Understanding The Prophet's Life
From Issue: 728 [Read full issue]
Essence of God
According to a Hadith, the Prophet (peace be upon him) asked the believers to 'ponder upon the creation of God, but not on God. For you will never be able to do Him justice.' [Suyuti, al Jami al Saghir]
The restriction is obviously based on the premise that the human mind is not endowed with the capacity to define its Creator, although it may explore and explain His attributes in relation to those aspects of His creation which are known or can be known by it. In this way, our knowledge of God is directly related to our knowledge of His creation. The Quran, on numerous occasions, invites attention to the signs of the creation of God, which testify to His omniscience and omnipresence. We are, thus, encouraged to investigate the world around us, to acquire knowledge of the mysteries of creation, and through it also to increase our understanding of the attributes and Exalted Names of God.
Since human knowledge of the universe is incomplete, knowledge of the Creator of the universe must also be an on-going process, and one which is unlikely to attain perfection. Attempting to 'investigate' the Essence of God is an idle and dangerous exercise which seeks to fathom the unfathomable, something beyond human capacity. It is dangerous as it leads to error in belief. To attempt to specify the Essence of God is to try to limit the limitless, which is, in turn, tantamount to an attempt at reducing God Most High.
Compiled From:
"Freedom of Expression in Islam" - Mohammad Hashim Kamali, pp. 150, 151