Probability means the likelihood of the occurrence of an event – that is, either the event is probable or it is not. For example, if there is probability that the universe is intelligent, it implies that the notion that the universe is not intelligent is not probable. So, when the proposition of the existence of a God is probable, then the probability that God does not exist is rejected.
The concept of iman, or faith, that people generally have is wrong. They think that the mere recitation of the kalimah (Islamic creed) gives a person iman. This is a wrong concept. Iman is another name for discovery of the truth. When you observe and study the universe, reflect on the creation and ponder over the phenomena of nature, you are led to the discovery of the Creator. This realization is really faith. This is such a significant event that it transforms your entire personality. Imagine if you are able to observe the solar system from space! This would be a very compelling scene – so many planets are orbiting around the sun – in the middle there is the tiny earth where we have our tiny houses. This will be a mind-boggling thought! Iman, or faith, is another name of discovery of the Creator and His creations. When this happens, the personality of such a person will be completely transformed. His belief will remain alive at all times as he has discovered it himself.
Fundamental to the religious structure of Islam is the concept of tawhid, or monotheism. As the seed is to tree, so is tawhid to Islam. For monotheism in Islam does not mean simply belief in one God, but in God’s oneness in all respects. No one shares in this oneness of God.
As proof of the Creator’s existence, the Quran advances the fact of the very existence of the universe. All studies of the universe show it cannot be sui genesis: some other agent is essential for the universe to have come into existence. This means the choice is not between a universe with God and one without God, rather it is between a universe with God, and no universe at all. And so, we are left with only the option of a universe with God — a condition also necessary for the existence of human beings.
As the Quran expresses it:
God; there is no deity save Him, the Living, the Eternal One. Neither slumber nor sleep overtake Him. To Him belong whatsoever is in the heavens and whatsoever is on the earth. Who can intercede with Him, except by His permission? He knows all that is before them and all that is behind them. They can grasp only that part of His knowledge, which He wills. His throne extends over the heavens and the earth; and their upholding does not weary Him. He is the Sublime, the Almighty One. (Quran 2:255)
God acquires a very prominent position in the Quran. Every chapter in the Quran begins in the name of God. People often believe that in Islam belief in God is a matter of blind faith, but if you read the Quran you will find that the Quran treats belief in God as a matter of realization resulting from thinking and pondering over the world around us. Throughout the Quran there are numerous verses enjoining the reader to observe and reflect on the universe and the phenomena of nature. A verse in chapter 3 says:
There are signs in the creation of the heavens and the earth, and in the alternation of night and day for people of understanding. (Quran 3:191)
This is because the Quran wants people to discover God through study and contemplation. God should be an intellectual discovery for believers.
It is also generally believed that God of the Quran is cruel and punishes sinners for every minor sin. But contrary to this, every chapter of the Quran begins with these words:
In the name of God, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful. (Quran 1:1)
In the Quran, God Himself says:
O My servants, who have committed excesses against their own souls, do not despair of God’s mercy, for God surely forgives all sins. He is truly the Most Forgiving, the Most Merciful. (Quran 39:53)
Oneness of God is interwoven in nature and a proof is that science has been searching till date that what is that one law which governs everything. Scientists have also called it the Single String Theory because science is not convinced that there can be multiple forces controlling the universe. They are striving to find out the theory of everything. Man is desperate to reach wahadat (oneness) and researches like the God particle are directed in the same direction. At the time of Newton, it was said that four forces control the universe but today this idea stands discarded. Therefore, I think it is man’s nature that gets reflected in his efforts to find that One force.
‘Thinking’ and ‘reflecting’ have been used in the Quran numerous times. According to the Quran
There are signs in the creation of heavens and the earth, and in the alteration of night and day for people of understanding.(3:190)
The creations of God therefore present all signs for those who think. Thinking leads to reflection, by way of which man can learn the profound truths of life.
There is a common belief about Islam that it teaches its adherents to be close-minded. In actual fact, Islam teaches the spirit of enquiry and asks its adherents to remove their ignorance by seeking answers to questions.
According to a tradition, the Prophet of Islam once remarked: “The remedy for ignorance is asking questions.” If the ignorant man does not inquire, his ignorance will stay with him. But if he has a questioning mind, some knowledgeable person will answer him, and he will no longer remain ignorant.
There is a saying in Arabic to the same effect: To know that you do not know is half knowledge itself. If an ignorant person is not aware of his ignorance, he will continue to remain in the same state. But when he becomes aware of his ignorance, he sets about seeking for knowledge. He will try to turn his ignorance into knowledge. In this way his awareness of his ignorance will become the stepping-stone leading towards full knowledge.
