ভূমিকা

Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Islamic Correspondence Course (book 1) Lesson 2 : Ways of Knowing God From time immemorial, man has found different ways of knowing God. Human beings of various intellectual levels have found their own ways to God. Common people have found simple ways; whereas thinkers and philosophers reached the same conclusion on a higher plane of thought. The two most common ways of knowing the Creator are: • the inner way (which is also the closest way).

However, at times this natural feeling is subdued by external means. But it re-emerges when that person finds himself in difficulties—he naturally prays to a Power whom he believes to be above all powers. This is very well portrayed in the talk which Imam Ja'far as-Sadiq (a.s.), the sixth Imam of the Shi'a Muslims, had with an atheist.

Knowing that the atheist had gone on sea voyages several times, the Imam asked: "Have you ever been caught in a fierce storm in the middle of nowhere, your rudder gone, your sails torn away, trying desperately to keep your boat afloat?" The Atheist: "Yes." The Imam: "And sometimes perhaps even that leaking boat went down leaving you exhausted and helpless at the mercy of the raging waves?" The Atheist: "Yes." The Imam: "Was not there, in all that despair, a glimmer of hope in your heart that some unnamed and unknown power could still save you?" When the atheist agreed, the Imam said, "That power is God." That atheist was intelligent.

He knew the truth when he saw it. The "inner way," in spite of being the natural and closest way of knowing God, is also a very personal way. It is only sufficient for the person who has seen the light within himself. Second Method: Experiment Beyond Sensation: The second way of knowing God is by studying the signs of His presence and power in the world within us and around us.