Existence of God

[ابوالوليد المسلم]

Existence of God

Maulana Manzoor Numani


At the very outset, is should be understood clearly that the entire structure of the Islamic faith and Shariat (Holy Law) is built upon the teachings of the sacred Prophet (Peace be upon him).
These teachings are, in their turn, comprised exclusively of the knowledge and commands revealed to the Prophet by God, and are preserved to this day in their pristine purity in the Quran and the Tradition.
Broadly, the tenets of Islam can be divided into two parts, belief and practice.
The first part consists of truths we are incapable of knowing independently and on our own. To believe in them is an essential condition of the faith.
Constituting as they do, the doctrinal part of Islam, their importance is fundamental.
In the second part are included practical instructions regarding human life and behaviour the dos and don'ts of individual and social existence-and it is further split up into a number of sub-divisions like worship, morality, social conduct, rights and duties, culture and civilization, support and propagation of religion, and politics and Government. Islam, by virtue of its being a complete code of life, takes a due note of all the different aspects of our existence.
Belief, in the special terminology of Islam, means to believe in the Prophets of God as such, that is, to acknowledge that for our guidance God had vouchsafed to them knowledge that was beyond the range of our intelligence and understanding, and, on the basis of it, to affirm what was communicated to us by them as from God, and to accept religion brought by them as Divine religion.
Thus, it is indispensable for the faithful that he holds as true all the things the Prophets have taught to mankind in their capacity as Divine messengers.
By rejecting even one of them he will cease to be a believer.
For instance, if a person says that he believes in Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) and the oneness of God and in his glorious Attributes as revealed in the Quran and the Traditions, but does not agree with what the Prophet has taught about the last day and Heaven and Hell because his reason revolts against it, he cannot be a Muslim.
In fine, to believe, in the religious sense, means to affirm in its entirety what the Prophets have brought from God, to accept and repose one's complete faith in all that they have taught, preached or revealed in obedience to the Divine call and inspiration.
Among the basic requisites of faith there are some which appertain to truths like the nature of God and his Attributes, and others that are related to matters like the Prophet, the angels and the last day.
We will take the former first because of the greater importance they command.
Belief in the existence of God as the creator, protector and preserver of the universe is the pivot on which the entire world of Faith revolves.
History as well as the scriptures and other religious documents all over the world denote that faith in God has existed everywhere from the earliest days.
This much has been accepted in common by all peoples and at all times that the world was brought into being by some power which was above all else.
Perhaps it is for this reason that while in the Quran concepts like Divine unity are elaborated upon in the context of the teachings of the Prophets that were raised up from time to time in various communities, there is no indication that these Holy messengers took any particular pains to convince their people of the existence of God in itself. The Quran, too, has adopted, more or less, the same attitude in this respect.
It is full of teachings regarding the Oneness of God and his other Attributes, but it makes no special effort to prove his existence or to persuade mankind to believe that there is a God and unless human nature undergoes a complete ****morphosis it should be as easy and natural for man to believe in the Existence of God as, let us say, in his own existence.
In fact, even in these materialistic times, in the western countries themselves which are the citadels of materialism, the number of people who do not believe.
In Russia, too, where atheism is being pushed forward so zealously by the ruling party as a matter of official policy the atheists are in a minority.
It should, however, not be inferred from the above that the question of God-existence has been left severely alone by the Quran. Our ****** in drawing attention to it was only to show that since the existence of God was so manifestly self-evident and belief in it so deeply ingrained in the human nature, the Quran had not bestowed upon it as much attention as on other matters connected with Divinity, but had largely confined it who could think and understand. For example, take this verse:
"It is God who causeth the seed-grain and the date-stone to split and sprout. He causeth the living to issue from the dead, and he is the one to cause the dead to issue from the living. That is God then how are ye deluded away from the truth." (Quran: Inam, 12)
Here, the Quran makes use of a familiar, everyday, phenomenon of nature-the germination and sprouting of the seed-to bring home the reality of the existence of God. It says that people constantly see that the seed-grain or date-stone is first buried under the earth, then it bursts and sends forth a tiny, slender shoot which pierces the earth and comes out on the surface to develop gradually into a full-grown plant or tree, as the case may be.
The point for them to ponder over is whether all this the splitting of the seed under the earth according to a set design, its sprouting and the forcing of its way by the sprout, which is more delicate than a silken thread, through the hard layer of the earth happens by itself or in response to a Master will.
The Quran tells that it is God who does it all: "It is God who caused the seed-grain and the date-stone to split and sprout" and goes on to add that, in the same way, it is a common sight that the living things produce dead eggs instead of living young ones and from the eggs the young ones are hatched out. All these happenings bear witness to the glory of God.
