- How can you believe in God! Part 2
- How can you believe in God! Part 1
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In the name of Allah, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful. All praise is due to Allah the Independent of Want, the Praiseworthy, and peace and blessings be upon the messengers of Allah, the equivalent of all who have remembered Allah , from the beginning until the end of existence, and the equivalent of all those who have been heedless of his remembrance, from the beginning until the end of existence.
In part one of this series, we showed that the continuing existence of disbelief is part of Allah’s plan for humans. There will always be different communities of belief. He guides whom he pleases and who has no need of anybody’s worship. Believers who are convinced of their own belief, should not be disturbed by the false beliefs of others.
Even so, believers, like Prophet Ibrahim, peace be upon him, still desire some proof, “to give rest to my hearts” (2:260). And we also require some explanation of why people living on the same planet can have such widely differing beliefs about reality. Why is it that some of us see the Qur’an as “goodness for those who do good in this world”(16:3) and others dismiss it as ” أساطير الأولين tales of ancient peoples”? (16:24) To understand this we need to look at the nature and origin of belief and to understand how we can feel secure in our faith while debates rage around us. This is the topic for part 2.
This brings me on to one of my favourite stories. One day, an old woman noticed huge crowds gathered on the street. She asked what was going on and was told that a very famous scholar was coming to the town. “He is the great Fakhr-ud-Din Ar-Razi, and he has seventy proofs of the existence of Allah!” The old woman was unimpressed.
“Hmm… His faith can’t be that strong – if he has had to come up with seventy proofs, then he must have had seventy doubts!” she sniffed.
It is said that when Ar-Razi was informed of what the old woman had said, he had exclaimed, “Oh for the faith of an old woman!”
This story drives home the point that there are different ways of knowing, and that reason is just one of these ways. We know, also that reason, when pushed to its limits, shows that actually we can know very little at all. Nowadays, this is known as Cartesian doubt, after the philosopher Descartes (d 1650) who famously exclaimed, “I think, therefore I am,” as the one thing which he definitely knew was true. However, Hujjat ul-Islam (the Proof of Islam) Abu Hamid Al-Ghazzali (d 11:15) also went through the same process five centuries earlier. He wrote about his existential crisis in detail in the book Al-Munqidh min-ad-Dalaal (Deliverance from Error).
At the time of his crisis, Al-Ghazali was the foremost scholar in the Seljuk Empire, and professor at the Nizamiyya College. He made major contributions to Islamic thought in law (al Mustasfa is available on the Arabic site), philosophy, Theology, Ethics and religion. Yet at the high point of his career, when his knowledge and learning about Islam was without equal throughout the Muslim world at the time, he experienced a crisis of belief. He pointed out that most of us inherit our beliefs from our parents. This idea is taken from a hadith of the Prophet, which states that people are born in a state of natural belief (fitrah) but that parents make the child into a Jew, a Christian or a Muslim. One could add – or an atheist. Many people just accept what they have been brought up in without question, and go along with what everyone else is going along with. But Al-Ghazali could not do that. In fact, he even argued (unfortunately, I cannot remember where) that doubt is necessary as a precursor for faith. He was an honest and an independent thinker. He asked the same questions as Descartes about what we can actually know to be certain. He became so sick that Doctors feared for his life.
In the end, Al-Ghazali says that what saved him was “something which Allah threw into his heart.” Whereas Descartes scepticism ushered in the modern age of doubt and disbelief, Al-Ghazali was saved – by something in his heart. And this is something which can save all of us and I am going to turn to that in just a moment.
Al Ghazali, may Allah have mercy on him, went on to resign his post and to wander incognito around the Muslim world trying to understand how to live in a way that would benefit him on the Day of Judgement, when his clever arguments, his qualifications, his books, and the respect and adulation of other academics would not stand for anything before Allah. This led to a revivification of Al-Ghazali as a teacher, which he expressed most famously in the Ihya Uloom ud-Din, the Revivification of the Sciences of Religion. If you are interested to know more, many have been translated into English by Fons Vitae Press.
