Monotheism (tawheed) means to believe in one God; to believe in the fact that all power lies in the hand of one God alone; that He alone deserves to be worshipped. No act in the nature of worship is lawful unless directed towards God. It is God alone who fulfills all our needs. It is God alone who is behind the functioning of the entire universe. Superiority is the prerogative of the one and only God. No one enjoys real superiority in this world. All such concepts are false as associate anyone or anything with any of the aspects of God’s sovereignty.
The concept of one God is the essence of Islam and the 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 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)
God is one, and everyone is dependent upon Him. He is not dependent upon anyone; he 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: this belief is the essence of Islam and the sole source of all of its teachings.
Source: The Spirit of Islam
God is a spiritual focus for man. One whose heart is attached to God undergoes spiritual experiences at every moment. Belief in God becomes a source of spiritual development for him. Filled with the love of God, he does not need anything further. God becomes a vast ocean for him to continue to swim in without ever experiencing any limit. In the form of spiritual awakening, he receives such great wealth that he does not feel the need for anything else.
For one who discovers God, the entire universe becomes an open book of God. Every leaf of a tree becomes a page of the divine book. When he sees the sun, he feels as if God is lighting His heavenly torch so that he may read His book clearly. The Universe becomes, as it were, a supernal university and he its student.
Finding God is to find his centre of Love. Man by birth is a seeker of a Supreme Being who is far above him, who is free from all limitations and who may form the centre of his feelings. In short, after finding this Being, the grown man becomes as satisfied as a child after being held in the embrace of his mother.
This discovery of God saves one from regarding something other than God as God: and mistakenly and unrealistically thinking it to be the answer to the urge inherent in his nature. The discovery of God is to fulfill his or her real urge to find God. And the failure to discover God means failure to find that which is man’s greatest need.
One who fails to find God is compelled by his natural urge to give the place of God to something other than God. This place is sometimes accorded to a certain human being, sometimes to a certain animal, sometimes to a phenomenon of nature, sometimes to a certain material power, sometimes to a certain supposed concept and sometimes just to the self.
Even if one fails to discover God, or he becomes a denier of God, it is not in his or her power to stifle the urge in his nature to find God. That is why those men and women who have not found God inevitably come to hold something other than God as God. And this supposed God is always some creation or the other of God.
By nature, it is possible for man not to accept the real God as God, but it is not possible for anyone to save himself or herself from granting the status of divinity to something other than God. Making God one’s object of worship raises man's position. On the contrary, regarding something other than God as God amounts to descent from the level of humanity.
Submission to God is the only way of life for both — man and the universe.
Source: Spirit of Islam June 2014
In this vast universe, man’s only source of support is God. Man’s very nature constantly urges him to recognise the need for God. Without God, man’s life is incomplete. Without the help of God, we cannot succeed in life. The following example further illustrates man’s position.
A hundred years ago, a ship sailed from the coast of America to Africa. A severe storm broke out when the ship was far out to the deep sea. The ship began to shake and jolt. All the passengers were in great fear and anxiety. At this time of crisis, one of the passengers saw a little girl sitting in the corner of the deck. She was playing with her dolls, relatively undisturbed by the storm. He became curious and asked her, “Do you know what is happening to our ship?” She asked, “What is the matter?” The passenger told her that the ship was caught in a dangerous storm. The girl calmly replied: “You know, my father is the captain of this ship. He is not going to let it sink.”
The girl’s faith in her father saved her from being a victim of fear at this crucial moment. The same is true of a religious person. He has the same childlike faith in his Creator, God Almighty. However, his is a faith of far greater intensity. When catastrophe threatens, he can say with a much stronger conviction that God Almighty is the captain of the ship of his life: He will never let it sink at any time or in any situation. God’s guidance brings man’s ship safely to the shore. Belief in God is the most essential thing for a man. Man is nothing without this belief.
Source: In Search of God
There are two aspects of God realization—Love and Fear. On the one hand, God is very compassionate, and on the other hand, He is very just. When man thinks of the unbounded mercy of God, he develops the feeling which has been called in the Quran, “Loving God Most.” (2:165) Similarly when man thinks of God as being just, he has that feeling which has been alluded to when the Quran speaks of: “those who stand in awe of none but God.” (9:18)
The personality of a believer is made up of these two feelings. On the one hand, he loves God the most. And 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. This is a relationship which man hopes to have with the Being he fears lest He deprives him of His blessings. This is the combination of love and fear which can be felt but cannot be expressed in words.
