Does This Universe Have a Creator?
On those who deny the
Existence of God the Creator…
People in centuries past used
to believe in the Existence of God the Creator, and the world remained this way
until about the 17th century CE (Common Era, after Christ). The
first openly atheist book denying the Existence of a Divine Being was published
in Europe in 1770.
We say: Such people who deny the Existence
of Allah (Glorious & Exalted) have been seduced and have gone astray to follow
their vain desires and trivial passions.
For indeed, they have seen in Allah's
Great Signs in nature and in themselves the order and precision of creation.
They have seen that which proves His Existence and the fact that He is the Wise
Creator, in accordance with the Saying of the Almighty, {We will show them Our
Signs in the universe, and in their own selves, until it becomes manifest to
them that this (the Quran) is the truth.}[Fussilat 41: 53]
Yet, they prefer denial and disbelief,
despite their certain knowledge of the Existence of this Great Creator, as in
His Saying, {And they belied them wrongfully and arrogantly, though their own
selves were convinced thereof…}[Al-Naml 27:14]
This denial and disbelief is due to their
arrogance and pride and the sway of their passions and desires over their minds
and actions. They know perfectly well that if they believe in God, the Great
Creator, they will have to submit to His Power and Authority and follow His
prophets and messengers. They will have to seek judgment from none other than
Him (Glorious & Exalted), as was sent down in His Divine Scriptures upon
His prophets and messengers, and they will know that His Law must prevail.
And why not? For He is God, the Creator,
to Whom belongs everything in existence and to Whom all things return. To Allah
(Glorious & Exalted) belongs every decision, and all matters are referred
to Him. It is Allah's Right to order what He wills and to prohibit what He
wills. For must not a subservient slave obey his master no matter what he
commands, no matter how great the order or prohibition?
For the slave has not the right to give
orders; he is the property of his master. His master commands him to do what he
wills and forbids him to do what he wills, however he pleases, whenever he
pleases. This is but one example in reality, but to Allah (Glorious &
Exalted) belongs the ultimate example, for there is nothing like unto Him. It
is from the Mercy of Allah (Glorious & Exalted), His Grace and Bounty, that
He does not order or require His slaves to do that which is beyond their normal
human capacity, even though He may command whatever He wills and forbid
whatever He wills, for Allah (Mighty & Majestic) will not be asked about
what He does; rather it is He Who will question His slaves about what they have
done. It is He Who will bring them to account on the Day all creatures
will be brought for judgment, in accordance with His Saying, {He cannot be
questioned as to what He does, while they will be questioned.}[Al-Anbiyaa' 21:
23]
It is from the Mercy of Allah (Glorious
& Exalted) and His Great Bounty that He created Heaven, with its
everlasting, permanent blessings, prepared for His good, believing slaves who
obeyed Him during their lives in this world, followed His commands, and avoided
His prohibitions, since their hearts, bodies and minds submitted to Allah
(Glorious & Exalted), due to His Power and Authority over them.
It is from the mercy of Allah (Glorious
& Exalted) that He has prescribed mercy for Himself, and that His mercy
precedes His wrath, for He (Glorious & Exalted) bears the right to forgive
whomever He wills and to show mercy to whomever He wills among His slaves, as
grace and bounty from Him (Blessed & Exalted) to His slaves, for they are
His believing servants.
It is from the Justice of Allah (Glorious
& Sublime) that He created the Hellfire, with all its humiliation and
painful torment, as a permanent abode for those who defied Him, rejected His
Signs and denied His Existence.
Allah Almighty created the Hellfire, with
all its painful torment for those who disobeyed His commands and transgressed
His limits and prohibitions, knowingly and voluntarily.
These atheists who deny the
Existence of Allah (Mighty & Majestic) have preferred their present,
impermanent lives over their everlasting destiny. They deceive themselves with
speculative, presumptuous reasoning no one of sound nature could ever
accept—deductions without value or weight. They are no more than assumptions
and baseless lies.
Philosophers like these—the proponents of
logic and reason who deny the Existence of God the Creator—are not searching
for the truth, but rather for means of rhetorical influence. They are not even
able to agree upon a set of conditions for the evidence of their false claims,
so they rush into denial and disbelief, following their passions, desires and
worldly interests.