So, not only can we not convince people through rational proofs, if we do push ourselves to the limits of reason, we will not even be able to convince ourselves and we may make ourselves ridiculous (a Mr Logic type character is an old stock-in-trade for comedians and dramatists). Fortunately reason is only one mode of knowing, and we have others. For example, we have made great advancements in science and technology through pursuing the scientific method based upon testing hypothesis using data acquired through the senses, even though it is only possible to disprove and not to prove these hypotheses. If we applied the radical doubt of Cartesian scepticism in science, we would not have got anywhere.
So this brings me back to Al-Ghazali. What if I were to say that in addition to the five senses, you have a sixth, located in your heart? What if I were to say that you know this intuitively, because this is where you feel love, and guilt, and doubt, and peace? What if I were to propose using the scientific method with input from this sixth sensory organ?
The Prophet told one of his companions to trust his heart when it came to making decisions. O Wabisah, ask your heart, ask yourself.’ [He repeated it three times and then said:] ‘Righteousness is that which the heart feels at ease with and the soul is content with and sin is that which troubles the heart and causes doubts in the chest, even if people pass fatwa (of permissibility) for you and give you verdicts.”
So I am going to set you a mini challenge. Start noticing the feelings in your heart. For example, when you are faced with a decision, how does your heart feel? Is it agitated? At peace? If you do something – what happens to your heart then? Do you get a pain, or a sinking feeling? Do you feel awful? You shouldn’t have done it. If you do something really nice for somebody, how does your heart feel then? How about when you read Qur’an? I guarantee you that if you start consciously noticing what your heart is feeling, it will guide you to do what is good and avoid what is bad.
There is of course a caveat. Some people’s spiritual hearts are sick. And just as a feverish person may feel freezing cold when actually they are running a temperature, some people’s hearts can be so sick that they incline to what is bad and not to what is good. May Allah protect us from such sickness.
اِذَا تُتۡلٰى عَلَيۡهِ اٰيٰتُنَا قَالَ اَسَاطِيۡرُ الۡاَوَّلِيۡنَؕ ﴿83:13﴾ كَلَّا بَلۡ رَانَ عَلٰى قُلُوۡبِهِمۡ مَّا كَانُوۡا يَكۡسِبُوۡنَ ﴿83:14
When our signs or ayaat are recited to them they say, “tales of the olden days”. By no means. On the contrary, their hearts have become rusted over because of what they have earned (from the bad things they have done). (83:14)
By remembering Allah in our hearts, we become attached to him, and our hearts become polished.
Allah tells us that he shows us his signs on the horizons as well as inside our own selves.
سَنُرِيۡهِمۡ اٰيٰتِنَا فِى الۡاٰفَاقِ وَفِىۡۤ اَنۡفُسِهِمۡ حَتّٰى يَتَبَيَّنَ لَهُمۡ اَنَّهُ الۡحَـقُّ ؕ اَوَلَمۡ يَكۡفِ بِرَبِّكَ اَنَّهٗ عَلٰى كُلِّ شَىۡءٍ شَهِيۡدٌ ﴿41:53
(41:53) Soon shall We show them Our Signs on the horizons and in their own beings until it becomes clear to them that it is the Truth. Is it not enough that your Lord is a witness over everything?
This means that not only does Allah guide us through our hearts, he also guides us through what is outside in the universe. The Qur’an is full of ayaat (verses or miraculous signs) which talk about the ayaat (signs or miracles) in existence.
When we look at creation, we can look at it using the scientific method. We have been learning so many amazing facts about this universe that should increase our awe and wonder about the Creator. Muslims believe that everything in the heavens and the earth is a sign pointing to the existence of Allah. However, atheists are searching for an explanation that can write God out of the equation, so to speak.
They are looking for a way in which everything can have come into existence without the necessity for a creator. Often, anything in existence which evokes awe and wonder is ascribed to an abstract term, “nature.” As in, “isn’t nature a wonderful thing, the way it works in harmony.” Yet “nature” as an abstract concept doesn’t actually exist. It is no more than the sum of all the objects in existence. It doesn’t exist, let alone work, organise, or design. Sometimes people will talk about things within nature, saying things like, “Isn’t it wonderful the way bees can form hexagonal cells from was. They are so clever.” Yet we all know that bees are not “clever” at all – they cannot explain to us what they do or why. Explanations for particular characteristics or behaviours of this or that creature are also inadequate. For example, they will say that bright colours are there to attract a mate. However, this does not explain why the mate is attracted to bright colours in the first place. There is a continuing mystery in this universe which cannot be glossed over with inexact language.
