Faith Grows Through Trust: Distinguishing Truth from Falsehood
13 March 2023
Why do we trust someone? Because we know them, see what they do, and witness them standing by their word.
Faith, too, is more than a sentence spoken aloud. Surah Hud reminds us that a person who stands upon clear evidence from their Lord is not the same as one who does not. Through the testimony of the Qur’an and the revelation sent before it, people are invited to reflect on the relationship between knowledge, trust, and faith.
Trust Is Nourished by Knowledge
Question: Why should we place unlimited trust in someone we do not know at all?
Trust is often built on knowledge.
We entrust our car to a mechanic because we have seen their work before. We recommend a friend for a job because we have witnessed their honesty and effort. We value someone’s word because we have seen how they behave under pressure.
Faith also takes effort.
Asking “Why is my faith not growing stronger?” without reading the Qur’an, trying to understand it, or connecting its verses with life leaves something missing.
We cannot plant a seed in the soil, never water it, and expect a harvest. Someone raising animals has to work every day. Work, education, family, trade… Everything we value in life requires a cost and effort.
Faith, too, weakens if it is left unattended.
Distinguishing Truth from Falsehood
If a person accepts every piece of information they encounter, they may lose their own standard.
An idea, a video, a statement, a suggestion, a business method… The same question is needed for all of them: Does this bring me closer to what is right, or does it make my path appear crooked?
Surah Hud speaks of people who turn others away from Allah’s path and seek to make it appear crooked.
This may not come only as open hostility. Sometimes false information is presented beautifully. Sometimes what is forbidden is portrayed as normal and harmless. Sometimes something wrong is made commonplace by saying, “Everyone does it this way.”
Question: Is information true just because we like it?
No.
What pleases our desires and what is true are not always the same.
That is why a person should also question themselves. “Why do I want to accept this statement? Because it is true, or because it suits me?”
The truth sometimes hurts. It may ask us to abandon our habits, admit our mistakes, and make more effort.
Falsehood, meanwhile, often offers an easy path.
Both Accepting and Giving Warnings Come at a Cost
It is not easy to tell someone what we believe to be right.
The other person may become angry. They may belittle us. They may not want to listen.
Our ego immediately intervenes, too: “What does it have to do with me? Why am I bothering?”
But if we measure the reward for a beneficial word only by applause, we will give up at the first reaction.
Sometimes a person should also examine themselves while explaining something.
Am I speaking so that people will like me?
To say, “I know”?
Or to meet the other person’s actual need?
The intention to benefit others should outweigh the intention to serve the ego.
That is why we need to accept a period of apprenticeship. At first, a person may become nervous, mix up words, and fail to explain things as well as they would like.
But they improve through effort.
People’s Natural Dispositions Are Not the Same
People’s abilities are not the same either.
One child may overcome an obstacle easily at an early age, while another learns the same thing more slowly. One person decides very quickly; another is more cautious. One may be practical in business, while another is less active but more patient.
There is a great test here.
Question: Does being quick give us the right to belittle someone who is slow?
No.
The intelligence, speed, courage, capacity for work, and opportunities we possess are also qualities given to us.
If a successful person looks down on those behind them, success makes them arrogant.
If someone who is behind looks at those ahead and gives up completely, they fail their own test.
Both need each other.
The quick person sometimes learns to slow down. The slow person sometimes gains the courage to take a step.
People exist not only to compare themselves with one another, but also to complement one another.
Awareness of the Hereafter Changes the Measure
Why does honesty matter?
Because we believe not only in what we will gain today, but also that we will be called to account for what we do.
If someone looks only at immediate gain, they may make lying, injustice, or the easy path appear reasonable to themselves.
Awareness of the Hereafter changes the question.
Instead of “What will I gain from this?” it makes us think, “How will I account for this?”
This thought changes business, family, friendship, and knowledge alike.
Question: Are the choices we make today making us more trustworthy, or less predictable?
Faith, trust, and honesty are not disconnected.
A person who trusts their Lord makes the effort they can. They put what they know into practice. When they recognize a mistake, they are not ashamed to turn back.
And they do not become arrogant by attributing their abilities solely to themselves.
Why Is Knowledge Alone Not Enough?
A person may read and listen to many things and still change nothing in their life.
For knowledge to become trust, it must be tested, lived, and turned into conduct.
Knowing hundreds of sayings about honesty is easy. The real test is remaining honest when there is a possibility of loss. Speaking about patience is easy. The real test is maintaining balance when things are delayed. Explaining charitable giving is easy. The real test is being able to give from the money we love.
That is why faith is not merely intellectual knowledge. As a person sees how what they know is reflected in their life, their trust deepens.
Question: In which of our actions does our faith become visible?
In our words?
In our earnings?
In our relationship with our family?
In the decision we make under pressure?
If a person continually does the opposite of something they know to be right, that knowledge may eventually weaken in their heart. For this reason, action helps preserve knowledge.
Not Attributing Success Solely to Ourselves
The differences in our abilities make the test of arrogance even more visible.
One person may learn very quickly. Another may have to study the same thing over and over. One person earns money easily; another works much harder for the same amount.
Justice here does not mean expecting the same result from everyone. It means looking at what each person does with the opportunities they have been given.
A hundred steps taken by someone who is quick are not necessarily more valuable than ten steps taken by someone who is slow. The slower person may have endured a much greater inner struggle to take those ten steps.
This perspective protects us from two mistakes.
The first is belittling others because we are successful.
The second is giving up completely because someone else is ahead of us.
Question: Do we use the ability Allah has given us to establish superiority over others, or to produce benefit?
When a person answers this question, their understanding of success changes.
Correct Knowledge Should Make Us More Compassionate
Distinguishing truth from falsehood does not mean becoming harsh.
Seeing a person’s mistake does not mean seeing them as worthless.
If correct knowledge makes us arrogant, we need to examine our intention again. What we know is also a blessing we have been given.
Someone may not understand today. They may understand tomorrow. They may make many mistakes today. They may turn back tomorrow.
Our duty is to convey what is right in a good manner as far as we can, rather than trying to control people’s hearts by force.
That is why supplication should increase as knowledge increases.
“My Lord, protect me from becoming arrogant because of what I know.”
“Grant me the ability to live by what I know.”
“Grant me the ability to turn back when I recognize my mistake.”
These prayers transform knowledge from mere superiority into servitude to Allah.
Following the Majority Is Easy
A person feels safer in a crowd.
The sentence “Everyone does it this way” seems to lighten responsibility.
But Surah Hud’s reminder that most people may not believe shows that we should not accept the majority alone as our measure.
Question: Is the only reason we consider a behavior right that it is widespread?
If so, we have handed our thinking over to someone else.
Seeking the truth sometimes means accepting the possibility of standing alone.
But this solitude should not produce arrogance. Saying “Everyone is wrong; only I am right” is another trap.
The measure remains evidence, truthfulness, honesty, and a person’s ability to question themselves.
Question: What is one truth we know today but do not put into practice?
Sometimes, instead of changing our entire life, putting one truth into practice is a sufficient beginning. Paying a debt, keeping a promise, abandoning an injustice, or making an act of worship regular turns knowledge into action.
As faith grows, a person’s words should also become more trustworthy. Faithfulness to one’s word, faithfulness in paying debts, faithfulness to what is entrusted to us, honesty in family and work… These are visible proofs. When a person begins inspiring trust through their conduct before telling those around them “I believe,” the bond between faith and life grows stronger.
Drawing closer to the truth means turning knowledge into a righteous life as much as gathering more knowledge.