How can we know God?

There are 2 ways to know God:

 1. The inward way

 2. Through the use of the intellect

Let’s talk about the first way: The inward way

Everyone is naturally aware of a supernatural power that is higher than nature and is greater than the whole world. Deep in our hearts we all sense that this power is extremely kind but also clear and firm. This sense invites us towards this great Source of the universe which we call God. We are all born with this sense which is part of our very human makeup which we call the fitrah or primordial human nature.

In times of great difficulty when we face disaster or destruction and we have no way out, this inner sense gets stronger and we call out to this higher power for help to rescue us from these threats.

In normal times or when we are busy with the world and its demands, we feel this Presence less. We also can disregard it if we grow up in an environment where the Presence is denied, but it never goes away. A good example is Russia, after decades of Communist atheism, the dissolution of the Soviet Union saw an immediate resurgence in religious worship among the people.

What is the fitrah? It is the sum of all those traits found among all humanity in all places and in all times. The tendency to live in communities, even for the recluse, the love of a mother for her children, the urge to pair with the opposite sex and form families, the hatred of lying and oppression, all of these are examples of the fitrah. The most powerful trait of the fitrah is the awareness of the existence and power of God. There has been no time in history when belief in God and faith did not exist among people. In every age and time some form of belief existed and this, itself, is clear reason why the worship of God is from the depths of the spirit and this is because it is embedded in the fitrah or human nature. Even someone who says that they do not believe in God will instinctively look to something else to replace that loss of belief. An unbelieving scientist, for example would replace God’s eternal existence with ideas of the eternality of matter or energy, or replace the divine wisdom of God with ideas of the wisdom of nature. These replacements are exactly what we term, “idols” and idols can be actual images we worship or ideas we let dominate our world view and our lives. We cannot dispense with the idea or reality of God, for without it the world would lose meaning.

Since this Fitry nature is embedded within us, we can conclude that God Himself wants us to know about him. Thus if we want to know God deeper, and overcome whatever doubts about Him that has been placed in our minds and hearts, the easiest way to get to know God is simply to sincerely ask Him Himself to reveal Himself to us in whatever way we can comprehend and to make our belief in Him firm. God has said in Chapter 40 verse 60 of the Holy Qur’an, “Call upon Me and I will answer you”, that is His promise. Find a quiet time, like early morning or late night, the best time is justbefore dawn and call upon God, even if He might be still a hypothesis, to show Himself to you and you will definitely not be disappointed.