Epigraph:
For those who do not believe in the Hereafter are negative metaphors, while all the best attributes and metaphors are for Allah alone. He is the Mighty, the Wise. (Al Quran 16:60/61)
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Many of you know of Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern of New Zealand for her beautiful stance on interfaith tolerance. (1)
But have you met Princess Alice from New Zealand? Probably not, because she is not a real princess, only an imaginary one.
To meet her I want you to watch a National Geographic video. (2) You can watch it in the Muslim Times. (3)
But, before you meet her, let me share a little bit of background.
Agnostics and atheists argue against accountability and stress that they can also be moral without belief in God. They can certainly be. As every human being has a conscience and each one of us embellishes it to a variable degree, in that sense both theists and atheists can be moral.
However, theists have an additional factor driving them to be moral, namely a belief in All-Seeing God. I do not want to argue this issue at length here, but would just suggest watching 6 minutes of a recent 50 minute documentary by National Geographic starring Morgan Freeman, The Story of God, season 1, episode 5, starting at minute 32 of this video and focus on the work of a New Zealand researcher, Jesse Michael Bering, with 6 year old children, how a belief in invisible Princess Alice affects their behavior and their honesty. Please watch the video below for details:
Just like a belief in invisible princess Alice makes the 6 years old more honest, a genuine belief in All-Seeing God can improve actions, character and morality of the believers.
Jesse Michael Bering (born 6 May 1975) is an American writer and academic. He is Associate Professor in Science Communication at the University of Otago (where he serves as Director of the Centre for Science Communication), as well as a frequent contributor to Scientific American, Slate, and Das Magazin (Switzerland). His work has also appeared in New York Magazine, The Guardian, and The New Republic, and has been featured on NPR, the BBC, and elsewhere.
From Princess Alice, let us catapult to the All Knowing God of the Abrahamic faiths.
In the three great monotheistic religions, Islam, Christianity and Judaism, God is viewed as a supreme, transcendent being, beyond matter, space and time, and yet the foundation of all that meets our senses that is described in terms of matter, space, and
time. That is the Al Batin or the Hidden God of monotheism. Furthermore, this God is not the god of Deism, who created the world and then left it alone, or the god of pantheism, who is equated with all of existence. The Islamic and the Judeo-Christian God is a nanosecond-by-nanosecond participant in each event that takes place in every cubic nanometer of the universe. He has full knowledge of all things. God listens to every thought and participates in each action of his very special creation, a minute bit of organized matter called humanity that moves around on the surface of a tiny pebble in a vast universe.
Just like a belief in invisible Princess Alice changes the behavior of 6 year olds the belief in the Abrahamic God can change our conduct and eventually our lives and inspire us to the most charitable and selfless deeds. But a superficial belief in God will not suffice. It has to be a deeply felt firm faith that affects our behavior and actions. Allah says in the Quran, “Only those of His servants who possess knowledge are fully God conscious. Indeed, Allah is Mighty, Most Forgiving.” (5)
So, for genuine faith that is rooted in truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth that is fully capable of affecting our behavior, we need to study and investigate and find the best and the most true Abrahamic tradition and follow that. This is indeed a lifelong mission of overcoming the personal biases and societal divisions in pursuit of the Truth. But, I will not dwell on the different sects of Judaism, Christianity and Islam here today.
The human nature is such that merely theoretical ideas do not move our hearts and mind. Therefore, Islam not only stresses the correctness of ideas and beliefs but also stresses our deeds and practices and even what the modern world calls rituals. Today, I want to stress only three activities in the Muslim lives by quoting two verses of the Quran and I will conclude with that.
According to the Islamic teachings, Salat (five daily ritual prayers), fasting and Zikr e Ilahi, namely meditating on attributes of God constantly, embellish our God consciousness:
“Recite that which has been revealed to you (Muhammad) of the Book, and observe Salat. Surely, Salat restrains one from indecency and manifest evil, and Zikr e Ilahi indeed is the greatest virtue. And Allah knows what you do.” (6)
And:
“O ye who believe! fasting is prescribed for you, as it was prescribed for those before you, so that you may become God consciousness.” (7)
References
1. https://themuslimtimes.info/2020/09/09/nobel-prize-for-a-noble-woman-2/
2. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/tv/shows/the-story-of-god-with-morgan-freeman
5. The Holy Quran 35:28/29.
6. The Holy Quran 29:45/46.
7. The Holy Quran 2:183/184.
Categories: Abrahamic faiths, Atheism, Monotheism