REALIZATION OF GOD
Innate in Nature
MOSES was an Israelite prophet who is acknowledged in all the Abrahamic religions. He had the unique experience of conversing with God on Mount Sinai. According to the Quran, at that time Moses said: “My Lord, show Yourself to me so that I may look at You”. (7: 143)
Experience and analysis of human history and psychology show that every human being is born consciously or unconsciously with a desire to behold one’s Creator. Even the prophets are no exception to this desire. However, human eyes can only perceive another being or creation similar to oneself; to visually comprehend God directly is beyond human capabilities. For the direct observation of God in the present world, man will have to become another God and this is not possible for anyone, even if one is a prophet.
Experience and analysis of human history and psychology show that every human being is born consciously or unconsciously with a desire to behold one’s Creator.
In this matter, according to a tradition of the Prophet, someone asked Aisha (Prophet’s wife) if the Prophet Muhammad had ever seen God. Aisha replied, ‘I am bewildered by what you ask. Why do you persist with asking about this? Then she said whoever has said that the Prophet has seen his Lord has lied. Then she recited these verses of the Quran… No vision can grasp Him, but He takes in over all vision; He is the Subtle and Aware One. (6: 103)
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It is not granted to any human being that God should speak to him other than by revelation or from behind a veil. (42: 51)
The fact is that man cannot directly see his Creator. But it is also a fact that man can get the same kind of conviction of the existence of God through other models. This is through a model that may be called ‘conviction without observation’. This is the very same model with which one has conviction about one’s mother. Everyone has complete conviction in one’s mother despite not having witnessed or observed one’s birth from her womb. Although every child is born with eyes, during birth these eyes do not have the capacity to see anything.
The belief in one’s mother is a known model for every human. No one can deny this fact. In this model, every human being knows that a certain unique woman is his mother. This conviction arises from a model that is superior to any form of observational model. This is the model of ‘conviction without observation’ that gives such great conviction that every human being who is guided by nature will acknowledge it.
The truth is that this model is so entrenched in reality that a true believer who hears of it will be speechless with awe. Despite the presence of this model, any person who declares or demands that ‘if there is a God then show me that God’, is making a baseless and illogical demand. A true believer who hears this demand will be so shell shocked that he will have nothing more to say.