DESIRE TO SEEK GOD — Human Nature

DESIRE TO SEEK GOD W HEN the Russian astronaut Andriyan Nikolayev returned to Earth after a journey in space, he addressed a press conference in Moscow and said: When I arrived back on Earth, I wanted to kiss the ground. For human beings, there is nothing like the Earth — fi lled as it is with unlimited favourable conditions—anywhere else in the entire known universe. When this Russian astronaut went away from the Earth and far into space, he found that there was nothing in outer space that was suitable for human life to exist. In the vastness of space, there was nothing that could provide peace and comfort for mankind. The difference between a believer and one who does not believe is that the latter is besotted by creation, while a believer rises above creation and discovers his Creator. After this experience, when he returned to Earth he was able to truly appreciate the value of the Earth, just as a severely thirsty person realizes the value of water when he fi nally gets some to drink. The Earth, along with its wonderful life support system, appeared so precious to Nikolayev that he wanted to embrace it and express his love for it. This is what is called false attribution in the language of the shariah. People are unable to see the Creator, and so they take created beings as their deities, devoting all their emotions to them. The true believer is one, who can see beyond the visible to comprehend the invisible; who realizes that whatever he sees is all bestowed by Someone Else; that everything in this world has been created by a Superior Being. Observing the creation, he acknowledges the Creator, and takes the Creator as his sole concern. He surrenders all his lofty emotions to God. The sort of emotions which the Russian astronaut experienced on his return to earth are also felt in a much more intense form by the one who discovers God. A true believer is one who, when he sees the sun, fi nds in its light the light of God. In the vast expanses of the heavens he