Episode 14 - God Is Unseen. Does That Mean His Existence Is Uncertain?
Greetings.
Introduction: The Misconception of the Unseen
Among the dangerous misconceptions is the idea that faith being about the unseen means it is something uncertain, not definite, highly probable but you can't say 100%. They tell you: no one can be certain about the truth of what they have and the falsehood of the other side because it is unseen in the end.
And you see those who apply this even to the greatest matter, to the existence of God Almighty, and say: faith is believing in something without having all the decisive and conclusive evidence for it. Faith needs a "leap of faith," meaning a leap of faith into something that cannot be proven categorically. Faith needs this brave leap into the void.
And such statements make faith in the existence of God and the unseen in general a matter of intuition, conjecture, not something categorical and certain. They make it a matter of mere assumption, with a high probability but not 100%. Is faith in the existence of God really like this in the Islamic system?
Faith in the Existence of God: Certainty Without Doubt
No, certainty. Rather, faith in the existence of God is faith in what the evidence conclusively and decisively points to, leaving no room for doubt or hesitation. And the fact that it is unseen does not mean that one cannot be certain about it. Unseen does not equal ambiguous or obscure, nor does it mean that faith in God is a purely emotional, submissive position, but it is a position of evidence, inference, innate, rational.
Faith in the existence of God is faith that reason and innate nature point to, without preventing you from the disease of the heart or following whims. And it is strange that this matter, which is the first of the axioms of Islam, is not clear to some who seek to combat atheism.
If faith in God among some followers of other religions has been mixed with a distorted image of God Almighty and His attributes, which made the followers of these religions need to jump into the void and submit without relying on reason, then we do not need it in Islam, praise be to God.
This episode is for Muslims, and it is also for those who doubt and may think that we are calling them to emotional, submissive, intuitive faith, but we are calling them to an innate, rational, proven faith. And the submission that we call people to is not in the matter of the existence of God, submission is not here, but submission is in matters in the details of Islam built on innate, rational, proven faith.
Quranic Evidence for the Obviousness of God's Existence
The Verse of Al-Hujurat: Faith Without Doubt
The Quran we call to says: "The believers are only those who have believed in Allah and His Messenger and then do not doubt" [Al-Hujurat:15]. Meaning, they believed in a faith that includes firm conviction without any doubt, not a mere assumption, nor a tentative faith, nor an arbitrary faith, believing thus although we see that the evidence for the existence of God is not conclusive.
God is the Truth
But the Islamic system states that the existence of God Almighty is the greatest truth, indeed God Himself is the truth "That is because Allah is the Truth, and what they call upon other than Him is falsehood" [Luqman:30].
And because of the obviousness of the existence of God Almighty, the Quran does not make this issue the focus of its evidence and discussions, but rather it proves something beyond mere existence, such as the oneness of God and His attributes. As for existence itself, it is a settled matter.
The Verse of Ibrahim: Is There Any Doubt in God?
"His messengers said, 'Is there any doubt about Allah, the Creator of the heavens and the earth?'" [Ibrahim:10]. A verse that includes the innate evidence and the rational evidence. Is there any doubt in God? Meaning, is there any doubt in His existence? Or is there any doubt in His oneness? For His existence and oneness are innate matters implanted in the soul, in which there is no doubt. And the rational proof is that He is the Creator of the heavens and the earth, so everything in the universe points to the existence of the Creator for the sound-minded and pure-hearted.
The Dialogue of Musa and Pharaoh
In Musa's argument with Pharaoh: "Pharaoh said, 'And what is the Lord of the worlds?'" [Al-Shu'ara:23]. "He said, 'Lord of the heavens and the earth and what is between them, if you are certain.'" [Al-Shu'ara:24]. Meaning, by looking at these creatures, the Lord of the worlds is more known to be affirmed and more evident to be doubted. If you are certain, meaning if you are people of certainty in anything, then certainty in this Lord is more than any certainty. And if you say we have no certainty in anything, then you are liars, for every human must have certainty in necessary, obvious matters.
Until Pharaoh said: "Indeed, your messenger who has been sent to you is mad." [Al-Shu'ara:27]. Musa responded: "Lord of the east and the west and what is between them; if you understand." [Al-Shu'ara:28]. Meaning, if you deny God, then you are more deserving of being described as mad because you have been deprived of the beneficial mind. What is the mind? It is, in essence, necessary sciences such as the principle of causality, which points to the Creator, glorified and exalted be He. If you have certainty, you know God. And if you have a mind, you know God.
The Verses of Al-Jathiyah: Certainty and Reason
In the same vein, consider the beginning of Surah Al-Jathiyah: "Indeed, within the heavens and the earth are signs for the believers." [Al-Jathiyah:3] "And within your creation and what He spreads of creatures are signs for a people who are certain." [Al-Jathiyah:4] "And the alternation of the night and the day and what Allah sends down from the sky of provision with which He gives life to the earth after its lifelessness and the turning of the winds are signs for a people who reason." [Al-Jathiyah:5] "These are the signs of Allah which We convey to you in truth. Then in what statement after Allah and His signs will they believe?" [Al-Jathiyah:6]
The same concepts that are in the dialogue of Musa with Pharaoh: "they are certain" so the one who has certainty is more deserving of certainty in God and His cosmic signs. "They reason" so the one who has reason will not deny his Lord and will not have a problem in believing in the unseen. At that point, "Then in what statement after Allah and His signs will they believe?" [Al-Jathiyah:6]. So the one who does not believe in Allah and His cosmic signs despite their clear appearance is more deserving of not believing in anything, because Allah and His signs are the most apparent that a human can believe in.
"And within yourselves. Then do you not see?" [Adh-Dhariyat:21] "Signs for a people who listen." [Yunus:67]
So the one who does not believe in Allah is as if he does not see, hear, feel, or reason.
Conclusion: The Decisive Argument
And He, the Most High, said: "Say, then to Allah belongs the conclusive argument. So if He willed, He would have guided you all." [Al-An'am:149]. To Allah belongs the argument that indicates the truth of His speech conclusively, meaning reaching what it intended for, which is to overcome the opponent and nullify his argument. All of this is in proving the attributes of Allah, His oneness, and the details of His religion, so how about proving the existence of Allah Himself? Is it not the first certainty? And the most deserving of certainty?
In the upcoming episodes, with the permission of God, we will increase the explanation of why the existence of God is more deserving of obviousness of reason.
Peace be upon you and the mercy of God.