By: Raya Shokatfard
Everyone is the best judge of their own intentions and motives.
But there is one much higher than the self from whom nothing is hidden! That is our Creator!
There are those who use any reason, excuse, blame, logic, philosophy and intellect to avoid surrendering to the Lord of the Worlds. Yet they know full well that there is really no escape from the reality of God’s existence and warnings.
Over the years of writing, consulting and reading about skeptics as well as hearing them in person, I only have one thing to say and ask: Each day we are one day closer to death, is it not time to take life more seriously and take a deeper look at our own existence and leave out excuses?
{And the Hour is coming without any doubt, and Allah will raise up all those in the graves.} (Al-Hajj 22: 7)
After all, our life in this world is a test and our death marks the end of our chance to attain faith and superior actions.
{He Who created death and life to test which of you is best in action. He is the Almighty, the Ever-Forgiving.} (Al-Mulk 67: 2)
The excuses of the skeptic are only temporary scrape from the true reality of purpose of one’s existence.
Who created us?
Why?
Yes, you may be among the ones who may say God created us, but He just created everything and left everything alone and washed His hands off the creation.
Well, if you believe this way, you are surely a “deist,” meaning one who believes in the existence of God, but has no personal relationship with Him – whereas the “theist” is one who not only believes in the existence of God but also has a personal relationship with Him.
This could be one from any religion or even no religion. One could believe that his god is the tree, the stone, the statue or a saint. But he is devoted and reaches out to this god to answer his supplications and needs.
In the case of “deist,” there is no such connection.
Why May We Ask?
The answer may vary from one person to another, but one thing may be a close guess: Resistance to Surrender!
Such person will use any and all excuses in order to avoid something which if it does not happen in this world, it will surely happen in the Day of Judgment – a full surrender to God!
In the Arabic language a person who fully submits to Allah, is called a Muslim, the root word of which is (silm) and thus Muslims believe all Prophets were Muslims, meaning they fully submitted to the Creator.
{… All who submit themselves completely to Allah and are good-doers will find their reward with their Lord. They will feel no fear and know no sorrow.} (Al-Baqarah 2: 112)
Islam as the final religion invites all mankind to surrender and accept this religion of truth.
Have you taken any serious time to read and understand the Quran…
In case of a skeptic it is even more important he/she takes this matter very seriously and give it full attention. Excuses are temporary escape but the uncertainty is man’s worst enemy.
Let us examine some of the excuses of the skeptic here
If God wants me to believe, let him send me a miracle
If I practice Islam, I will lose friends
If I practice Islam, I would have to give up fun
I know God exists, He just created everything but He really does not care
I am just this way because my parents abused me
I actually believe religion is a device to control
And many more to pass 100 more excuses…
Let Us Ask a Series of Questions:
Are there any particular topics that you are interested in and would like to read books about?
Have you ever had to take a school or university course that obliged you to read a series of books whether you liked them or not?
Have you had to read a work manual in order to function properly?
Did you ever pick up a book of poetry you were interested in and read it over and over again?
Do you have a count of number of books you have read in your life so far?
Now let us ask you one final question:
Have you taken any serious time to read and understand the Quran, the book of Revelation believed to be the only uncorrupted Divine revelation?
It may be nearly impossible for a person to truly understand this magnificent Book of Wisdom and be able to turn away.
Of course speed reading any book does not affect the heart. One must first ascertain that they are reading the Creator’s own words revealed to man. Next one must have a sincere intention to learn and understand His word instead of picking verses that they can use for more excuses.
In fact it is best if the skeptic spent plenty of time to research the revelation and the compilation of the Quran prior to diving into reading it.
Monotheism at its best and purest – that was Islam!
My very own experience was exactly this. After adhering to most major religions of the world and walking away disappointed in seeing how creation turned to creation to worship as God or made up some deity to worship, I turned to Islam when I found it to be the only true and perfect religion that had zero tolerance for any idol worship of any kind. Monotheism at its best and purest – that was Islam!
But, I wondered how is it that Christians believed that the Bible was the word of God as did the Muslims about the Quran! Yet, there were so many inconsistencies in Christian belief when it comes to the worship of the Creator. Was Jesus God himself?
This turned me to in-depth research of the compilation of these books, only to find that the Quran is with full certainty the only uncorrupted revealed book.
Tricks of the Mind
Dear reader, please stop your mind from misleading you any further. You owe it to yourself to read the link above which proves the authenticity of the Quran. You also need to read and understand the prophethood of Muhammad.
Your time is well spent doing the initial research before you even start reading the Quran. It is only through conviction that your heart may be affected.
Once you have more certainty that Prophet Muhammad was a true Prophet of God; the message he brought was a continuation of the messages of all prophets, but with more perfection and completion, then you will have a different relationship with this great man/Prophet.
This goes hand in hand with having a full conviction about the authenticity and certainty that the Quran is God’s own word.
If you only knew the magnificence of this divine revelation and knew how powerful and majestic it is, you would not waste any time but would want to know all about the wisdom and commandments in it. Allah gives us a glimpse here:
{Had We sent down this Quran on a mountain, verily, thou wouldst have seen it humble itself and cleave asunder for fear of Allah. Such are the similitude’s which We propound to men, that they may reflect.} (Al-Hashr 59 : 21)
Allah only speaks the truth. The more you ponder on this verse and others similar to it, the more you are keen to leap forward for better understanding.
Once you reach this state, then most likely all your questions will be answered. The Creator Himself is the best to respond to you, as He already has for those before you who had similar doubts or questions. (22 : 54)
To express opinions and doubts about Allah, the Quran and the religion of Islam does one no good if they do not exert to know the Creator and build a personal relationship with Him.
A scholar was once asked, why are my supplications not answer
“Because you do not know who you are supplicating to!” He answered.
Surely you would prefer to be a believer than a disbeliever! Yes?
OK, here is what Allah wants you to know:
{O you who believe! Heed Allah, and let each self look to what it has sent forward for tomorrow. Heed Allah. Allah is aware of what you do. Do not be like those who forgot Allah so He made them forget themselves. Such people are the deviators.} (59:18-9; 57:16; 6:12; 39:54-60)
Lastly, please do not despair for the state that you are in. The fact that you are reading this article is an indication that a part of you is curious and searching.
You are now on the right road to gaining peace of mind and by the will of Allah to come to full submission to the Lord of the Worlds.
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Published on: Friday, 17 January 2014
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