Lecture 12: Belief in God

Before we delve into the question of how belief in God has been presented in the Qur’an, let’s look at
the different sources of knowing realities that are available to humans. Once we know them, we will be
in a position to know if we can know God through them.

Four sources to know about facts and realities

There are essentially four sources that enable us to know about facts and realities in our lives:

1. Intuition

2. Sense perception

3. Intellectual reasoning

4. Divine revelation

1. Intuition

Intuition is an inborn understanding which accompanies humans when they come to this world.
Examples of this type of knowledge include;  Moral judgment,  Aesthetic sense,  The concept of part
and whole etc.

The Qur’an tells us that appreciation of God is likewise a part of the realities humans know intuitively.
The covenant of the spirits ( )‫عہدِ الست‬

The Qur’an informs us that this intuitive appreciation of God is because of a spiritual experience all
humans went through together sometime before they came to this world: َ

ََ‫سا‬
ُّ ‫م ِہ‬
ِ َ‫م ا ش ہ د ہ َ َ ع لی‬ ُّ َ َ‫م ت ہَ َ و‬
ُّ َ َ‫َ رذَ ی‬ ِ َِ َ‫وَ َ ذِاَ َ ا خ ذَ َ کُّ ر بَ َِ ن ِمَ ب نَ َ یَ َ د م ٰاَ َ ن ِم‬
ُّ ‫م ِہ و ر ُّ ُّہظ‬
َۚ ۚ ۚ َُّۚ
ِ َ‫َََٰوُّ ق الَ ب لی اَ َۚ د نِ ش ہ ََ ۚ ا نَ و ا ُّو ل ُّ ت قَ یَ َِ و مَ ال قَ ی‬# َٰۚ َ‫ک ر بِ ب ا‬
ٰ َ َ ِ ‫م‬ ُّ َ‫ن فَ َّۚ َ َ ا ل س ت‬
‫م اَ َۃ اَ ن ِاَ َ نُّک اَ َ ع ن ََِ ذ ٰہَ لِفٰغَ ی ن‬

“O Prophet, remind mankind about the incident when your Lord brought into existence the offspring
from the loins of Adam and his descendants and made them testify about themselves. God asked them:
‘Am I not your Lord?’ They all replied: ‘Yes! We bear witness that you are.’ This We did, lest you mankind
should say on the Day of Resurrection: ‘We were not aware of this fact.’” (7:172)

While we have lost the memory of this experience, its effect is there in our intuitive understanding of
God, which at times surfaces in the experiences of even those people who claim not to believe in God,
especially when they are in extreme difficulty.

2. Sense perception

The ability to perceive realities through the five senses of seeing, hearing, smelling, touching, and tasting
is called sense perception. All information perceived through these senses is considered real. There are
two kinds of such perceptions

1. Personal experience of sense perceptions

2. Reported record of other’s experiences

1. Personal experience of sense perceptions

All the information that one has perceived through one’s own sense perceptions.

2. Reported record of other’s experiences

Moreover, what we learn through history, legends, and folklore are also considered realities in the same
category, provided they are reported reliably.

Belief in God recorded in the earliest human history

One such historical human experience mentioned in the Qur’an is the story of Adam and Eve, the
ancestors of the entire humanity, when they met God. َ

َُّ ‫ج و ز وَ أ نتَ ْنُّکْا‬

َ‫س آد م‬ ْ ُّ ‫ل ک‬
َ ‫م الُّو كَ ج ن ۃْ ا‬ َ َ ِ‫ِشث ْح ی ًَ ر غ داَ ہ اْ ن‬
َُّ ‫الشَ ِهِ ہ ـذَ ر ب اْ ت قَ و الَ م اُّتْئ‬
ُ
‫ج رَ ینِ م ِ ظ الْ ال‬ َ َ‫ت‬
َ ُّ ‫م نن ا‬ َ ِ ‫ی ا َ ن اْ لُّو قَ ن‬
“To Adam We said: ‘Dwell with your wife in Paradise and eat anything you want from its bountiful food
from wherever you wish, but do not approach this tree, or you shall both become transgressors.’" (2:35)

It is unthinkable that the Adam and Eve wouldn’t have shared their experiences of communicating with
God with their progeny who in turn must have shared that story with the later generations and so on. It
is not surprising therefore that the concept of God has always been a part of the understanding of all
ancient civilizations.

