Man on his own cannot adhere to moral values or adhere to justice, as he is incapable of controlling his inherent biases and desires. Man is also limited in his ability to foresee the future. It will only be possible to control oneself when one is convinced of the fact that he is under a Superior Being who observes justice to the extent of perfection; for whom it is fully possible to guide man to the true path and also punish those who deviate from this true path.
This present, limited world is totally inadequate for punishing a criminal. Similarly, this world is also inadequate for granting great rewards for one’s good deeds. The concept of God tells us that God can create a far better world free from all the limitations of the present world, where reward and punishment both can be satisfactorily awarded.
The concept of a living and powerful God is necessarily accompanied by the concept of accountability. The concept of accountability guarantees right thinking and right actions on the part of man. It makes man cautious by reminding him of God’s chastisement. Moreover, this gives him the conviction of receiving God’s reward if he adheres to the right path at all costs and in all situations. The concept of God provides man with an ideology in which loss is turned to gain and in which adversity brings with it good tidings. It is, therefore, only through the discovery and submission to God that man can adhere to moral values. In feeling accountable to God, one adheres to justice and other moral values in the hope that God finds him eligible for inhabiting Paradise in the Hereafter.
This limited world where human beings find themselves before death has all the necessary ingredients for the ‘trial.’ It has man as the perfection-seeking creature in a less-than-perfect world where he has been given complete freedom. Man, thus, has a choice to misuse his freedom by creating havoc, killing people, living a life of leisure, or using his freedom wisely by submitting to an unseen God and living a disciplined life, to qualify for Paradise.
The trial of man rests on discovering God, Who is in the Unseen. Before seeing Him, he should first discover Him and, of his own choice, surrender himself to God. Having discovered Paradise, he should be so desirous of it that this world appears meaningless. He should adopt divine ethics without any external pressure to do so. He should develop his intellectual and spiritual being to such an extent that he produces in himself the ability to inhabit the refined world of Paradise. Paradise is a heavenly colony where peace, love, and noble character prevail. Of this world’s inhabitants, only those who have succeeded in maintaining a high moral character will find a place in Paradise.
The most debated question concerning man and God in philosophy has been ‘the problem of evil.’ That is the issue of why there is so much suffering in the human world. If God is All-Good, why did He make such a world where people are forced to face different types of problems and where there is so much suffering? This question can be answered by understanding the creation plan of God. Man is free and leads his life according to his own will. This freedom, however, is also at the root of what is known as the ‘problem of evil.’ Many issues in human society, including social corruption, wars, global warming, pollution, and other ecological crises, arise from the misuse of this freedom. Further, it needs to be understood that unpleasantness has been put into this world for man to learn proper lessons from it. The true lesson taught by unpleasant experiences is that man should remember the next world of Paradise where there will not be any suffering. His approach thus becomes: “Let me not suffer in the Hereafter what I have suffered in this world.”
Human beings have the freedom to think whatever they wish, say whatever they want, act as they please, or adopt any lifestyle—whether disciplined or undisciplined—that they choose. However, they do not have control over the outcome. The natural laws will always remain as God has ordained them. These are laws which God has defined. There are physical laws known to man, and man cannot alter them. A person cannot change the natural laws governing natural resources, but he can choose to make use of them with responsibility or be a reckless user. According to the creation plan of God, this is a test for man and he will be accountable for the choices he made in life, which is entirely in his control. Belief in God and accountability for our actions instil in man a responsible behaviour towards every resource God has bestowed on us in this world. Whereas disbelief in a Higher Being, and considering oneself accountable to none leads man to lead a life of permissiveness towards the resources bestowed on humanity. The COVID-19 pandemic gave us an understanding of what we can control and what we cannot. It made us realize to the last extent that man cannot control anything in the world. There is a Higher Being at the helm of the universe.
I am often asked this que stion: “Is man’s life governed by destiny, or does he have freedom of choice?” The reality is that God has provided humanity with a life support system and a range of circumstances as part of his divine design. This is the destiny part of the matter. However, man can respond to all these situations as he likes. In this aspect, he is entirely free. That is his free will or his freedom of choice. Therefore, I say that the matter is 50-50. Destiny plays a 50 per cent role, as man cannot change the infrastructure and situations provided to him. Freedom of choice plays the remaining 50 per cent role, as man is entirely free to respond to situations the way he likes.
