DISCOVERY OF GOD
RAFIQ ZAKARIA
Man’s interest in God as old as his own existence. He has struggled ever since his creation to find his Creator. He tried to see the Celestial Being in different forms; sometimes as the sun, the moon or the constellation of stars. And sometimes as mighty river of a lofty mountain or the earth itself. However the Supreme Being continued to elude man. From the Neolithic Age, ten thousand years ago, to the present times, the search has been ceaseless; more and more anthropological relics and archaeological finds were discovered from time to time as the pursuit intensified. Indeed it has been a fascinating journey of discovery beginning with the primitive man. As he evolved into a civilized creature and wandered through the ages, from the ancient world of Iraq. Syria,Egypt, India, China, Greece, Rome and Iran,gathering their distinctive responses, his awareness of his Creator acquired a more concrete shape. In Palestine and the deserts of Arabia he forged ahead with the monotheistic creed in a manner that took the world by storm.
Then doubts arose about His very existence in some quarters, more particularly in the latter half of the last millennium. Atheists gathered force and some even argued whether there was such a thing as God; They declared that even if He existed, He was dead. However, this was only a transient reaction; as time passed, His need was felt more than ever before.
Dr. Rafiq Zakaria, an eminent scholar of international repute, has delved deep into the subject; after intensive research, he has traced the long and chequered history of man’s ensuing struggle to discover the One and Only Supreme Being who has provided humanity with real solace and inner peace. This is a historical, not a religious survey; it analyses the place of God in every major religion cutting across religious precepts and practices and brings out the continual discovery of the only one who has endured