The God I Came To Know

Isn’t it ironic that human beings argue, even get violent over a concept which is so abstract? People kill in the name of God. Such a sense of certainty they have or perhaps is it delusion? For me, the subject of the metaphysics is by nature unknowable in an objective sense of the word. While you can get to know God, you certainly can’t get to know him the way you know the physical world. Knowing him is an internal knowledge, something that requires going within.

I got to to know God in the same way, I guess, most kids do. Whenever I did not do something in accordance with my elders’ wishes, they would tell me that it would displease God in some way or that I would go to hell for doing such things. Indeed, these warnings did do the trick because I not terribly disobedient. As I grew older though, I need something more substantial. The distant, ready-to-smite-you God was not enough and although I could not articulate my spiritual vacuum at the time, I now realize I need a more personal connection with God.

That was when I discovered Sufism. Sufism is the mystical branch of Islam which seeks out an intimate connection with the divine. They use a range of tools to achieve a state of gnosis but it does not end there. After one reaches the peak the mountain, as it were, one must return to base camp and face the world again. Yes, Sufism really rocked my world back then.

I eventually distanced myself away from Sufism though, or perhaps just passively drifted away from it when I came to Quranist Islam (the branch of Islam which rejects all authorities save the Quran). Reason being, I could not handle the notion of an intermediary authority dictating to me my connection with God. I needed something a lot more personal. As I shied away from formal Sufism and got deeper into the Quran (as Quranists aim to do), I came to realize one thing. That the Quran had its own version of the Sufi journey, one which is far more in tune with our realities and can provide a direct connection with God. In that regard, the Quran came to replace the role of the spiritual director (sheikh) in Sufism. Instead of relying upon the Shiekh’s knowhow, we needed to read the Quran for ourselves and find our own way.

This jump from Traditional Islam to Quranist Islam was the catalyst in forming my current view of God. I do feel that God is knowable. I would even use typically Christian language and say we need to build our own relationship with God. A very personal relationship (hence the name of my blog!) because God can only be known as deeply as our souls would permit. If our souls are festered with the debris of earthly materialism and egotistical concerns, then they would not be much room for God. Rather we literally need to get over our selves in order to God. There is a special place for those who do that. The Quran calls them ‘souls in tranquility’ (Chapter 89 Verses 27-30). These are the only souls to whom God calls our, as the Quranic passage shows. God calls them His servants in intimate language and calls them to the garden of fulfilment. I feel that is a call worth answering and evolving for.