In ancient times the phenomena of nature were considered to be manifestations of God. The sight of the manifestations of nature, therefore, aroused in man the spirit of worship. It was only when these natural phenomena were divested of their divinity that the spirit of inquiry could be aroused in man. As a result, many of the mysteries of nature now lie unraveled.
An inquisitive mind is a sine qua non for the acquisition of knowledge. Only those who are possessed of this quality will achieve great success in intellectual and academic fields. Those devoid of this spirit will remain static, and will fail to climb to the top of the ladder of success.
It is this spirit, which is the foundation of all scientific progress.
Knowledge is of two distinct kinds: that which we have been blessed with in the Qur‘an and the Hadith, and that which we acquire as a result of our own research and endeavour. The first kind acquaints us with our Lord, and makes plain the issues to be faced in the everlasting world, which awaits us after death. More important, it shows us how, in the course of our present life, we may prepare ourselves to meet those issues. The second kind of knowledge provides solutions to the social and economic problems, which we encounter in everyday life.
It is imperative that Muslims should seek both forms of knowledge, but they should never lose sight of the fact that they vary considerably in importance. Their primary aim in life should be knowledge of the Qur’an and the Hadith, while the acquisition of knowledge of the other sciences should come about as a matter of worldly necessity. Without a knowledge of religion, what must be done in this world to earn an everlasting reward, will constantly elude one’s understanding, and it goes without saying that one can never then consider oneself a Muslim in the true sense of the word.
The secular sciences guide us only in worldly matters, giving us instruction in the agricultural, industrial and civic practicalities of life. But it is the Qur’an and Hadith, which set our feet on the path to eternal development. Clearly, it is just as important for Muslims as it is for anyone else to study various branches of knowledge, but they must distinguish between ultimate objectives and adventitious necessity. Muslims must not only study the Qur’an and the Hadith, but must be keenly aware that the real reasons for studying them are very different from those which prompt them to seek worldly knowledge: they must constantly bear in mind also that religious knowledge take moral priority over all other forms of knowledge.
The emphasis of Islam on learning and teaching was not confined to the Quran or the teachings of the Prophet. The Quran, in fact, has given a new outlook, a new perspective or paradigm as coined by Thomas Kahn (The Structure of Scientific Revolution, 1955). According to this Quranic paradigm, man’s most important activity being intellectual contemplation or reflection, he was not supposed to blindly follow any idea or notion just because it was attributed to his ancestors or some other authority. He had to ponder on it critically and realistically. That is why we find that the Quran is replete with hundreds of inspirational and motivational verses that invite man to reflect on the wonderful creatures of God.
For example: In the creation of the heavens and the earth, and the alternation of night and day, there are signs for people with intelligence, those who remember God standing, sitting, and lying on their sides, and reflect on the creation of the heavens and the earth, (saying) Our Lord! You have not created all this in vain (without purpose), Glory be to You. (3:190-91, 7:176, 10:24, 13:3, 16:11).
This, we can say, was the intellectual seed, which is called in academic circles the spirit of enquiry. It is this spirit of inquiry, which has played the greatest role in bringing about the age of science. It is the zeal to discover which has led man to knowledge.
According to Toynbee and other world historians, this spirit of enquiry was the first and foremost prerequisite for the inauguration of the scientific era and the elimination of a superstitious outlook on nature and life. So it would not be an exaggeration to say that it is the Quran that has laid down the foundation of modern science. On the other hand, the Prophet himself has dealt with day-to-day problems of life in accordance with this realistic approach taught by the Quran. Consequently the same realistic approach became an integral part of the frame of mind of his companions. They all became curious, inquisitive and realistic in all matters of life.
For example, once the Prophet passed by an oasis where he found the farmers, who were date planters at work. When he asked what they were doing, he was told that they were pollinating the clusters of dates in order to produce a better yield. The Prophet expressed his disapproval of this process. Knowing this, the farmers immediately stopped it. But later on the Prophet was told that due to lack of proper pollination the yield had been very low as compared to the previous years. On hearing this, the Prophet replied. “You know your worldly matters better.” (Sahih Bukhari) In other words, experiment and observation should be the final criteria in such worldly matters.
A: Gratitude is a vast concept. That I am thirsty and drink water, I would feel grateful but I think modern-day science has given man a gigantic framework of thanksgiving. For example, earlier man could only drink water and thank God for it but modern-science made it known to man that to cater to his fresh water requirements, God put in place a complete rain cycle. The original source of this water is the saltwater stored in the seas and oceans. This stored water is saline, nature having mixed ten per cent of salt in this water as a preservative, but saltwater is useful neither for man nor for agriculture. It is nature that initiates a global process of desalination and it is desalinated water that, by the established law of nature, rises in the form of vapour and forms clouds. Then from the clouds there is a downpour of fresh water. Man did not know this earlier. And by realising this gratitude would increase manifold.