Freedom has opened doors of two kinds for man, one leading to success and the other to failure. If an individual becomes arrogant and insolent, he has misused his freedom and failed to pass the test. But if, on the other hand, he remains modest and humble, bowing to his Lord’s Will on all occasions, he will have made the proper use of this God-given freedom: he will, without any compulsion, have bound himself by divine principles. One who chooses this course will succeed in the test of freedom. God will handsomely reward him as no other creature. Held to be the chosen servant of God, he will remain in an everlasting state of blissfulness and blessedness in the eternal world of Paradise.
A question I am often asked is, “If God cannot control man’s action, then how is He All-Powerful?” There is no doubt that God is All-Powerful. However, since He has decided to put man to the test, He has given man freedom of choice to do what he likes. As, if there was no free will, there would be no test. In granting freedom to man, God has chosen to not enforce His Power on him. Man is free to respond to the situations he faces in this world of trial in any way that he wants. God, however, is getting a record of all of man’s thoughts, speech, and deeds maintained, and will hold him accountable for them on the Day of Judgment. On that Day all of humanity will see the power of God. On the Day of Judgement, God shall hold a person accountable for his thoughts, speech and deeds and on that day, all of mankind will see God’s justice. Divine justice will be meted out based on evidence, which in this case would be according to the record of the use or misuse of freedom that a person is building up.
This world is a testing ground where we are constantly being examined. To be tested in this world, human beings must have complete freedom of action. All the things in this world are God’s subjects. The stars and satellites rotate in space entirely at their Lord’s bidding. Trees, rivers, mountains, and all other such natural phenomena function according to the unchangeable ways God laid down for them in advance. Similarly, the animals follow precisely those instincts instilled in their species as a matter of Divine Will. Unlike all these creatures in the Universe, man is free in this world. God has not placed any curbs on him. As such, the critical aspect of this creation plan is that man has been created with total freedom. Man can choose to obey God, like the rest of creation or he can choose to disobey Him—the test they are constantly given concerns their choice to use this freedom. So, some people use their freedom correctly, while others misuse it. This freedom is to test man and not encourage him to lead a life of permissiveness. The purpose of freedom is that man should lead a morally good life of his own free will, thus demonstrating that he is of the highest moral character.
One who conducts himself in this manner will be reckoned as God’s special servant who, without any apparent compulsion, chose to be a man of principle of his own free will, who submitted to God’s Will despite having the freedom not to do so. This liberty accorded to man allows him to gain credit for being the most superior of all God’s creatures. The decision regarding a person’s eternal future will hinge on his use of freedom—whether he used his freedom correctly or misused it. After the Day of Judgment, only those who used their freedom correctly will be admitted into the ideal world of Paradise. Everyone else will be gathered together and dumped in a universal litterbin, just as rubbish is collected and thrown away. For those who use their freedom correctly, Paradise is their reward. Those who misuse their freedom will live in eternal deprivation.
Almost everyone who has come into this world asks himself: “Who am I?” This question is present in the mind of almost every human being, whether consciously or otherwise. Across the globe, for centuries, great minds have been searching for an answer to this fundamental existential question. Existential questions like these are called ‘the search for truth.’ The task of preserved divine religion is to help man become aware of the truth, to clarify man’s position in the universe and to make him aware of the creation plan of God. According to divine religion, the answer to the question: ‘Who am I?’ is: I am a traveller to Paradise.
Paradise is the ultimate answer to the human quest. It is a vast, zero-defect world which is free from all kinds of sorrow, boredom, imperfections, and evil, and is complete in itself. The desire for Paradise has been placed in the minds of all men, however, they are unable to find their ideal while living in this world. This is a contradiction in human existence. Certainty prevails all over the universe, but the human world is marred by uncertainty. Fear is unheard of in the universe, but man continually suffers from fear and apprehension. The rest of the universe is in a state of equilibrium as it receives everything that it needs, while human beings are in a state of imbalance as they are the only creatures in the world to suffer from the painful thought that they have not received what they wanted. Moreover, the rest of the universe is evil-free, while human beings continually suffer from the problem of evil.
