By March 21, 2015 Read More →

What Do We See Differently With the Eye of Belief? – Part 2

Historically, it is known that Moses (pbuh) had a speech impediment and that he was indicted for killing a man. Since Moses had to spread the message to Pharaoh, he asked God to help him through his brother Aaron who was very articulate.

image image image image image image

Moses said: “O my Lord! Expand me my breast. Make my task easy for me and remove the impediment from my speech; so they may understand what I say. And give me a minister from my family, Aaron my brother”. Quran (20):25-30

  • This verse is teaching us Moses’ acknowledgment that Aaron is created by the Creator and that Aaron is not the owner of His abilities.
  • Moses is also acknowledging his inability to articulate properly and so he asks the Creator of the universe to have his brother Aaron be employed for his need.
  • Similarly, we need to address the Creator within our own conditions. Our acknowledgment of His Authority or His Lordship on our being lies within the conditions He has put us in.
  • Example: when I am sick, I acknowledge that only my Creator has put me in this condition, only my Creator has created the doctor’s abilities to know how to cure my illness; and so I ask the Creator to employ the doctor for my illness.
  • Always realize your shortcomings as a pre-requisite to acknowledging Him.

If we ignore our current conditions that encompass the doctor’s abilities (or in Moses’s case, Aaron’s abilities), then asking the Creator to help us is baseless. Our problem is that we start the claim from our conclusion, not our reality. We first need to realize our shortcomings and then acknowledge that whatever is given to us is from Him. “Please God, I acknowledge that you have employed the doctor for me, give me healing through the doctor”.

Our responsibility lies in understanding our reality, the way we are created and then we can acknowledge the Source of existence of our reality. We need to communicate through ourselves/the universe/our reality to get to the Source. Without going through the universe, communicating with the Creator is a kind of imitation.

How can I know that God is the Healer?

We have to acknowledge that the doctor’s ability to know the cure of the illness is all established by the Creator. Our main duty is to acknowledge that the order of the universe cannot exist by itself; and so we look for the Source of this order:

  • Where is this order coming from?
  • Who or what is responsible for the existence of this order?
  • What is the Source of existence of the abilities of the doctor?
  • We cannot explain the existence of anything in this world without acknowledging the Source of existence.
  • That is the only way we can be convinced about our own existence.
  • This conviction is called belief.

How do we conclude the qualities of objects (medications)?

“This medication cannot cure my body, it is the product of a Conscious Will and He is the One who provides this medicine to me. I am following His established order when I take it”.

Prayer is acknowledging your own reality. Expressing your reality is your prayer. In the example on page 1, you are acknowledging that the doctor knows the cure to your illness: “Please God employ the doctor to prescribe the right medicine for me.” Then you go to the doctor.

  • By acknowledging our reality within our given conditions, we are putting our belief in God into practice.
  • “I surrender myself to God” means:
  1. I surrender my existence to God.
  2. I surrender the existence of “my need for healing” to God.
  • This acknowledgment is prayer.
  • While taking a medicine or doing something in this created universe, you are acknowledging that the objects are not independently acting and giving you health but they are employed by the one that you acknowledge.
  • This acknowledgment with humility (tadabbur) is a “complete prayer”.

How can I confirm that the Source I experience is Absolute?

There is a new art exhibition in the universe every day. We are given a continuous creation at every moment. This continuous demonstration of our existence needs to be confirmed at every moment. Belief in God is not static, it is “dynamic”, and so we need to “renew” it at “every moment”.

  • Analogy: When we find out that the artist of a painting must have Absolute quality of Artistry, we do not need to investigate whether other parts of the paintings belong to Him or not, just because we have already arrived at the conclusion that in order to be able to give existence to even one part of the painting the Artist must have Absolute qualities. (The painting represents here the entire existing universe.)
  • Similarly, we do not need to study the qualities of every single event in the universe and find out the Source of each event is Absolute or not. As forgetful human beings as we are, we need to remind ourselves that whatever comes into existence can only be from this Absolute Creator.
  • This never ending process of reminding the Source is called God consciousness/awareness.

