The human
mind is a true marvel, but in certain areas it is limited. God is different
from anything the human mind can think of or imagine, so the mind will become
confused if it tries to picture God. Nevertheless, it is possible to
understand the attributes of God that do not require one to make any mental
pictures of Him. For example, one of God’s names is al-Ghaffar, which means
He forgives all sins. Everyone can understand this easily because that is how
the human mind can think of God. Jewish and Christian teachings on God are
confused partly because of incorrect understanding of this issue. The Jewish
Torah teaches God is like man,
“Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image,
after our likeness…so God made man in His own image.’” (Genesis 1:26-27)
Moreover, certain churches contain statues or images of
an old white bearded man depicting God. Some of these were produced by the
likes of Michelangelo who depicted the Face and Hand of a god – a tough looking
old man - in paintings.
Rendering images of God in Islam is an impossibility,
and amounts to disbelief, as God tells us in the Qur'an that nothing resembles
Him:
“There is nothing like Him, but He is All-Hearing, All-Seeing.”
(Qur'an 42:11)
“There is nothing comparable to Him.” (Qur'an 112:4)
The Request of Moses to See God
Eyes can not bear the vision of God. He tells us in the
Qur'an:
“Vision cannot grasp Him, but His Grasp is over all vision.”
(Qur'an 6:103)
Moses, to whom God spoke and gave great miracles, was
chosen by God to be His Prophet. It is said that he thought that, since God used
to speak to him, he might be able to actually see God. The story is in the
Qur'an, where God tells us what happened:
“And when Moses arrived at Our appointed time and his Lord
spoke to him, he said, ‘My Lord, show me (Yourself) that I may look at You.’ (God)
said, ‘You will not see Me, but look at the mountain; if it should remain in
place, then you will see Me.’ But when his Lord appeared to the mountain, He
rendered it level, and Moses fell unconscious. And when he awoke, he said, ‘Exalted
are You! I have repented to You, and I am the first of the believers.’” (Qur'an
7:143)
God made it clear that no-one, including the great
prophet Moses, can bear the sight of the divine, for God is too great to be grasped
by human eyes in this life. According to the Qur'an, Moses realized his request
was in error; therefore, he sought forgiveness from God for having asked.
Did Prophet Muhammad See God In This Life?
Prophet Muhammad traveled in a miraculous journey through
the heavens and met God. People thought that since Prophet Muhammad spoke to God
in that journey, he probably saw God too. One of the companions, Abu Dahrr,
asked him about it. The Prophet replied:
“There was only light, how could I see Him?” (Saheeh
Muslim)
What was the light he saw? The Prophet explained:
“Surely, God does not sleep nor is it befitting for
Him to sleep. He is the one who lowers the scales and raises them. The deeds
of the night go up to Him before the deeds of the day and those of the day
before those of the night, and His veil is light.” (Saheeh Muslim)
Visions of God in Spiritual Experiences
Some people, including some who claim to be Muslims,
report spiritual experiences where they claim to have seen God. Common reported
experiences also include seeing light, or a magnificent being seated on a
throne. In the case of Muslims, such an experience is usually accompanied by
dropping basic Islamic practices like salah and fasting, under the
mistaken opinion that such practices are only for common people who had not had
their type of experience.
So what does Islam teach about this? Islam teaches us
that it is Satan who pretends to be God to deceive ignorant people who believe
in such experiences and go astray. One of the fundamental foundations of Islam
is that the law revealed to Prophet Muhammad cannot be changed or canceled. God
neither makes lawful for some what He has made unlawful for others, nor does He
communicate His Law through such experiences to people. Rather, divine law is
revealed through the proper channel of revelation to the prophets, a channel
that was closed after the advent of the prophet Muhammad, the last of God’s
prophets.
Seeing God in Afterlife
In Islamic doctrine, God cannot be seen in this life,
but the believers will see God in the next life; even then, God will not be
grasped in totality. This is stated clearly in the Qur'an and the Sunnah.
The Prophet said,
“The Day Of Resurrection is the first day any eye will look at
God, the Mighty and Exalted.”[1]
Describing the events of Resurrection Day, God states in
the Qur'an:
“On that day some faces will be bright, looking at their Lord.”
(Qur'an 75:22-23)
The Prophet was asked if we will see God on the Day of
resurrection. He replied, “Are you harmed by looking at the moon when it is
full?”[2] ‘No,’ they
replied. Then he said, “Surely, you will see Him likewise.” In another
hadith the Prophet said, “Surely, each of you will see God on the day when
you shall meet Him, and there will be no veil or translator between Him and
you.”[3] Seeing God
will be a favor that is additional to Paradise on the people who will dwell
therein. As a matter of fact, the joy of seeing God for a believer will be
greater than the all the joys of Paradise combined together. The unbelievers,
on the other hand, will be deprived of seeing God, and this will be greater
punishment for them than all the pain and suffering of Hell combined together.
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