God who dwells in our hearts
By brother Saim Khwaja (e-mail: thesaim@hotmail.com)

If it had been only a poetic expression we would have appreciated it not more than a Man's Concept of God which may become redundant with the passage of time. But, as it is revealed in the Quran, which reads :

'" Hova Ma'akum Aina Ma Kuntum - God is with you, wheresoever you may be ! [ 57:4 ],

therefore, it is not merely a wistful expression of human's imagination but this Concept of God is a concrete reality. It cannot be denied or defied with further arguments. It lays the foundation of Faith for those who believe in Quran as Divine Revelation.

One cannot profess Islam unless he hold this belief that God is : Omnipresent and Ubiquitous ! He is far above the man's concept of Time, Space and Compassing. But, unfortunately, many people despite of their firm belief in the Universality of God cannot defend themselves from the onslaught of false dogmas of their religions. They hold certain very erroneous beliefs about God's Existence. Their imagination cannot grasp a God Who is Omnipresent and Ubiquitous and express Himself through tangible Laws. They are incapable to derive satisfaction from His obedience through Laws. They dislike to worship an Abstract God. Accordingly, they create a God from their own imaginations and idolize Him in the worship. This weakness of human mind lays the foundation of different religion because the imaginations varies from person to person. Consequently, the mankind got divided and the clergies started to confuse them further. They succeeded in sending a Hindu to the Mander, a Christian to the Church, a Jew to the Synagogue and a Muslim to the Mosque in search of God who dwells in hearts.

Now, everyone of us gets satisfaction only when we worship Him in the Mosque or Mander, Church or Synagogue and when we seek His blessings our hands and heads are raised to the sky instinctively. While doing all this we don't have even the slightest sense that - He dwells in our hearts. He is with us wheresoever we are ! He is far above our comprehension. He is - A Being - Who likes to be obeyed and followed rather than worshiped. There is not a single
word in the Quran which could be translated into worship. We find repeatedly such words; Ahbadullah, Atteeullah, Ittebahullah - all of these got the meaning of Obedience rather than worship.

God shows His existence through His tangible Laws. Whether these are discovered as Laws of Nature or Revealed to mankind through the agency of God's Messengers, we have to follow them. These are the only means which makes us honourabe in the sight of God Who is not far away but very near to us. How much near ? He says:

" ... We are nearer to him (man) than his jugular vein [50:16].

And when He says:

" (O Prophet) When My servants ask you concerning Me, I am indeed close (to them): I listen to the Call of every Caller when he calls on me: So, let them listen to Me and trust Me. This will put them on the right path. [2:186] "

, this means that man has to obey His Laws all those which are commanded both in Nature and the Quran. God never speaks to man directly except the Prophets. And, our belief is that Mohammad (pbuh) was the last prophet. There will be no more prophets. Therefore, the only way to listen to God's call is through His Book. God answers our calls through Quran. And our answer to God's Calls is to obey His Laws. God's Laws produce tangible results. And, in fact, these results are the true acceptance of our calls or prayers.

This is the true Concept of God which the Quran gives to us. All other concepts concerning God are the fabrication of human mind. If we follow this concept we need not to search God in certain places or through certain agencies. We have to look for Him in our heart and mind and approach Him through His Laws. If the whole mankind follow this course the entire face of the earth would become a Paradise. Because, in this way the human being like other living beings would become a law abiding specie. Rather, a better specie due to his power to think and create.

Those who take different courses or agencies as " Waseela " other than God's Laws to approach Him or to seek His blessings or to get nearer to him are sheerly misguided. They are doomed here and would get double punishment in the hereafter. And blessed are those who follows His laws. They enjoy the pleasure of this life and would get double reward in the hereafter.