Paradise is the answer to man’s search. Paradise is an eternal abode: a perfect place for all kinds of happiness and comforts. Paradise is free from all kinds of limitations and disadvantages. Paradise is the realization of human dreams of finding an ideal world. If the present world is a ‘thorn,’ then the world of Paradise is the ‘rose.’ This world is a pathway and Paradise is its final destination. Man has come here to tread this path while on his way to eternal bliss in Paradise. The concept of Paradise tells us that all those good things that are there for the rest of the creation are fully available for man too, with the only difference that the rest of the universe gets what it desires in the world of ‘today,’ while man will get all that he wishes in the world of ‘tomorrow’ (the Hereafter).
Source: The Road to Paradise
From the dawn of human history to the present day, consciously or unconsciously, all of humanity has grappled with questions like: What is life and what is death? What is my place in the vast scheme of the universe? Which path leads to the desired destination that lingers in my mind? Everyone seeks to find answers to such questions, which can be called, humanity’s search for truth. The answers to man’s quest can be found in the Creation Plan of God, as revealed to all God’s Prophets who came throughout human history.
According to the Creation Plan of God, God created an ideal world that was perfect in all respects called Paradise. He ordained that this ultimate world be inhabited by impeccable ideal human beings. To achieve this target, God first settled man on Earth giving him complete freedom. The present world is, therefore, a selection ground for this grand project. Here, it is being observed who makes proper use of his freedom and who misuses it. At the end of human history, those who have abused their freedom will be rejected, and those who may have exercised their freedom judiciously will be selected by God and settled in Paradise. This world is, therefore, merely a testing ground, where man’s virtue is being placed on trial. According to the records of this period of trial, man’s eternal fate will be decreed.
The purpose of the creation of human beings is to select individuals from the entire human history to inhabit the world of Paradise in the Hereafter. The existence of man is such a unique phenomenon that no other such example can be found throughout the vastness of the cosmos. Man is rightly called the ‘best of all creations,’ which means the best and most meaningful ‘being’ among all the things created by God. Such a meaningful existence cannot be without purpose. God has created man as an eternal creature and divided his life into two stages—the limited pre-death period in this world for a test, and the post-death period, or the eternal life after death for reward or punishment.
According to the creation plan of God, every person must spend a period of trial in this present, imperfect world, and after this, according to his deeds, he will earn the right to inhabit the perfect and eternal world called Paradise or live in eternal deprivation. In the present temporary world in which everyone has freedom of choice, if one discovers God and lives a God-oriented life, God may find him eligible for living in Paradise in the world Hereafter. This is the scheme of existence for this world devised by its Creator. The fundamental aim of creation is to select those individuals from the entire human history who are fit to inhabit the world of Paradise in the Hereafter.
The God-oriented life begins with the discovery of God. When individuals, whether men or women, discover God, it means that they have found the truth. And this truth pervades their whole being. This feeling of having discovered the truth becomes such a thrilling experience that it fills them with everlasting conviction. This everlasting conviction removes all frustrations from their lives. Therefore, losses are no longer such, for, despite them, they never lose the feeling that their greatest asset, i.e., God, is still with them.
A God-oriented life is one where a person discovers God, the Lord of all worlds, in such a way that He becomes an integral part of their life. The person lives in God's world as a devoted servant, with everything around them serving as a constant reminder of God. In contrast, a Godless life is one where a person is born into this world but never uses his intellect to discover his Creator. He remains absorbed in his present, failing to realize the true purpose of his life. The journey of living a God-oriented life begins with his remembrance of God. He begins to feel the presence of God. Everything serves to remind him of God.
