Iman means reaching God while living in this world. Let me explain this through an example. The connection of an electric bulb with a powerhouse is no simple matter. It entails the connecting up of a non-lighting element with something which has the exceptional power to light things up. The immediate result of such an action is that an ostensibly “dead’ bulb becomes ‘alive’. Somewhat similar is man’s relation to God. Just as a dark bulb will pour forth a fountain of light as soon as it is connected with a power source, so will a man become radiant with divine energy as soon as he makes contact with God.
God is the greatest reality of our world. That is why finding God is not a particularly simple matter. But once a man has done so, it has the most profound effect upon his whole psyche. It is like a volcanic eruption which shakes up his whole existence, an outpouring of lava which engulfs his total personality. After the discovery of God, no one can remain the same as he was before. A believer in God, in the true sense of the word, is one whose life undergoes a complete transformation the moment he finds the Almighty.
The realization of God, which is called faith (iman) in the Shariah, is the greatest experience of a man’s entire life. To believe in God means that this belief has become the basis for his way of living. It is like a beam of light which illuminates his whole existence. It is the hue which colours every facet of his lifestyle.
Faith is another name for having realized the presence of God. It means losing oneself in the greatness of God, becoming totally immersed in knowledge of the divine. It so moves one that one’s feelings are transformed into a hymn to God, and one’s lips start spontaneously praising the Almighty. Iman, indeed, is an earthquake which is produced within a man through the realization of God. It is a flood which courses through man’s being, replenished as it is by the blessings and inspiration of God. If iman means to find God, then finding God means finding everything, what more is there left to find, once having found God?
Source: Al Risala March 1991
