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.

Taqwa means piety, that is, leading a life of caution and restraint in this world.

Umar Farooq, the second Caliph once asked a companion of the Prophet what taqwa was? He replied, "O leader of the believers, have you ever crossed a path which has thorny shrubs, on both sides?" But the companion instead of replying asked another question, "What did you do on such an occasion?" Umar Farooq replied, "I gathered my clothes close to me and moved ahead cautiously." The companion said, "This is the stuff of taqwa."

The present world is a testing ground. Here, various kinds of thorns have been scattered for the purpose of testing man, such as negativity, false issues raised by non-serious people, the lure of worldly things. Besides these, there are many unpleasant occurrences, which disturb people's minds and lead them away from the path of virtue.

All these things are like thorny shrubs lining both sides of the path of life. At any moment it is feared that man may embroil himself in these thorns and then instead of going forward, remain entrapped in these snares of life.

In such a state of affairs the wise man is one who travels the paths of life by gathering up his clothes to avoid becoming, entangled in these unpleasant snares. In this way, he is able to continue his journey unhampered. Yet at all times he must remain conscious of the fact that he must protect himself. He has to adopt the path of avoidance, not of entanglement.

Man has been created with an upright nature. If no hindrance comes in the way, then every man will, on his own, take the right course. That is why; the utmost precaution must be taken against allowing unnatural obstacles to come in the way.

Then, guided by this upright nature, man will continue to walk along the right path until he meets his Lord.

The essence of faith is ma'arifah, (realization or discovery of God). When a man consciously seeks out and finds God, and thereby has access to divine realities that is what constitutes faith.

This discovery is no simple matter. God is the Creator and Owner of all things. He will award or punish all, according to their deeds; none is free from His grip. The discovery of such a God shakes to the core of the whole life of man. His thinking is revolutionized, for God becomes the centre of all His emotions.

With God as the principal focus of his attention, man becomes God's servant in the fullest sense of the word. He becomes a man whose living and dying is all for God.

Such a faith ultimately results in all of man's behaviour and his dealings taking on the hue of God. When the believer speaks, he is conscious of the fact that God is listening to him. When he walks, he does so with modesty so that his gait may not be displeasing to God. When he deals with people, he is always worried lest he deal unjustly and be punished by God in the next life.

The impact of this degree of faith makes the entire life of man akhirat-oriented. In all matters his eyes are focused on the Hereafter. Instead of immediate gain he makes gain in the next life his goal. Whenever there are two aspects of any matter, one pertaining to this world and the other to the next world, he always prefers the latter.

Faith, another name for the recognition of the Supreme God, becomes for the believer a fountainhead of limitless confidence in his Creator. When this recognition takes root in an individual's heart and soul, his whole personality becomes regenerated. Knowing that in all circumstances he may depend upon God, he becomes a new man.

It is possible to feel God's existence through intuition. Of late, science has discovered that there is a unique spot in the human mind- they call it God Spot. The fact is that the consciousness of God is interwoven in the nature of every human being. So, potentially every one possesses this kind of feeling. What is needed is to turn this potential into the actual through deep contemplation.

Speaking Tree | TOI | October 31, 2010

Faith is the discovery of God. This discovery produces certain qualities in a human being. One such important quality may be called fear of God (khushu or taqwa), always going in fear of being accountable to God. That is, God will take us to task for all our misdeeds. By introspection, one must remind oneself of the accountability on the Day of Judgement. It is a sign of true faith. The true believer is only that person whose most significant concern is God. The true believer’s focus of thinking is only one, which is fear of God. He never forgets that he will be called to account by God. Such a person is always conscious of God.

The personality of a believer is made up of these two feelings. On the one hand, he loves God the most. Moreover, on the other hand, he fears God the most. The love of God is such as is filled with agony. Similarly, the fear of God is such as is filled with the love of God. It is a relationship that man hopes to have with the Being he fears lest He deprives him of His blessings. It combines love and fear, which can be felt but not expressed in words.

Source: The Spirit of Islam

A: There is no objective criterion for this. The journey begins when man finds out that his sole concern is God. The Quran gives the criterion to discern between those who would be rewarded in the hereafter and those who would not be.

The first criterion pertains to one who would become deserving of punishment in the hereafter. The Quran says for such a person

He used to be happy with his own people. (84:13)

According to this criterion, those who earned and exhausted their resources on their family did not discover God! They could not think beyond their kith and kin.

The second criterion pertains to those who would be rewarded in the hereafter. For such individuals, the Quran says,

When we were among our families, we were full of fear of God's displeasure. (52:26)

Such people were always actively thinking about their accountability towards God. In other words, despite being with their family, their sole concern was God.

The Prophet said: "God will not show mercy to one who does not show mercy to his fellow-men."

The Speaking Tree | Sunday, August 15, 2010

Yes. Prayer means establishing contact with the higher reality and that higher reality is the source of all kinds of inspiration. It is also a source of great solace. So prayer, if it is genuine, will certainly help in developing focus and making you a better person.

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.

Source: Leading a Spiritual Life

Speaking Tree | TOI | May 8, 2011

It's not just about God, man cannot have complete knowledge of anything. All kinds of human knowledge are based on the probability theory; if we accept this criterion for other things, why can't we do the same for the existence of God?