Doubts about the existence of God!
In a recent interview with BBC Bristol
the Archbishop of Canterbury was asked if he has doubts and he replied “Yes, I
do”. This answer went spiral with headlines saying the Archbishop of Canterbury
doubts the existence of God.
I do not want to discuss the media
handling of the statement, nor the believe of the Archbishop, what I really
want to talk about is my believe, do I have doubts?
Yes, I do.
I think if anyone rushes to answering such
question with “No” then I have doubts in his believe and would question if he/
she has real understanding of faith, whatever faith they follow.
Faith is based on believes, and to be
faithful you must have strong believes. The strength of your believes improves
if they are tested, time after time. If your believes do not change then
probably you are not a believer, you just follow the flow, do what others do, your
believes are what some refers to as ignorance.
In the Quran there are many stories of
questioning God’s existence and abilities. Chapter 2 verse 260 tells us how
Abraham asked God to show him how he resurrects the dead, when God asked him “Did
you not believe?” he replied: “yes, but to satisfy my own undertaking”. In
chapter 5 verses 112- 114 the disciples asked Jesus to ask God if he can descend
a table upon them from the heaven, when Jesus questioned their request they
said we have believed but we want to satisfy our hearts and know that you have
told us the truth. These are only two examples of many in Quran and Hadeeth (teaching
of the Prophet) about questioning or having some doubts.
On a personal level, and on reflection
I have come across many moments in my life where I asked myself if there is
really a God, a Creator? I have always come to the same answer: Yes, but I have
never felt guilt in asking the question and I do not think I will ever stop.
Few years ago I listened to John Humphrey
on Radio 4 Today’s programme asking the Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams
if he knows that God exists? He replied: I believe that God does exist, but I
do not know if he does exist.
Ahmad Baker