If, in spite of such clear evidences of his infinite power, any one does still not believe in God, he must, indeed, be blind. Or, take this verse:
"On the earth are signs for those of assured faith, as also in your own selves; will ye then not see?" (Quran: Zariyat, 1)
The signs of God are scattered all over the earth and the skies for those who care to see. In fact, man himself is a vast wonder house of Divine workmanship. Let him think who chiseled his features in the mother's womb? Who gave him the eyes with which he sees, the ears with which he hears, the tongue with which he tastes and the nose with which he smells? Who gave him the faculty of speech? Who released the streams of milk from his mother's breast? Who controls his life and his death in the palm of his hand? Let him address these questions to himself and the answers will be that it all is the work of a Hidden, All powerful, Omniscient Agency, which is God.
At another place, the Quran speaks in this wonderful, challenging manner: "Is there a doubt about God, the Creator of the Heavens and the earth?" (Quran: Ibrahim, 2)
That is, can anyone who lives on the earth and observes all that takes place on it and also sees the skies and the strange things they contain really be skeptical about the existence of the Creator of them all? Once I chanced to meet a person who had his doubts about the existence of God and wanted to have a discussion on them.
I took out a piece of paper from my pocket and asked him would be believe if I said that the words appearing on it had not been written by anyone but had spring up by themselves.
He replied that he would not. Again, I asked him what would his reaction be if I were to say that my watch or fountain pen had never known a manufacturer, having come up simply from nowhere or fallen into my lap straight from the blue, or that the motor car that was running on the road was without a driver and was avoiding collision, negotiating bends and moving along the right direction on its own judgment? He said that he would consider it all to be downright nonsense.
I then said to him, "My friend, you are unwilling to believe that the words could get written of their own accord or the watch, the fountain pen and the motor car could came into being without a manufacture; then, how can you suppose that the sun and the moon which are functioning according to a set plan, and, what is still more amazing, the man himself with his mind and heart and eyes and ears and tongue came into existence, independently of a creator? Just as you cannot imagine otherwise than that what is written on the piece of paper has taken someone to write it or that the watch and the fountain pen are the handiwork of a manufacturer or that the motor car has been produced in a factory and it is running on the road, it is being driven by somebody, it is also plain and beyond dispute that this universe with all its sights and wonders, treasures and inhabitants, has not grown of itself but has been called into creation by an All-Wise, All-Knowing, Omnipotent Being. To entertain a doubt about it or to make it a subject of controversy is to give proof of a diseased soul and a perverted mentality".
In brief, the existence of God is not a matter of opinion. There can be no two views on it. It is both foolish and dangerous to make it an issue of theoretical disputations. It will simply complicate what actually is a very simple matter and lead to confusion and error. That is why, I believe, the Quran has in the main, taken it for granted and avoided a detailed discussion on it. Belief in God is grounded in the nature of man.
It is rooted deep in his soul.
Hence, the fact that atheism could never make much headway in the world; it could never engulf a substantial portion of humanity; and even those who profess to be atheists, the case often is that when a probe is made the spark of faith is found concealed in some corner of their hearts.
But, with the concept of Divine unity it is different. It has been the undoing of many a people.
In view of the extreme delicacy of the doctrine, all the Prophets have attached the greatest importance to it and made it the chief theme of their teachings.
In the Holy Quran and the Traditions of the Prophet (Peace be upon him) specially, it has received the greatest attention.
To appreciate fully the approach of the Quran and the traditions to Monotheism and the manner of their elucidation of it, it is advisable to bear in mind that only those fall a victim to the folly of ascribing plurality to God, who do not possess a full awareness of his attributes. People with a clear understanding of the Divine Attributes seldom succumb to the ignorance of polytheism.
For instance, the preserver and the Sustained, He alone grants children and deals out life and death, health and sickness, poverty and richening short, whatever happens in the world is at his bidding and of his doing: all are dependent on Him, he is dependent on no one-will naturally neither worship anyone besides the one God nor turn to him in the hour of one's need, nor will he ever seek to propitiate his good or avert his displeasure.
Thus, one of the methods followed in the Quran and the traditions for explaining the creed of Monotheism and impressing it on the mind and the heart is to make known emphatically and in detail the characteristics of Divinity so that people may realise for themselves that when such is the majesty of God and so absolutely boundless His authority, no one but he can be worthy of worship and veneration. A striking instance of it is provided by Sura-i-Fatiha, First, the humble slaves are made to say:
"Praise be to God, the Cherisher and Sustainer of the World, Most Gracious, Most Merciful, Ruler of the Day of Judgement."
Then, after having affirmed these Attributes of the Divine, they are called upon to declare:
"Thee do we worship and Thine aid we seek." (That is, when God Alone is the Cherisher and the Sustainer, and the Dispenser of our needs, and he is most Gracious, Most Merciful too, and together with these beautiful, elegant qualities, he is also the Omnipotent, Almighty ruler who will deal out reward and punishment in the after-life, surely, He is the one we shall worship and to him exclusively shall we supplicate for our needs).