As for the theory of evolution which is used by many as a way to make the existence of a creator unnecessary, this is not incompatible with Islam, nor is it confirmed by Islam (see Al-risaalat al Hamidiya by Al-Jisr written shortly after the release of the Origin of the Species). From the time when it first appeared in the Muslim world, it caused barely a ripple, because it did not challenge the Qur’an. For those who are interested, there are many sites which look at the verses in the Qur’an and attempt to interpret in the light of modern scientific knowledge. However, I am not including them here in this text because science, which is always developing and imperfect, is not capable of proving or disproving God. For centuries, scientists believed that matter was eternal, so that even Muslim philosophers adapted some of their beliefs to go along with this “fact”. Nowadays, most people believe that there was a starting point, which is compatible with both Biblical and Qur’anic ideas of creation. It is a mistake to try too hard to make one’s beliefs fit the science, because science changes. However, it is clear that the tension between religion and science which is so evident in the Christian world is not there in the Muslim world and has never been there, and that was one of the reasons why science developed so greatly during the Islamic golden age.
“It is not the eyes that are blind but the hearts that are blind.” We can live in and look at the world all we like but if we don’t reflect upon the sensory input we receive, then we will still be ignorant and our knowledge of it will not advance. We can see this by contrasting the ignorance of the earlier times with our scientific knowledge today. Did those people not have eyes to see?
However, there is another way of looking at creation, besides the scientific. It is looking with the second eye, the eye of symbolism and analogy. This still has a place in culture through literature, poetry and art. The eye of symbolism looks at the events and phenomena in this world, and draws conclusions from them. It looks at the way trees and plants always grow towards the light, and the way blossoms and fruits appear on the furthest tips of their branches. This is a symbol for the way creation yearns for the divine light. The fact that creation is dependent upon water, otherwise it would be a barren desert, is a symbol for the spiritual water which has come down to earth in the form of revelation. Sleep and waking up is symbolic of death and resurrection, as is when we are born from the womb into the world. How else could we understand this? When Rumi talks about how the rose blooms for the nightingale, is he just talking about nightingales and roses, or is this about how Allah has made this creation in order to call for a response from us? All this talk reminds me of the quote from the Kung Fu movie with Bruce Lee Enter the Dragon. (1973). “Don’t think. Feel! It is like a finger pointing to the moon. Don’t look at the finger or you will miss all that heavenly glory!” This is also symbolic language.
It is symbolising modern civilisation, with its Cartesian doubt and Scientific method to explain the what, but no metaphysics and no sacred dimension to explain the why. Such a society cannot see the finger as a sign, pointing towards the moon of the divine, as there is no divinity. If there is no sacred dimension, there is no signified. And if there is no signified, there is no sign, and you are just left with examining in detail the finger pointing to nowhere! It is just interested in looking at the finger alone. The more I think about symbolism, the more I see it everywhere, and the more I think that it is so coherent that it cannot be a figment of the imagination but must itself be based upon order.
It is wrong to lump disbelievers together into one group, as every individual has their own reasons for their lack of belief. Some are struggling with certain issues, perhaps misconceptions about the nature of God or religious teachings in which they perceive unfairness. These people can have very good intentions, and the Prophet recognised this. Every single on of us is on a journey through this life, and none of us knows our final ends or whether we will die on belief or disbelief. We should try and show great respect to other people. Moses was instructed to speak to even Pharaoh with gentle speech (20:44).
However, disbelief is very convenient to those who want to follow their own desires, because it means one does not have to follow the ethical and moral proscriptions of religion, and can do what one likes. We have all seen the corruption which is caused by unbridled greed and selfishness. At the same time people are now seriously discussing the overturning of time honoured rules that used to be reinforced by religious prohibition (such as the illegality of incest). Are such challenges all really working for the benefit of humanity, or are they just following their own desires?
وَلَوِ اتَّبَعَ الۡحَـقُّ اَهۡوَآءَهُمۡ لَفَسَدَتِ السَّمٰوٰتُ وَالۡاَرۡضُ وَمَنۡ فِيۡهِنَّؕ بَلۡ اَتَيۡنٰهُمۡ بِذِكۡرِهِمۡ فَهُمۡ عَنۡ ذِكۡرِهِمۡ مُّعۡرِضُوۡنَؕ ﴿23:71
(23:71) Were the Truth to follow their desires, the order of the heavens and the earth and those who dwell in them would have been ruined. Nay, the fact is that We have brought to them their own remembrance; and yet it is from their own remembrance that they are turning away.