This is the sign of a high level of realization, in which there is peace as well as agony. A high level of realization implies hope as well as fear. A high level of realization brings conviction as well as uncertainty. A high level of realization embraces closeness as well as distance. A high level of realization is a place where sometimes the believer is sure that he has reached his destination, while sometimes he is in doubt as to whether or not he is on his way to the right destination. At times he has this feeling that he has reached a full stop, while at other times, he is in doubt as to whether he is still at the stage of the comma. This feeling of love and fear is true realization, another name for which is maarifah.
Source: Love of God
Maarifah or realization or discovery of God is the essence of faith. 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.
Source: Discovering God
God has created man in the best of moulds (The Quran, 95:4). He has been granted all the intellectual capabilities by which he may achieve realisation of the Lord of the worlds. Besides this, in the external world that is nature, all those elements are hidden which may assist him in this journey. Now it is man’s task to discover these elements of maarifah in nature and experience such an elevated level of maarifah as will enable him to develop a divine personality.
Source: Discovering God
The realization of God is the essence of religion. Realization of God (maarifah) is the beginning as well as the end of religion. The position of maarifah in God’s religion is that of the seed. Just as a seed grows gradually into a full tree, similarly maarifah shapes the entire personality of a person. Without maarifah, religion is reduced to a spiritless form. With maarifah, religion is like a lush green tree and without it, religion becomes like a dried-up tree. If religion is the body, maarifah is its spirit.
The journey of realization begins with a questing spirit. Seeking is an intellectual journey. If a person is sincere and one hundred percent honest in his search, if there is no negativity in his thinking, if he is free from prejudices, if he has become a completely complex-free soul, attainment of maarifah for him is as certain as the dawn of light after the rising of the sun.
In the words of the Angel Gabriel, the Prophet of Islam once said: “Worship God as if you were seeing Him.” (Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith No. 50) This is the most correct definition of maarifah. This may be put in a different way: God-realization is to have conviction in God’s existence as if you were seeing Him. How can one achieve this kind of maarifah? The way to achieve maarifah is to, first of all, discover creation and then, through creation, reach the Creator. For if there is creation, there must be a Creator.
Source: Discovering God
The most important thing that every person needs is to achieve the realization of God, for there is nothing greater than this realization. God-realization is a process, the first step of which is to go on the quest for truth. The course this takes is guided by reason, but reason in itself is not enough.
Reason or mind can lead a person only to probability. By rational thinking, one theoretically grasps the fact that God very probably exists. The next level is that of conviction, and the mind alone does not lead anyone to conviction. There is only one way to arrive at conviction and that is through one’s nature. Every person receives his nature as a gift of birth. God has fully inculcated consciousness of Him in human nature, just as mother’s love is innate in everyone. Through reason, man arrives at theoretical realization, and through his nature, man arrives, with certainty, at the realization of the truth.
A person’s innate nature assists in the building up of conviction provided that he does not allow himself to succumb to different types of distractions. Distraction throws a veil over his true nature. In this way, his nature is not able to perform its real task. At present, causes of distraction have greatly increased, for instance, mobile phones, shopping, parties, family functions, business engagements, etc. Today, people are usually very far away from true realization of God. For them, God is just a formal belief, not a discovery. The reason for this is distraction. The price of realization is for a person to completely save himself from all kinds of distractions. Without paying this compulsory price, no one will be able to attain to the realization of God.
Source: Discovering God
Yes, love of God is a part of faith. This has been a part of the teachings of many revealed religions. For example, in the Bible, it is stated in both the Old Testament as well as in the New Testament that: ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your mind.’ (Matthew, 22:37; Deuteronomy, 6:5)
Love of God is not something mysterious. It is the highest degree of acknowledgment of God. When a person discovers God, when he becomes consciously aware of God’s blessings when he realizes that his existence and entire life are replete with God’s blessings, at that moment a strong affection wells up within his heart. This strong affection is called love of God.
To love God is to love the Sustainer of the heavens and the earth. Such a love is not only an emotional relationship. It brings about a revolution within the human personality. Love of God produces many elevated human qualities, for example, positive thinking, well-wishing for others, trust, courage, etc.
Love in relation to God, is the highest degree of discovery and with reference to man it means developing human-friendly behaviour. Calling people to God is also a manifestation of love of God.
When anyone establishes a relationship with God that is imbued with love, he naturally has a strong urge to convey the message of God to his people, so that none of God’s servants are deprived of the eternal mercy of their Lord.
Source: Love of God
The Quran describes one basic quality of the believers thus: “Those who believe love God most.” (2:165) The Believers mentioned in the Quran in this verse are those who have discovered God at the level of realization. All their feelings and emotions will be associated with God alone. Their hearts and minds will focus solely on God.
