The great efforts; whose comprehension falls short, whose knowledge fails to encompass the scholars’ wisdom, whose exalters are powerless to praise it; Those who attempt to measure His blessings cannot even calculate them; those who strive through worship cannot possibly repay Him; sharp minds cannot fully comprehend Him; praise be to Allah, whose attributes have no limits, whose time is not numbered, and whose duration is endless.

Despite perceiving with five senses, humans see, hear, or think of the universe as limited. Everything they see and hear in the universe is 5/1,000,000 of the whole. For example, they cannot hear the sound the world makes as it rotates. Nor can they see the microbe that makes them sick. The reason we are created with limited perception is that we are programmed to perceive only those things that can be included in the test of the hereafter. Allah (()  (celle)  (celalu)  (hu))  knows best.

This means that the human range of sight and hearing is very small compared to what actually exists. The ignorance of those who ask such questions stems from limiting themselves to information that fits their own understanding, rather than the actual existence of one in five million. However, our ability to understand a piece of information does not mean that we fully comprehend it in every aspect.

For example, it is known that, on average, a galaxy contains 250,000,000,000 (two hundred and fifty billion) planets, and that there are 300,000,000,000 (three hundred billion) galaxies containing planets. Now, beyond these galaxies that fill our comprehension, how and from where can we have knowledge about the qualities and quantities of Allah, who revolves all these universes and spaces? Even if we traveled trillions of years away at the speed of light (300,000 km/s) and piled up everything we saw, would it still amount to a speck compared to His existence? Those who ask the question, “Why can’t we see Him?” by attempting to know God in His essence and adding a scientific dimension to it, are unfortunate souls who have not been able to break the pride of their egos and do not even understand what inner contemplation is ( ). Those who think this way, even if they go into space in the name of science, accept existence as limited to their own understanding, like the well-known astronaut who said, “There was no one else in space but me,” referring to God. In fact, with this statement, they reveal their misguidance in the name of religion, science, and philosophy. But not only in this respect. Man can only comprehend everything through its opposite. He cannot comprehend that which has no opposite.

For example, one perceives writing on a blackboard only if it is written in white or a similar color. If the words are written in black on a blackboard, the writing cannot be distinguished. Everything, such as dark-light, cold-hot, good-bad, unbeliever-believer, rich-poor, right-wrong, etc., can only be perceived when the knowledge of its opposite exists.

Allah (swt) has gathered all His opposite attributes in His divine essence. He is the One who gives life as well as death. He is the One who leads astray as well as guides. In order for His divinity to be known, He has established the foundation of Islam as “La Ilaha Illa Allah” and commanded that it be said, “There is no god but Allah.” In order for us to progress towards this realization, He first required us to state in the Shahada that He is a servant (abduhu) like us, and then, as a result of accepting him as a Messenger for his faithful servants to follow as an example, He added “Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah” to the Kalima-e-Tawhid.  

“Indeed, in the Messenger of Allah there is a beautiful example for those who hope for Allah and the Last Day,

and those who remember Allah frequently.” (33:21)

In the Holy Qur’an, when Musa (peace be uponhim)requested, “My Lord, show Yourself to me so that I may see You,“ Allah (ExaltedbeHe)replied, “You cannot see Me, but look at this mountain; if it remains in its place, you will see Me.” Then, when his Lord manifested Himself to the mountain, He destroyed it, and Moses fell unconscious. When he came to himself, he said, “Glory be to You! I repent and turn to You, and I am the first of the believers.” (7:143)

Let those who describe Allah know that they associate Him with that which they describe Him as. And whatever they describe Him as, they associate Him with that, thus making Him dual. Those who make Him dual have not known Him, have not united Him. They draw a boundary as if He were in a certain direction. By drawing a boundary, one counts Him among countable things. By asking, “Where?” one has confined Him within something. Allah is Samed. Every being is in need of Him, He is in need of nothing, He is the only being to whom one can turn for help. (112/2) He begot no son, nor was He born. (112/3) Nothing is comparable or similar to Him. (112/4) He exists without any creation and is present without any absence. He is with everything without being united with it. For example, where three people are talking secretly, the fourth is surely Him. (58/7) He is distinct from everything without being separate from it. He created creatures for the first time without having thought about it, without having benefited from experience, without having initiated a movement or hesitation. Because He created all beings at the right time, He resolved the contradictions between their differences. He created the nature, character, and disposition of each being and bestowed upon them their unique mold. He knows everything about His creatures, both what they reveal and what they conceal.

After all these explanations, it should be understood that Allah (cellecelaluhu) is completely distinct from the reality and relativity of the things He created. He is beyond all our perceptions in a world of perception that we cannot know and that causes us to think in limited ways. It is not possible to know or see the truth of His essence.

As for knowing His existence, the basis of Islam is to know Allah, and its goal is to direct every action and movement towards gaining His pleasure. Knowing Allah and affirming His existence is possible through unity. The pinnacle of unity can be reached in the absolute sense by connecting to Him with sincerity. The verse Kul hüvallâhü ehad (112/1) in the Surah Ihlas expresses this truth. Because He is unique in His essence. There is nothing He is accustomed to or has acquired as a habit that He would grieve over losing or losing. All existence is dependent on Him. He creates everything, everything comes from Him, and everything returns to Him. Hell is the name for existence without Him in this world and the Hereafter, while Paradise is the name for existence with Him, as it is a state beyond all else.

Let us make the awareness of His existence more understandable with an example.

Imagine you are sitting at home with a friend when the postman rings your doorbell to deliver a notice. With the ringing of the bell, you begin to discuss who it might be. Your friend says, “It’s so-and-so.” This is called imagining. You respond to his opinion by saying, “The mind has no power to imagine in this situation,” and then add, “We cannot know who it is just by the knocking on the door. What comes to mind is simply accepting that someone is behind the door. The best thing to do is to ask the person knocking on the door who they are.” This is called reasoning, or thinking.

Just as this example expresses, Allah (cellecelaluhu)says to the one who imagines, “I am as my servant thinks I am.” To the one who reasons, He shows the way by looking at His words as He has introduced Himself. Those who deny the truth by fleeing from it in order to reject the warning will never believe without seeing His existence. However, those who use their intellect will strive to know Allah by ascending from His creations to His names, from His names to His attributes, and from His attributes to the manifestation of His essence, and they will believe without seeing. They are the ones who believe in the unseen (2/3).

In this case, those who ignore the one knocking at the door, accepting the knocking as mere conjecture, will also deny the reason for the Postman’s arrival and will have to accept the punishment or consequence of the notification. Those who read the notification will not only form an opinion about who left it without feeling the need to see who it was, but will also learn what they must do for themselves from the content of the message.

Regarding the essence of Allah (cellecelaluhu), the Messenger of Allah (()sallallahualeyhi vesellem)) stated, “Allah is far removed from everything that comes to mind.” Regarding the conception of Allah, it is narrated that a hadith qudsi states the following. “Allah the Exalted said: ‘I am as my servant thinks I am.'” (Bukhari, Tawhid 35, Muslim, Dhikr 1, Tirmidhi, Zuhd 51)

İlhan TOSUN

                                                                                   With greetings and prayers