Allah has granted the mind freedom to explore the universe, life, and the self. He created the mind free and removed obstacles that could prevent it from reaching cognitive and cultural results through its own tools and acquired means.
In "Nahjul-Balaghah," a man stood before Imam Ali (a.s.) and asked him to describe Allah as if he were seeing Him. The man wanted a clear, almost concrete idea of God. The Imam replied, "… and do not measure the Greatness of Allah after the measure of your own intelligence, or else you would be among the destroyed ones." This was part of the Sermon of Skeletons (Khutbatul-Ashbah).
How to Know Allah
Imam Ali (a.s.) then demonstrated the methodology to know Allah. He said, "Then look, O questioner," and instructed him to, "be confined to those of His attributes which the Quran had described and seek light from the effulgence of its guidance." The Quran sets the methodology to know Allah by contemplating His creation.
"Who remember Allah while standing or sitting or [lying] on their sides and give thought to the creation of the heavens and the earth, [saying], 'Our Lord, You did not create this aimlessly; exalted are You [above such a thing]...'" Surah Ali 'Imran (3:191)
"Say, 'Observe what is in the heavens and earth.'..." Surah Yunus (10:101)
We must try to unravel the secrets of the universe and increase our knowledge of its system. We should also study history to learn from it.
"Have you not considered how your Lord dealt with 'Aad?" Surah Al-Fajr (89:6)
"Have you not considered, [O Muhammad], how your Lord dealt with the companions of the elephant?" Surah Al-Fil (105:1)
One should start from within oneself.
"We will show them Our signs in the horizons and within themselves until it becomes clear to them that it is the truth..." Surah Fussilat (41:53)
Allah has talked about His attributes. Imam Ali Bin Al-Hussein, Zein Al-Abideen (a.s.), discussed the means to know Allah through His attributes in the light of the Holy Quran. It is narrated that ‘Asim Bin Hameed said: "Imam Ali Bin Al-Hussein (a.s.) was asked about unification, and he answered: 'Allah, the Most Exalted, knew that at the end of time there will be deeply thoughtful people.'" These are people who dig deep into meanings. "So Allah revealed: 'Say: He, Allah, is One.'"
If one contemplates this small chapter, he will know Allah in the horizons of His oneness. It is simple without complication. The uneducated can learn about this oneness with simplicity, and the educated can delve into these attributes.
"Say, 'He is Allah, [who is] One, Allah, the Eternal Refuge. He neither begets nor is born, Nor is there to Him any equivalent.'" Surah Al-Ikhlas (112:1-4)
From this, one can comprehend: What is the meaning of Allah's oneness? What is its basis and depth? What are the mental evidences that establish it and refute partners with Him? Allah is the One on Whom all creations depend. All creatures, plants, humans, animals, and non-living things resort to Him. We cannot picture Allah like living things that beget and are begotten. He is Eternal and like none of His creatures.
Imam Zein Al-Abideen (a.s.) pointed out that in Surah Al-Hadid, Allah describes Himself with attributes by which we can know Him. Without these, we have no direct knowledge about Him.
"Whatever is in the heavens and earth exalts Allah, and He is the Exalted in Might, the Wise. His is the dominion of the heavens and earth. He gives life and causes death, and He is over all things competent. He is the First and the Last, the Ascendant and the Intimate, and He is, of all things, Knowing. He it is who created the heavens and earth in six days and then established Himself above the Throne. He knows what penetrates into the earth and what emerges from it and what descends from the heaven and what ascends therein; and He is with you wherever you are. And Allah, of what you do, is Seeing. His is the dominion of the heavens and earth. And to Allah are returned [all] matters. He causes the night to enter the day and causes the day to enter the night, and He is Knowing of that within the breasts." Surah Al-Hadid (57:1-6)
These verses touch upon how Allah controls the day and night and His dominion over everything.
