Quran Garden

Today, we continue our discussion of the qualities you and I should possess and practice to receive God's support and divine guidance.  In the previous session, we covered the first quality: to be mindful of God.  Let's study the next item on the list. 

Session 27

Chapter 2

Verse 3

Those who believe in the unseen, establish prayer, and spend out of what We have provided for them (Chapter 2: Verse 3)

The quality we come across next is: "Those who believe in the unseen."  What is the unseen or ?ل?غَي?ب?  Why does it hold so much importance that God made believing in it one of the main conditions for receiving his guidance and protection?

Literally, the unseen refers to anything absent from our senses.  No one argues regarding the objects we can see, hear, touch, taste, or smell.  The unseen, on the other hand, cannot be perceived with the senses.  In addition to the five primary senses, hearing, sight, smell, taste, and touch, we have many abilities that help us perceive things.  For example, suppose there are two bags of the same size and shape in front of you.  Can you tell through your five senses which one is heavier?  Most likely, you would have to guess.  However, if you carry one bag in each arm, it would be easy for you to tell.  Through which sense did you perceive the relative weight of the bags?  Through muscle tone, because the muscles in one arm strained slightly more to carry the heavier bag.    

In another example, you enter a shop to buy clothes.  The seller puts two shirts in front of you, and as soon as you rub the fabric between your index finger and thumb, you realize that one is thicker than the other by a fraction of a millimeter.  Through which sense did you perceive this?  Again, you cannot perceive this by sight or touch.  It was through the spatial distance between your fingers.       

When you feel hunger, which sense is telling you that you are hungry?  Which sense wakes you up from your sleep?

In fact, each one of us possesses many perceptive abilities.  Therefore, it is incorrect to say that something is unseen if it cannot be perceived with our five primary senses.  The unseen referred to in this verse is beyond all our senses and perceptive abilities. 

Let's take this a step further.  A student is given an algebra equation to solve, and later comes up with the answer.  Do we say that this student has uncovered the unseen?  The answer is no, because the student was able to arrive at the solution based on a set of rules and principles.  Similarly, if the Bureau of Meteorology announces that tomorrow will be rainy, can we say that the meteorologists have uncovered the unseen?  Again, the answer is no, because they based their conclusions on knowledge and research.  The unseen referred to in the Aya under study cannot be concluded through the knowledge of principles and research.

Lastly, if a friend informs you that your stolen mobile phone is with so and so at this location, does that mean your friend has knowledge of the unseen?  The answer is no, because the unseen is not known by you or your kind.  In this example, the thief, the person to whom the stolen phone was sold, and maybe a witness to the crime all know what happened.  The unseen referred to in this verse is not known to your equal.

How about God's other creation?  Do they know the unseen?  We find the answer to this question in the Quran.  God says about the creation of Adam:

And He taught Adam the names of all things; then He placed them before the angels, and said: "Tell me the names of these if you are right." They said, 'Glory be to You!  We have no knowledge except what You have taught us.  You are the All-Knowing, the All-Wise.', He said, 'Adam, tell them their names.' When he had told them their names, He said, 'Did I not tell you that I know the Unseen of the heavens and the earth, and I know what you reveal and what you hide?' (2:31-33)

In another example, when Prophet Solomon, peace be upon him, died, the jinn, whom God had subjugated to work for Solomon, did not know of his death until termites ate his staff, as illustrated in the following verse,

When We decreed that Solomon should die, no one knew of his death except for a crawling creature of the earth that ate up his staff.  When he fell down, the jinn realized that if they had known about the unseen, they would not have remained in such a humiliating torment for so long.  (34:14)

Even prophets and messengers do not know the unseen.  In short, the unseen ?ل?غَي?ب is that which no one knows except God Almighty, and he alone chooses who to share it with.  Allah says:

He is the Knower of the Unseen and does not disclose His Unseen to anyone, except only to a Messenger that He has chosen, and He sends guardians before him and behind him

(72:26-27)

God shares some of his knowledge with Prophets, and it becomes a miracle for them and for those who follow them.

The highest form of belief in the unseen is the belief in Allah, his angels, scriptures, messengers, and in the Day of Judgment.  All of these things are concealed from us.  However, we believe in the presence of angels because God has told us about them.  We believe in the day of resurrection because it came from our Lord. 

I have used my intellect to ponder and research, and I have reached the conclusion that this universe, its meticulous construction, its life and beauty, must have a God and a Creator.  Thus, if a messenger from the creator informs me that Allah is the one who created the universe and supports this claim with miracles, then I ought to believe him.  When you reach this certainty in your heart, you trust that everything that comes from the Lord is the truth, regardless of whether you can comprehend it with your senses or not. 

Some may argue that they have a hard time believing in something intangible; something they cannot see, touch, or test in a science lab.  We answer that the existence of something and realizing that something exists are two different things.  For example, germs have existed on earth for billions of years.  In fact, people had observed the effects of diseases in their bodies, such as fever, infections, and so on, without knowing what was causing them.  When science advanced and the microscope was invented, we were able to see germs, their life cycle, and reproduction.  Did bacteria come into existence the minute they were first observed under the microscope?  Or were they there the whole time while we were completely unaware?  The fact that we cannot see something does not mean it does not exist.  

God has kept some things hidden from us for a while, allowing us to grow, research, and eventually discover them.  Our faith in the Lord strengthens every time we uncover a previously unseen wonder around us.

Let's consider something far more intimate.  The soul in your body gives you life; have you seen your soul?  Have you heard, tasted, or smelled it?  Of course not!  You came to know about your soul through the impact of giving your body life.  We ask: If you have a hard time locating and comprehending something within yourself, how do you expect to comprehend the existence of God?

The Lord, however, did not leave us without leaving many clues to the thoughtful mind.  He placed signs all around us indicating that this universe has a creator.  Our beautifully organized universe we see could not have formed by chance, as coincidences are brief and chaotic.  Without a powerful force behind it, everything, like the sun, moon, stars, and earth, would collide or scatter away.  Without Allah, life and the whole system would fall apart.