Another cause for the growth of atheism in our modern society, is the fact that we rely to much on what are called asbaab (means) in Arabic. We think that our comfortable lives are kept comfortable by science, and nature, and systems that give us electricity and water and food, and we think it is our civilisation, and our exemplary way of life, and our values, and our democracy, and so on and so forth. We forget who has enabled us to have all of these blessings. Most of us feel pretty in control for most of our lives. If we get sick, we trust in the NHS, if we lose our job, we claim benefits, if our house is flooded, we claim on insurance. If people die in accidents, we make stricter laws etc. We think that whatever happens to us, scientific developments and human intelligence will figure out a solution, although global warming is unravelling this cosy conception at the edges, most people are living under the illusion that we are independent and that our knowledge is our own creation and will save us. It is like in the Qur’an when Allah says that were it not for the fact that mankind would be on one belief (disbelief!) he would give them stairs and roofs of silver (43:33). The story of Qarun is a clear indication that we should never think that our knowledge is what brings us our blessings in life. Humans who think that they are wealthy and independent forget Allah, and become hardhearted, and that is the state of many people today.
Atheism is tested when people get into difficulties. There are many testimonials from former atheists whose means were taken away from them. Lost at sea, for example, they prayed for help, and were saved. This is the story of musician Cat Stevens who out for a sim, found himself being dragged out to sea. When he prayed, the current pushed him back again. Some people do transform their beliefs in these circumstances, but some also go back to the way they were before.
It is also the case that Allah tells us that if people forget him, then their life will be constrained and this may be a factor in the rise in depression and anxiety in modern societies, despite our unprecedented wealth and our long lives.
وَمَنۡ اَعۡرَضَ عَنۡ ذِكۡرِىۡ فَاِنَّ لَـهٗ مَعِيۡشَةً ضَنۡكًا وَّنَحۡشُرُهٗ يَوۡمَ الۡقِيٰمَةِ اَعۡمٰى ﴿20:124﴾
(20:124) But whosoever turns away from this reminder from Me shall have a straitened life; We shall raise him blind on the Day of Resurrection.”
My mother used to always tell me the following saying, “you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink.” Humans are like stubborn horses in this respect.
قَالَ يٰقَوۡمِ اَرَءَيۡتُمْ اِنۡ كُنۡتُ عَلٰى بَيِّنَةٍ مِّنۡ رَّبِّىۡ وَاٰتٰٮنِىۡ رَحۡمَةً مِّنۡ عِنۡدِهٖ فَعُمِّيَتۡ عَلَيۡكُمۡؕ اَنُلۡزِمُكُمُوۡهَا وَاَنۡـتُمۡ لَـهَا كٰرِهُوۡنَ ﴿11:28
(11:28) Noah said: ‘My people! If I base myself on a clear evidence from my Lord, and I have also been blessed by His mercy to which you have been blind, how can we force it upon you despite your aversion to it?
So I would like to finish this with some general advice for everybody, and some pointers for further thought and research.
We live in a world where there are many theories and ideas and competing claims being pushed upon us and we are naturally suspicious and also a bit jaded. It can be really confusing to distinguish true coin from false coin. Even worse, some people are arguing that there is no such thing as true coin, that coins are all made by humans and can be done away with and replaced with something better. Firstly, take the existence of the fakes as an indication that true coin actually exists – if it didn’t, nobody would bother making fakes or substitutes. Truth – the gold from which the true coin is coined – exists, and we strive towards it, even if we don’t reach its purest form in this world. Secondly, keep asking Allah to guide you, because if He guides you, then nobody can lead you astray. Thirdly, keep taking a fatwa of your heart. If something gives you peace and a good feeling, then be guided towards it. If it makes you feel agitated, avoid it. Fourth, stay away from pointless debate and focus on understanding, using all of the senses and faculties given to you by Allah. Remember that knowledge has many modes and dimensions.
السلام عليكم و رحمة الله و بركاته
Peace be upon you, and the mercy of Allah and his blessings.