Western civilisation actually gave us a bigger framework to express gratitude. It gave us the microscope to observe the realities in the micro world and a telescope to view the grand universe! This was predicted in the Quran as
We shall show them Our signs in the universe and within themselves, until it becomes clear to them that this is the Truth. (41:53)
The developments in science converted the local shukr into universal shukr. Man always expressed gratitude to God but through secular men, believers got a much wider framework to express gratitude.
The state of helplessness makes you competent to pray. When a person is in the state of helplessness, he calls out to God with prayers that invoke divine help.
Prayer is form of worship of God. Prayer has been enjoined on believers five times a day at appointed hours:
Believers are under the obligation to say their prayers at the appointed hours. (Quran 4:103)
These prayers are performed either individually at home or in congregation in mosques. A believer begins his prayer by uttering the words “God is Great”. These words acknowledge that all greatness belongs to God and that the worshipper will lead a life of modesty and humility. Each prayer is segmented into several rak’ah, or units. In each rak’ah a person stands, bows and prostrates, reciting verses from the Quran and other prayers. These are the five obligatory prayers:
1. Early morning prayer (Fajr): two rak’ahs between dawn and sunrise
2. Noon prayer (Zuhr): four rak’ahs, between noon and mid-afternoon
3. Afternoon prayer (Asr): four rak’ahs. The time for prayer starts when the length of any object’s shadow reaches a factor (usually 1 or 2) of the length of the object itself plus the length of that object’s shadow at noon. The time for the prayer ends at sunset.
4. Sunset prayer (Maghrib): three rak’ahs between sunset and early evening
5. Evening prayer (Ishaa): four rak’ah from the disappearance of twilight until dawn
During the prayer, a believer refreshes his memory about God’s commandments regarding himself. Then he kneels and prostrates himself before God, in physical expression of the idea that the only course that befits him is to lead his life according to the creation plan of God. The prayer is concluded by turning the face first to the right side, then to the left, and uttering the words Assalamu-alaykum, which means, ‘May the peace and blessings of God be upon you!’ This is a demonstration that spiritually conditioned by prayer, the worshipper is now entering into the world with no other thoughts and feelings in his mind but those of mercy towards others and peace for all mankind.
Prayer strengthens a believer’s resolve to remain a peaceful member of the society, and to harbour no ill-feelings towards anyone. Prayer in one respect is to surrender before God, attributing all kinds of greatness to Him alone. In yet another respect, prayer prepares the individual to lead a worthy life among fellow human-beings, adopting an attitude of modesty, sympathy and good-will in all his dealings. In short, prayer perfects a person’s relation with God as well as with other human beings. According to a verse, a believer is enjoined thus:
Prostrate yourself and come closer to God. (Quran 96:19)
The cadence of praying five times formally was prescribed so that congregational prayers could be undertaken. A believer otherwise must engage in prayer in an informal way throughout the day, whereby he remembers the blessings of God and shows gratefulness to his Creator. This has been alluded to in the Quran in the following words:
When you have finished the prayer, remember God while standing, and sitting, and lying on your sides. When you feel secure, say your prayers in the prescribed form. (Quran 4:103)
The secret of this discovery lies in comparison. We should compare God’s power of bringing about rain with our powerlessness and inability to bring about rain, grow grain and make the sun shine. And if a person cannot do it, he should think how all this is happening on a universal level? If I could not put in place the life support system, how did it come about? If we make this comparison, then on the one hand we will discover that we are all powerless and that God is all-powerful. If you become sick, you should not become a victim of frustration, rather discover that I am powerless and there is a Creator above me who is powerful. Then you will discover both the Creator and yourself.
Source: The Seeker’s Guide
Islam does not subscribe to the concept of conversion. It believes that religion is a matter of individual choice. The search for the truth should be every person’s individual effort and the decisions one then takes in the matter of religion is completely personal.
The concept of religious conversion is alien to the Quran. It has no basis in the Quran. The Quran speaks of marefat, which means God-realization or the discovery of God. So, the truth is your own discovery, your own realization. It is a personal choice. If you want to know what the purpose of life is, what life and death are about, and so on, you have to study, reflect and discuss with learned people. And after that, you may reach some conclusion. And that is your religion. So, your religion is your own discovery.
In religious ‘conversion’, there are two parties: the converter and the converted. But this is not the concept in Islam. In Islam, there is only one party—and that is you. If you want to find the truth, you have to reflect and study on your own. And when you discover something as the truth, you opt for it.
A: As per my experience, discovery of truth leaves no room for frustration. This is because man remains tensed because of matters of the world. But if he finds the truth which next to God is truth, his relation with God is established and then he starts receiving divine succor and inspiration. It is important to note that this is not applicable for self-proclaimed truth. Only that which is truth next to God is what attaches you to God.
