, raises iman.

This is why the early scholars described iman as "قول وعمل، ونية وإصابة" — speech and action, intention and correctness. The intention must be pure, and the act must match the Sunnah.

Who disagreed, and why

The claim that iman neither increases nor decreases came from two directions, and Ibn 'Uthaymeen names both.

The Murji'ah held that iman is only affirmation in the heart, that deeds have no bearing on it, and that what is in the heart does not vary — comparing it to everyone's belief in the sun, which is equal. Ibn al-Qayyim's couplet captures their position: people are one and the same in iman, like a comb when the teeth are even.

The Khawarij and Mu'tazilah also denied increase and decrease, but for the opposite reason: they held that iman either exists whole or is absent entirely, since the grave sinner in their view has left iman altogether — the Khawarij calling him a disbeliever, the Mu'tazilah placing him in an intermediate station.

Ibn 'Uthaymeen rejects both as contradicted by revelation and by reality. On the Murji'ah, the Qur'an and Sunnah are full of iman increasing; on the Khawarij and Mu'tazilah, the Prophet ﷺ affirmed a deficiency in religion that is not a total loss of it.

There is also a third position, reported from some of Ahl al-Sunnah — including one narration from Malik, رحمه الله — that iman increases but one should not say it decreases, since the Qur'an mentions increase but not decrease. Ibn 'Uthaymeen calls this view weak on two grounds: the hadith of the women explicitly affirms a decrease in religion, and increase and decrease are correlatives — to say one person has more iman than another necessarily means the other has less. Al-Barrak notes that the well-known position of Malik's companions, and the other narration from him, is that iman both increases and decreases.

The three ranks of believers

Al-Sa'di adds a dimension that makes the doctrine concrete. Believers are of three ranks: the foremost (al-sabiqun), the moderate (al-muqtasidun), and the wrongdoers against themselves (al-zalimun). And within each rank, people differ greatly. Two men may pray the same prayer: one fulfils its outward and inward rights, worshipping as though he sees Allah; the other performs it outwardly while his heart is occupied elsewhere. The same person has times when his deeds are many and strong and times when they are the opposite — and all of this is the increase and decrease of iman.

This is why the best of the community used to take account of their iman constantly, working to strengthen it, pushing back what weakens it, and asking Allah to keep them firm and add to it.

Key takeaways

• Iman with Ahl al-Sunnah is heart, tongue and limbs together — which is precisely why it admits of increase and decrease.
• Obedience raises it and sin lowers it, as Shaykh Ibn Baz states plainly; neglecting an obligation decreases it, and the one who leaves an obligation without excuse is blameworthy for that decrease.
• Increase is conditional on sincerity and following the Sunnah — good works done for other than Allah's sake do not raise iman.
• The Murji'ah and the Khawarij and Mu'tazilah all denied increase and decrease, from opposite premises, and both were answered from the Qur'an and the Prophet's ﷺ own words.
• The view that iman increases but does not decrease is weak, since the hadith affirms a deficiency in religion and increase and decrease are correlatives.

Further reading

• Ibn 'Uthaymeen, Sharh al-'Aqidah al-Saffariniyyah
• Ibn 'Uthaymeen, Sharh al-'Aqidah al-Wasitiyyah
• Al-Sa'di, al-Tawdih wa'l-Bayan li-Shajarat al-Iman

And Allah knows best.