3. Intellectual reasoning

Intellectual reasoning analyzes the data that is available through intuition and sense perception to reach
conclusions. The examples of realities acknowledged through intellectual reasoning are gravity,
intelligence, spectacle of smoke leading to presence of fire, smell leading to food, excavations of ruins
leading to details of ancient civilizations etc.

(i) Presence of Discipline (‫ )قدرت‬in the nature

(ii) Presence of providence (‫ )ربوبیت‬in the system
(iii) Presence of undeserved blessings called mercy ( )‫رحمت‬
(iv) Presence of wisdom ( )‫حکمت‬
(i) Discipline ( )‫ قدرت‬in the nature

The Qur’an invites human intellect to analyze the data available in the environment in a similar way to
reach the following conclusions:  The appearance of days and nights with meticulous precision  The
sprouting of plants and crops with unquestionable certainty  The flawless movement of heavenly
bodies  The functioning of numerous other laws of nature

These are some of the phenomena the Qur’an points at to bring human intellect to the conclusion that
there is discipline (‫ )قدرت‬in the nature.

(ii) Presence of providence ( )‫ ربوبیت‬in the system

Another aspect of human observation brought to the attention of intellect is the fact that numerous
elements of nature including the sun, the oceans, the clouds, winds, and the soil coordinate with each
other in an amazing way to serve the physical needs of the vulnerable man. There is thus presence of
providence (‫ )ربوبیت‬in the system of which we are a part.

(iii) Presence of undeserved blessings called mercy ( )‫رحمت‬

Likewise, another element of the environment the intellect is urged to observe is the fact that all the
beautiful gifts humans are getting in this world including the priceless gift of life itself have been
provided to them without they deserving any of them. That indicates the presence of undeserved
blessings called mercy ( ). ‫( رحمت‬iv) Presence of wisdom ( )‫حکمت‬

Finally, there is another aspect of human experience which the Qur’an points at. The existence we are a
part of is not a haphazard lump of irrelevant material. Our experiences show underlying subtle planning
that enables human child to be brought up, bees to fly around to suck nectar of flowers to make honey,
cows to provide the much needed milk that comes from the body carrying excretions and blood etc. All
these amazing realities come about through a remarkable interplay of different elements of nature. To
conclude, there is wisdom (‫ )حکمت‬in the world we are living in.

4. Divine revelation

For an intelligent, sensitive mind, with all these amazing attributes at work, this world is like a jigsaw
puzzle with unexplained pieces of reality scattered all around, asking that they be brought together to
be explained meaningfully. It’s like a lock needing a key to open.

The concept of God explains the full picture of the puzzle

The concept of God explains the full picture of the puzzle; He is the key to the lock.

َِ ‫ن الل ه‬ ُ
َُّ ُّ ‫ض۔۔۔ْ أ رْ و الَ ِ الس م او ات َّور‬
“(Belief in) God is the light of the heavens and the earth.” (24:35)

How Can We Attain God’s Proper Appreciation (Ma‘rifat)

When we identify someone, we want to know more about him. If he is someone important, we want to
come close to him too.

How can we know more about God; how can we come close to Him?

The two limitations

There are two limitations in the way of realizing this objective:

1. We can’t see Him

2. There is none similar to Him

1. The Qura'n tells us that we can’t see Him:

َ ‫ت ال یرِ خ بْا‬
َ ََُُّ َ ‫ل ُّ یفِ ط اللَ وُّ و ہ‬ ُ ُ ُ
َ ُّ ‫ص ارْ األ ب َّك ِ ْردُّیَ وُّ و ہ َّ ص ارْ األ ب َّهُّک ِ ْرد‬
“No vision can grasp Him while He grasps all visions. He is the Subtle, the Aware.” (6:103) ََُّّ
ُ َ ‫ن أ َرِ ر بَ ق ال َُّهُّ ر ب َُّ و ك ل م هَ ن اِ یق‬ َْ
ِ ِ ‫ن ق الَ کْل یِإ ُّر أ نظَ ي‬ َ ‫ـکَ ي ت ر انَ ل‬ ِ ‫ِن و ل‬ِ َ‫انظ‬
ً َ َ
‫ن إ ِ ج ب لْ ال ت ق رَ َ َ ق الَ اقَ أ ل م اَ اقِص عَ موس‬ َ َ ْ ْ َ
ُ ِ ‫س‬ َِ ‫م ج اءَ و ل م اَ ل ى ِإرَ ا‬ َ ُّ ‫مل وس ى‬ ِ ِ‫ات‬
‫ف س و ََّ م ك ان هَ ْ کْل‬ ْ َ‫ي ت ر ان‬ ِ َ َ‫ا‬ ‫م‬ ‫ل‬ َ‫ى‬ ‫ل‬ ‫ج‬ ‫ت‬ َ‫ب‬ ‫ر‬ ‫ه‬
ُّ َّ ُ ‫ِل‬ ‫ل‬ ْ‫ل‬ ‫ب‬ ‫ج‬ ِ َ‫ه‬ ‫ل‬ ‫ع‬ ‫ج‬ َُّ ‫ىَ و خ رَ ا ً د ك‬
‫لأو ل‬ َُّ ‫ما‬
ْ ُّ‫مؤ‬
ْ ِ‫ت ح ان کْ بُّس و أ ن اَ َ ینِ ن‬ َ ُّ ‫یِإَُّتْب‬
“When Musa came to Our appointed place and his Lord spoke to him, he asked: ‘O my Lord! Give me
power of sight to see You.’ He answered: ‘You cannot see Me. Look at the mountain; if it remains firm in
its place then indeed you might see Me’. When his Lord manifested His glory on the mountain, it turned
into small pieces of fine dust and Musa fell down unconscious. When Musa recovered he said: ‘Glory be
to You! Accept my repentance and I am the first of the believers.’" (7:143)

2. The Qur’an also tells us that there is none similar to Him:

َ ‫مل‬
ََُُّّ َ ‫ك ج ع ل‬ َ ِ ‫س أ نفَ ْ ن‬
ُّ ‫م‬ ُّ ‫ن و مَ ا ً و اجْ أ َْز‬
ُّ ِ ‫مک‬ َ ‫مكُّر ؤْ ی ذ َا ً و اجْ أ َزِ َ ِ ع امْ أ نْ ا‬
ِ ‫ل‬ ُّ َََِْ# َِ‫يَ یه‬
ِ ‫سل‬
ْ َ‫رِ اط‬
ٌَ ُ ُ ْ
‫ضأ رْ و الَ ِ الس م او ات هِلث ِک م َّ یرِ الب ص َّ یعِ الس مَ وُّ و ہ ءْش ی‬ ْ َِ
“The Creator of the heavens and the earth. He has made for you mates from among yourselves and also
mates among the cattle from their own kind; by this means does He multiply you. There is no one like
Him. He Alone hears all and sees all.” (42:11)

Had there been someone similar to Him, an idea could have been formed about Him through looking at
the one who was similar.

The answer to these limitations is in appreciating God’s attributes

How then can we know more about God? And how can we come close to Him given these limitations?
We have been informed in the Qur’an that appreciation of God’s attributes bring us closer to Him. He
has attributes of;  Justice  Mercy  Power  Wisdom  and many more

The more we know them by imagining and experiencing their presence in our lives, the more we can
come close to Him.