Source: In Search of God
The Earth is the sun’s satellite. It constantly orbits around the sun. It takes one year to complete such a rotation. This movement of the Earth around the sun is essential for the healthy functioning of life on Earth. If the Earth did not revolve around the sun, its existence would have no meaning, and life would come to an end. This is a practical example of how we should lead our lives in this world. This example is indeed a physical demonstration that shows how man must revolve around God, just as the Earth revolves around the sun. It means that all of man’s activities should be based on God. The Earth rotates as compelled to by the laws of nature. But man, of his own free will, should surrender to God. He should build a life, which is based on the concept of God. This consciousness is the real ascension of man. In this consciousness lies the secret of all success.
Source: In Search of God
Human beings live in a world created by God, where everything they receive comes from Him alone. All of Earth’s support systems are created and sustained by a living and powerful God. This concept is intrinsically linked to the idea of accountability for all human beings. Accountability to God guides one’s thoughts, intention, and will in a positive direction. The concept of accountability ensures right thinking and right actions in a human being. The belief that God will be the judge on the Day of Judgement produces in man a strong sense of accountability. He refrains from using words and committing actions that would cause God to holding him to account and punishing him severely. It makes man cautious by reminding him of God’s chastisement. Moreover, this gives him the conviction of receiving God’s reward if he adheres to the right path at all costs and in all situations.
Source: In Search of Truth
God is man’s greatest Benefactor. Whatever man receives is from God. What is most required of a person is that he should discover God as the greatest Benefactor. Then his heart and mind should be filled with the awareness of God’s blessings. He must recognize God as a Being, who is raining down His countless blessings upon him. This consciousness should be so strong that in no way should the feelings of gratefulness to God be absent from his heart. He should keep his sense of gratitude alive, always aware of God’s blessings. But how can this be done in a world of inequality: some have more and others have less, some are strong and others weak? All these differences are due to the exigencies of people being put to the test as per the Creation Plan of God. The process of testing requires that a person should be faced with different kinds of circumstances, but without allowing himself to be influenced by those adverse circumstances, his feeling of thankfulness should not be lessened. He should face challenges with a grateful heart towards God. This should hold true even during experiences that stir up negative feelings. Even then he should keep a positive mindset and continue to thank God, his Benefactor. Thanksgiving is a human being’s most precious offering to his Lord. Wise is he who does not allow his feelings of thankfulness to be eroded even in the most unfavourable of situations.
Source: Discovering God
The desired relationship between man and God is that of a living relationship. This relation exists at all times and at every moment through the remembrance of God, prayer, worship, contemplation, reflection, drawing lessons from God’s signs, etc. Man asks God for blessings at every moment and he receives them from God at every moment. Just as man is dependent on God for his existence, so is he totally dependent on God for his survival. If God ceased to sustain him even for a moment, man would be destroyed. God is not only the Creator of man, but also his Sustainer. The relationship between God and man is that of a Giver and a receiver, where man is the receiver and God the Giver.
Human beings discover God by pondering upon the signs spread throughout the universe—God’s creations. The source of this discovery of God as described in the Quran, is deep, reflection (tafakkur and tadabbur) (3:191). The present universe is an expression of God’s attributes. The vastness of space tells man that God, its Creator, is boundless. The heights of the mountains show us the greatness of God. The waves of the sea and the flow of the river tell us that God is a storehouse of boundless blessings. We see God’s bounties in the greenery of the trees. Man’s existence becomes a proof of God’s existence. In this respect, the present universe is a complete introduction to God. God is visible in His creations, just as a human being sees his own reflection in the mirror, without having any doubts about it. Discovery of God means the realization of God. Man can discover God by deeply pondering upon and contemplating on His signs in nature—His creations. For one who discovers God, the entire universe becomes an open book of God for him.
Source: In Search of Truth
People are not able to discover God as they live in their own glory. When the famous American Boxer, Muhammad Ali (d. 2016) won the title of World Heavy Weight Champion, he said: “I am the king of the world.” This is more or less the situation of every man and woman. Individuals are concerned only with their own glory. Nobody has discovered the glory of God. It is an indisputable fact that the existence of the human being is a miracle of creation. A person should recognize his existence as evidence of divine glory. But the condition of man is such that he sees only self-glorification in his existence. He cannot discover the glory of God therein. This is actually the greatest tragedy of human history.
