Earning the Pleasure of God
There is no life worth living except the life of the Hereafter:
I have always been struggling to fully understand this saying of Prophet Muhammed peace be upon him. I wanted to get out of this inner contradiction. I tried to balance between gaining happiness for myself and my loved ones in this life, yet on the other hand, I know how great the delight is in the Hereafter. The struggle continued until my father got sick. I was living in Africa with my kids and husband who was a delegate of a United Nations’ project. I was sad because I lived far away from my father, who was too sick. I kept praying for his cure and happiness in this life. Eventually, he died. I was in a great pain and sadness until I saw a dream one night, which made me cry happily. I saw him laying on a bed, and he told me: come closer. So, I did, then he said: we are alive here, we are not dead. Then he pointed around him saying: Look around at those who are reading Qur’an. I exclaimed: Are you happy?
He replied with a very long tone: I am happy. I can still hear its echo in my ears till now.
I woke up happily repeating: There is no life worth living except the life of Hereafter.[12]
The delusion of the contemporary man:
There is a beautiful story of an American physicist who once came to visit our center. He spent two hours in an argument with my colleagues at the library. It was all about proving the existence of God on a scientific basis in which he denied.
I was silently listening without interfering until my colleagues felt tired. He was overly argumentative. They all left the library without reaching any result. After that, the visitor asked me if I could persuade him in a scientific way that God does exist, and asked If I have knowledge of physical science.
I smiled and said: Oh! I have a better knowledge; I know God!
He grumbled: No, no, please I insist that there is no God, but there is science.
I replied: You cannot just refute the author’s existence because you got to know the book. They are not alternatives. Science discovers the laws of the universe, but it did not create them, God did!
I continued: Anyway, forget about science for now and tell me. You want to convince me that there is no God. So, are you happy with this? Are you satisfied with yourself?
He surprised me admitting: Never, I have never felt happy in my life. I am miserable. I don’t know what to do, then he cried.
I replied: Do whatever makes you happy. Do you know the Law of attraction, the law that means you get what you expect?
He answered surprisingly: Do you believe in this law?
I said: I know it, but I don’t believe in it. I believe in a greater one which is “good thinking in God”. We believe that God the Creator created us to have mercy on us, and not torture us. We believe that He prepared for us a Paradise whose width is the heavens and the earth, so we will get what we expect if we obey His orders. However, you believe that you are nothing, came from nothing, and will end up with nothing. Thus, you will get maybe worse than what you expect. Do you accept (Nothing) as an answer from your son when you ask him what do you want to be when you grow up? You will not tolerate this, and you will try every possible and impossible way to urge him to study, work and do his best to be a better, important, and valuable person in the future.
He uttered: I feel lost.
I answered: You will stay lost until you eventually return to God, just like how a lost child will never find peace and happiness until he finds his mother.
Touched by my words, he said: Can anyone become a Muslim?
I said: Of course. Islam is the religion of nature.
He asked: Do I only have to believe in God?’
I replied: You also must believe in His messengers and prophets from Prophet Adam to Prophet Muhammad, and to believe in the Hereafter.
He agreed: Yes, yes.
I continued: You also must accept Jesus, peace be upon him, as a messenger, not as a god or a son of God.
He said eagerly: No, Jesus is not God; he is a Prophet.
The point here is that Man should look at himself first before he becomes conceited away from the truth. Despite how technology developed around us, we still cannot develop ourselves to be mortal creatures or even be independent creatures who don’t need food, drink, air or going to the restroom.
Man tries hard searching the whole universe for happiness and continuance in life, although he knows for sure that he cannot travel to the moon without special suits and in selected spacecrafts because of fearing death.
Say, “Be you stones or iron or [any] creation of that which is great within your breasts.” And they will say, “Who will restore us?” Say, “He who brought you forth the first time.” Then they will nod their heads toward you and say, “When is that?” Say, “Perhaps it will be soon”. [13]
According to Secularism, Charles Taylor describes how western society considers Man as the center of the universe. The laciest considers himself as the master of the universe and all that he cannot see, does not exist.
Despite having all means of comfort, it is not surprising that western societies face difficulties in dealing with evil. So, a luxuriant mostly commits suicide when encountering any problem.
