Discovering God

reflect upon and ponder over its verses in order to learn the lessons hidden in the verses or between the lines. There are many traditions of the Prophet as regards the importance of the mind. The wording of one of these is: “Everything has a pillar and the pillar of a believer is his reason or mind (aql).” (Musad al-Haarith, Hadith No. 840) There is another hadith of relevance in which the Prophet of Islam observed: “Every verse of the Quran has an external aspect or form and an internal essence or inner aspect.” (Musnad Abu Yala, Hadith No. 5149) The apparent meaning of the verses is understood by just reading the verses, but the deeper meaning can be arrived at only by employing reason, and pondering upon what one reads. The reader, thus, reaches the deeper level of the meaning of the verses by reflection. This deeper realization of the Quran produces sublime feelings of faith in one. While without making use of reason, one arrives at a form of religion which is superficial. It is only by making use of reason that the seeker can find the true kernel of religion. Why should there be Trials? When God’s servant calls to his Lord, and if he is dear to God, He says, “O Gabriel, do not hurry to fulfil his desire. I like to listen to his voice.” (Al-Mojam al-Awsat, al-Tabarani, Hadith No. 8442) In this tradition, the word