Relating

Whatever our outward display of our relationship with God,

in conformity with communal requirements of public behaviour,

socially following family traditions,

or imposed by political force,

when it comes down to it the most important aspect of our relationship with God

is inevitably and essentially our inner connection,

how we relate personally, individually,

to our personal, individual Creator,

also the Creator of the heavens and the earth.

How often are you aware of God,

knowing that God is the Aware, and constantly aware of you?

Is God a part of all your decisions?

We are told that even though we can't see God,

we should know that God sees us all the time.

Seeing and hearing are divine attributes we share with our Creator.

Being able to see means that wherever we look

we can see God's Face.

The important thing is not the looking but the seeing.

But for some reason it seems that this isn't so easy,

and throughout the Qur'an it often tells

of how most people will disagree with you.

Take Sura 40.57-65,

where in the space of a few ayats we are told that most of humankind

do not know,

do not believe,

and are not thankful.

Why are things so unbalanced?

Perhaps it is just the case that each of us is different,

each has their own way to follow,

and each sees the world in their own way.

As we make our life choices, what matters is not

whether most of humankind agrees with us,

but the opinion of our Maker.

And the Creation may be in balance, but all are not created equal,

and those who believe and do good deeds are compared to those who see,

while those who do wrong are blind.

And we need to be able to see

because the Hour of Judgement is coming.

Then our Liege says 'call upon Me and I will answer you',

making clear that when we hear that language inside of us

we can use it to communicate with our God,

but that requires humility on our part,

and a happiness to serve,

knowing that pride leads to the fire.

We can see God in our lives,

the night made for our rest,

the day for seeing,

the earth as a fixed place,

heaven as a canopy,

and all the good things we have been provided.

We live our lives on this earth and we die,

but God is the Living, everlasting life, and to [Hu] we return,

and we are told we can see and hear and live God's way of life

by opening our hearts

in the grateful praise that belongs to God,

the Liege of all the worlds.

From start to finish the Qur'an discusses our relationship with God,

from the Name of God that begins it

to humankind at its end.

Take the end of Ya Sin,

Sura 36.77-83,

which points out that people so easily forget their own creation from a smear of liquid,

and refuse even to recognise their dependence on a Creator.

So they arrogantly deny the possibility of decayed bones being returned to life,

not remembering that life was given to them in the first place.

Qur'an reminds us that the plant life that we eat for food energy also dies,

only to be reinvigorated by transformation into fire,

a source of energy from outside ourselves.

The green plant does not even need to die first,

as many think that it describes the olive tree,

the fruit of which provides oil that burns to give heat and light.

And all the power and energy of the universe was created by God,

who created heaven and earth and can make the like of them again.

God's command when Hu wants something is simply to say

'Be'

and it is.

So the Creation is God's Word,

and the creative act is compared to the human faculty of speech,

using sound to communicate understanding.

But when humans experience the universe around them

they can be tempted to mistake the creation for the Creator.

As well that we are reminded that glory is for God,

because nothing can compare to God's glory.

But at the same time

we form our understanding of glory

in the creation,

so what we think of as truly glorious is just a glimpse of the Divine.

Then, with the mention of God's hand,

once again God self-describes in human terms.

Clearly what we mean by the word 'hand' in this everyday world

is inapplicable to the Creator of the universe,

but we infer meanings to the word

that don't rely on size or shape.

A hand is what we use to do things,

to manipulate things over which we have control,

and Qur'an says that in God's hand is the rule over everything.

There is nothing that God does not have under control,

and to Hu we shall be returned.

So as part of God's Creation we are under God's control,

yet within that Creation we have free will.

In Sura 18.29-31 that is made obvious

when we are told that belief is an act of will,

a choice,

but the fact that the choice is available

does not mean that it is permissible.

We are told in stark terms what we are choosing

if we make the choice to disbelieve,

But those who disbelieve don't believe it.

And along with no belief in the Afterlife

goes no belief in God

and gratitude for this life.

And no Afterlife means no justice for what is done in this life,

so no repercussions for whatever you can get away with.

But the ayat clearly links punishment

not just with what you think, but what you do.

In the same way that the rewards of Paradise

are linked not just with belief, but with good deeds.

Thoughts initiate within, but deeds affect the world beyond us.

We express what we believe in our way of life.

Of course

the usual ayat of recourse with regard to free will is Sura 2.256,

right after Ayat-ul-Kursi.

And there it is said quite specifically

that no-one can be forced to follow the Deen,

the right way of life.

Free Will is a necessary part of the system,

like a filter separating coarse from fine

We are taught the difference between right and wrong,

truth and error,

and it is explained how our choices in life determine our destiny.

Then we are free to choose whether we believe it.

With belief in God we keep a firm grip on

the essential and fundamental truth of creation

that can only be recognised by an act of faith,

a choice to believe.

With that, the human view of the creation changes,

as they make a connection with their Creator,

the One God,

the All-Hearing and All-Knowing.

And this link extends as far as we can perceive in the world around us,

as well as the world that we experience within.

There is nowhere this inner link with God,

this inner relationship,

is given more awesome expression than in Qaf,

Sura 50.16.

Here we are first reminded of our created nature,

then told how God knows what our souls whisper inside us,

the scattered thoughts of our inner selves,

which in terms of the body is closer than the jugular vein.

God is closer to you than you are to yourself,

and your relationship is as personal as is possible.

You relate to your Creator one-on-one.

No matter how beyond our comprehension God may be,

it is person to person.

It is said that when God loves someone,

God is the hearing with which they hear,

the sight with which they see,

and the touch and motion of their hands and feet,

but it is we that choose

where to go and what to do,

and what to see and hear,

whether or not we choose to be Mindful of God,

and follow our understanding of God's way of life.