If it were possible to discover Creation, then it is possible to discover the Creator as well. This is possible only through contemplation. French philosopher, Rene Descartes said, “I think, therefore I exist.” Following this dictum you can say, “I exist, therefore God also exists.”
God is our Creator and all the things we enjoy in this world are His Creation. You cannot see God, but you can see His Creation. God manifests himself through his Creation. It’s simple: when Creation exists, the Creator also exists. And who can be the Creator of this marvellous world, but God.
If it were possible to discover Creation, then it is possible to discover the Creator as well. This is possible only through contemplation. French philosopher, Rene Descartes said, “I think, therefore I exist.” Following this dictum you can say, “I exist, therefore God also exists.
Source: The Seeker’s Guide
Why was this world made? Why was man born into this world? Why, after a certain period of time, does he pass away? What will happen after death? These are the most important questions concerning the origins and fate of mankind, and they should never be far from people’s minds. Finding the correct answers to these questions has always been one of man’s most important quests.
Pondered over for thousands of years, these questions have been variously answered by different people. However, these answers can be placed in two broad categories: one, which holds the great array of wonders in this world to be purposeless, and the other, which asserts that man was created with a purpose and that he has a definite goal.
While the first view tends to be subscribed to by poets, philosophers and secular scholars, the second view is firmly upheld by that very special class of beings called prophets, or messengers of God. The most authentic testament to the second view has been provided by the Prophet Muhammad.
Many arguments can be put forward in support of the answers in both of these categories. It is very obvious, however, that the notion of purposelessness is not in keeping with the structure of life and universe. The idea, on the other hand, of purposeful creation, falls exactly into place, for the simple reason that it contains no inherent contradictions.
The world into which man is born is fraught with significance. There is nothing which is of a meaningless or random nature. It is quite unthinkable that man, with his meaningful life, born into a meaningful universe, should find no purpose in creation. Where there is meaningfulness, there will, of necessity, be purposefulness. This aspect of the universe is a clear verification of the Prophet’s answer.
I do not subscribe to this notion. The acceptance of prayer is not dependent on a certain location. The spirit behind one’s prayer is what makes it relevant. The Prophet and his Companions made dua from various locations and their prayers were answered.
There are three levels on which the Muslims must perform dawah work. Every single believing man and woman must prove himself or herself to be a preacher of Truth on one of these three levels. Those who will not participate in this mission will find their deeds to have become worthless in the eyes of God. In this regard, God has the same criterion for the Prophet as for his followers.
It is necessary for every believer to be eager to give guidance to other people. So, the first level of dawah work deals with the intention (niyah) to do so. Specifically, it means the intention of the individual to convey the divine message to mankind in its original form. But such intention is not just some kind of verbal repetition or lip service. It is a feeling which makes the heart tremble. Every believer should become restless and tremble on seeing others being misguided. This feeling should be of such intensity that, while thinking about it, tears should flood his eyes. And he should pray for the guidance of others while contemplating in solitude.
On the second level of dawah work, believers should take every precaution not to become a hindrance in the way of conveying the divine message to mankind. They should not act in such a way as to arouse in people’s hearts hatred or disgust for Islam, nor should they in any way cause annoyance to the addressee. They should completely refrain from any such acts as can cause friction between the addresser and the addressee. They should take special care to conduct themselves in this way, even if it means sacrificing their economic, national, or political interests.
On the third level, dawah work is to be performed directly. Those who have the ability to present Islam through public speaking, writing or through modern means of communication, should strive to convey the divine religion to the people. They should try to address people’s minds by using arguments which make a very strong impression, so that their addressees may fully understand the true guidance.
The best way is to become a well-wisher for mankind. This should be the motto of a dayee, or a person who engages in dawah. He should be positive to the last extent, not get offended and be empty of negative thoughts for others.
I once met an ultra-modern person who had studied philosophy and history. He said during conversation, “If Muhammad is removed from history, what shall be lost from history?” Apparently, it was a provocative statement but I did not get provoked. I kept thinking and increased my study. After this study, I published the book, Islam: The Creator of Modern Age. The book was a result of the thinking that developed in me due to the comment made by the above person. Dawah work should be done purely on the basis of the Quran and Hadith and not on the basis of communal or national sentiment.
Source: The Seeker’s Guide
A dayee is an individual who invites others to God and the truth. A madu is the one called to God and the truth. The successful dayee will need to consider many aspects of Islamic knowledge, the condition of the environment he is working in, his resources and means, and what he wishes to accomplish.
The aim of calling man to God is that, while still living in the world, he may become an inhabitant of the hereafter. He will thus discover God’s greatness in the greatness of the world. He will start experiencing heavenly blessings in worldly comforts, while worldly hardships will remind him of the torment of hell fire.
Source: Calling People to God