Owing to his limitations, man cannot see God in this present world, but he experiences God’s mercy and blessings at every moment, and this experience is the real source of his love of God. Everything man has received in this world is a blessing from God. The more one thinks of divine blessings, the more one’s love of God will increase. The source of the love of God is the discovery of blessings and not the sight (deedar) of the Benefactor (God).
The realisation of God is the discovery of the Benefactor, who is the source of all blessings. When man attains this realisation in the real sense, the love of God wells up within him. Every fibre of his being is enlightened with divine love. Obedience to God is, without a doubt, the demand of faith, but it would be an underestimation of the love of God if it is taken only in the sense of obedience. Obedience is only a legal description of the relationship with God, whereas love entails man’s entire existence being moulded in the remembrance of God. Man comes to acknowledge God in the perfect sense when it is with the whole of his being.
The Quran says: “Remembrance of God gives one’s heart peace of mind”. (13:28) Moreover, it means that only the love of God can give man peace of mind in the real sense.
Source: Love of God
The strongest human feeling or emotion is that of love. When man makes something his supreme concern, it naturally happens that a feeling of love becomes associated with that thing. In religious terminology, this is called “deification”. The thing one loves the most is one’s deity (mabud) whether or not one utters this word.
Faith in God is for man to discover God to the extent of loving Him more than anything else. The Quran says that “those who believe love God most.”(2:165) One who loves God the most is one who has made God his object of worship.
Real love for God will find expression in many ways. Even uttering such words as praise (hamd), thanksgiving (shukr), and remembrance (zikr), as we find in the Quran, is also an expression of our love for God. It would be right to say that Alhum-do-lillah, praise be to God, signifies love for God (Alhub-bu-lillah). Praising God means loving God. Gratitude to God also means loving God. Remembering God also indicates a strong love and affection for God.
The Quran has this to say: “Remembrance of God gives one’s heart peace of mind”. (13:28) This means, moreover, that it is only love of God which can give man peace of mind in the real sense.
Belief in God begins with the discovery of God. In the Quran this discovery is called maarifah. Maarifah, or realization of God, in the real sense, becomes a part and parcel of one’s existence. When this happens, all those high and noble manifestations.
According to a Hadith, you should be merciful to people on earth and God Almighty will be merciful to you. In this way, Islam links personal salvation to serving others. God’s reward in the Hereafter can be earned only if one has striven to alleviate the sufferings of mankind.
The following incident brings out the concept of service to others in a very profound way. During the British monarchy, one of the British Emperors disguised himself as an ordinary person to inspect his military establishments. During an interaction when one military officer admonished him in a very stern and harsh manner, the disguised king asked, “Do you know who I am?”
Taken aback at such a question and doubting himself the officer said, “Are you a military officer just as I am?” The king replied, “I am of a greater position than that”. The officer said, “Then you must be a Captain.” Again to this the king replied, “I am greater than that.” “Are you a colonel?” asked the officer. “No, I am greater than that”, was the reply. The officer said, “Then you must be a General”. “No, I am even greater than a general”, said the king. Then the officer who was by now in total shock said, “Then you must be the Emperor”. He said, “Yes, I am the king”. The officer handed his gun to the king and said, “You may shoot me for my crime, I have failed to recognize my king”. The king said, “No, you are a good military officer but I have an advice for you. Whenever you interact with any common man think of him as your king and of yourself as an ordinary soldier then you will treat every individual in the best manner and will consider the common man’s affairs as the affairs of the king”.
In this incident, there is a principle for living a God oriented life. When God created man and asked the angels to bow down before man all the angels obeyed God’s command but Satan refused to do so. The angels considered the issue as a matter of God’s command but Satan considered it as a personal issue between man and himself.
All the teachings of Islam are based on two principles—the worship of God and the service to mankind. Without putting both principles into practice, there can be no true fulfillment of one’s religious duties.
Islam inculcates the spirit of love and respect for all human beings. On the one hand, by serving human beings they please God and on the other, they achieve spiritual progress.
Source: Spirit of Islam September 2016
The present world with all its components is an expression of the blessings of God. This discovery is enough to make man regard God as his Benefactor. He becomes the grateful servant of God. However, this feeling becomes the most intense when a man discovers all these blessings at the level of his being. The first discovery causes man to utter these words, “God, You have given me so much!” However, further discoveries cause him to call out spontaneously, “O God, You are so merciful that You have given me those blessings of which I knew, and besides those, You gave me Your countless blessings about which I had no knowledge and so could not have asked You for them.”
