THE GREATNESS OF GOD
Faith of a Believer
DISCOVERY of God is the foundation of faith. The higher the
discovery, the higher is the faith. The culmination of this
discovery is the discovery of God with all His glory. When a
person discovers God with all His greatness, he is in a state of awe
which the Quran describes in the following words:
‘True believers are those whose hearts tremble with awe at the
mention of God.’ (8: 2)
Modern astronomy has a positive contribution in this regard. It has provided a framework to discover the unimaginable greatness and glory of the Creator. With the help of this framework, a man can bring into his imagination the concept of God’s indescribable greatness.
Realization of God leads man to acknowledge his limitations while, on the other hand, he discovers the limitlessness of God. The thrilling state which is produced within man as a result of this discovery is called realization of God.
Modern science has studied astronomy for many centuries. In 1508, the telescope was invented. For the first time, in 1609 the Italian scientist Galileo observed space through a telescope. This observation of the heavens progressed continuously. Earlier, large astronomical telescopes were set up on some remote mountaintops taking advantage of the clear skies and the lack of atmospheric and light pollution. Today is the age of ‘space science’. Now, man has established space observatories and telescopes, for example, Hubble Space Telescope that was launched into low Earth orbit in 1990. With this technology, it has become possible to observe distant planets and galaxies in the far reaches of the universe. Such observations have established that the universe is constantly expanding at an increasing rate. These discoveries present a new horizon in the knowledge of man that conceptualizes the greatness and glory of God. Scientific discoveries have truly enlarged the canvas of God-realization.
In this regard, a few years ago, astronomers discovered what they say is the biggest ever black hole which weighs the same as 6.8 billion suns. Speaking about the discovery, one of the astronomers said: “This black hole could swallow our solar system whole.”
According to the scientists, the black hole, and the galaxy hosting it, which is a huge blob of stars known as M87, is as large as the orbit of Neptune and by far the largest and most distant galaxy in the nearby universe. As a point of comparison, the black hole at the centre of the Milky Way is 1,000 times smaller than this one which has been observed some 50 million light years away.
A black hole is a region of space from which nothing, not even light, can escape. It is the result of the deformation of spacetime caused by a very compact mass.
When such facts as these come to light, they serve as great treasure troves for God-realization. These events tell us of the greatness of God’s power to an unimaginable extent. To the one who thinks seriously about these scientific discoveries, his heart will tremble at the glory of God and the hairs on his body will stand on their ends.
These facts remind man of his state of extreme helplessness and the state of omnipotence of God. To ponder upon such discoveries which reveals a treasure trove provided by the universe acts as great stimulus and support to attain a higher realization of God.
Realization of God leads man to acknowledge his limitations while, on the other hand, he discovers the limitlessness of God. The thrilling state which is produced within man as a result of this discovery is called realization of God. Whoever attains this realization of God, for him it is as if the gates of blissfulness have been opened in this world as well as in the Hereafter. Fortunate is the man of whom it will be said in the Hereafter: ‘Enter Paradise from whichever of the gates you like. After today there is neither fear for you nor any grief’.