Who is Your God?
by unknown Author
Who Is Your God?
Most people are outraged upon hearing this question. "What do you mean, `Who is your god?' they ask, `My god is the Creator of the heavens and the earth.' " And most of these people will be shocked to find out that their proclamation that their god is the Creator of the heavens and the earth is no more than lip service, and that they are in fact destined for Hell (12:106).
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Your god is whoever or whatever occupies your mind most of the
time.
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Your god can be your children (7:190), your spouse (9:24), your
business (18:35), or your ego (25:43). This is why we note that
one of the most important and most repeated commandments in the
Quran is:
"O you who believe,
you shall remember God frequently;
glorify Him day and night." [33:41]
To put this commandment into practice, we must establish certain habits whereby we guarantee that God occupies our minds more than anything else. The Quran helps us establish such soul saving habits:
1. The Contact Prayers (Salat): those who observe the 5 daily prayers come a long way towards commemorating God a significant proportion of their waking hours. Salat helps us remember God not only during the few minutes of prayer, but also throughout the times of anticipation.
At 11:00 AM, one may look at his or her watch to see if the noon prayer is due yet. This act causes one to think about God, and one is credited accordingly (20:14).
2. Commemorate God before eating: Verse 6:121 enjoins us to mention God's name before we eat: "You shall not eat from that upon which God's name has not been mentioned."
3. God Willing (IN SHAA ALLAH): "You shall not say, `I will do this or that tomorrow,' without saying, `God willing' (IN SHAA ALLAH). If you forget to do this, then apologize and say, `May my Lord guide me to do better next time.'" [18:24]. This is a direct commandment that we must carry out, no matter who we are talking with.
4. God's Gift (MAA SHAA ALLAH): To invoke God's protection for our beloved objects - our children, our cars, our homes, etc. - We are enjoined in 18:39 to say "MAA SHAA ALLAH" (This is God's gift).
5. Glorify God day and night: When we eat anything, we shouldn't be like animals; we must reflect on God's creation of the food we are eating - the flavor, our enjoyment due to the senses God has given us, the perfect packaging of the banana or the orange, the varieties of sea foods created by God, etc. - and glorify Him as we enjoy His provisions. When we see a beautiful flower, or animal, or sunsets, we must glorify God. We must seize every possible opportunity to remember and glorify God, so that God may be our God.
6. First Utterance: Make it a habit to say: "In the name
of God Most Gracious, Most Merciful. There is no other god
besides God," the moment you wake up every morning. If you
establish this good habit, this is what you will utter when you
are resurrected.
Greatness of God
We learn from Verse 39:67 that God's greatness is far beyond
human comprehension - the verse states that all seven universes a
are "folded" within God's hand."
Supported by the Quran's formidable mathematical code, we are
taught that our universe is the smallest and innermost of seven
universes (41:12, 55:33, 67:5, & 72:8-12). Meanwhile, our
scientific advances have shown us that our galaxy, the Milky Way,
is 100,000 light years across, and that our universe contains a
billion such galaxies and a billion trillion stars, plus
countless decillions of heavenly bodies. Our universe is
estimated to span distances in excess of 20,000,000,000 light
years.
Count the Stars!
If we take only a quintillion [1,000,000,000,000,000,000] of the stars and simply count them [from 0 to quintillion] one count per second, day and night, this will take 32 billion years (more than the age of the universe). That is how long it will take to just "count" them; but God "created" them. Such is the greatness of God.
We can appreciate the vastness of our universe if we imagine a space odyssey. When we leave the planet Earth towards the sun, at the speed of light, we reach the sun after 93,000,000 miles and 8 minutes. It will take us more than 50,000 years at the speed of light to exit our galaxy. From the outer limit of the Milky Way, our planet Earth is invisible. Not even the most powerful telescope can detect our tiny "Earth."
We have to spend more than 2,000,000 years at the speed of light to reach our next-door galaxy. At least 10,000,000,000 years, at the speed of light, must be spent to reach the outer limit of our universe. From the outer limit of our universe, even the Milky Way is like a speck of dust in a large room.
The second universe surrounds our universe. The third universe is larger than the second, and so on. More accurately, our universe should be considered the seventh universe, surrounded by the sixth universe, which is surrounded by the fifth universe, and so on.
Can you imagine the vastness of the first, outermost universe? No number exists to describe the circumference of the first universe. This incomprehensible vastness is "within the fist of God's hand."
From the outer limit of the outermost universe, where is the planet Earth? How significant is it? On the infinitesimal mote called Earth, such minuscule creatures as Mary, Jesus, and Muhammad lived. Yet, some people set up these powerless humans as gods!
God's greatness is represented not only by the fact that He holds the seven universes in His hand, but also by the fact that He fully controls every atom, even subatomic components, everywhere in the greater universe (6:59, 10:61, & 34:3).