Title: Faith and Uncertainty in God's Existence Question: If a person is not fully convinced, even after listening to all the arguments, that God exists for sure. So there is an uncertainty of God's existence in his mind. I think that the majority of the people do have a problem in this area of God's existence; although they do not prefer to talk it openly. They do seem to believe in God through the inborn intuition (Fitrah) as mentioned by Qur'an. The main reason is that they are very much involved in mundane life. So if this person has decided to do good on the basis that if God exists, which he wants to believe with total certainty, He might forgive his sins and accept his good deeds and make him enter the heaven. Here the fear of uncertainty ("might be") leads this person to do good deeds. So my question is: Is this level of bleak faith enough to earn the salvation in the hereafter? Thanks. Jazzakallah khairun Nauman Ilyas Pakistan Answer: There could possibly be two reasons for a person's lack of belief in the existence of God. You seem to have mentioned them in your question; but let me delineate them for my own clear understanding. There are those who are not alive to the inborn intuition (Fitrah) and after having thoroughly explored the arguments in favor of God's existence, do not find them convincing. These people are generally dubbed as atheists. Then there are those who seem uninterested in deliberating over the existence or non-existence of a supreme being. As you mention, they could be so engrossed in the mundane affairs of life that undertaking such an investigation becomes a non-issue for them. Clearly, they are doing a great disservice to themselves and no one else. Another category is of those people - your question relates to them - who are neither fully convinced of God's existence nor starkly deny it. The thought process of these people borders on agnosticism, though strictly it may not. In my opinion, unless put on a permanent hold, such suspended belief cannot remain so indefinitely. Constant exposure to opposing arguments from the two sides, continual reflection, both scriptural and intuitive, and an honest yearning to reach the truth are bound to drive home one conclusion or the other. The constraint condition, however, is an unrelenting search for answers. From an Islamic perspective, all our good deeds naturally emanate from our firm belief in God. This belief results in our adherence to a code of conduct, guiding us in both man-to-God as well as man-to-man relationships. With this belief resting on precarious grounds, the motivation to adhere to this code of conduct can either be easily blunted or cannot produce the desired results effectively. You write: Here the fear of uncertainty ("might be") leads this person to do good deeds. Islam wants the fear of certainty ("undeniably") to lead a person to do good deeds. As for the salvation part, I am not in a position to comment on anyone's salvation in the hereafter. There are too many variables involved in this scenario for us to take stock of. However, I do believe that belief in God is an inescapable reality and a thinking mind has to arrive at it or in the very least at its antithesis. Anything in between, for a pondering mind, can only be a temporary stage. You may also like to refer to one of our earlier responses titled ' Practical Effects of Belief in God '. Regards, Razi Allah March 31, 2003