Seek Me

By: Shaista Khurshid, Calgary, Alberta

Say, "He is Allah, [who is] One, Allah, the Eternal Refuge (the absolute). He neither begets nor is born, Nor is there to Him any equivalent. Quran 112:1-4

Allah, God, Illah, the big one, The Creator, the one up there, the big guy, all are the names many different people identify someone or somewhere - the One who is controlling, creating, managing, or doing miracles for us. We ask Him favors, we thank Him for His blessings, we get angry with Him, we complain, and even curse Him for putting us through sufferings.

Whatever mood we are in, we recognise Him by our helplessness, hopelessness, or hopefulness. We try to find solace in the big guy up there. We might have some understanding about who this big guy is, though we aren't quite sure since no one has ever seen this big guy ever.

The concept of God is not new, it has been present throughout the ages. But, identifying Him as our deity was different in the past. As humanity progressed, some forgot and muddled the concept, and some kept worshipping one or more gods. The quest to know who God is, was always there.

We try to comprehend who He might be? We think: does He work alone, or does he needs helpers. Where does He live? Does He have a family? What is His gender? How does He create or manage it all, or does He? The more questions we ask, the more the concept of Tawhid (oneness of God) gets muddled, thus making people more confused.

The book of Allah is a connection of knowledge between our Creator and us. The first words revealed in the Quran were “Read! in the name of your Lord who has created you from a clot of blood.”

This book is urging us to know Him. This book is full of multiple identifiers which can help us to know Him correctly. Each identifier is unique in the sense that it can appeal to many intellectual capacities, to those who want to know him. Through His books and messengers, He revealed not only a set idea for exactly how to live our lives, but how to find Him as Him. He also wants us to worship Him with knowledge, revere Him with understanding, to know him the way He is. Not the way we think or want to think about Him. He wants us to look deeply and earnestly inside and outside the book and swap our assumptions with truth.

1. Allah -there is no deity except Him, the EverLiving,1

1(Whose life is perfect, complete, and eternal, without beginning or end, and through whom all created life originated and continues.)

2. The Self-Sustaining.2

2(Dependent on none for His existence while being the sustainer and administrator of all created existence.)

3. Neither drowsiness overtakes Him nor sleep.

4. To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth.

5. Who is it that can intercede with Him except by His permission?

6. He knows what is [presently] before them and what will be after them,3

3(Allah's knowledge encompasses every aspect of His creations in the past, present and future.)

7. And they encompass not a thing of His knowledge except for what He wills.

8. His Kursī extends over the heavens and the earth, and their preservation tires Him not.

9. And He is the Most High,5

5(Above all His creations and superior to them in essence, rank, and position.)

10. The Most Great.6

6 (Whose greatness is unlimited, beyond description or imagination.) (Quran 2:255)

The above Ayah shows some of the unique divine attributes of Allah. These attributes are powerful and unique in the sense that no one has any similarities to it. There are many many Ayahs which point directly towards Him and show how we should manifest him or see Him through our heart. It also shows us to worship Him with understanding about Him as He has manifested Himself in His books.

Action Item:

Some of us may study or glimpse through Allah's attributes, but it does not manifest in our hearts as it should. It also does not affect our minds, or show its power on our souls. Surely there is some misconnection here. Finding Him is a process which needs a deep dive into our souls. And worshiping Him is a much deeper dive into our soul.

When He says about Himself: (Allah - there is no deity except Him, the Ever-Living). What do we understand? Do we understand that there is no deity means we must clear our hearts of all powers we think may affect us and the only power or giver or God is Allah? Do we understand from words ‘everlasting’ that He is never going to perish and only His creations are mortal? When He says: (To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth). Does it give us an idea that no matter how strong, powerful, or rich anyone can be they cannot supersede Allah? When He utters: (and they encompass not a thing of His knowledge except for what He wills). Does a thought come to our minds that no matter how high we think someone is they do not have the ability to even encompass what Allah possesses whether it is Lordship or knowledge or more. And no -one can dare to take anything away from anyone from whom Allah does not want to or cannot give if Allah restrains them.

Has the time not come for those who have believed that their hearts should become humbly submissive at the remembrance of Allah and what has come down of the truth? And let them not be like those who were given the Scripture before, and a long period passed over them, so their hearts hardened; and many of them are defiantly disobedient. . Quran 57:16

This is just a little glimpse of how we can understand his Attributes. We should keep our minds and hearts open to Him and His words and see Him through His book and His signs that He has spread throughout this universe. Whether it is a change of seasons, the song of a bird, the revolving of the planets, seamlessly interwoven universe, or anthropology of lost nations - His attributes sprinkled throughout the Quran and His universe. If we passionately look for Him, surely, we will find Him.

Do they not see the birds above them with wings outspread and [sometimes] folded in? None holds them [aloft] except the Most Merciful. Indeed He is, of all things, Seeing. Quran 67:19

Quran Source:(Saheeh International)

Photo by Muhaimin Mohd on Unsplash