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DADDY ! TELL ME ABOUT GOD by Shiekh Yusuf Estes
My own daughter asked me the question: Daddy, What Do We Believe About God? So, what do I say to a child? - Well, here is the dialog between my daughter and me: Mariam: Daddy, tell me - how we believe in Allah? Dad: umm - What do you mean? Mariam: Well, I mean some people say he is everywhere; and some say he is in a fight with the forces of evil, and some say he does not exist at all. So, I just wanted to know how do we know what is right? Dad: These are good questions. Mariam: Yes, but what are the answers? For the "Answers" you can go to our site at: www.GodAllah.com Dad: Well first of all, we have to use our common sense to understand there must be a "God" because of the obvious signs in the Creation of the Almighty Himself. There is no way all of the universe came about by any accident or exploding rocks and random chance. This is too easy for even the most simple mind to comprehend. It takes years of brain washing for anyone to come up with some of the theories we hear from so-called scientists. More about the scientifc proof of the existance of God "Allah" - visit: www.ScienceIslam.com Mariam: OK. That does make sense. Now how about the claim saying the devil is in a fight with God (Allah)? Dad: Again, using our common sense we recognize there can be only One God, otherwise there would be competition between any "gods" and this doesn't make any sense at all. Also, we know there is only One real Power in existance, and this is the Power of God (Allah) no doubt. This automatically means there is no fight between the good and the evil forces nor is there any struggle between "God and the Devil" as many groups of Christianity might claim. There is only One God and He does not share any of His Power with any of His Creation. As a Muslim we don’t accept some other things other religions might say about "God" (Allah), even though they claim it is in their "books" - Even some Muslims make some of the mistakes in beliefs. I would like to refer to something that we have on the internet at: http://www.godallah.com/ Mariam: What can we do when people ask so many questions about "God?" Dad: Give them answers with proof - to the correct belief and this is the beauty of Islam - we do have the proof. Mariam: Proof? What proof do we have? Dad: There are a number of proofs to show anyone there really is "God". The strongest proofs are found in the Quran and the hadeeths make it easier to show anyone desiring to know the truth. For Quran: www.AllahsQuran.com However, we don't need to begin with the teachings of the Quran or the hadeeths (teachings of Muhammad, peace be upon him). We can begin with good old common sense. So let me begin by telling you that there is a real popular question that a lot of people ask. They ask: "Where is God ?" - OK? - And these are the people who are trying to fool the muslims and trying to fool the believers by saying: "Where is God?" Dad: So what do you think most people say? Mariam: He is everywhere. Dad: Yes, this is what most people say. But guess what? In Islam, we don’t say that. Because, if we get into that, what do you think would happen next? If a person says everywhere, then the one who is against belief at all is going to say: “You mean everywhere like in the whole universe? And you’ll say Yes, everywhere. And then they’d say things like “you mean he is in the beauty of the sunset ?” and you’d say ‘Yeah’ and say ‘you mean like in the sweet smell of the roses ?’ and you’d say ‘Yeah’ “and in the soft white snow?” Yeah right ! “In the taste of the Fresh spring rain ?” ‘Yeah, Yeah that’s it he’s everywhere’. “Hmm hmm he is everywhere han ? You would say that God exists in every single molecule that there is ? You’d say ‘Yes Sir’. How about in us. Is Allah in us? God or whatever you call him. Is he in us? They would say, "Yes." They’d say, "Is there any place throughout the entire Universe that he does not exist?" You might say, "No Sir. There is nowhere in the universe that he does not exist in. He is everywhere." But now if you subscribe to this belief, you’ve got a problem. You know why ? Mariam: Why? Dad: Then they are going ask you, "You say he is everywhere, that means that he is also in the things that you don’t like. Would you say that God is in the diseases and Plaques? Would you say he’s in the AIDS Virus and the HIV? Would you say that ? Would you say he’s in Nuclear Radiation, Chemical Warfare, Poisonous Gases and Acid rain? Would you say that?" "No" They would go on asking things like, "What about Oil Spills, Chemical leaks, dying and Dead Animals, Decay? What about Trash? What about Garbage? What about waste? What about the Toilet? Are you gonna say something like this about your God? "NO" - Of course you wouldn’t. But now if you said the other things, then he’ll come back and say that you said he’s everywhere and now you’re saying that he is not everywhere. So then you’re gonna be stuck. Let's take a little bit of initiative here to find out what the true answer to this question is based on the teachings of Islam. Ready? OK. So lets let this now represent the Muslim or the Islamic perspective on the answer to where is God? The idea of God’s location or place immediately puts a non-Muslim mind to a test. He’s either said something like Well, God’s everywhere; He’s in his creation or he’s up on a cloud or he’s in heaven, wherever that is or it’s a mystery. Only through the teachings of Islam are we able to solve this age-old problem, and very quickly and simply at the same time. Allah, God Almighty says in the Holy Qur’an, the last revelation to Human beings. He says that he created the Heavens and the earth in 6 ‘youm’ or Periods of time and then he made "Ista’wa 'ala-alArsh"), He rose up over his throne and then he positioned himself there. He stationed himself there, in the manner that befits his Majesty. So that is where Allah is. He is above his throne. Then