Chapter Sa’d – Part 2

38:35 “Does he claim that all the deities are [but] one God?  Verily, a most strange thing is this!”

People are mostly not denying God but their understanding of God as the One who creates the universe needs explanation. I know that all things are happening under the command of One God. How about our actions? How do I explain the causes, the human habits and what I consider to be plain chance?  Is there just One God controlling everything?  What a strange concept?!  Even now, today, people who believe in God are struggling with this understanding.  Example: Water is created by God, but it is a functioning agent in the growth of the plant.  Is that so?!  Can water be the Cause of existence of the plant or is it just acting at the Will of a Conscious Source of Existence?  We are also confusing our belief in God when it comes to our practical matters.  When we claim that everything is created by God, we are also struggling with this question that is raised in this verse.  We should not take this matter lightly.  The prophets  are not coming with a message only saying that everything is created by God. When we go into details i.e., our practical life, we confuse reality.  Example: I did this, and “the result should have come automatically.” As if it is my action that produces the expected results. Even if I did it correctly this is a wrong understanding of my reality because I do not produce the result even if I choose to obey the order of the universe.  My reality is that I just choose with the hope and expectations for the result to be created which is not guaranteed as per the Will of my Creator.

In our understanding and reasonings, we must present our arguments along with existence. When the Quran brings its fundamental belief system, it speaks of “existence”. When it comes to social life with humankind, the Quran tells us how we must deal with our relationship with ourselves, our wealth and property, i.e., we must remind ourselves that this is created by the Creator, and the disposer of this property has left it to me to use it according to my free will.  If I am aware that this property is being continuously created by God, then I will not be worshiping the property and other people and things of this world. Otherwise, my belief in God is suspended, it is an intellectual acceptance, rather than a practice.

Every single being and their qualities is exclusively under the direct control of God, i.e., everything is given existence by God at every moment constantly. People come up with various theories saying that you cannot catch quanta, i.e., when you look at it, it disappears.  Well, of course, that is how the universe is made to function.  For a believer in the necessity of the Creator to explain this world, called God who is convinced of an Absolute Source of functioning, they acknowledge that quanta come into existence and disappear by the will of a Conscious Agent, who is not subject to the space time dimensions that you and I experience. In other words, for Absolute, there is no time. Everything at every moment is created by Him. There is no fixed present perspective of Absolute or time, we can only talk about transient moments, not fixed moments. When we understand that the Absolute Creator is creating and giving death with what is created, we grasp the concept of time and existence, i.e., a moment that exists and doesn’t exist at the same time. There is no gap between one act of existence and another. For people who don’t believe in God, creation seems to be magical.  We need to realize that the universe is given existence by an Absolute Being. His creation does not take time to yield results, i.e., now something exists, at the moment it is gone. Everything is directly under the control of God. We don’t have any power and function to claim something, i.e., as if, I am contributing to the environment. We think that it is our contribution to creation. We are expected not to interfere into the balance in the creation by using our free will to choose the option left to us. We should educate our free will under the guidance of the Creator  who created the perfect balance in the universe..

I only have one right, to acknowledge the Creator, and thank Him, rather than claiming ownership over things.  I am constantly created together with my environment. Our existence is so fragile, and we are existing in a slippery moment of existence. That is, the moment you try to catch something, it is gone.  Those trying to explain how this universe came into existence close their doors to entertain the idea that the Creator of the universe cannot be part of this universe.  How can I explain the existence of the art without the artist? How can I make sense of the piece of art within itself with no source of existence?  We must train our minds and feelings, i.e., my mind must understand comfortably, about the reality of this universe. How about my feelings, and practical examples in my life, I must train them as well so that I I feel satisfied with my existence here that I am being taken care of by a Generous Host.  Usually, when something happens that I do not expect, why do I get disturb? It means that I understood my reality rationally, but I did not train my feelings accordingly. I must do exercises under the guidance of my Creator to not get disturbed about what is sent next.

