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34
Spirit of Islam Issue 35 November 2015
The truth is that
God’s being
comprehensible is an
undeniable proof of
His existence.
A MOST EVIDENT MYSTERY
Irrefutable Existence
W
HAT everyone is most convinced of, is one's own existence.
Despite this, in purely scientific terms everyone is a mystery.
For man is not what he physically appears to be, but consists
of what he calls “I”, and the “I” is not observable.
Philosopher Rene Descartes (1596-1650), to give proof of his own
existence did not say: “I consist of a body that is observable, therefore
I exist.” Instead he said: “I think, therefore I exist.”
Man undoubtedly has an observable existence. We all know that
man exists. But, in fact, this existence is at the level of “I”, and the
cognizance of “I” is at the level of perception
or comprehension, and not at the level of
observation.
Exactly the same is true of God. It is as if God
is a Greater “I”. God at the level of His creation
is directly observable. But God at the level of
His Being is not directly observable by man.
We shall have to believe in God on the basis
of the same logical principle which Descartes
employed to know himself, and on the basis
of which all of us believe in our own existence.
I can comprehend God, therefore God exists. The truth is that God’s
being comprehensible is an undeniable proof of His existence. If we
deny God, we shall have to deny our own selves. Since we cannot
countenance our own denial, we cannot countenance God’s denial
either. Everyone who believes in his own existence is logically compelled
to say, “I exist, therefore, God exists.”
o
No Shortcuts
No seed turns into a tree by leaps and bounds. Similarly,
it is not possible for a person to reach his destination
without travelling for the requisite period of time.