One of our reflection prompts this week (Week One of Qur'an in a Year) is 'How do we believe in Allah SWT without seeing Him?'

As a recent revert (March 2022) who was coming from a position of near-atheism, I worried greatly for a while about how it would ever be possible to truly believe in God. But little by slow, Allah SWT, the Gentle and All-Aware, has manifested His presence and care in my life, time and time again.

There are so many examples. I'll write here about two of them. God wiling:

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Yazeed b. ‘Abdullah b. ash-Shikh-kheer narrates from one of his tribesman that the Messenger of Allah (saws) passed by him and said: 'Recite them in your prayers,' referring to the two Surahs of Refuge. [Authentic: Narrated by Ahmad (20844)]

‘Uqbah b. ‘Âmir narrates: I was walking with the Messenger of Allah (saws) when he said: 'O ‘Uqbah b. ‘Âmir, speak!' I asked: 'What should I say, O Messenger of Allah?' He did not respond to me, but then said: 'O ‘Uqbah b. ‘Âmir, speak!' I asked: 'What should I say, O Messenger of Allah?' He did not respond to me, so I said: 'O Allah, let him repeat it to me.' He said: 'O ‘Uqbah b. ‘Âmir, speak!' I asked: 'What should I say, O Messenger of Allah?' He replied: Say, ˹O Prophet,˺ 'I seek refuge in the Lord of the daybreak [113:1] I then recited it until I reached the end of it, and he then said: 'Speak!' I asked: 'What should I say, O Messenger of Allah?' He replied: Say, ˹O Prophet,˺ 'I s

‘Uqbah b. ‘Âmir narrates: I met with the Messenger of Allah (saws), and he said to me: 'O ‘Uqbah b. ‘Âmir, may I teach you some surahs, the likes of which were never revealed in the Torah, the Pslams, the Gospels, nor the Furqân? Let no night pass by you except that you have recited therein: Say, ˹O Prophet,˺ 'He is Allah—One ˹and Indivisible˺ [112:1] 'And: Say, ˹O Prophet,˺ 'I seek refuge in the Lord of the daybreak [113:1] 'And: Say, ˹O Prophet,˺ 'I seek refuge in the Lord of humankind [114:1] (‘Uqbah b. ‘Âmir continues): No night has ever come to me except that I recited them therein, and I am obliged to never neglect them as the Messenger of Allah (saws) instructed me to do so. [

Abu Hurayrah narrates: The Messenger of Allah (saws) said: 'Come together, for I will recite to you one-third of the Qur’an.' Those who gathered came, and the Prophet (saws) came out, reciting: Say, ˹O Prophet,˺ 'He is Allah—One ˹and Indivisible˺; [112:1] He then went back in, and they said to one another: 'I think that it was some news that came to him from the sky that caused him to go back in.' The Prophet of Allah (saws) then came back out and said: 'I said to you that I would recite to you a third of the Qur’an. Woah! It is certainly equal to one-third of the Qur’an!' [Authentic: Narrated by Muslim (812:261)]

Abu Sa‘eed al-Khudri narrates that a man heard another man repeatedly reciting: Say, 'He is Allah , [who is] One…. [112:1] The next morning, he came to the Messenger of Allah (saws) and mentioned that to him. It seemed as if the man was undermining that. The Messenger of Allah (saws) said: 'I swear by the One in whose hand is my soul, it is equal to one third of the Qur’an!' [Authentic: Narrated by al-Bukhari (5013)]

Sa‘sa‘ah b. Mu‘âwiyah narrates that al-Ahnaf narrates: I came to the Prophet (saws) and heard him reciting this ayah: So whoever does an atom’s weight of good will see it. And whoever does an atom’s weight of evil will see it. [99:7-8] I said: 'By Allah, I do not care if I do not hear anything else! It is enough for me! It is enough for me!' [Authentic: Narrated by Imam Ahmad (20594), and an-Nasâ’i in al-Kubra (11630), and at-Tabarâni in al-Kabeer (8/90)]

Abdullah b. ‘Amr narrates: A man came to the Messenger of Allah (saws) and said: 'Teach me to recite, O Messenger of Allah.' He told him: 'Recite three from the one that begins with ‘Alif Lâm Râ’.’' The man said: 'I have reached old age, my heart is worn out, and my tongue is heavy.' He said: 'Then recite from the one that begins with ‘Hâ Meem.’' He said what he said the first time, so he suggested: 'Recite three from the ones that begin with tasbeeh.’' He repeated what he said. The man said: 'Rather teach me, O Messenger of Allah, a surah that is comprehensive.' He then taught him to recite Surah al-Zalzalah. When he finished, the man said: 'I swear by the one who sent you with the truth,

Anas b. Mâlik narrates that the Prophet of Allah (saws) said to Ubay b. Ka‘b: 'Allah instructed me to recite the Qur’an to you.' He asked: 'Did Allah mention me to you by name?' He replied: 'Yes.' He asked: 'Was I really mentioned by the Lord of all creation?' He said: 'Yes.' His eyes then flowed with tears. [Authentic: Narrated by al-Bukhari (4961)]

Al-Barâ’ narrates that the Prophet (saws) was once on a journey when he recited Surah at-Teen in one of the two units of the ‘Ishâ’ prayer. [Agreed upon: Narrated by al-Bukhari (4952) in this wording, and Muslim (464) in a similar wording] Al-Bukhari also adds (769), as does Muslim in a narration with another chain from ‘Adi: 'I never heard anyone with a nicer voice than his.'