Quran Defines God: Ayatu’l-Kursi – Part 3

The Creator speaks to me from Its perspective and I have to read the Speech from my perspective. As a result of going through the process of confirmation, I am free to either accept or reject the message delivered in the speech. Additionally, the Creator speaks to me according to my capacity otherwise it defeats the purpose of Its verbal speech, the Quran.

One important principle to follow is to never speak on behalf of God otherwise one may be stuck with a general view about the existence of God being somewhere out there. As a result, the concept of God remains external to our lives. Similarly, the language we use reflects the way our comprehension of concepts and matters work. Example: God created me but I cannot really understand my existence because “I am limited”. This type of language is a mere reflection of our worldview where I am inadvertently accusing the Source of my existence for not knowing my limits or speaking to me beyond my limits. If we train our comprehension of belief matters, the language we use will make sense.

Last week, we emphasized on lailaha, nothing has the power to give existence to anything (please refer to the notes dated February, 24 2016). The rule of thumb is to never make a claim without experiencing and establishing your own personal conviction. I have to confirm what I experience from reading the verses for myself and that is belief.

By definition, a Muslim is someone who submits to the truth with full conviction.

• Analogy: There are a number of books dated centuries ago in a library. In and of itself, the book is authentic i.e. it never changed from its original form.
• Similarly, scriptures are authentic as well but it does not mean that the content of it is correct. That is where I have to use myself and the universe to check and see if the meaning I extract from the book is indeed relative to my being. I am here not to confirm the authenticity of a book or narration!
• My main concern is checking the content and submitting to the truth. That is, I have to make sure that this world has an Owner other than itself and then submit my existence to this Owner who can only be the Lord of the Worlds.

The methodology we use to understand the verses is important. Again, our language reflects the comprehension of methodology. Thus far, we have been training on how to apply the verses to our own being under the light of (2):255 Let us continue on:

“Neither slumber nor sleep overtakes It”.

By definition, the Quran is the verbal speech of God. God is saying you should understand me as the One that never slumbers nor sleep. I have to ask myself: Do I see any sign of slumbering in the act of creation?

In other words, the Speaker in the text claims that whatever exists is from It. What am I supposed to do to confirm the statement?

• Observe the universe.

When I look at the universe, I observe that not a moment goes by where the renewal of creation is neglected.

• I am here looking at the act of creation and there is absolutely no slumbering going on.
• Every moment creation is being renewed.

“To It belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on Earth.”

The text says that I am going to describe to you what God is.  What am I expected to do?

I have to confirm whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on Earth belongs to It.

• Ask:  Do I own the sun? Do I own the stars? Do I own the air? Do I own the water? Do I own my brain?  Am I given existence with my mind?  Did I make the cells work in a certain way? 
• The cells follow the way they are given existence.  They do not belong to anything else in the universe neither to themselves.
• I cannot find anything else in this universe which can claim ownership to itself or something else in the universe.

Bearing in mind the Ownership concept is simple when we question as shown above.  REMEMBER God says: “Everything turns back to Me, no one can claim ownership over anything”.  How do we understand this? With the same methodology of experiencing, we can see that every moment, creation is constantly being renewed. Yesterday, I was a different person.  Can I claim ownership over it?

• No. Everything belongs to the One that gives existence.  Nothing can keep ownership of anything for a day.  NOTHING IS MINE! I am a mighty consumer. I use what is given to me with my given abilities.
• When I use a pen to write something, it is given existence.  I am not creating anything but using my abilities.  We do not give existence to anything.
• Nothing can subsist its own existence.
• Every action is nothing but begging/asking the Creator of the universe: “I want it this way, can You please create it for me.”

I ask for something to be created and it happens concurrently, seems to be a simultaneous happening when I am made to perform the action.  Example: you open the door for fresh air.  In reality, you have not refreshed the air in the room, you just opened the window, followed the laws.  The obedience of this action, if I am conscious of it, is a means of communicating with the Creator.  Although everything is newly created, the order never collapses.  That is I ask the Order Giver by obeying Its order.  This consciousness is worship.  When I am conscious every moment, it becomes a continuous means of communication with the Creator.  Only with this awareness can I feel that I am comfortably living in this world.

