Article appeared Friday, August 23rd, 2019 in The News Today, Bangladesh

The Revelation (584) yousuf mahbubul Islam, PhD

Is it possible to turn to God? The expression turn to God is often found in Holy Scriptures
and also discussed in literature {1}. Before one can in reality turn to God, it would be
useful to find the exact meaning of the expression. Researching for the meaning on the
Internet interesting explanations may be found. One of the meanings presented is
turning to God in true repentance {2}.
“You’ve had a genuine repentance when your heart is changed, your life is
changed, you’ve had a complete change of mind. It means a complete turning
around and going the other way! Like when you’re driving your car down the
street and you decide you want to go the opposite direction, you have to make a
U-turn.” {2}

What exactly should we repent for? Don’t we ask God for everything we need – are we
not turned to Him when we ask? So, what change of mind or change of heart is being
implied? Could the problem be our attitude of attaching partners or other “gods” to Him?
To understand how, let us examine the case of a person whose young son is seriously
ill. He prays, “God, give me enough money so that I can take my son to a world-renown
doctor to cure him!” Compare this prayer with the words, “God, from Your perfect
knowledge, You know exactly what is wrong with my son. It is only You who can cure
him. I invoke Your perfect Mercy to cure him!”

Is there any difference in the two prayers? In each prayer, where is faith being placed?
In the first case, together with God, is faith being placed in money as well as on a world-
renown doctor? Can we say that God, money and doctor are equally important? And that
we need God only to give us the money – the rest will be taken care of by the money
and the doctor? Now, imagine that friends and relatives get together and raise 20,000
dollars for the son. Would the father have assurance in his heart that he now has
enough money to go to find the right doctor? In contrast, in the second prayer, where is
faith being placed? Is it exclusively in God? Contrasting both prayers from God’s point of
view, which prayer demonstrates belief in Him?

As another case study, imagine a person is badly in need of a job. What will he do? His
prayer to God may increase. He may approach God while standing, sitting or even while
lying down in bed beseeching Him. He now decides to go out and buy a ring as a lucky
charm, and later he goes to a religious sage and gets an amulet to hang around his
neck. He may also decide to personally visit the selection board members with an
earnest request and finally decide to engage political muscle. How many partners in
power has the person created? In whose hand is the decision to grant the job? Is it God,
the lucky ring, the amulet, the board member or the political person? Where is faith
being placed – in God, or in the power partners that he has imagined and attached to
God? Once he gets the job, whom does he show gratitude to? In our day-to-day life, how
many partners in power (gods) have we created and how many do we feel we have to
approach?

So, if we want to turn to God in repentance, what would be the steps? The first step is
we have yet to identify who God really is. The questions to find answers could be who is
God? What are His Attributes? How can we find out and how should we approach Him?
The second step is to identify the partners in power that we have personally imagined
and created in our day-to-day life. The third step is to realize that imagining objects other
than God to hold any sort of power in effect distributes God’s Power and is therefore
demonstration of disbelief. So, how can one repent and turn to God? It is by turning
away from the other imagined gods in our life, repenting for this major sin and turning to
God realizing that He exclusively holds all power and decides all matters. On a reflective
note, could this be the main purpose of religion and what the most important
commandment {3, 4, 5}, tries to bring to light – to identify and reject other gods and turn
to the one and only God, our Creator? We also need to be reminded that when Abraham
(pbuh) similarly analyzed and rejected all other gods [Al-Qur’an: 19.97 – 19.98], he was
made Father of the Nations {6, 7}. The Al-Qur’an confirms the importance of turning to
God and His resulting Judgment for the Hereafter.
“And whoever repents and does good has truly turned to God with an
(acceptable) conversion.” [25.71]

It is only after turning to God that one becomes a believer. As a believer, he/she has
certain responsibilities as the following Verses from the Qur’an testify.

25.72 “Those who witness no falsehood and if they pass by futility they
pass by it with honorable (avoidance);”
They should bear witness to the truth of God to whom they have turned. This can be
done by studying God’s Attributes, reflecting on how, through these, He supports our
day-to-day life and sharing these findings with others. If non-believers continue to
disbelieve, believers are directed not to engage in any conflict with them.

25.73 “Those who when they are reminded with the Signs of their Lord drop
not down at them as if they were deaf or blind:”
When believers come across Signs, i.e., Verses from Holy Scriptures or miracles, they
should reflect and study the meaning and apply with gratitude to their lives.

25.74 “And those who pray, "Our Lord! Grant us wives and offspring who
will be the comfort of our eyes and give us (the grace) to lead the
righteous."”
Righteous are those who have established the truth of God in their own hearts and also
wish for their families to follow suit. They invoke the help of God to guide their family
members. God will honor and bless such people in heaven.

25.75 “Those are the ones who will be rewarded with the highest place in
heaven because of their patient constancy; therein shall they be met with
salutations and peace.”

25.76 “Dwelling therein how beautiful an abode and place of rest!”

Granting them permanent residence with Him in heaven.

25.77 “Say (to the rejecters), "My Lord is not uneasy because of you if you
call not on Him but you have indeed rejected (Him) and soon will come the
inevitable (punishment)!"”
By not turning to God in complete gratitude, one only stands to earn eternal punishment
for himself/herself – it will not affect God in any way.
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{Notes}:
{1} https://www.gotquestions.org/turn-to-God.html
{2} https://anchor.tfionline.com/post/metanoia-change-life/
{3} https://www.islamreligion.com/articles/28/jesus-greatest-commandment/
{4} https://www.learnreligions.com/jesus-on-the-great-commandment-248739
{5} https://www.learnreligions.com/first-commandment-thou-shalt-not-have-any-gods-before-me-250900
{6} https://www.britannica.com/biography/Abraham
{7} https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham