Which God do I believe in?

Which God do I Believe In? 

Let me rephrase this question as ''Why do I believe in the God described in the Holy Quran and reject the gods described in other religions?'' 

The God described in the Old Testament flavors Jews over other humans; He is a tribal God. Actually, he is Jewish God. The New Testament God differentiates between Jews and Gentiles. He is a God who has sons. He is beaten, imprisoned and killed. There are other myths and faiths where gods have specific duties—for example, the God of rain, the God of war, the God of wealth, the God of this and the God of that. The God described in the Holy Quran presents a modern concept of God. He is defined as the Creator of the universe—Khaliqu Kulla Shay’in. He has no beginning and no end, no parents and no children and no gender. He allows no idols and listens to everyone directly. He is the Most Forgiving and Most Merciful. He is the God that a philosopher, a scientist or a free thinking individual would find logical to believe in.  

The next question is: how do I show my gratitude to my Creator or how do I worship Him?  

I personally believe that my Creator does not need my worship. He was the God of this universe before I came into existence and He will continue to be God after I am dead and forgotten. However, something within me compels me to worship Him and acknowledge His power.  

I could worship Him in my own way, but there are about nine billion people like me in the world today. If all of them started worshipping God in their own separate ways, it would divide them. I believe in unity and I want to worship Him in the best possible logical way. I don't want to light candles, burn incense sticks or offer Him fruits daily because that would be bad for my bank balance. I also don't want to bow down to His wooden, plastic or stone idols—that is not my thing. I want to worship Him in the simple way the Holy Prophet of Islam worshipped Him. That seems quite logical to me. Hence, I worship Him in the Islamic way.  

Some Muslims have deviated from the original Islamic path. They engage in crowd mourning, organize processions, chant strange words and phrases on roads and in gatherings, worship the graves of saints or revere babas and darweshes, etc. All of that is not my thing—I reject it unhesitatingly.  

Any message for muslims across the world?

My suggestion to all Muslims, everywhere, is to stick to the original teachings of their Prophet and take science, technology and artificial intelligence seriously. Their skyscrapers, beautiful shrines and palaces are useless if they remain dependent on non-Muslims for another century in the fields of science, technology and artificial intelligence. They should choose peace over violence and modern knowledge over ignorance. They should also have their own social media platforms—both digital and print—where they can present the true image of their religion to the world.  

—Sahil Sharifdin Bhat