How do I get closer to God?

Wa alykum as-salaam,

This is a really difficult question, and I can only give you one possible answer: my path towards God.

There is no single way to get to God, and that is something acknowledged by The Qur’an, which is precisely why I believe so strongly in Islam. It is also something that is enshrined in both our Schools of Law and our Schools of Theology.

People ask me “how can there be so many different ideas and perceptions from the same religion,” and I’ve always been confused by that question. I’m confused because there is a natural diversity in our humanity, we are all children of Adam, so why wouldn’t there be different ideas and perceptions of what brings us towards The Almighty?

The best advice I can give you, is to learn about yourself. If you do not know yourself, nothing I say will ever be able to help you. My path may be able to help you, but that is only if we think similarly. For instance, I did not return to God through spirituality, but through logic and reason. It is logic and reason that was the proof that God existed and that Islam was The Truth.

Other people have different paths, but, what I have noticed is that anyone who has a deep connection with God, understands themselves.

SubhanAllah, it is amazing to listen to someone who describes their perceptions, and how they are actually aware that they are making their choices because of their mindset, yet attempting to calibrate themselves towards improving their weaknesses while not forgetting their strengths.

Again, my suggestion, if you know yourself, understand yourself, then you will be able to get closer to God. For me, I am able to argue any point, either side, while knowing that there is a “trump card” argument that ultimately defeats that position. This is true of nearly everything, except for Islam. There is nothing and I mean nothing that exists as a “trump card” against Islam. For me, that is why I believe so strongly in it, because, no rational argument can unhinge Islam, and for someone like me, that is proof of perfection.

That does not have to be your path, but it was mine. I had to know that in order to submit myself to God, and for different people it will be different things, but it started out by me recognizing what I needed to overcome and what I needed to know in order to understand and make sense of God.

So it was through Islam, specifically through the methods of Shariah and by the logic and reason of The Qur’an that I was able to find my path towards God: the key is still understanding yourself so that you may be able to understand The Qur’an.

Look, The Qur’an is incredible, but if you approach it with a singular mindset, it will be difficult, if not arduous, to process. In my experience, The Qur’an becomes difficult when you approach it with the idea that there is only one way the understand it, which simply sets you up for failure. Every time I look at A Qur’an, all I see is infinity. I literally see an endless amount of information, in which things that I have readthousands of times, have new meaning because of what I have experienced.

Understand yourself so you may be able to understand God on your terms. That is how you get closer to God. How you do that, is up to you.

Insha Allah, I hope that answered your question, and that if you, or anyone else, has a question on this, or any other topic, please do not hesitate to ask.