That is what the Quran teaches us: our existence is continuously created and the Source of our existence is continuously demonstrating Himself to us. Our responsibility is to respond back to Him. In the analogy above, art in the creation is being demonstrated by the Source so that we may respond back to Him. We need to receive every new moment in His Name (be ismillah). Example: Every day that we eat a meal, we confirm: “this is from You”. Then after our acknowledgment, we respond back: “thank You”. (alhamdolillah).

When we come to the conclusion that the Source is Absolute, we realize that the Absolute is manifesting Himself to us. “This Source is the same Source that I concluded with another demonstration yesterday.” Every moment He is manifesting Himself, yet again with another exhibition.

image

“…every day He manifests Himself in yet another [wondrous] way.” Rahman (55):29

  • The Creator is speaking to us right now.
  • We cannot use yesterday’s conclusion for today’s experience. Today is a new creation.
  • Today, my conclusion about the Source is renewed but the same Absolute Being is manifesting Himself. This Absolute Being cannot be limited.

Everything in this universe is given existence and we need to look at the Source of this existence. Even our ignorance of not recognizing the objects and their qualities is His creation. Therefore, we need to always acknowledge the Source of existence of the universe. Belief is confirmation; confirmation needs evidence.

  • Evidence starts with getting to conclude lailaha (nothing in the universe has the Power to create).
  • Without lailaha, any conclusion, which is usually illallah (there must be a Source giving existence to everything), is just based on blind acceptance.

We should not become hypocrites i.e. running away from our responsibilities. The existence of everything needs to be explained by attributing it to the existence of the Creator. Even the existence of a “tissue paper” needs to be confirmed with attributing the existence of its qualities to the Source. Otherwise, belief becomes external to our reality.

To believe, one needs to have his own evidence. Even the Quran specifies that we need to conclude the existence of the Creator through signs (ayaat). Without signs, we cannot speculate about our conclusions. If we were not given the ability to experience the universe, then the responsibility to conclude the Source of its existence would not be incumbent upon us.

  • The guiding speech of my Creator must necessarily speak to me within my capacity. Otherwise there would be a clear contradiction between what He wants us to do (our responsibility) and what He has given us (abilities).
  • Analogy: If you ask a child to carry something beyond his weight and if the child cannot do it, people will blame you as being “crazy”, not the child.
  • Similarly, the Creator will not give us abilities beyond our capacities to acknowledge His Omnipotence.

We need to question the “Source of existence” of every object/event both its physical side and its qualities. How do I explain the existence of these qualities? We deal directly with the universe and so answering our existential questions also start with first interacting with the universe. These questions involve searching for the Source of the objects.

Step 1: The earth is moving, who created the earth?
Step 2: How is the earth moving? How do we explain the existence of the movement?
Step 3: There must be an existence Giver because we cannot find this Giver within the context of this universe.

When we start thinking, even “the existence of the Source” of “this process of thinking” needs to be questioned and thus needs to be attributed to a Source. Just as we cannot refer the existence of a cell without referring it to the Source, we cannot refer the movement of the cell without referring it to the Source. THINK: Can the qualities of the cell exist by themselves?

  • When we take the first step, we logically follow it with the second step. If we stop at the second step, we may end up attributing the qualities to the object itself. We have to keep going further with questioning the Source of existence of every event, only then can we come to step 3.

Belief is a personal matter which cannot be learned like the rituals. Rituals come as a conclusion to our belief. Belief is a process that needs to be refined at every moment. The believers miss the following point: a person’s conclusion is subjective to him/her.

  • Analogy: A teacher teaches a subject to his students. He presents the concepts to them based on his own understanding and expects his students to come to the same conclusion based on the understanding of each student.
  • Similarly, we can never lend belief to anyone. We can only demonstrate what we understand. Eventually, everyone needs to go through their own process of investigation and come to a conclusion.
  • We need to first educate ourselves before educating our children. We can only teach what we learn.



Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

Post a Comment