“Glory be to God, who is far above what they associate with Him. God is far above anything they consider to be His partner.” Quran (59:23)
What does Glory be to God (Subhan) mean?
- God is free from any shortcoming.
- Subhan means whatever you think of, God is not that one.
In principle, why cannot God be described with anything within this universe?
- Whatever I think of is never going to be likened to God because I only experience what I observe which are nothing but given existence by Him; He is the Creator of all that exists within the universe.
- I am in a dependent realm and my Creator must be independent (Absolute) therefore His existence must be in a completely different dimension of existence.
Can I imagine a self-existing being?
- I can only use negation to describe God, whose existence is my logical conclusion as a result of my experience of this universe.
Belief in God must start with my logical conclusion and then go to my emotional (heart) side. Ultimately, belief settles down in feelings, but it must start from logical conclusion.
How am I going to analyze logical conclusions with my feelings?
Your Creator cannot be described with anything of this universe. Human feelings encompass mind and heart. Abraham went through his journey saying: “I do not love anything transient/dependent.” Human feelings say that I do not want to belong to anything transient.
My Creator is Merciful and treating me well but one day He will kill me. I do not like this feeling. Why am I bothered with this feeling?
The problem is not with the extension of age, rather any extension which has an end does not satisfy my human feelings. My feelings look for eternity. This conclusion of the mind must be welcomed by the heart. Does not matter if the universe has an end or not, I want to live eternally therefore, I want to belong to an eternal source of my existence. This is how I am created with this need.
What is association/shirk (assigning partnership to God)?
- To claim, for example, that I am the source of existence of any knowledge from my side is shirk. Why? I did not claim that I am another creator of the universe, so why do we say that it is an act of “shirk” (assigning a partner to God)? Any claim of being the source of existence of anything means it is having a power to bring something which did not exist before. That is the quality belongs to nothing within this universe. The creator means a being which does not belong to this universe but the source of existence of everything with their qualities in this universe.
- Anything liken to Him is bound to be a human production. Can I liken something which is known to me to something which cannot be within the universe? Can I even imagine anything which does not exist within the universe? I can only liken something within my imagination to something known to me. For example, an animal with one horn; I can only imagine it in comparison with the animals that I experience in this universe which has two horns. God, as the creator of the universe, cannot be, by definition, like any of the created beings. Can I liken God to something known to me?
Shirk in the Quran is described through many examples one of which is as follows: Moses wanted to see God. The answer was you cannot see me because your dimension of creation cannot be compared to my dimension. You cannot see me but look at the mountain and you will see my reflected qualities. In this example the Mountain crumbled. This means that nothing here can represent God, rather His reflected qualities are only seen here. So, what does crumbling down signify in this example? That means in the figurative speech of the Qur’an: The mountain cannot keep its existence by itself but only acts on a Conscious Will and is made to stand tall.
Can a piece of artwork claim that I am a small version of my artist in its essence? No. However, the art represents the manifestation of the quality of its Maker.
Shirk has the same notion as idols. Example: this idol is the source of blessing for us. Historically, Oneness of God/kaba has nothing to do with reflecting qualities of God. Why called baitullah (house of God) then? Kaba just represents the potentiality of human endeavors at its best i.e. appointed to be messengers of God. It represents the historical line of prophetic tradition which proclaimed the Oneness of God. Otherwise, how do I get news from God? Through the Prophets.
What is my idol?
- People’s idol is whatever they like because if they attribute the qualities to the thing/idol itself, rather than the creator of the thing.
All the descriptions in the scripture mean what for me? This question needs to be asked, which is the Prophetic teaching, trying to apply everything to myself. If someone does not follow the Prophetic message, then they claim to be self-existent and self-sufficient in their existence. I need to use my feelings in order for me to realize who the Source of Existence of these qualities is. To be used to become aware of the Source of Existence of these qualities. In other words, the qualities of the things we like ought to be used in the Name of their Creator and in the way that its Creator, who is its real owner, wants it to be used.
Eternity is not within the universe. Can you say that matter is eternal? No, because that would be implying that matter has its own Divine (creative) qualities. Is something doing any action by itself or is it just obeying the order? If something is the Source of its own existence, then it would self-create. Show me anything eternal in the universe, in other words, demonstrate to me within the universe “eternity.”
Scripture needs to be read to be confirmed with what is witnessed in the universe. Question why you believe in what you believe. Similarly, question why you do not believe in what you do not believe in. That is the only way to refresh ourselves.
Everything needs to be created in order to be given existence. Everything is dependent in its existence. God, as the creator of the entire universe, by definition, cannot be described with anything of this universe. We can only describe God with a negating language, “Lailaha,” (there is no divine being (which has a quality to create in this universe). My conclusion is illallahu, there must be an Absolute Source of Existence to this universe.
Knowledge is not belief. People acquire knowledge from family and school. That is just acquisition. That is not belief. Belief is your self-awareness. You must be conscious of what you mean. What you mean must be in the form of negation. Example: I like something. This liking is not my property. That is consciousness.
Finally, the Quran mainly teaches humanity not to commit shirk or associate partnership with God. I must be aware of what I mean in any action throughout my day. Example: It is raining. What is “it”? I like this. What is “I”? I am just a passive being i.e. I am made to like this, and the rain is sent, but this way of speech must be made with consciousness; it is not a matter of daily life language only.
- Ritualistic prayers are the means of feeling in the presence of God, which is a body action that needs to be accompanied with one’s consciousness.