Victor Frankl said: “Today people have all means of living but with no meaning of life itself, which makes life as a prison that contains people rushing between the walls of life and death. They are afraid of every bite in a meaningless life where every pain or hardship is inexplicable, inevitable, and unclassifiable. It is the only sort of chaos and tragedy.”
The primary purpose of life isn’t to enjoy a temporary sense of happiness, but to achieve inner and deep peace through knowing and worshipping God. Achieving this aim will lead eventually to eternal bliss and true happiness. So, if this is our goal, we will go through every trouble to achieve it.
Can you imagine a person never having hard time or pain? According to his luxury life, he will forget all about God. Thus, he will fail to achieve what he was created for in the first place. Compare this to another person whose painful experiences led him to God and achieve his goal. From an Islamic point of view, the person who goes through suffering knows God better, and he is closer to Him than another person who forgets God because he does not suffer. Each human being has a goal which is usually based on his beliefs; what we find in religion but not in science, is the cause and the purpose which Man seeks. Thus, religion explains the reason why we were created, but science is just a means.
When someone goes towards religion, the most frightening thing for him is the deprivation of life’s enjoyment. For most people, being religious means, they need to avoid everything else; everything is forbidden. Their thought is a false judgment that pushes people away from religion. Islam corrects this misconception; it tells us that everything is permissible, and the forbidden things are few. Islam invites us to merge in society, and balance between the spiritual, physical needs, and others’ rights. One of the great challenges that faces the irreligious societies is dealing with evil and bad deeds. You will find nothing but enforcing stiff punishments.
The value of the present life:
People held tests to differentiate between the students through marks and degrees before moving into a new part of life. Despite how short the exam is, it evaluates the student’s fate; the same applies to this worldly life. It is a quick test for people to rank them in degrees when they face the Hereafter. The human comes out of life with his deeds only, not with anything else from his properties. Thus, people must realize that they should act in this life for rewards and high degrees in the Hereafter. People have forgotten the true meaning of life as they continuously complained from Coronavirus. God created us in a test. Pain and trouble are parts of the test. Passing the test will ease the way to eternal bliss in Paradise.
He Who created Death and Life, that He may try which of you is best in deed: and He is the Exalted in Might, Oft-Forgiving. [14]
Atheists misunderstand our goal of life as a test for our behavior and deeds. For example, how could we possibly develop patience if we do not face experiences that need patience? How could we build courage if don’t we face risks? How could we have mercy on each other if there wasn’t anyone in need of it?
I remember I have always been repeating: (O God, grant me wisdom, which if I have been given, I will have received much good). After moving to Africa, I met a lot of difficulties. I insisted on raising my children in a religious environment on the straight path, without causing them to become introverts. This made me acquire a lot of wisdom. Later, I realized that God had answered my prayers.
So, why the test?
Some people say: If God is merciful, why does He not just let us all enter Paradise?
God wants us all to be religious.
If you are ungrateful, then remember! God is independent of you, and He does not favor ingratitude on the part of His creatures. If you are grateful, He will be pleased with you. For no one who carries a burden bears another’s load; and your returning is to your Lord, when He will tell you what you used to do. Surely, He knows what is in the hearts. [15]
However, if He sends us all to Paradise, it will not be fair. He will treat Moses the same as Pharaoh; all evil and innocent people will enter Paradise as if nothing happened in the worldly life. We need a criterion that decides who would deserve Paradise. One of the beautiful things in the Islamic religion is that our Creator (who knows us better than ourselves) told us that we got all we need to overcome these tests.
God does not charge a soul except [with that within] its capacity…[16]
However, if we cannot overcome these hardships after doing our best, God’s mercy and justice will ensure that we receive compensation somehow, either in this life or in the eternal life that lies ahead.
Knowing God in good and bad times:
Once, I was in a meeting with an Administrative from an Argentinian International foundation. My colleagues advised me not to talk to him about religion because it is a thorny issue, but I refused and said: I don’t know what to do apart from talking about religion. I was their only choice because I was the only one who speaks Spanish. I started the conversation by mentioning the Creator’s greatness and Oneness and making a simple comparison between the various religions. I highlighted that monotheism is the missing ring that could unify nations. He surprised me with his flushing red face and tears saying: you Muslims are way better than us.
I replied: why?