• I ought to make my 24 hours in this life a real worship, which in essence is living with the utmost consciousness i.e. obeying sharia (living according to your convinced belief.)  Islam is clear on the essence of “Oneness of God”.   We have to stop imitating and we have to become brave with questioning everything until we feel satisfied.
• Do Not Ever Get TIRED of Questioning!

Most monotheistic religions are usually presented in a way which leads people to follow it without ever questioning the Source of existence of any phenomenon.  Opening up separate “religious” schools is contributing more to the problem where students are taught the materialist curriculum geared towards causes creating results.

“Who is there that could intercede with It unless it be by Its Will”

Contrary to traditional understanding where one thinks that a person (mostly the Prophet pbuh) will intercede on my behalf so that I may enter Paradise, intercession is a live experience between my being and Its Being.  Example: A tree bears fruits and I benefit from the tree by eating the fruits.  I am in need of nourishment and I reach out to the tree to get the fruits.  After eating the fruit, I feel satiated.  Here, the tree is the intermediary that interceded between its Creator, my Creator and my nourishment (fruit).  However, the tree cannot intercede without its Creator’s will.  The tree is interceding on behalf of its Creator, with its Creator’s permission.  As far as I am concerned, the tree acts as an intercessor (i.e. from my perfective). I cannot get the fruit if there is no tree.

• Similarly, cow gives me milk with the permission of its Creator.  It means it is created in a way to be employed to give me milk by its Creator’s will.  The cow is an intercession if I am conscious of its Source of origin.  Right of intercession is given to the tree, vegetables, animals and all created things we see in the universe.
• Living with consciousness starts with simple reflections such as the air we breathe.  The air cleansing our lungs is interceding on behalf of its Creator.  The Creator has employed it for such purpose.

If you are looking for the Prophetic intercession, you have to first follow the Prophetic way.

I have to make sense of the Prophetic intercession right now. Am I living by the message he teaches me? Hereafter is a feeling which I should be experiencing here and now. Again, without proper understanding or establishing a worldview congruent with the methodology introduced here, I cannot expect a miracle.

• THINK: Have I followed the worldview/ideas of the Prophet in my life? Did I benefit from his teachings? Has my life changed as a result of this view? That is how I can experience the prophetic intercession.

This approach should lead us to conclude:

• My existence belongs to It, the One that creates the universe.  My abilities belong to It.  Get to know It as the One that provides you with everything.  He demonstrates the qualities and introduces Itself to me.
• When I learn this from the Prophet, I gain confidence in my existence i.e. I am given existence by the One that sustains the universe, I belong to It, trust It.  Based on my capacity, I can see the manifestations of my Lord as much as I have trained myself.

Everything is GIVEN to us including our freewill which is a temporary responsibility here in the universe.  You gain comfort when you understand how the Prophet intercedes for you, i.e. he introduces you to your Lord, tells you about your reality, your purpose of existence. As a result, nothing bothers you as you understand that you do not belong to anything but your Creator who is Absolute, just be with It.

• When you are in recognition of belonging to your Lord, you are in Paradise because the Prophet is interceding for you.
• The Prophet is a cumulative representation of all revelations (guidance) revealed to me from my Creator, i.e. All revelations are summarized in the teachings of the Prophet.
• The Prophet’s message conveys: “through my teachings, you will recognize the message of all the Prophets.” This should unite us!

So, are you ready to change?

This method/approach may be new to us and we ought to experience new dimensions in our understanding of reality.  If I do not personally confirm reality through my experiences here in this universe, then after “graduating” from this type of existence, I will not be able to practice it as I never developed my potentialities. Similar to an apprentice in carpentry that does not train his/her skills cannot claim to be a carpenter. That is the order in creation.  That is why the Quran encourages us to educate ourselves in belief matters i.e. training my human senses so that they become a means to introduce me to my Creator here and now and I will learn how to live with consciousness of my Creator with this education.

We cannot be trained when we die because the spirit has not been trained before its death. Life is given to me so that I may be trained here and now.  The physical body does not receive the prophetic message or anything but the human capacity receives messages. My spirit is not some material thing that will disintegrate.

• Analogy:  Take a glass of water and put it in the freezer, it freezes.  Take the same frozen water and keep it outside, it melts.  The law of freezing always stays there, it doesn’t change.
• Similarly, the spirit works the same way. Our material body dies but the spirit is of a different nature similar to that non-material law of freezing.