Three aspects of God’s attributes

One must realize that His attributes are different from those of humans in three important ways:

1. God has all the good attributes

2. All His attributes are infinite

3. All His attributes are simultaneously operative

1. God has all the good attributes

ََِِ َْ ‫ل م اءْ األ س َُّ ل هَْوا ُّعْ ت د َ م اَ ا ً أ یَ م‬

َ ‫حا‬
ْ ‫س‬
ُّ ْ‫ک ص ال تِ بَْه رْ ت جَ و الَ ن ى‬ َ ُّ ‫وا ُّعْادَِلُّقَ َ خ ا‬
ِ َ‫ت و ال‬
ًَ ْ
‫ـنْ الر حَ وا ُّعْادَِأ وَ الل هَ بَِت غْ و ابَ ہ اِ بَْت نْی یالِ س بَ کِذ ل‬

“O Prophet, say to them: ‘Whether you call Him Allah or call Him Rahman (the Merciful), it is all the
same; by whichever name you call Him, for Him are all the finest names.” (17:110)

2. All His attributes are infinite

All the attributes of God are mentioned in the Qur’an in a way that they are preceded by the definite
article al (the) like al-Rahman, al-Rahim, al-Sami‘, al-‘Aleem etc.

3. All His attributes are simultaneously operative

His attributes have been mentioned in the Qur’an in a manner that they are not separated by a
conjunction (and, wau):

َ ََُُّّ َ ُّ ‫ي ال ذ َُّ الل هَ وُّہَ َُّ يم۔ِ الر ح َُّ م نْ الر حَ وُّ ََِِہ و الش ہ ادَ ِبْغ یْ الَُّم ِ ع ال وس‬ ِ َ ‫وُّ َہ ل ا ِإ َ ل هِإ َ ل ا‬
ُ ُ َ َ َ
‫س رِ ت ک ب‬ َُّ ُّ ‫ی ع م اَ ِ الل هَ ح انْ ب‬ َ ُّ‫ي ال ذ َّ الل هَ وُّہَ ََّ ون۔ ُّک ِ ْرش‬ ِ ‫ل وُّ َہ ل ا ِإ ل هِإ ل ا‬ َ ‫ک م لْ ا‬ ِ َُّ ‫دُّقْال‬
ُ َّ ُ َّ ُ ُ َُّ ‫ما‬ َّ ُ َّ ُ َُّ ‫ل ج ب ارْ ا‬ َُّ ‫ما‬
ِ‫ق خ الْ ال ل هَُّ رِو َّ يم‬ ِ ‫ئ ب ارْ ال‬ِ ‫مال‬ ْ ‫ص‬
ُّ َّ ‫ل الس ل امَ الل هَ وُّہ‬ ْ ُّ‫مؤ‬
ْ ِ ‫مالن‬ ْ ُّ ‫مہ ی‬ ْ ِ ‫یزع ْزالن‬ ِ ‫ل‬ ْ ُّ
‫حال م اءْ أ سْ ال‬ َ ُ َ َّ ُ ْ
ْ ‫س‬
ُّ ْ‫ف م ا َّ ل هَُّ حِس ب ُّيَ ن ى‬ َ ِ ‫ضأ رْ و الَ ِ الس م او اتَ ي‬ ْ ِ َ‫ح کال یزِع ْزال وُّ و ہ‬
“Allah is He, besides Whom there is no god, the King, the Holy, the Giver of peace, the Granter of
security, the Guardian, the Almighty, the Irresistible, the Supreme: Glory be to Allah! He is far above the
polytheism (shirk) they commit. He is Allah, the Creator, the Evolver, the Modeler. His are the most
beautiful names. All that is in the heavens and the earth declares His glory, and He is the All-Mighty, the
All-Wise.” (59:22-24)

Knowing the aspects of God’s attributes enables us understand the reality

When we acknowledge all three aspects of God’s attributes mentioned above, we are able to
understand the reality of the complex questions like pre-destination and freewill or Him being both fair
and merciful at the same time. When we know that God’s knowledge and justice are both perfect and
simultaneously functioning, we know that predestination and freewill are simultaneously possible.
When we appreciate that God is perfectly fair as well as supremely compassionate, we can imagine how
that two apparently contradictory attributes can coexist. It is our human limitation that prevents us from
understanding these concepts fully.

