For many of us, faith is merely a navigational aid, a cognitive tool for dealing with a vast and bewildering world. We need it, but we rarely recognize it or give it its due. For AL-LAH, however, faith is a triumphant celebration of existence in all its glory, a resounding Yes to His Own handiwork: “And God saw every thing that He had made, and, behold, it was very good.” (Genesis 1:31) It bears not only the stamp of creation, of factual being, but also of truth or rightness (al-haqq), of valued and evaluated being:
AL-LAH created both the heavens and the earth with truth, and so that every soul might be requited for what it had earned, and that they not be wronged. (Q45:22)
وَخَلَقَ اللَّهُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالأَرْضَ بِالْحَقِّ وَلِتُجْزَى كُلُّ نَفْسٍ بِمَا كَسَبَتْ وَهُمْ لاَ يُظْلَمُونَ
The truth here is GOD’s Truth – not just the bare knowledge of the reductionists, but also Authenticity that is alive with ethical meaning, purpose, and validity – just so and justly so. When we call something true, we are not only making a statement of fact; we are also assigning a value to it. And for many, especially nowadays, Truth is the highest value of all. No wonder that AL-LAH says:
That is GOD, your Lord, the Truth. And what is there, besides the Truth, except misguidance? How have you been turned away? (Q10:32)
فَذَلِكُمْ اللَّهُ رَبُّكُمْ الْحَقُّ فَمَاذَا بَعْدَ الْحَقِّ إِلاَّ الضَّلاَلُ فَأَنَّا تُصْرَفُونَ
When AL-LAH creates, He creates by the Truth, namely by Himself. This act of creation is simultaneously an act of faith, affirming the truth of what He creates. Human faith is likewise creative in its fecundity and variety of expression, relying on experience and imagination as it expands into a domain rich in images and invention – the imaginal world.
By our wants, needs, thoughts, feelings, habits, and actions, each one of us is creating a nebulous facsimile that we call ‘the truth’, but which is really the sum total of our contributions to a realm of our own invention by our incessant affirmations of whatever we happen to believe.
O human! Truly you are working at a work towards your Lord, and you will meet it. (Q84:6)
اأَيُّهَا الإِنسَانُ إِنَّكَ كَادِحٌ إِلَى رَبِّكَ كَدْحًا فَمُلاَقِيهِ
Not one single thwarted desire, highest hope, worst fear, or dream-come-true of ours is lost. Every passing fancy, figure of speech, fictional masterpiece, and epic failure is recorded and stored for its intent and system of implicit values. Over the course of a lifetime, all that we made, obeyed, paid for, and prayed for enters the registry of faith.
The Book is laid in place, then you will see the sinners anxious over what there is in it and saying, “Woe to us, what is this book that does not leave a single matter, small or great, uncounted?” Their deeds they find presented, and your Lord does not wrong anyone. (Q18:49)
وَوُضِعَ الْكِتَابُ فَتَرَى الْمُجْرِمِينَ مُشْفِقِينَ مِمَّا فِيهِ وَيَقُولُونَ يَاوَيْلَتَنَا مَالِ هَذَا الْكِتَابِ لاَ يُغَادِرُ صَغِيرَةً وَلاَ كَبِيرَةً إِلاَّ أَحْصَاهَا وَوَجَدُوا مَا عَمِلُوا حَاضِرًا وَلاَ يَظْلِمُ رَبُّكَ أَحَدًا
Last-minute deletions and corrections are admitted, but actions, as always, speak louder than words. What we think and say about ourselves is only a small part of our final submission, while the makeshift collage that becomes ‘our’ truth – the truth about us, actually – tends to take on a life of its own. Suspended between an unfathomably detailed phenomenal reality (mulk) below and an inconceivably intense angelic realm (malakut) above, the twilight world of our creative faith is indeed magical . . . until it is dispelled by the Light of a wholly other Day.
No amount of mental effort or introspection can remove the faultiness of what we believe about GOD or any of the realms beyond our ken. We should pray, then, not for impossible accuracy, but for the simple sincerity and faith of the girl in this story:
From Mu’awayiatab-nil-Hakamis-Sulami, who said “A slave-girl of mine used to tend goats near Uhud and Al-Jawaniyah. I came upon her and found that a wolf had seized one of the goats. I am a son of Adam; I get upset like others. So I slapped her. The Messenger of AL-LAH (may GOD bless him and give him peace) thought that to be too hard. I asked, ‘Should I set her free?’ He replied, ‘Bring her to me.’ So I brought her to him. He asked her, ‘Where is AL-LAH?’ She said, ‘In heaven.’ He said, ‘Who am I?’ She replied, ‘You are the Messenger of AL-LAH.’ He said, ‘Set her free, for she is a believer.’” (Sunanu Abi Dawud, Book 2, Hadith 541)
عَنْ مُعَاوِيَةَ بْنِ الْحَكَمِ السُّلَمِيِّ، قَالَ جَارِيَةٌ لِي كَانَتْ تَرْعَى غُنَيْمَاتٍ قِبَلَ أُحُدٍ وَالْجَوَّانِيَّةِ إِذِ اطَّلَعْتُ عَلَيْهَا إِطْلاَعَةً فَإِذَا الذِّئْبُ قَدْ ذَهَبَ بِشَاةٍ مِنْهَا وَأَنَا مِنْ بَنِي آدَمَ آسَفُ كَمَا يَأْسَفُونَ لَكِنِّي صَكَكْتُهَا صَكَّةً فَعَظَّمَ ذَاكَ عَلَىَّ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم فَقُلْتُ أَفَلاَ أُعْتِقُهَا قَالَ ” ائْتِنِي بِهَا ” . قَالَ فَجِئْتُهُ بِهَا فَقَالَ ” أَيْنَ اللَّهُ ” . قَالَتْ فِي السَّمَاءِ . قَالَ ” مَنْ أَنَا ” . قَالَتْ أَنْتَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ . قَالَ ” أَعْتِقْهَا فَإِنَّهَا مُؤْمِنَةٌ
The GOD You Already Know 