Belief

“Acknowledgement in the heart, and verbal affirmation.”¹⁾

“Many more such beautiful, sublime, and pleasurable truths arise from belief. This is because belief bears the seed of what is, in effect, a Tuba tree of Paradise, whereas unbelief contains the seed of a Zaqqum tree of Hell. Safety and well-being are found only in Islam (submission to God) and belief. Therefore, always thank God, saying: “Praise be to God for Islam and perfect belief.”²⁾

“His belief gives him complete confidence. As with every good action, courage arises from belief in and loyal devotion to God. As with every bad action, cowardice arises from misguidance.”³⁾

“Due to their belief, believers use what the Creator has entrusted to them on His behalf and within His limits. Unbelievers betray the trust and use it for the sake of the carnal soul.”⁴⁾

“The passage of time, punctuated by separation from friends (because of death, represented by gallows), is transformed by belief into a means to watch with perfect pleasure the perpetually renewed and always colorful embroideries of God’s wonderful acts, His Power’s miracles, and His Compassion’s manifestations.”⁵⁾

“belief is a light. Just as it illuminates human beings and reveals all the messages inscribed in their being by the Eternally Besought One, it also illuminates the universe and removes darkness from the past and future as well.”⁶⁾

“belief is both light and power. Those who attain true belief can challenge the universe and, in proportion to their belief’s strength, be relieved of the pressures of events.”⁷⁾

“belief enables us to attain true humanity, to acquire a position above all other creatures. Thus, belief and prayer are our most fundamental and important duties. Unbelief, by contrast, reduces us to the state of a brutal but very impotent beast.”⁸⁾

“… our purpose here is to seek perfection through knowledge and prayer. Everything is, by its nature, essentially dependent on knowledge. And the basis, source, light, and spirit of all true knowledge is knowledge of God, of which belief is the very foundation. After belief, prayer is our essential duty and the basis of worship, for despite our infinite impotence, we are exposed to endless misfortune and innumerable enemies, and despite our infinite poverty, we suffer limitless need and demands.”⁹⁾

“… true perfection is attained through full development in all pillars of belief.”¹⁰⁾

“All true pain is in misguidance, and all true pleasure in belief.”¹¹⁾

“Sin penetrates to the heart, darkens and hardens it until it extinguishes the light of belief. Each sin has a path that leads to unbelief. Unless that sin is swiftly obliterated by seeking God’s forgiveness, it grows from a worm into a snake that gnaws at the heart.”¹²⁾

“There is a palace with hundreds of doors. If one of its doors is opened, people can enter the palace and open the other closed doors. If all of its doors are open with the exception of only a few, no one can claim that that the palace cannot be entered. Thus, the truths of belief are that palace. Each proof is a key that opens a door. If one of the doors remains closed, the truths of belief cannot be abandoned and denied. Satan, however, presents to the view a door which has remained closed due to some reasons or because of heedlessness or ignorance, and causes all the positive proofs to be disregarded. Saying, ‘This palace cannot be entered; rather, it is not a palace, and there is nothing in it,’ he deceives people.”¹³⁾

“Virtue arising from belief can be the cause of neither oppression nor despotism. Oppression and despotism mean a lack of virtue.”¹⁴⁾

“Imam Rabbani, a ‘sun’ and greatest master of the Naqshbandi way, says in his Letters: ‘I would prefer to make one matter of belief known in plain terms than attain thousands of spiritual pleasures and ecstasies and work miracles.’ He also says: ‘The final station of all spiritual journeying is to attain the full perception of the truths of belief.’”¹⁵⁾

“There are six fundamentals of belief: belief in God, the Day of Judgment, angels, Prophets, Divine Scriptures, and Divine Destiny. Each of these requires the existence of contingencies. As these fundamentals are substantial, they cannot be based on illusion or imagination.”¹⁶⁾

“I observed and experienced to the degree of absolute certainty that the true pleasure and happiness of my permanence lay precisely and in more perfect form in the Permanence of the All-Permanent One of Perfection, and in believing and confirming that He is my Lord and Deity. For it is through His Permanence that an undying truth may be realized for me. The consciousness of belief establishes that my essential being is but the shadow of an enduring, eternal Divine Name and therefore lives eternally.”¹⁷⁾

“A person with sound belief in God and the Day of Judgment must live among other members of the society and become a compass of truth and righteousness.”¹⁸⁾

“Even though he [Korah] seemed to have belief, he failed to transform his belief into certainty in faith, never ascending to a horizon of heartfelt acceptance. That is, he did not transform mere information into knowledge of God with practice, nor gain certainty based on or arising from that knowledge, and he had nothing to do with attaining certainty based on being able to see the truth.”¹⁹⁾

“Being sincere and straightforward and being certain or convinced of the truth of the Islamic faith is thankfulness of the heart. As for physical thankfulness, it means observing all acts of worship. Since thankfulness relates directly to all aspects or branches of belief and worship, it is regarded as being half of the faith.”²⁰⁾

Comprehension

Consciousness

Francis S. Collins, The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief

M. Fethullah Gülen, Essentials of the Islamic Faith

Myint Khine, Knowing, Knowledge and Beliefs: Epistemological Studies across Diverse Cultures

T. J . Mawson, Belief in God: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Religion

Timothy Chan, The Aim of Belief

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