He answered: you return to God in good moments and bad moments, but we don’t do this except in troubles only. We are attached to the present life while you are connected to the Hereafter.
I said: Hardships are bliss for you then.
He was moved.
We humans quickly forget for various reasons. One of these reasons is comfort and bliss. That is why God sometimes interrupts the sweetness of life with some tribulations when we cling to its luxury, and we forget the main goal that brought us to this world.
I continued: This life is a test. The human comes out of it with a passing or a failing certificate. If someone says he likes his life, it’s as if he is saying that he likes the exam and doesn’t want to get the certificate.
Thus, loving this life is the origin of all evil; this is how humans are locked in a maze. They can’t understand the existence of these two contradictions.
The test in this life could be through goodness or evilness. Usually, when the human is tested by blessings, he gets more attached to this worldly life and loses connection with his Creator. Unlike when he is tested by difficulties, he gets more attached to God. A person is not aware that the test of evil may benefit him more than harm him in this world.
The most obvious example is what happened to Man when he developed science and technology. He forgot all about religion, God, and even other people around him.
Evil is not necessarily humanmade, but it still affects humans somehow. Spreading of disease, earthquakes, and volcanoes are evil according to human beings, but they happen to preserve the ecological balance. Besides, God gives people the means to face these incidents. Recently, the human has been exposed to the coronavirus, which disrupted life’s movement in many aspects. So, Man became more eager to help others, and people became unified. Even enemies stepped aside from their problem to find a solution for this danger, threatening them all. As if this danger benefits human beings mostly when civil wars stopped. We heard the prayer call “Allah (God) is greater” at some places we never imagined hearing it in as if this virus uncovered their hearts’ veil.
Know that the life of this world is but amusement and diversion and adornment and boasting to one another and competition in increase of wealth and children - like the example of a rain whose [resulting] plant growth pleases the tillers; then it dries and you see it turned yellow; then it becomes [scattered] debris. And in the Hereafter is severe punishment and forgiveness from Allah and approval. And what is the worldly life except the enjoyment of delusion. [17]
The worldly life is a place of testing and affliction. This life is full of contradictions: sickness and cure, evil and goodness, heat and cold, day and night, life, and death, etc.
Man has his free will to choose. God didn’t plant evil in the human soul, but God planted the freewill to choose between evil and goodness. Man will freely choose, and God will eventually judge.
And [by] the soul and He who proportioned it (7) And inspired it [with discernment of] its wickedness and its righteousness, (8) He has succeeded who purifies it, (9) And he has failed who instills it [with corruption]. [18]
And say, “The truth is from your Lord, so whoever wills - let him believe; and whoever wills - let him disbelieve…”[19]
An era of anaphylaxis:
Evil and goodness are inseparable through ages. It has been noticed that people become more sensitive towards evil nowadays due to their comfortable life. The common saying “to better and longer life” became our motto after we reached the moon. So, it became expected that people get more sensitive when they see the children’s tears, feel the elder’s weakness, and hear patients’ screams.
Human’s excellency:
God knows that the human tends to be lazy and neglect things, so sometimes he intends to wake us up. People have many good traits which appear clearly through hardships. Trouble reveals courage, generosity, brotherhood, and selflessness, even with animals. Afflictions such as orphanage, homelessness, or hunger bring out many good people to the world, as well as magnificent heroes around us whose pain and suffering arouse their virtues, and enable them to make history. Even in our personal life, after each failure, we start a new beginning. God shutting our way is just a sign to change our direction. So, in dealing with a problem, we must realize that our problem was not these dark, gloomy clouds chasing us, but it is truly our heavy eyelids that prevent us from seeing the sunlight. God periodically refreshes our lives through difficulties.
Therefore, as soon as people wake up from their negligence, they realize the true meaning of their existence, and they feel the urge to live for more remarkable and vital goals. Hence, we can say that this ‘evil’ plants human excellency.
Through difficulties, people don’t only discover aims, but they also live with God, for God, and by God in this life and the life after[20].
The happiness of this life and the Hereafter:
Once an atheist asked me about the human’s need to believe in God, and that it is enough for people to have morals and values to control them and maintain mutually respectful relations. I told him that it is meaningless to respect and love your work colleagues while neglecting your connection with your boss. To get goodness in our life, we must strengthen it with our Creator.
