Where is the “ultimate evidence” since it refers to “realities of the unseen world”??
I would probably state faith this way……….”faith is believing some set of precepts in the human hope they turn out to be correct”……….although, in our heart of hearts, we know that we are not really sure if they are correct or not.
If one has a certain “faith”, then why continue looking for answers? If one poses challenges to a given “faith”, does that not imply what I said? Meaning, we are not really sure???
Lack of assuredness implies lack of evidence.
Answer
We do have faith and we want to have more faith. Faith provides answers to questions that have to do with the unseen world. Faith is both information about the unseen world and confidence in the truthfulness of it. Like love, hatred, satisfaction and all other feelings, this confidence too fluctuates in response to our experiences, level of knowledge, level of morality, moods etc.
Indeed a faith can be right or wrong. More precisely, it could be more right, less right, less wrong, or absolutely wrong. Faith is both an intellectual as well as a moral project. The moral aspect of it is more significant than the intellectual one. It is the morally inspired urge in man that prompts him to search for his creator and the wisdom behind the design of the world He has created.
The Quran informs us: “God becomes the protecting friend of those who want to believe; He brings them out of the darkness (of ignorance) towards the light (of faith).” The verse clarifies a few things:
i) God helps people to have faith;
ii) He helps only those of them to have faith who want to have it;
iii) faith doesn’t necessarily come overnight. It is like a journey from darkness towards light.
The help God provides to the seekers after truth is in the form of answers to troubling questions through different sources, responses to prayers addressed to God, extraordinary experiences which can only come from God etc.
Those who don’t seek faith don’t get it. Those who remain content with a lower level of faith are deprived the opportunity of getting faith of a higher level.