This same reality has been expressed thus in chapter 19 of the Quran: “For when the revelations of the Merciful were recited to them, they fell, prostrating themselves and weeping.” (19:58) In another place in chapter 96, the Quran has this to say: “Prostrate yourself and come closer to God.” (96:19) An actual act of self-prostration is a moment of nearness between God and man. At that moment, spiritual contact is formed at an invisible level between God and man. This contact experience is so intense that tears fall from the eyes of the servant.
Umar bin Khattab reported that there were brought some prisoners to God’s Messenger amongst whom there was also a woman, who was searching (for someone) and when she found a child amongst the prisoners, she took hold of it, pressed it against her chest and provided it suck. God’s Messenger said: ‘Do you think this woman would ever afford to throw her child in the Fire?’ We said: ‘By God, she would never throw the child in Fire so far as it lies in her power.’ God’s Messenger said: ‘God is more kind to His servants than this woman is to her child.’ (Sahih Muslim, Hadith No. 2754)
God is Most Merciful toward man.
Source: Love of God
Prayer or dua means a call. That is a servant of God invokes his Creator to express either his needs or his servitude to Him. This call in itself is a form of worship. God is a living and permanent existence. He hears and sees and has the power to do as He desires and set the course of events in consonance with His will.
It is this firm conviction which gives rise to this urge within man to pray to God. When man receives inspiration from God, it comes to him naturally to call upon God for all his needs and to ask for God’s blessings in this world as well as in the Hereafter. God is truly man’s sustainer.
There is no time set for prayer, neither is there any prescribed method nor a separate language. Man, at any moment, in any form, and in any language can pray to God. If the prayer has come right from inside one’s heart, it will certainly reach God. God will hear the call without delay and will answer the suppliant’s prayers.
There are certain prayers, which are repeated in different forms of worship. But most prayers are not linked to one form of worship or another. For instance, when a man goes to sleep at night some words of prayer come to his lips according to the time. Similarly, when he wakes up, he starts praying to God to help him to make a better start to the coming day. In the same way when he meets someone, or eats and drinks, or takes his seat in a conveyance or is traveling, or is engaged in his economic activities –whatever the occasion – such prayers come to his lips as mean, O God, in this matter you will decide what is best for us.
Dua means seeking from God and this seeking from God has no ending. It continues always. Dua is an expression of unceasing feelings welling up inside the believer’s heart for his Lord. No moment of a believer’s life can be bereft of it.
Source: Principles of Islam
Prayer (dua) is a natural utterance for one who has a spiritual bent of mind. However, without realisation, prayer is only a repetition of words. The prayer that comes from a realised soul is prayer in the real sense. The prayer, devoid of maarifah (realisation), is nothing but lip service; it has no value. Prayer is a form of worship, and the real form of worship is one in which the realisation of God is an integral part.
Prayer is of two kinds. One is that which requests God to fulfil some need of the suppliant concerning some personal problem he is facing and entreating God to provide a solution. Another form of prayer is that the person praying projects his problem as the problem of God Himself.
The first kind of prayer is the result of human needs. However, the second kind of prayer comes from a person’s heart with deep God-realisation. The second kind of prayer is the result of the discovery of God at the level of realisation. This kind of prayer comes out of the heart or mind of a person only when he has some exceptional experience of God’s nearness.
Source: The Spirit of Islam
God Almighty has created man as the superior form of life. He has provided him with all those favourable things that form the life-support system. He created the earth, which is the only planet favourable to human life. He gave man a mind with enormous potential. It is the miracle of the mind that man was able to create a civilization. All the sciences are but a product of the workings of the mind.
In such a situation, it is but natural that man must acknowledge the Creator by saying, Alhamdulillah: ‘All Praise is due to God, the Lord of the Universe.’ (1:2) Without this acknowledgement, man has no right to live on this planet earth. It is this acknowledgement that gives one legitimacy to live on the planet earth and enjoy all the bounties created by God in this world.
Source: Quranic Wisdom
The universe is the mirror of God's attributes. Here, God's attributes are reflected through His innumerable creatures. The existence of the created realm provides ample evidence of the existence, power and greatness of the Creator who brought this realm into being. If your sensitivity is alive, you can find God all around you. You can see God everywhere. God's universe will then become for you living proof of God.