How does that work?  Let us understand it with a simple analogy:

Can a 20–30-year-old person lift 100 lbs. of weight?  Yes.  If you train yourself, you will be able to lift 150 lbs. and beyond. This is physical training, and similarly, our feelings need to undergo the same type of training, our learning ability needs to be educated as well.  Also, our knowledge increases and our ability to understand the subject matter increases. If we do not train our human qualities our abilities do not increase. That is what people are struggling with: how should I train and control myself?  The fundamental base with any human training is one’s realization of its Absolute Source of Existence, that is belief. Now, how about the consequence of this belief on my practical life? That needs training.  When we study the Quran, we must refer to this mission of our duty, which is to educate myself.  Example: Charity needs to be given to the needy ones. If you have some evidence that s/he will waste it, then do not give it. We must help anyone who needs support as our Creator helps us, that is how we are created with this need to help others. That is the  human Islamic perspective.

How can we keep our belief in the Absoluteness of God (Huwa- He) alive?

God is ahad.  Intellectual satisfaction is necessary, which is the first step, it does not mean that after this first step, belief in God will work automatically in our life as a result. We wrongfully think that belief is an intellectual realization of our reality, rather, it is an enrollment into the life of this universe as “a believer”.  You are enrolled in believing in God and training your emotions in practical terms.  Example: I have a mouth full of food, and it tastes good, and then gone. Are you disappointed with the end of the meal?  Yes, I want more.  How about if you are fed with poisonous food?  Do you get angry with the existence of poisonous food? No, its Creator has created it and gave it to you, it is a means of education so that you will react and throw it away, and never get angry with the “creation” of rotten food.  When you get angry with the food, as if your Creator made a mistake, then that is a wrong interpretation of creation. We all have shortcomings, and no one can claim perfection for we must accept and realize that this food is created as rotten now where my Creator is telling me that whatever is created is useful and I must use my intellect, sense of disliking in His name.  In other words, I must try to get out of wrong interpretations, choose to reject it, without getting angry with the existence of things we need to search for the wisdom in the creation of poison. It must be prepared for us to utilize them in another way than eating them. And also, by experiencing the horrible taste of rotten food, we become aware that the fresh food is prepared specially for us to enjoy them so that we can question who is arranging all this wonderful food for us to entertain our life here on earth.

38:6 “Their leaders went off saying, walk away! Stay faithful to your gods! This is clearly something planned.”

Who are my gods? False idols, interpretations, and ideologies presented by people with a narrow worldview, confined to this universe only.  Their personal philosophy has nothing to do with the reality that we are observing in the world, their interpretation of it is fake. We cannot say that their finding, formula, or equation is wrong, rather it works, and I must use them to my advantage of admiring and acknowledging my Creator more. They say those things accidentally happen to be like this, such interpretations are not reasonable. They cannot happen accidentally to be out there  by themselves. Human mind asks for the cause of their existence.

The Creator must be a One who is the Giver of existence and constantly replaces their existence i.e., if the Creator wills not to create, then existence cannot take place.  Existence depends on His will, if He does not will to create something, it does not exist.  We observe that things are constantly existing, when there is no will to choose their existence rather than not, things do not exist, and the human mind cannot talk about non-existence for it is not an entity. Narrow minded materialist philosophy is bankrupt! It is squeezed within the limitations of this art of creation and never allows itself to see the qualities of the Artist manifested in this art.

The Quran describes my reality by giving examples of other people. I should check myself, how do I stay in tune with my reality? What are the things/gods I rely on?  There are so many ways out there to satisfy ourselves, like endless shopping to keep our enjoyment going and gaining a false sense of agency with the power of spending, rather than getting to know the source of satisfaction, God.  We should not reduce our existence to such petty level!

What should we stay faithful to, the Creator God or the created things such as new technology? We take creation to satisfy ourselves, but it is not a way to satisfy yourself, you can satisfy yourself only by connecting to your Creator who is the One prepared the universe for us to make all these technologies. Go faster to fulfill the purpose of your existence, and learn how to benefit from the wonderful creation of God so we can acknowledge how great He is, and be proud of our Creator and attaching our existence to an Absolute Being alone.