Imam Zein Al-Abideen (a.s.) continued, "Whoever seeks beyond that will perish." The reason is that when man wants to know something, he needs concrete experience or physical means. Allah is unseen to our means. We cannot meet Him face to face or feel Him like other creatures. Therefore, we cannot know the constituents of His Divinity or His actual attributes. So how can we know His attributes? We can know Him through what the mind envisages, led by the Quranic methodology. We can know Allah by thinking about His creation, the features of His greatness, and His blessings. We know Him through the attributes He describes Himself with, for no one knows Him except Him.
Interpreting the verse "Say, 'He is Allah, [who is] One,'" it is narrated that Imam Ja'far As-Sadiq (a.s.) said: "These verses define Allah's relation to His creation. He is the One, Unique, Eternal, and Absolute. He does not have a shadow so one can hold Him, but it is He who holds things by their shadows. He knows the unknown and is known to every ignorant person. He is only One. He is not in His creatures, and His creatures are not in Him. He does not feel nor can others feel Him physically. Eyes cannot see Him. He is so High that He is near and so near that He is far. Although disobeyed, yet He forgives. When obeyed, He is appreciative. His earth does not contain Him, nor do His heavens bear Him. He holds all things through His power, and He is Everlasting and Eternal. He does not forget or amuse Himself. He does not make mistakes or play. There is no lapse in His will. His judgment is rewarding, and His commands are effective. He does not have a child to become His heir, nor is He begotten so His power would be shared. And there is no one like Him."
It is also narrated that Imam Al-Baqir (a.s.) said: "Talk about the creations of God, but do not talk about the Supreme Self of God." What Allah creates has a concrete presence that you can know through material means. You can feel it and live with it. On the other hand, you do not have the means to know God's Supreme Entity. "Since the discussion on the entity of God increases nothing except the discussant’s own intellectual perplexity." Many philosophers dug deep into this issue and only found more perplexity because they lacked the means to know Him.
The Mazes of Imagination
It is narrated that Imam As-Sadiq (a.s.) said to his companion, Muhammad Bin Muslim: "People remain logical until they talk about Allah. If you hear them talk about Him, say: 'There is no god but Allah, Whom there is nothing like Him.'" He was telling him to keep talk about Allah logical and reasonable by discussing His attributes as manifested in His creation. But if they start discussing Allah's very Entity, they must be reminded that this is beyond their experience. If they do, they will reach dead ends and endless mazes. This is like trying to know something beyond one's experience; it becomes governed by illusions, not the mind, which cannot operate in unclear conditions.
It is narrated that Imam Al-Baqir (a.s.) said: "Beware of pondering over God. However, if you want to marvel at His greatness, then look at the greatness of His creation." To know the greatness of the Creator, behold the greatness of what He creates.
In a Hadith, Imam Zein Al-Abideen (a.s.) said to Abu Hamza: "O Abu Hamza, Allah cannot be described by limitations." Allah is Absolute in His knowledge, ability, and all positions of greatness. He cannot be limited by anything; rather, His creatures are limited.
I recall a question posed by atheists in the fifties: "Can Allah create something greater than Himself, or can He not?" If you say He can, then something greater than Allah could exist. If you say He cannot, then He is not all-powerful. My answer was that the question is wrong. The concepts of "greater" and "less great" apply to limited, finite things, not to the unlimited and infinite. Allah is limitless. "Greater" implies a bigger size, which only applies to limited entities that can be compared. This is what Imam Zein Al-Abideen (a.s.) pointed to.
Some picture Imam Zein Al-Abideen (a.s.) as a sick man who cried all the time, tied to humiliation in Damascus. They leave out that he was a leader for humanity and the master of the Islamic cultural phase at the time. We wrong our Imams more than their contemporaries did; they imprisoned them physically, but we lock them up in our intellectual backwardness.
The Imam highlighted this point, saying: "Our Lord is above description, so how can the finite describe the infinite?"
