Discovering God

The fact is that, in this verse of the Quran, jihad means jihad-e-fikri, meaning “thinking jihad” or “intellectual jihad”, that is thinking about God, thinking (tafakkur), reflection (tadabbur) about God, trying as much as possible to attain the realization of God, increasing one’s faith through continuous study and observation. Realization is the beginning of faith. It means trying to recognize God through the observation of His creation. By reading or studying the word of God, one can receive spiritual food from it continuously, thus converting one’s daily experiences into divine insights. Observation of this kind is possible through total concentration, and such concentration is, of course, a great intellectual struggle. “We will surely guide in Our ways”, refers to the path of guidance. That is, the minds of the seekers of truth will open up more and more, new lines of thinking will develop, new aspects of realization of God will become clear to them. Just as God’s being is unlimited, similarly, His realization is also unlimited. Those who strive hard to realize God through contemplation and observation will be fit to receive the blessing of this unlimited realization. This intellectual jihad has been called jihad fillah (jihad in God) in this verse. Taking Lessons When a person attains realization of truth, his thinking becomes God-oriented. It happens naturally then that he