what about Allah being close to us? For instance in the Qur’an Allah (SWT) God Almighty also says that He’s as close to us as our jugular vain. Now this is very famous statement in the Qur’an, and we can understand what Allah means by this. He is close to us in his knowledge, he is close by his Understanding and there is nothing hidden except that he knows it. He knows all the hidden and all that is open. He is the seer and the knower of all things. So there is not a hair on an animal that he doesn’t know it exists. A feather on any Bird, a drop of water anywhere throughout the entire earth or a single molecule throughout the universe except that he knows it. He is everywhere in his hearing and his seeing and in his knowledge. And he is with us at all times in his what? In his ability. So that means that Allah (SWT)’s characteristics are what we’re talking about and not his presence. We don’t put Allah in the creation. Because if we put Allah in the creation, then we’ve got a BIG Problem. A BIG PROBLEM ! It means that if Allah is in the creation, he is a part of creation, then he must have been created with his creation. So who created him? This is another big Problem. Because if Allah is in the creation, He is a part of it, then that doesn’t make any sense. So Allah is no more in his creation, then a computer programmer is inside a program that he creates. Dad: Make Sense ? Mariam: Yes. Dad: In Islam we also know that Allah himself takes the prayer of the one who wakes up in the third part of the night and prays. And Allah says he personally takes his prayers and he comes down into the first Heaven. And again, this is in his seeing, hearing and ability. This is what we want to conceptualize. Not an actual physical presence of Allah. Allah says in the Qur’an: “Laysa kamithle-he shayin” and this clearly means that Allah is not like anything in his creation. He is not in his creation. He also says “Walam Yalid Walam Yulad” He is not the father of anything and he is not born. So you have to understand that as well. Allah is not in his creation at anytime and he remains over his throne and he’ll remain there until he comes back in the Last Day which is gonna be over in the judgment. So this is and at that stage, his throne would be carried by huge angels. The distance between their ear and their shoulder would be a 70 year journey. Those are huge angels that would be carrying the throne of Allah. NOT ALLAH ! - His throne! And he’ll be over it. So this is how we understand it as a Muslim. I would like to address another issue as well. There are those people who say Allah is up. And this is good. When we point our finger and say Allah is up. But we don’t mean he is up straight over our head, on top of the cloud. Because there are those, who, again are disbelievers who’ll bring you a question, they’ll say what if you point up right now, then 12 hours from now, where would you point because that’s a 180 degrees rotation of the earth. So if you’re pointing up, straight up right now, 12 hours from now, where would you point? This should be pointing down right? Because the point that you were at 12 hours ago, is on the opposite side of the earth. But yet we don’t mean that. We mean that we would always point up even if the earth rotates; we’re not going to change our direction of what we point. We always point up. It’s the nighttime or daytime; we mean what that Allah is up outside of his creation. So this is very clear and it doesn’t have anything to do with the physical presence of Allah. We don’t compare Allah in physical terms. We don’t mean for instance, Allah is in a certain place in his creation. Because if you say he’s here, ok then when is he going to go over there? And how come he’s only in this part and not in that part which we spoke of earlier? Then this is all talking like disbelievers really when we get into this kinda conversation. He is never in his creation and we never say he is up or he is down. We say he is Allah Ta’ala, He is Allah, most high. And high and exalted in his majesty and not like his creation, not a part of his creation, he is out of his creation. Got it? Mariam: Yes. Oh, tell me more! Dad: When you read what Allah says in the Qur’an, and this is in Surah-Al-A’raaf, Chapter 7, Verse 54: “Indeed your Lord is Allah, who created the Heavens and the Earth in 6 Youm (or periods of time) And then he rose over ‘Astawa’(the throne, the arsh) in a manner that befits his majesty. He brings the night and the cover over the day, seeking it rapidly. And he created the Sun, the Moon, the stars subjected all to his command. Surely, his is the creation and the commandment. Thus, it is Allah, the lord of the ‘Alameen, Mankind, Jinn and all that exists” Mariam: Ok, I see but can Allah be everything? Dad: This is another very good Question. Mariam: Ya but I, but, What is the answer? Dad (Laughs): Well, if you say it in the wrong way, this brings about a strange phenomenon. And I give you an example of this. The People that hate believers, the atheists, they don’t want to believe in anything. They’ve been using this particular question that I’m gonna give you just now for over thousands of years: The Greeks used to use it against the people who believed in those Gods at that time and they would say something like: “Do you believe in God” and you’d say “Yes”. “Can God do anything?” You’d say “Yeah God can do anything”. “Does God do everything?” “Yes, God does everything”. “ Can God, He can make a rock so big that nothing can move it?” What do you think you’d say What? Mariam: Yes Dad: Yeah, You’d say Yes, God can make anything like that. He’ll make a rock so big and they’ll say “Nothing can move it ever” What will you say? Mariam: Yes. Dad: Nothing ever can move it. Nothing’s gonna move it? Mariam: Yes. Dad: Ok. Then he’ll say “Even God can’t move it”? Mariam: Yes Dad: O - Oh! You’ve got a problem. If you say, "Yes," this means there is something God can’t do. He can’t move the Rock. Maybe