Besides, what could be our motivation to have morals and values? To respect laws or respect others? If you say the enforcement of laws, we will then argue that law is not available in every place and at any time. It is not enough to solve all our local and national problems. Many people who commit crimes and evil deeds are away from others and law. All these religions around us prove how much people need it in their lives. We need it to arrange and discipline our behaviors on a religious basis which cannot be covered and hidden.
The necessity of religion is proved by the presence of many religions, which most nations on earth resort to for regulating their lives and controlling their people’s behavior based on religion or law. As we know, the only criterion for a person is his religious belief in the absence of regulation, since law cannot always exist with a person and everywhere.
The only deterrent that can affect a person is his inner belief that he is being watched and held accountable, and this belief is buried and firm in his conscience. When the person is involved in a wrong act, he tries to conceal it because he has an instinct to differentiate between the right and wrong; hence, he was able to tell that this act is outrageous, and that it is denied by common sense. All this proves the existence of religion and belief in the depths of the human psyche.
Religion fills the gap that laws don’t. Human-made rules cannot supply or bind minds and hearts to it at different times and places.
It was from what I read and liked, that a person’s motivation or drive to do good differs from one person to another. Each person has his motives and interests to do or adhere to specific ethics or values.
- Punishment: Can prevent people from harming each other.
- Reward: Can encourage people to behave well.
- Self-esteem: Can control the human’s desires as what one loves today may hate tomorrow.
- The religious restrain: Knowing and fearing God is the strong and effective motivation[21].
Religion greatly influences moving people’s feelings and emotions, whether positively or negatively.
This influence indicates that the origin of people’s instinct is based on knowing God. It may be used in many cases intentionally or unintentionally as a motive to move it, leading us to the risk of misunderstanding the purposes and teachings of the true religion, which has bad impacts on the individual and the community.
Conclusion:
Scholar Ibn al-Qayyim summarized the conclusion in these beautiful words:
“In the heart, there is a dishevel; it can’t be accumulated unless we direct ourselves to God, and a desolation, can’t be not be removed unless the human is left alone with Him in his solitude. Sadness exists within the heart; it will not go away unless we acknowledge the pleasure of knowing Him and our sincere treatment with Him. Anxiety exists within the heart; it won’t go away unless we meet with Him and escape from Him to Him. There is a fire of heartbreak, it will not be extinguished unless we get satisfied with the destiny, His commands, and whatever He forbade us from, and for us to embrace patience on that until the time of His meeting after death. There is a strong request; the request does not stand without God being the only required. Neediness exists within the heart; only His love, His constant remembrance, and devotion to Him can fill this need, and even if one gets the world and everything in it, that need will never be met !!”[22]
The Originator of Heavens and Earth
So, flee to God!
In a visit to South Africa, we came upon a beauty that was beyond imagination. When we reached Cape Town, I got the feeling that we had gone to another world. There were beaches filled with penguins and gardens filled with birds and butterflies with breathtaking colors. While wandering and exploring this enchanting place, we met a simple older man from Malaysia, who was born and grew up in this place. He was a driver that took us on a tour in the city for ten days. I asked him if he had visited any other county, and much to my surprise, he answered: I don’t know any other place except Mecca, and I don’t want to know any other place except Mecca. Whenever I get an amount of money, I go to Mecca. He said that they go to Mecca in groups crossing the black continent in trips that cost them much money and effort. Yet he said that he insists on visiting Mecca whenever he has the expenses. I was very touched saying to myself: how strange is it that such a man would leave such beauty and go to a wasteland with absolutely no greenery like Mecca. At that point, I remembered the verse: So, flee to God[23]. Then I said to myself: God the Almighty has indeed spoken the truth; He gloriously planted seeds of being attached to Him and yearning to meet Him in our hearts. I was pleased.
They have not appraised God with true appraisal:
They have not appraised Allah (God) with true appraisal, while the earth entirely will be [within] His grip on the Day of Resurrection, and the heavens will be folded in His right hand. Exalted is He and high above what they associate with Him. [24]
One of the amusing incidents that I recall was a conversation I had with a Chinese diplomat who spoke English fluently. He made me laugh when he said that the Creator created the universe, then got busy, and is no longer interfering in anything in it.