"No vision can take Him in, but He takes in all vision; and He is the All-Subtle, the All-Aware." Surah Al-An'am (6:103)
We also have a narration from Imam Ali (a.s.) that ended falsehood in thought more courageously than killing warriors like "Marhab" and "Amro Bin Wid." Fighting false thought requires the utmost courage of soul and mind.
He was asked: "How did you recognize your Lord?" He answered: "I have recognized Him through what He had Himself recognized." He was further questioned: "And how has God recognized Himself?" The Imam answered: "God has no likeness to any form - nothing that the mind perceives is like Him - nor can He be felt through the senses - He is part of the unseen, the world of Divinity and the world of spirits whose elements and entity cannot be approached in any way - nor imagined by analogy with mankind - in terms of His knowledge in everything and dominion over all - He is near us in spite of our distance from Him - in the sense that He is not like any other - He is farthest - from being grasped by the mind and depicted in the imagination - in spite of being nearest - in terms of the concept of causality, considering that He is the cause of the creation, and everyone is in need of him - He is above everything - by His Might, Dominion and Supremacy - and it cannot be said that there is anything above Him. He is in front of everything but cannot be said to be in the front (in the sense of direction) - because He is not concrete - He is inside everything (has created and knows the essence of everything) but not like one (material thing) into another - Him being inside everything is not physical or materialistic in a way that He would be encompassed by these things - He encompasses everything but not like one (material) thing encompassing another - as if He was inside something and now He is out of it - Glorified is He who is like this and nothing else is like Him."
The Imam suggests we know Allah through the methodology He has determined.
Determining the Intellectual Reference
Now, we return to Imam Ali (a.s.) in the Sermon of Skeletons: "be confined to those of His attributes which the Quran had described and seek light from the effulgence of its guidance"—for the Quran is the light.
"There has come to you from Allah a light and a clear Book." Surah Al-Ma'idah (5:15)
"Leave to Allah that knowledge which Satan has prompted you to seek"—for this leads to perplexity through Satan's whisperings—"and which neither the Quran enjoins you to seek"—this knowledge's methodology is not in the Book—"nor is there any trace of it in the actions or sayings of the Prophet and other leaders (A`immah) of guidance"—as it was not issued by those whom Allah taught.
Whenever Imam Ali (a.s.) talked about his knowledge of Allah, he would say: 'Were the cover to be removed, I would not increase in certainty.' His knowledge of Allah had reached a level that no revelation could increase his certainty.
"This is the extreme limit of Allah's claim upon you"—meaning you should leave to Allah what you cannot know. "Know that firm in knowledge are those who refrain from opening the curtains that lie against the unknown, and their acknowledgement of ignorance about the details of the hidden unknown prevents them from further probe."
"But no one knows its interpretation except Allah. And those firm in knowledge say, 'We believe in it. All [of it] is from our Lord.' And no one will be reminded except those of understanding." Surah Ali 'Imran (3:7)
They did not know the hidden, nor did they possess the means, yet this did not prevent them from believing. Allah praises them for admitting their inability to know what is not allowed to them. He called this firmness.
"Be content with this and do not limit the Greatness of Allah after the measure of your own intelligence, or else you will be among the destroyed ones."
Imam Ali (a.s.) proposes knowing Allah in a way that ensures the integrity of the knowledge acquired. The proposed way implies how man should educate himself: by discussing what he can know through his means, without infringing upon knowledge for which he lacks the culture and means. This is like a person talking about medicine without being a doctor, or about engineering without being an engineer.
One should only discuss matters he is an expert in and forsake what he does not know to the people of expertise. In this way, we can achieve for our nation what we seek. Those who lead the nation culturally, scientifically, jurisprudentially, politically, and religiously must be experts. Those without the necessary knowledge must stay away from leadership or any responsibility requiring knowledge. The nation must be educated not to allow the ignorant to lead. Through this, we learn to deal with what we know and forsake what we do not know.