The various forms and activities of living beings are a clear announcement that the Creator of this universe is a living, and not a lifeless, Being. When the sun appears in the morning and things that have been covered by the darkness of night become visible once again, it seems as if God has opened His eyes, that God sees the whole cosmos through His eyes. When a river rushes ahead, tumbling down from the mountains, it loudly declares that the Creator of this universe is a living, active Being. When a tiger pounces on and grabs its prey and brings it under its control, it announces, as it were, that its Creator is a Being who has everything under His control. The astounding expansiveness of space tells us that the Creator is an Unlimited Being.
Witnessing the existence and glory of God in His universe enkindles in an individual faith in Him. At the same time, it makes him face questions of enormous, existential import. If God is, then why does He not directly reveal Himself in this universe? Why do evil and suffering exist? Evil is rampant in this world. Oppression is rife. People are always at each other's throats. All of this happens day in and day out in God's world. So, why doesn't God stop the oppressors or stand up for the oppressed?
The answers to these questions can be understood only when you understand God's creation plan, the scheme that the Creator has devised for His creatures. This world is a temporary one. Life here is short-lived. We are here in this world in order to be tested. This world is a field, as it were, where different plants have been given the chance to grow in order to see which of these will turn into fine trees, and which into weeds. After this, the fine trees will be provided many fine opportunities to flourish, while the weeds and thorny bushes will be uprooted.
Source: Man and God
Man was placed in a world that manifests God’s attributes. There is food for God’s realisation in everything in this universe. Under the guidance of the Prophet, man can attain the realisation of God by pondering upon God’s creation.
However, history tells us that it has not been possible to fulfil this purpose of creation. Unfortunately, man leaves this world without properly utilising his mind, yet the Quran tells us that God’s signs are so numerous that, even if all the trees could become pens and all the seas, or even the double of all the seas, could become ink, the signs of God could not be enumerated (31:27). These signs are, in fact, signs of realisation. In this way, we find that the signs of God have yet to be written, that is, have yet to be discovered.
Source: Discovering God
The physical universe is the subject of scientific study. But what is the physical universe? It is the creation of a Creator. The study of the universe is, in an indirect way, the study of the work of the Creator. In this sense, modern science is modern theology. Evidence of God is spread throughout the expanding universe.
The issue of God is the issue of the Creator of the universe. It is the very existence of a universe that necessitates thinking about the existence of its Creator, or in other words, God. The universe, or the world of nature, is the subject of scientific study. Indeed, all the branches of physical science focus upon the world of nature.
It is a generally accepted fact that the world of nature cannot be discussed as if it were a journalistic issue. This is true also of God, for God is a scientific subject. Thus, only the scientific method can be applied to the study of God, or the Creator.
Although the existence of God is not a direct area of enquiry in the field of science, it is fully related, albeit indirectly, to the subject of science. Scientific studies have only confirmed that there is a supreme factor behind all the events in our world. Science calls it the law of nature. But this is a matter of nomenclature. If it is given religious nomenclature, another name for this supreme law of nature can be ‘God’. If not directly, then indirectly, God is the greatest finding of science.
In this way, we can discover God by studying His creation.
Source: Leading a Spiritual Life
The Quran says that God is the light of the skies and the earth. This means that the world is entirely an expression of divine attributes. A sensitive heart will see reflections of God in everything that exists here. The entire cosmos is a table spread of divine sustenance.
If faith in God gives someone the sensitivity that true faith in God engenders, he will see God's light everywhere in the universe. When the breeze touches him, He will feel that he is experiencing the touch of God in the softness of the breeze. In the flow of a stream he will see the mercy of God expressing itself. When he hears the chirruping of birds, his heart will witness a soul-stirring tune played on a divine musical instrument. When he smells a fragrant flower, it would be like bathing in divine fragrance.
For a true believer, the entire universe is a table spread of divine sustenance. Every single thing in this world has been made in such a way that on seeing it, a person can draw a lesson. Those who truly love God can experience these divine states.
The Flame-of-the-Forest is a tree that bears amazingly beautiful flowers. When autumn comes and its leaves fall, the tree appears like a dry stick. But then a silent revolution happens. It sprouts brilliantly-hued flowers! What was a dry stick is now laden with stunning flowers. It seems as if God has specially sent His beautiful umbrella for something that was thought to be a useless stick.
This happens so that some servant of God may see it and exclaim, “Lord! I, too, am a Flame-of the-Forest tree. If you want, you can cause beautiful flowers to bloom on me! I am a dried stick. If you want, you can make me green! I am leading a meaningless existence. If you want, You can fill my life with meaningfulness! I am standing on the edge of Hell. If you want, you can admit me into Heaven!”
Source: Man and God