At first, I thought he was joking; then I realized that this is a fundamental belief in one of the religions that are widespread worldwide.
I told him that God knows everything in this universe from the tiniest to the most extraordinary thing. Not a leaf falls without His knowledge, and not a fruit comes out of its covering. He keeps count of all things.
He answered: Isn’t it strange that the Creator would interfere in everything?
I simply replied that the fly that seems useless to people could cause diseases and change the natural balance in the environment. Wasn’t it a mosquito that caused the death of the Alexander the great?
Is it not enough for us to realize our Creator’s greatness when we see that the people nowadays fear tiny microbes, which are spreading and can’t even be seen? Indeed, it is only Him who knows the true value of everything!
I always recall this conversation and say to myself: … For indeed, it is not eyes that are blinded, but blinded are the hearts which are within the breasts.[25]
The greatest nations are challenging each other by showing off their military equipment, and God, The Most Glorious, shows us a challenge that can’t even be seen with our eyes.
The spreading of the coronavirus made the world realize our Creator’s greatness and how all our balances have been disturbed. This unseen creature has caused the nuclear and hydrogenic weapons to collapse, and the human pride collapsed as well.
The scholar Ibn-Qayyim says: “Look at the speech of the Qur’an, and you will see the King who has the absolute possession of all, Who deserves the absolute praise. The King who has full control of everything. Everything starts from Him and ends with Him. He is the All-Knowing, Who knows all that’s apparent and all that’s hidden. It is Him who hears and sees, gives and takes, rewards and punishes, honors and humiliates. It is Him who creates and provides, causes death and life. It is Him who judges and manages.”
The glory of God is manifested in His connection with His creations:
My conversation with the Chinese person pulled me towards reading more about his faith, in which people believed that the Creator created the universe, then abandoned it and left it without guidance.
I kept searching for a way to respond to this belief’s followers, which they call “Divine Neutrality”.
During my research, I found that the Qur’an acknowledges the fact that God interacts with His creations through the messengers. This connection is manifested in more than one verse in the Qur’an.
[We sent] messengers as bringers of good tidings and warners so that mankind will have no argument against God after the messengers. And ever is God Exalted in Might and Wise. [26]
First, God stressed that there is wisdom behind the creation of the human being.
Then did you think that We created you uselessly and that to Us you would not be returned?” [27]
Then, He stressed that playing and amusement were never the aims of creation.
And We did not create the heaven and earth and that between them in play. [28]
Had We intended to take a diversion, We could have taken it from [what is] with Us - if [indeed] We were to do so. [29]
God stressed the absolute surrender and submission of the heavens and the earth.
So, is it other than the religion of Allah (God) they desire, while to Him have submitted [all] those within the heavens and earth, willingly or by compulsion, and to Him they will be returned? [30]
He created man and Jinn only to worship Him.
And I did not create the jinn and mankind except to worship Me.[31]
God shows that man was honored over other creations by the direct and genuine relation with Him through worship.
And who is better in religion than one who submits himself to Allah (God) while being a doer of good and follows the religion of Abraham, inclining toward truth?... [32]
Worship here is meant in its general meaning, which is knowing the Lord of the Worlds and forming a connection with Him— knowing His attributes, glorifying, exalting Him, and worshipping Him alone.
Besides what’s mentioned in the Qur’an, there are several logical pieces of evidence of communication between the Creator and humans. Some of them are:
Wisdom:
If a person built a building, then abandoned it without making it appropriate for accommodation, we would undoubtedly judge this person as unwise and unstable. So, as God is ideal. There must be wisdom behind creating the heavens and the earth and exploiting them for the human’s service.
The instinct and common sense:
Each human being has a strong instinct to know his/her origin and the reason for their existence. Instincts always drive the human being towards knowing their founder. When someone is born, and he/she doesn’t find their parents, they get this intense need of seeing them as they were the reason for his/her existence.
The stable instinct that hasn’t been affected by outside effects could be led to its Creator and founder. But that’s not enough. Still, it needs guidance from its Creator through messengers to guide it to the correct path and know its Creator in a way He deserves.
We find that many people in the world have found their way towards the heavenly messages while others are still astray from the truth and are attached to materialism.
