Chapter 2: Food for the Soul

1.       The famous Ayatul Kursi, or Verse of the Throne, is one of the most memorized passages of the Qur’an and provides an introduction to the way in which Muslims view God.
2.       The four areas that prove the existence of God / Allah, according to Muslims are:

a)      The natural world with all its complexity and beauty, as a sign of an intelligence in the universe because only a designing mind could have constructed it.

b)      Human abilities for thought, belief, invention, creativity, and moral choices.

c)       The revelation of God’s guidance and the existence of religion. They show that there is a right way and a wrong way to live life.

d)      Our inner feelings.

 

3.       “Surrendering to Allah” refers to following God’s way and doing what it is supposed to do.
4.       The Qur’an states that long before God made people, He offered the gift of free will to everything in the universe. That then leaves you with having right and wrong, good and evil. The Qur’an declares that every object in the universe declined this “gift” out of fear of the consequences.
5.       Humans would have free will, self-awareness, intelligence, reason, and a moral compass called a fitrah, or natural inclination, to help guide them through life. Islam points out that all of us have weaknesses and we all desire personal pleasure and the fulfillment of our animal urges.
6.       Fitrah means "pure human nature", "disposition", "constitution", or "instinct” and is our inner nature and disposition to seek Allah.