Answer
Asalamu Alaikum Quresh,
Thank you very much for contacting About Islam with your question.
One important point we need to understand in the first place is that the existence of God cannot be proven in the same way you prove the existence of a physical object.
This is simply because God is not a physical object.
Any physical object is subject to your five senses. In simple terms, you can see, hear, smell, touch, or taste a physical object. This is not possible in the case of God, as He Almighty is a Transcendental Being (existing on a level beyond our sensual perception).
There are people who argue that the only form of knowledge available to humans is experiential knowledge or experimental knowledge, gained primarily by the use of outer senses.
This led to the belief that human beings are constituted in such a way that the knowledge of reality is always unavailable to them; and so, it resulted in a renewal of attention to the everyday world of appearances.
The knowledge of here and now became the only object of human knowledge and concern. Thus from this point of view, the project of seeking knowledge of reality behind appearances must be abandoned, because it is beyond the scope of human understanding.
Another Way of Thinking
Now think: can’t there be a way of “being” (existing), that is not susceptible of being perceived by the limited capabilities of humans through their defective senses?
I hope that the implications of the two expressions I used above (‘limited capabilities’ and ‘defective senses’) are evident to any thinking person. The claim that something does not exist, because you haven’t seen or heard it, etc. is untenable.
When we consider the limitations of our sensual perception and of our reasoning powers, it is not necessary that we understand everything. We can speak meaningfully about everything simply on the basis of our perception.
So, to speak of “proof” with regard to a Transcendental Being becomes irrelevant.
What we can do is to point out facts which lead to a constant and inescapable awareness of the presence of God.
Are Humans Machines?
It is clear that logically we cannot rule out the possibility of more things existing than can be perceived by our senses or can be arrived at by our reasoning. As for the human, there are two dimensions to his or her existence: one of matter and the other of spirit.
Reduced merely to the level of material existence, humans become a machine, or a mere animal at best. But think of a machine that rebels against being a machine; or of an animal that refuses to be an animal.
That is what the human is! What is it that makes him or her rebellious, angry, disappointed, frightened or hopeful? What is his or her dimension that gives him or her imagination, artistic genius, creative urge? Why does he or she have nightmares and sweet dreams?
It is not matter that does it; evidently it is his or her spirit that makes him or her so different from animals.
So, to base our knowledge of the world and our philosophy of life simply on the material side of our existence to the complete exclusion of the spiritual dimension, is undoubtedly faulty.
The Spiritual Dimension
The strength of Islam as a philosophy and as a way of life is that it does not separate the human being’s material life from spiritual life, and that it seeks a balance between the two dimensions of human existence.
We should understand that the human spirit is a reality incommensurable with material realities, and that it owes its existence only to God.
Thus, dear brother, if we ponder over the phenomena of the world around us and over the complexities of our own existence, we are bound to conclude that God is the Reality behind all appearances. The Holy Quran says:
{Behold! in the creation of the heavens and the earth; in the alternation of the night and the day; in the sailing of the ships through the ocean for the profit of mankind; in the rain which God Sends down from the skies, and the life which He gives therewith to an earth that is dead; in the beasts of all kinds that He scatters through the earth; in the change of the winds, and the clouds which they Trail like their slaves between the sky and the earth;- [Here] indeed are signs for a people that are wise.} (Quran 2:164)
That is to say the external signs we see in the universe should necessarily lead a wise person to the Ultimate Reality behind it all. And that is how we arrive at the realization that Allah Almighty is the Moving Power behind all life and all existence.
And Allah knows best.
Thank you again for your question and please keep in touch.
Salam.
(From Ask About Islam archive)
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