This instinct in human beings towards communicating with their Creator, knowing the wisdom behind their existence, and knowing their fate after death has forever been in people’s minds. They have invented myths and philosophies about them trying to find explanations and answers to these existentialism questions.
The existence of these questions in the human’s minds, and seeking towards looking for answers for them, gives us evidence that there is an unseen power that will be leading to push Man towards knowing his/her Creator. It also gives us proof that it’s unacceptable that the creations would be left with such an instinct without guidance from the founder of this instinct.
Ethics:
The feeling of thirst is a clue to water’s existence, even before knowing of its existence. Also, our longing for justice is a clue to the presence of the Equitable.
So, witnessing the defects in this life and injustice between people, makes it unbelievable that this life will end with the unjust people getting away with their actions and the oppressed not being paid back. There is a comfort in the idea of the existence of resurrection and the Hereafter and retribution. No doubt that the person who knows that there will be a judgment on actions won’t be left without guidance, encouragement, and intimidation. This is the role of religion.
Also, the existence of the current divine religions, whose followers believe in their source’s divinity, is considered direct evidence of the Creator’s communication with human beings. Even if atheists deny that the Lord sent messengers or books, the books and religions’ existences are strong evidence of one truth, which is Man’s unbridled desire to communicate with God and satisfy his natural void.
We find that the Qur’an stresses on giving evidence on the truthfulness of the prophets and messengers in a way that was suitable to every time and place. It is not logical to believe in the Creator’s existence without believing in the presence of a practice or curriculum of communication with the Creator.
One of the Creator’s attributes is wisdom, and one of the characteristics of the human being is the conflict of good and evil, and freedom of choice. It is self-evident that the imperative of the Creator’s wisdom becomes clear to us, and it is enough that death exists on the imperative of judgment. Death is not destruction, but rather the transition stage to a reckoning; this is the divine religion’s role in showing this fact.
The glory of the Creator is manifested in His response to the distressed who call on to Him:
I once had a conversation about the Creator’s greatness with a German woman married to an Argentine man, and her Argentine mother-in-law. The husband wasn’t present. During the conversation, I realized that the German woman didn’t believe in God’s existence, but then something happened, which caused us to cry.
The mother-in-law talked to me persistently about the hardships facing us in life, and questioned how we could handle them. The conversation was very touching to the extent that she cried. Then while I was explaining the wisdom, mercy, glory, and greatness of God in sending such hardships, she asked: Then what’s the solution? What should we do to face such difficulties?
I replied: Say: Ya Rab (Oh God)!
They said: How?
I showed them the way to do supplications by raising their hands and taught them the words. We all said: Ya Rab (Oh God)!
While we were saying the words, the German woman got a phone call with news that made her cry and jump in joy, hugging her mother-in-law and me. The mother-in-law kept on asking her: Did he come out? Did he come out?
The German woman replied: Yes! Yes! They both hugged me saying: We thank you, God!
I learnt that the husband had been put in jail from three weeks due to corruption in his data. He was a man of high status in the community, so this was a shock to them.
The German woman told me words that I will never forget. She told me thank you for bringing out of my heart what I didn’t realize existed. I never thought that I believed in God. At that moment, I realized how great God is to answer supplications and to guide such hearts that longed to know Him.
I was delighted with what this woman admitted to me because it proved what I always repeat in my lectures to students and in my conversations with non-Muslims, there is nothing called atheism. All people know that God is there whether they admitted it or not. Our role is to get from those who claim to be atheists the faith they are hiding or trying to hide.
Now, we all urgently need to say these supplications to God at the time of this corona pandemic.
The supplications of the distressed. As if we are all in the stomach of the whale. We need to say: There is no deity except You; exalted, are You. Indeed, I have been of the wrongdoers.[33]
Why religion?
One Portuguese doctor asked me about the importance of converting to Islam, and why should she convert to any religion at all. She wondered why it wasn’t enough to just believe in God and worship Him in her way.
She said that she believed in a Creator’s existence, but she didn’t think that He communicates with humans through messengers. She said that she does good deeds and helps both humans and animals, but isn’t waiting for a reward from the Creator, she takes her prize and happiness from humanity instead.
I told her: Do you think the human is immortal? Is human happiness endless? When humanity ends, only God, Who does not die, will remain. I told her that by her way, she is like a student whom after twelve years of studying says: I don’t want the certificate.
