What are the hindrances to faith and what promotes it?

Firstly:

There are many things that promote faith, of which we will mention the following:

1. Knowledge

Allah, may He be exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning):

“But those firm in knowledge among them and the believers believe in what has been revealed to you, [O Muhammad], and what was revealed before you”

[an-Nisa’ 4:162].

2. Accepting the truth and not being arrogant

Allah, may He be exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning):

“That home of the Hereafter We assign to those who do not desire exaltedness upon the earth or corruption. And the [best] outcome is for the righteous”

[al-Qasas 28:83].

3. Reflecting upon the signs of Allah in the universe

Allah, may He be exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning):

“Indeed, in the creation of the heavens and the earth and the alternation of the night and the day are signs for those of understanding”

[Aal ‘Imraan 3:190].

4. Thinking of and reflecting upon the fate of the disbelievers

Allah, may He be exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning):

“So have they not traveled through the earth and have hearts by which to reason and ears by which to hear?”

[al-Hajj 22:46].

5. Pondering and reflecting upon the Book of Allah and its verses

Allah, may He be exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning):

“[This is] a blessed Book which We have revealed to you, [O Muhammad], that they might reflect upon its verses and that those of understanding would be reminded”

[Saad 38:29].

6. Not following whims and desires

Allah, may He be exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning):

“So to that [religion of Allah ] invite, [O Muhammad], and remain on a right course as you are commanded and do not follow their inclinations but say, "I have believed in what Allah has revealed of the Qur'an”

[ash-Shoora 42:15]

“Then We put you, [O Muhammad], on an ordained way concerning the matter [of religion]; so follow it and do not follow the inclinations of those who do not know”

[al-Jaathiyah 45:18].

7. Keeping company with people of faith and not keeping company with disbelievers and sinners

Allah, may He be exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning):

“And the Day the wrongdoer will bite on his hands [in regret] he will say, ‘Oh, I wish I had taken with the Messenger a way.

‘Oh, woe to me! I wish I had not taken that one as a friend.

‘He led me away from the remembrance after it had come to me. And ever is Satan, to man, a deserter’”

[al-Furqaan 25:27-29]

8. Using sound reasoning

Allah, may He be exalted says (interpretation of the meaning):

“And they will say, ‘If only we had been listening or reasoning, we would not be among the companions of the Blaze’”

[al-Mulk 67:10].

9. Loving righteousness and hating disbelief and sin

Allah, may He be exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning):

“but Allah has endeared to you the faith and has made it pleasing in your hearts and has made hateful to you disbelief, defiance and disobedience. Those are the [rightly] guided”

[al-Hujuraat 49:7].

10.The most important cause of promoting faith is the will of Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, and His decreeing good for His slave

Allah, may He be exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning):

“And Allah invites to the Home of Peace and guides whom He wills to a straight path”

[Yoonus 10:25].

Secondly:

The hindrances to faith are many, including the following:

1. Ignorance, and not abiding by the sublime teachings of faith

Allah, may He be exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning):

“Rather, they have denied that which they encompass not in knowledge and whose interpretation has not yet come to them. Thus did those before them deny. Then observe how was the end of the wrongdoers”

[Yoonus 10:39]

“But most of them are ignorant (towards the Message)”

[al-An‘aam 6:111]

“but most of them do not know”

[al-An‘aam 6:37].

2. Envy and rancour, as in the case of the Jews

Allah, may He be exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning):

“Many of the People of the Scripture wish they could turn you back to disbelief after you have believed, out of envy from themselves [even] after the truth has become clear to them”

[al-Baqarah 2:109].

3. Disbelief (kufr)

Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning):

“I will turn away from My signs those who are arrogant upon the earth without right; and if they should see every sign, they will not believe in it. And if they see the way of consciousness, they will not adopt it as a way; but if they see the way of error, they will adopt it as a way. That is because they have denied Our signs and they were heedless of them”

[al-A‘raaf 7:146].

4. Turning away from the truth

Allah, may He be exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning):

“But if they turn away – then We have not sent you, [O Muhammad], over them as a guardian”

[ash-Shoora 42:48]

“…And We have certainly given you from Us the Qur’an.

Whoever turns away from it – then indeed, he will bear on the Day of Resurrection a burden,

[Abiding] eternally therein, and evil it is for them on the Day of Resurrection as a load”

[Ta-Ha 20:99-101]

“So turn away from whoever turns his back on Our message and desires not except the worldly life”

[an-Najm 53:29]

“And whoever is blinded from remembrance of the Most Merciful – We appoint for him a devil, and he is to him a companion”

[az-Zukhruf 43:36].

5. Rejecting faith and not accepting it after having come to know of it and understood its proof, and denying it after coming to know of it

Allah, may He be exalted, says:

“Those to whom We have given the Scripture recognize it as they recognize their [own] sons. Those who will lose themselves [in the Hereafter] do not believe”

[al-An‘aam 6:20]

“Thus were those [before you] deluded who were rejecting the signs of Allah”

[Ghaafir 40:63].

6. Indulging in luxury and extravagance

Allah, may He be exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning):

“And the Day those who disbelieved are exposed to the Fire [it will be said], ‘You exhausted your pleasures during your worldly life and enjoyed them, so this Day you will be awarded the punishment of [extreme] humiliation because you were arrogant upon the earth without right and because you were defiantly disobedient’”

[al-Ahqaaf 46:20]

“Indeed they were, before that, indulging in affluence”

[al-Waaqi‘ah 56:45].

7. Looking down on the truth and its followers

Allah, may He be exalted, says of the people of Nooh (peace be upon him) (interpretation of the meaning):

“They said, ‘Should we believe you while you are followed by the lowest [class of people]?’”

[ash-Shu‘ara’ 26:111].

8. Evildoing; disobeying Allah and obeying the Shaytaan

Allah, may He be exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning):

“Thus the word of your Lord has come into effect upon those who defiantly disobeyed – that they will not believe”

[Yoonus 10:33].

9. Hard-heartedness

Allah, may He be exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning):

“Then why, when Our punishment came to them, did they not humble themselves? But their hearts became hardened, and Satan made attractive to them that which they were doing”

[al-An‘aam 6:43].

10. Resentment against what Allah has revealed.

Allah, may He be exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning):

“But those who disbelieve – for them is misery, and He will waste their deeds.

That is because they disliked what Allah revealed, so He rendered worthless their deeds”

[Muhammad 47:8-9].

See also the answer to question no. 31807.

And Allah knows best.