you say Yeah, he can move it, then he’ll say Oh ! then he cant make a rock that nothing can move because he can still move it. And so he’ll say I thought you said that God can do anything and they’ll go, "Aaah, aah, aaah, But what?” They just admitted - God can’t do something. They said, "He can't make a rock so big that there is no way it can ever be moved - because; He would always be the One who can move it right? So then he’ll say from this, "We conclude that God doesn’t exist." (may Allah save us from such thinking, ameen) And you say, "Whoa, whoa, whoa! Hold on, Hold on! Just because of this silly statement, he’s going now to There’s no God? Hmm. Lets look into Islam and see what the answer is. We can go to the Internet on our site at: http://www.godallah.com/ and for Answers. What do we find? Well, First of all, the whole idea, the concept of Allah moving the rock is wrong from the beginning. Because this puts Allah in the creation and that is not acceptable, that is not teaching of Islam. Anytime Allah wants anything done, he does it by his Command! Not by using his arms or his legs. He says in his book: “Whenever Allah wants something, he merely says KUN FAYAKUN (Be and so it is)” So we try not to conceptualize Allah being like his creation. Like a man or a creature within His Creation and he’s trying to move a rock from one place to another. Allah does not get a lever and fulcrum and the force of energy to put underneath a matter and try to move it. Allah is able to do whatever he wills, but at the same time he never wills to do anything that would take him out of the status of being God. For instance, He never lies, He doesn’t cheat, doesn’t fool or any other things that Human get into. Because he is out of the creation. He’s not in it. This again, is trying to conceptualize God as within his creation and Allah says: “Allahu ‘Ala Kulli Shai in Qadeer” (Whatever Allah wills to do, he is able to do) Now, in order for this question to make any sense to the Muslim, it would have to be re-phrased from the beginning, that to be reworded. A better way to ask a question to a Muslim would be: Would Allah, God Almighty, create something so big, that nothing in his creation can move it? And then, the answer is simple: Yes, he can. Allah can make something so big, so dense, so immovable that nothing throughout all the creation could ever move it. Because Allah is not in his creation and if he wants to move it, Of course he could always come back and move it, whatever he wants to. So what does Allah say in the Qur’an now? “Say, He is Allah, the unique. (A’had). The one eternally sought after for sustenance throughout all creation. He is not born. Nor does he have any children or offspring. He is not like anything that he has created. He is unique.” This is called Surah-e-Ikhlas(Sincerity). http://www.godallah.com/ and take a look around and learn some more things about Islam, the beliefs of God, and Siyam, the beliefs and things for the Muslims to believe in. For instance, the Angels of Allah, the books of Allah, which, by the way, we believe in the original Bible. Did you know that? Mariam: No. Dad: As well as we believe in Prophet(Sallallahu ‘Alayhi Wa-Sallam), we believe in all the other Prophets. Right? Mariam: Yes. Dad: Okay. And also we believe in Allah’s Qadr. "Qadr" means that whatever He wills to do, as we just talked about, he can do it. But He never would do anything that would take him out of his status of being a God. He has already Planned for everything is going to happen and nothing happens except by His Plan. Some people will ask you, "But doesn't this mean you have not 'free will' of your own?" And then they will say, "And then how would it be fair to punish or reward someone for things that are not within their control anyway?" They consider this unfair and not possible. But in fact, this is the only real logical answer for why so many things happen the way they do. Allah has it all Planned out from the beginning, already Knowing in His Infinite Knowledge, exactly what we are thinking, feeling and doing all the time. He Knows and He Controls and there is no other who can know and control everthing. The concept of "free will" for us is not something being taught in Islam at all. We know only Allah, the Almighty is capable of such profound attributes and He does make everything happen according to His Perfect Knowledge and His Perfect Plan. We have the concept of "free choice" - not free will. This means we can't really make things happen the way we want. But we are always making choices. Allah Knows what we are thinking, and what we desire to happen at all times. So, we understand Allah Knows - and we don't know - the outcome of everything. Most important of all, we don't think of ourselves as being rewarded or punished for the outcome of things - that is always in the Hands of Allah. We know we are only going to be asked about our intentions and our desires. It is not what took place that we will be asked about - it is what we wanted to take place and what we did to contribute to the outcome. Mariam: Can you say that for me one more time - only a little be simpler? Dad: Sure. God Knows - and you don't know - what is going to happen. But God is not going to Judge you for the things that happened. He will Judge you for what it was you wanted to happnen. Now, is that better? Mariam: Much better. It does make perfect sense. Dad: We believe Allah will also cause all of us to be brought back to life on the Day of Resurrection for the Judgment. And we believe in what has been revealed by Allah unto his Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, and we believe that All comes from Allah and all returns to Allah. This is part of the belief of Muslim. And that’s it. So what do you say? Mariam: Thank you, daddy. Jazakallahu Khair. Dad: Wa Jazak. Mariam: Salamu ‘Alaykum. Dad: Wa’Alaykum Assalaam Wa Rahmatullah Wa Barakatuhu |
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