Imagine, if you were a member of a Social Solidarity Foundation to get a retirement salary, then the foundation declared that it wouldn’t be able to pay these salaries. It will close soon; would you continue dealing with it?
A believer works and strives to help humanity for the sake of God, and gets happiness both in life and Hereafter.
I told her: Regarding the importance of the religion’s existence, imagine that you are walking in a way and do not know its end. You’d have two options, either follow the instructions of the signs found on the road or try to guess, which may cause you to lose and perish.
Also, imagine that you buy a TV, and try to use it without going back to the operating instructions. You will spoil it. The TV set coming from the same factory, for example, arrives here with the same instruction booklet that arrives to Portugal, so we must use it in the same way.
I also told her: If you want to communicate with me, for example, I must tell you the possible way, as if I tell you to talk to me by phone and not by e-mail, for example, and you must use the phone number that I provide you personally, as you cannot use any other number.
We find some people communicating with God by dancing and singing in places of worship, and others who applaud to wake God according to their belief.
It is God’s greatness to make a system to be followed by all of us, organize our relationship with Him, and our relationship with those around us, which is the religion’s definition.
Humans cannot worship God by following their whims because they will harm themselves first before harming others.
Some of them worship God by taking a mediator, and they believe that God comes in the form of human beings or stones. God wants to protect us from ourselves when we worship what does not benefit or harm us, but rather causes us to perish in the Hereafter. Worship other than God with Him is considered the greatest sin, and its punishment is immortality in Hell.
She asked: why does making partners with God makes the person deserve eternal hellfire?
I told her: In the manmade laws, it’s well known that not adhering by the king's rights is like no other crime. What if we are talking about the KING of the kings? It’s God’s right to be worshipped alone, and it’s human’s right to have a direct connection with Him without intermediaries so they can get peace in this life and the Hereafter.
The correct religion:
Then she asked me about the correct religion that she must embrace after believing in God.
I told her: It is from God’s greatness that He made the right religion easy, logical, and according to our instincts. It’s to worship Him alone while doing good deeds and leaving the evil. It’s the religion that all the prophets called for.
The correct religion could be distinguished through three main points[34]:
Ø The attributes of God in the religion.
Ø The attributes of the prophet or the messenger.
Ø The details of that religion.
The correct religion must include attributes showing the Beauty and Glory of God:
It must include a description of God and evidence of His existence.
Say: He is Allah, [who is] One, (1) Allah, the Eternal Refuge. (2) He neither begets nor is born, (3) Nor is there to Him any equivalent. [35]
As for the description of the messenger and his attributes, the religion:
Must describe how the connection between God and the messenger is established.
And I have chosen you, so listen to what is revealed [to you]. [36]
Must show that these messengers are responsible for delivering the messages from God.
Messenger, announce that which has been revealed to you from your Lord, and if you do not, then you have not conveyed His message... [37]
These messengers haven’t been sent to call people to worship themselves, but to worship God alone.
It is not for a human [prophet] that Allah (God) should give him the Scripture and authority and prophethood and then he would say to the people, “Be servants to me rather than God,” but [instead, he would say], “Be pious scholars of the Lord because of what you have taught of the Scripture and because of what you have studied.” [38]
Must emphasis that the messengers are supreme in the limited human attributes.
And indeed, you are of a great moral character. [39]
The messengers are human role models.
There has certainly been for you in the Messenger of God an excellent pattern for anyone whose hope is in God and the Last Day and [who] remembers God often. [40]
It’s illogical to accept a religion that describes the messengers as drunk or adulterers or traitors.
As for the religion itself, it must include:
A description of the Creator:
The correct religion wouldn’t describe the Creator with what doesn’t fit His glory and greatness. It wouldn’t show Him like an animal or stone or that He was begotten or has children. It also wouldn’t show Him as to have equals from His creations.
