My emaan level is getting weaker and I really do not know how to repair it. I tried many times in various ways but no way.

First and foremost, we should understand what causes the level of emaan to get weaker. If we understand the basis of the disease, then we can treat it. If we do not understand the basis of the disease, then it appears so difficult/complicated that we are not able to tackle it.

In Islam, the principle of increase and decrease in faith is very simple. The more righteous deeds you do, the more your emaan increases. The more sins you do, the lower your emaan becomes. If you find your emaan getting weaker, it means sins are increasing. If your emaan is increasing, it indicates more good deeds are being done. It is not a magical thing where you do not do anything but just out of the blue, comes a ball which hits you and your emaan goes up. It is connected to our actions. What is in our hearts, the actions of the heart, the actions of the mind, the actions of the body parts, the actions of our tongues, the actions of our ears, all aspects, if they are good, the greater the emaan and the better we do good. The less good we do or the more sins we do, the weaker become our emaan.

For the person who says that I really do not know how to repent, well, repentance as the Prophet (ﷺ) had said:

“Remorse is the essence of repentance” meaning that you have to feel bad about what you are doing. If you are just looking at your emaan getting weaker, then look at the cause behind your actions. Repentance means you have to reflect on what you did, on the fact that Allah saw you doing it, it is recorded, and you can never escape it and realizing that, you feel bad and tears come to your eyes, then there is the beginning of repentance. But if that does not happen and you just say ‘astaghfirullah’ as some people do, then this is not repentance.

I remember on Hajj, taxi drivers would be ripping off the customers and saying ‘astaghfirullah’ at the same time. This kind of repentance is useless. It is of no benefit. This is not Istighfaar. This is not seeking repentance. There has to be remorse specifically and not generally. This is when the Istighfaar becomes real. It is better to say one ‘astaghfirullah’ sincerely and reflecting on what you did causing tears to come to your eyes than to say a hundred which you do not even know what you are saying. This is the ritual that has crept in among us.

I would suggest to the person to try to look at what actually your sins are. Start with the biggest one, think and reflect on it, turn back to Allah, go to the graveyard, turn to Allah in the middle of the night and with remorse in your heart, ask His forgiveness and Allah will forgive. That is His promise. Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) had said that one who repent from sins is like one without sins. True repentance erases sins. We do not need anybody to die for our sins or to do anything for our sins. We need to do for our own sins.