How much should we believe?

The central dilemma that every Muslim faces is how much should you believe?

After all whenever Allah t’ala reminds us of the centrality of prayer to our religion, He likewise reminds us of the requirement to give Charity (Zakah). 

Sacrifice is an essential requirement towards belief. And that in a nutshell is the dilemma that we each face, how much sacrifice is warranted through believing in something that is of the hidden World, that we cannot see, nor behold. 

Islam from outset has always been a rational religion, and we must believe that it is so in it’s entirety. 

But what does it mean for it to be rational and yet appeal to things that we cannot see?

For sure it promotes the acquisition of knowledge, contemplation of truth, and an unbiased application of rules. 

Within its corpus of knowledge, it is full to the brim with fathomless depth, without any contradiction. And it is this fullness that means that it has the answer to all questions that can be posed about it, including those of it’s very own limits. *1

So it should likewise point a way towards the resolution of this dilemma. 

How much should we believe?

The answer lies within a famous Hadith Qudsi, in which God says that if you go towards him a hands breadth He would come towards you and arms length and finishes that if you go towards God walking that He would come towards you running. 

That belief in God is responsive. 

And belief in God is tangible. 

Closeness (to God) is not a feeling, but it is far greater than that. 

Imagine how incredible belief is. 

That the weight of belief is far greater than anything that you could imagine. 

And that God created you (and the whole cosmos) for the sole purpose that you would be able to find Him and then realise that prayer to Him is something that is not just obligated and necessary, but more importantly is something incredibly beautiful. *2

And then He explained to us that true piety and righteousness is to believe in Him, and His angels and His books and His prophets and messengers that He has sent. 

That He is Al-Batin, the One that chooses to remain hidden, and az-Zahir the self evident One, whose reality is so obvious to those that think and ponder. 

And it is because He chooses to remain hidden, that necessitated the Angels as agents of His will. For He is the One, Qawiyyun Aziz, the mighty, the powerful and the One that intervenes. 

And He sends the Angels as Messengers to inform us of His intervention.  

(See Further Study) 

That is the reason that true belief is so precious  and so heavy. 

And that is why sacrifice is so central. 

And then the dilemma fulfils itself in that although belief is other-worldly, sacrifice cannot happen unless you are fully participatory within this World (Hayat ud-Dunya). 

That we each must feel the loss of sacrifice, otherwise it would not be a sacrifice. 

But when you know the reality of things then that is a small price. 

Only the Most Gracious can guide you on that path to fulfilment. 

And part of that path is to realise that struggle against oppression is likewise necessitated. For oppression is the kin of disbelief, whereas true freedom is the brother of belief. 

And the first struggle is with the Quran. 

Seeking to understand it within the light of your lives, allowing it to talk to you and then in responding to its speech.*3

How many of us prefer to be given the answers to that struggle? *4

How many would choose the hard path of not knowing, and then deliberating?

*Knowledge is sought through study and contemplation*

Not lectures, nor this above. 

*1 all things have limits, not least the religion. And not least belief. 

The religion is clear and is the 5 and our rituals. And any addition is a going astray. 

Belief is something much more precious and much more difficult, it is a journey and the guide on that journey is the Quran. 

*2 Another famous Hadith Qudsi. 

“I was a hidden treasure, and so I created that I might be known”. 

And to know that God is both moral and good, necessitated the creation of moral agents that have free will and the capacity to both. 

And then He sent Messengers and Prophets to guide us. 

And books to make us intelligent. 

*3 The current dominant school of thought present within the Muslim Nation is that the Quran is part of Allah t’ala Asma wa Sifaat (His Names and Attributes) and should not be over deliberated upon. 

This in clear contradiction to verses within the Quran that tell you to deliberate. 

*4 this is not Tafseer, which posits answers. But this is reflection, which is by far much greater. 

^FURTHER STUDY*

Contemplate S Hajj from the parable of the fly. 

Read it with Tarteel. 

Find a similar sounding passage in S Hadid (iron). 

Find that one verse in S Hadid that is ambiguous, may you be guided by the Most Gracious to discover its meaning (that is not written anywhere).