[He is] Creator of the heavens and the earth. He has made for you from yourselves, mates, and among the cattle, mates; He multiplies you thereby. There is nothing like unto Him, and He is the Hearing, the Seeing. [41]
Allah - there is no deity except Him, the Ever-Living, the Sustainer of [all] existence. Neither drowsiness overtakes Him nor sleep. To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth. Who is it that can intercede with Him except by His permission? He knows what is [presently] before them and what will be after them, and they encompass not a thing of His knowledge except for what He wills. His throne extends over the heavens and the earth, and their preservation tires Him not. And He is the Most High, the Most Great. [42]
Must show the purpose of existence:
And I did not create the jinn and mankind except to worship Me.[43]
Say, “I am only a man like you, to whom has been revealed that your god is one God. So, whoever would hope for the meeting with his Lord - let him do righteous work and not associate in the worship of his Lord anyone.” [44]
The obligations of the religion must be within human capabilities:
…God intends for you ease and does not intend for you hardship... [45]
God does not charge a soul except [with that within] its capacity... [46]
And God wants to lighten for you [your difficulties]; and mankind was created weak. [47]
Must give the rational proofs of the validity of concepts and facts it presents.
The message must give us clear and sufficient rational proofs to judge the validity of its content:
So, we find that Qur’an did not only give such mental proofs, but has defied atheists and polytheists to provide evidence of their beliefs.
And they say, “None will enter Paradise except one who is a Jew or a Christian.” That is [merely] their wishful thinking, Say, “Produce your proof, if you should be truthful.” [48]
And whoever invokes besides God another deity for which he has no proof - then his account is only with his Lord. Indeed, the disbelievers will not succeed. [49]
Say, “Observe what is in the heavens and earth.” But of no avail will be signs or warners to a people who do not believe.[50]
Must have no contradiction between the religious contents presented in the message:
Then do they not reflect upon the Qur’an? If it had been from [any] other than Allah (God), they would have found within it much contradiction. [51]
It is He who has sent down to you, [O Muhammad], the Book; in it are verses [that are] precise - they are the foundation of the Book - and others unspecific. As for those in whose hearts is deviation [from truth], they will follow that of it which is unspecific, seeking discord and seeking an interpretation [suitable to them]. And no one knows its [true] interpretation except Allah. But those firm in knowledge say, “We believe in it. All [of it] is from our Lord.” And no one will be reminded except those of understanding. [52]
The religious texts must not conflict with natural human ethical laws:
So, direct your face toward the religion, inclining to truth. [Adhere to] the true nature on which God has created [all] people. No change should there be in the creation of God. That is the correct religion, but most of the people do not know. [53]
God wants to make clear to you [the lawful from the unlawful] and guide you to the [good] practices of those before you and to accept your repentance. And God is Knowing and Wise. God wants to accept your repentance, but those who follow [their] passions want you to digress [into] a great deviation. [54]
The religious texts must not conflict with science:
Have those who disbelieved not considered that the heavens and the earth were a joined entity, and We separated them and made from water every living thing? Then will they not believe? [55]
The religious texts shouldn’t be isolated from daily human life and modern civilization:
Say, “Who has forbidden the adornment of God which He has produced for His servants and the good [lawful] things of provision?” Say, “They are for those who believe during the worldly life [but] exclusively for them on the Day of Resurrection.” Thus, do We detail the verses for a people who know. [56]
The religious texts should be convenient to any place and time:
…This day I have perfected for you your religion and completed My favor upon you and have approved for you Islam as religion... [57]
The Message universality:
Say, [O Muhammad], “O mankind, indeed I am the Messenger of God to you all, [from Him] to whom belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth. There is no deity except Him; He gives life and causes death.” So, believe in God and His Messenger, the unlettered prophet, who believes in God and His words, and follow him that you may be guided. [58]
Conclusion:
Based on our Creator's greatness, we conclude that He has communicated with His creations, sent messengers with His true heavenly religion to all human beings as a mercy to them, and to alleviate their suffering, while many people do not realize this fact.
We find groups of people who deny God's sending of messengers. Another group of people made partners and intermediaries with the Creator and followed different ways to communicate with the Creator. Others suffered from the beliefs of their peoples and ended up leaving religion entirely.
The truth that we want to prove here is that:
· There must be a religion first.
· There must be one religion because the Creator is one (but with different laws and approaches that suit nations).
· Finally, the true religion must be Islam (believing in One God, and unifying Him in worship).
How could God accept any other religion that wouldn’t call for monotheism. (Submission by believing in Him and worshipping Him alone). If we look throughout history, we won’t find any other religion as clear and tolerant and pleasant as Islam.