Two basic expressions about God

The Qur’an and Hadith have given us two expressions about God through which we remember Him in a
way that we are able to say in a nutshell everything that can be said about Him. Those two expressions
are:

1. Subhanallah (God is free from all errors)

2. Alhamdulillah (God has all the good qualities)

God’s attributes help us in coming close to Him

God’s attributes help us in coming close to Him when we apply them in our lives. For instance;  His
perfect knowledge makes us realize that He knows everything we are doing and thinking  His perfect
wisdom makes us feel that no matter what happens to us, ultimately there has to be some wisdom
behind what He decides  His mercy leads us to seek His forgiveness  His ability to hear and His power
to do everything incline us to ask Him to help us in every matter we need help in

Alternative Beliefs

If God is not be believed in, what else is there to help us answer the puzzle of life?
(A) Alternative to Belief in God: Atheism

(B) Alternative to Belief in one God: Polytheism

A. Atheism

One answer given is that there is no god.

Arguments

1. The philosophical position of atheism 2. The scientific position of atheism

1. The philosophical position of atheism

The philosophical position of atheism is based on; a) Negative Atheism b) Agnosticism.

Negative Atheism

Negative Atheism is an understanding that contends that arguments presented by believers in God are
too weak to be acceptable.

Agnosticism

Agnosticism is based on the philosophical position that it is not possible for us to know who or what the
first cause (God) of the creation was.

Instead of providing an answer to the riddle of life, Atheism is thus attempting to destroy the only
answer available to explain this world.

2. The scientific position of atheism

The scientific position of atheism is based on

a) Big Bang Theory

b) Theory of Evolution

Big Bang theory and the Theory of Evolution

Another argument which the modern Atheists present strongly is that since the Big Bang theory has
explained how the existing world started and the Theory of Evolution explains what phases the world
and humans went through to reach the present stage, there is no need for God for the modern man
anymore.

Answer to the question ‘how?’ or ‘who?’

The difficulty in understanding this line of argument is that both the Big Bang theory and the Theory of
Evolution answer the question ‘how’. Human genius and conscience are looking to get an answer to the
question ‘who’. While the two theories answer the first question, the existence of God answers the
second question. And the two answers are not necessarily incompatible with each other.

B. Polytheism
Another answer to the puzzle of this life is that there are many gods. It is called polytheism. Many
addressees of the Qur’an were polytheists. This understanding is only a degenerated form of
monotheism (belief in one God).

The Qur’an says:

َْ ‫ل‬
َ ‫أَ ن و ل ئ نن‬
ِ ‫س‬
ُّ
َُّ
ُ َْ َ‫ضأ رْ و الَ ِ الس م او ات‬
ْ َ‫س الش مَ و س خ ر‬
ْ َ‫ؤُّیَ أ ن ى َ الل هَ نُّول ُّ ل ی قَ ق م رْ و ال‬
‫متہ‬ ُّ َ‫خ ل قَ ْ م ن‬
“If you ask the disbelievers as to who has created the heavens and the earth, and subjected the sun
and the moon to His laws? They will certainly say: "Allah!" How are they then being deluded away
from the truth?” (29: 61)

In other words, polytheism is not an alternative explanation of the question of the mystery of this world.
It is only a distorted offshoot of belief in God.

Some Questions

Q1. Why has the modern man drifted away from the logical and natural concept of God?

The unreasonable attitude of the religious people has caused many intelligent people to move away
from religion and God.

Attitude of the medieval Roman Catholic Church

It was the unreasonable attitude of the medieval Roman Catholic Church first when human intelligence
was strongly discouraged and its achievements were censored that caused intelligent, reasonable
people to draw away from religion and God.

Attitude of the Muslim…

In the recent past it is Muslims who by promoting killing in the name of God and some other
unreasonable concepts have disappointed human intelligence, causing once again to draw the
intelligent segment of humanity to drift away from religion and God.

Q2. Does it matter if one believes in God or not?

Belief in God primarily a moral issue. If there is a God who has created us, He deserves to be
acknowledged, thanked, and worshipped. It would be an extremely immoral attitude if one benefits
from God’s blessings but refuses to acknowledge them. One should therefore look for the question of
existence of God with a sense of urgency.