Faith Goes on Growing
Al-Risala (English), February 1991, p. 14
By Maulana Wahiduddin Khan
Maulana Wahiduddin Khan is named as the default author of the periodical; a piece that carries another writer’s byline is credited to that writer.
Faith Goes on Growing
1991 2 February 14-16 Faith Goes on Growing (1016) “He that does a good deed We add to its goodness for him.” (42:23)
What is meant by adding to the goodness of one who does a good deed? Some commentators have explained this verse of the Qur’an as foIlows:
The reward of a good deed means that man -is given more opportunities to do more good deeds, while a bad deed will be rewarded by giving man more opportunities to do bad deeds. (Ibn Kathir, Tafsir, vol. III, p. 114).
Doing a good deed is an act of will. When a man conducts himself virtuously, he knowingly and willingly avoids an evil deed in order to opt for a good deed. In this way, he activates his will and his consciousness. He awakens himself psychologically, thus inclining his spiritual self towards right action.
Consequently, every act of virtue turns a man into a new human being. Every good deed enables him to do further good deeds. One might say that a good deed acts as an incentive to further right action.
In this world all things fall into two separate categories – those that grow and those that do not. For example, a stone does not grow. It remains in the same state. On the contrary, a tree goes on growing. The Qur’an likens the faith and the faithful to the tree. (14:24). That is, unlike the stone, they do not remain static, but go on increasing, never coming to a standstill.
At various places in the Qur’an it is said that faith is something, which continues to grow:
The true believers are those ... whose faith grows stronger as they listen to His revelation.
As for those who follow the right path, God will increase their guidance .... (47:17)
As they (the believers) listen, their humility increases. (17:109)
God will increase the guidance of those that have followed the right path. (19:76)
.... Say: Lord, increase my knowledge. (20:114)
Those who have had the wealth of true faith bestowed on them will find their faith goes on increasing in the manner mentioned in the Qur’an. On the contrary, those who have not been lifted up to the heights of the faith will find that their ‘faith’ is something static which does not grow.
Ata ibn Yasar has related that once Abdullah ibn Rawaha said to one of his companions, “Let’s come to bring faith in God for a while.”
These words enraged his companion and he asked, ‘Aren’t we believers already’? Ibn Rawaha replied, ‘Yes, that is true. We are believers. But when we remember God, our faith increases”.
To the companion, faith (iman) meant the recitation of the monotheistic creed. There is no god but the One God - after which he felt that his faith was complete. But so, far as Abdullah ibn Rawaha was concerned, he had discovered God the limitless, God with all his perfections. For the former, the recitation of the creed (kalima) was all-that mattered, but, to the tatter, kalima recitation was only the beginning. The concept of God that came to his mind was a treasure house of limitless perfections. This being so, he felt that his remembrance of God should also be endless. He lived in God. And one who lives in God will remember God continuously. He will never have the feeling that he has come to the outermost limit. The third Caliph Uthman said, “If your hearts are purified, you will never feel that you have had your fill of the remembrance of God.”
Whether a man feels satisfied or dissatisfied depends upon his capacity for satisfaction. A small container is soon filled up with just a small quantity of water. But no amount of water will fill up the ocean-bed. An ocean requires an unlimited quantity of water, if it is to be filled right up. The same applies to a man. If, like the small container, his desire for God is limited in extent, it will soon be fulfilled. But if, like the ocean, his desire for God is limitless, it will never come to an end.
The common man knows only this of monotheism – that he should just recite these words: “There is no god but God and Muhammad is the messenger of God”. After reciting the creed of monotheism, he feels that that is all there is to the matter. There is no further need to think or say any more about it. But one who fully understands the meaning of ‘monotheism’ will have so much to say about it that words will flow from him in unending torrents.
The scientists who have made great discoveries about the universe in modern times feel that they have uncovered a realm which they will never be able to finish describing, so strange and multifarious are its points of interest. Then imagine how one who discovers the Creator of the universe – even after drawing upon great stores of knowledge, and even after using all the words in the dictionaries, and even after using all the pens and ink in the world – will never come to the end of describing all of his perfections.
If you have not discovered God, you will have few words with which to remember Him. After uttering the words, ‘There is no god but God,’ you will feel as if all that could be said, has been said. Afterwards, if you say anything at all, it will just be a mere mindless repetition of what has already been said. But once you truly find God, you will have so much to say that no amount of words will be enough to express your feelings. And you will never feel that you have said absolutely everything there is to say on this subject.
If there is no limit to God, there can be no limit to the realization of God. Just as God is limitless, so is the realization of God also limitless. One whose realization of God is limited has not truly found God. His progress has been arrested at some ‘limit’. He has not yet attained to the ‘limitless’.