The famous French philosopher, Rene Descartes (d. 1650), is renowned for having said: “I think, therefore, I exist.” This is a matter of self-discovery. But the most important thing is that a person must discover in his own existence the existence of God, so that he may say: “I am, therefore, God exists.” This is the beginning of discovering God or divine realization. The human being at first discovers the existence of God in the form of his own existence, after this discovery, endless doors of discovery open up for him. Every new discovery goes on increasing his realization and his awareness. Unlimited treasures of realization keep unfolding before him until he reaches the highest level of conviction and realization of God.
Source: Discovering God
A chapter in the Quran gives an introduction to God: “Say, ‘He is God, the One, God, the Self-sufficient One. He does not give birth, nor was He born, and there is nothing like Him.’” (112:1-4)
This short chapter of the Quran describes the oneness of God. It not only states that God is only one but it also describes what it means to be the one God. This chapter has presented the concept of God in a pure and unadulterated form. God is the Creator and Sustainer of the world and everything in it. God is an eternal, ever-living reality. He is all in all. Everything is from God. God is not from anything. God is the Creator of all things and He is managing the entire universe. God is one and everyone is dependent upon Him. He is not dependent upon anyone, He, all alone, has power over everything. He does not beget nor is He begotten. He is a unique Being with no equal, no likeness. All kinds of uniqueness inhere His Being, and this Being is of God, the Almighty. The concept of the one God is the central concept of Islam: it is this belief that is the essence of Islam and the sole source of all of its teachings. The Quran puts it thus: “God: there is no deity save Him, the Living, the Eternal One. Neither slumber nor sleep overtakes Him. To Him belongs 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!” (2:255)
Source: The Spirit of Islam Magazine
The argument from design is: “Where there is design, there is a designer.” Serious scholars have accepted the argument from design to prove God’s existence. For instance, Bertrand Russell acknowledged that theology generally uses the argument method called ‘argument from design’ to prove God’s existence. According to Russell, this method is based completely on scientific logic. That is why this argument is as valid as any other scientific argument. The gist of the argument, “Where there is design, there is a designer” can be applied to the existence of God. When we apply this argument to the universe, one can say, “There is an amazing design in every bit of the universe, and so there is a Designer of the universe.” Intelligent design in the universe clearly points to an Intelligent Designer, another name for God Almighty. This is convincing proof of the existence of God. The intricate design in the universe indicates a Designer and conscious activity on the Designer’s part. If the universe is characterized by design, it must be the handiwork of a grand Designer. This Designer can be no one but the Creator, the One God.
Source: God and the Universe
Yes, scientific evidence of the post-Einstein era supports the existence of God. A reason why people deny the existence of God is that He is invisible; he cannot be seen. God’s being invisible is not a sufficient reason to deny His existence in this age of modern scientific age. In the post-Einstein era, when the atom was split, and the river of knowledge reached the micro-world, which was in the unseen, it was learned that everything was invisible. Things previously regarded as visible—atoms—all became invisible—sub-atomic particles that cannot be seen. In such a situation, denying the existence of God based on invisibility has become an unscientific stand. For details on this subject, studying these two books is recommended: 1. The Unseen World, by Sir Arthur Eddington and 2. Human Knowledge, by A. W. Bertrand Russel.
Present-day science accepts the existence of many things that cannot be seen, such as electrons, the law of gravity, X-rays, etc. Although they cannot be observed by the human eye directly, every scientist believes in their existence for the simple reason that although we cannot see these things directly, we can see their effects—for example, the heat of an electron, a falling apple, in the case of gravity, and a photo film, in the case of X-rays. From the scientific point of view, we believe in the existence of things, both by direct observation and their effects or, in other words, by way of indirect knowledge or inferential argument.
If everything in this universe is proved through indirect evidence, then the same is true for God’s existence. God certainly is not visible to our eyes. But He is undoubtedly observable through His signs—His creation in the form of the universe around us. So, we can say that the presence of the creation is proof of the Creator. This is scientific and intellectual evidence for the existence of God. The Creator, God Almighty is indirectly discoverable through reflection and contemplation on His creation. We cannot see God directly, but we can infer His existence by observing his effects—His creation or the universe.
Source: God and the Universe