Philosophical arguments have not been able
to bring man to certainty when applied to questions of divinity since they are merely
a collection of hypotheses, conjectures and baseless lies. Perhaps the clearest
way to demonstrate that is:
1.
Logic causes division,
disagreement and feuding among its proponents and practitioners.
2.
We find that physicians,
mathematicians, writers and others make scientific and mechanical achievements
without resorting to such philosophy and logic.
3.
We find that such philosophy
was the cause of its proponents and practitioners being held back, preventing
them from engaging in civil society and the progress of science and
civilization.
Atheists and those who deny
the Existence of Allah (Mighty & Majestic) rely in their false claim, on
philosophical ideas that have no relation to reality, since they search in a
world that has no external existence; its existence is only in the mind. They
have submitted to logical premises they believed to be true, though they were
not. We offer a simple comparison to demonstrate the extent to which their
standards differ:
If we look at a wall in which there is a
defect, and one side says (according to his logic) that the defect is not in
the thing made, but in the maker. Yet he does not take into account other
factors that are not visible, but which could be the cause of this defect,
besides the maker, such as humidity or the like. Would it be possible for us to
say this about:
A person whose face is not beautiful, who
Allah Almighty created in this shape for a reason only He understands. It would be as though we were saying: the
defect is not in the created, but in the Creator!
Of course, this would not be possible.
Allah forbid!
Atheists and those who deny the Existence
of God the Creator use the methods of philosophy and logic to support their
claims, despite their invalidity, because of the ambiguity and riddle inherent
therein, since no one understands them but an elect segment of society.
At the same time, we find that the Holy
Quran bases its arguments on the Existence of God, for the sound human mind was
created to believe in that which it can see and feel without complicated mental
gymnastics which contradict the goal of guiding people and presenting clear
evidence to them.
We also find that, in proving the
Existence of God the Creator, the Holy Quran employs proof and testimony which
no reasonable person could doubt. It contains no complicated qualifications,
and it works without disturbing the truth of its premises or conclusions within
the laws of reason.
On the ideas and claims of
those who deny the Existence of God the Creator and the invalidity of such
claims:
Atheists and those who deny
the Existence of God the Creator claim that religion is not real, that it is
the manifestation of a natural instinct, and that everything that happens in
the universe, from the earth to the heavens, follows laws known as the
"Laws of Nature." They say that in the beginning, there did exist a
God who was the Prime Mover for this universe. Then, before long, He left it
alone, it bearing no connection to Him, and He bearing no connection to the
things of this universe, whether living or nonliving creatures. In this, their
claims are like the polytheists of old who denied the resurrection after death
for accounting and recompense, saying: Indeed, it is merely wombs that push and
earth that swallows.
Then the leaders of atheism and the
deniers of the Existence of God offered a comparison in this regard. Voltaire
said, "The universe is like a watch; its maker sets his precise mechanism
in a particular fashion and sets it in motion. Then, his connection with it is
cut," as he claims.
After him came those who even denied the
Existence of God in the beginning, whose pride and self-deception would not
permit them to assert the existence of that God, even if His role was merely at
the beginning of creation.
Then along came Hume, who bowed to his
passions and desires and got rid of that 'dead god' who no longer bore any
connection to this universe following its inception. He said, "We have
seen watches and they are made in factories, but we have not seen the universe
while it was being made, so how can we admit that it has a creator?"
according to his statement and claim.
And so the statement prevailed and took
hold of their minds which had previously been closed to the likes of such
concepts—these erroneous analogies and deceptive conjectures. They were blinded
in heart and sight, in accordance with the Saying of Allah Almighty, {Verily,
it is not the eyes that grow blind; it is the hearts in the breasts that grow
blind.}[Al-Hajj 22: 46]
Alas, after the atheists' denial of
divinity and religion, following their passions and desires, their pride and
self-deception took hold of them and there was nothing left but for them to
reject anything with even the slightest connection to the issue of divinity and
religion.
They denied the sending of messengers,
which of course meant that they denied the Divine Scriptures sent down upon
them containing the commands, obligations, and religious directives, as well as
the boundaries and prohibitions—the heavenly instructions sent as guidance to
mankind—in addition to all accounts of the Unseen this brought with it, past,
present, or future.
They denied the existence of angels and
all other creatures that are beyond our powers of perception.
They denied fate and predetermination and
the fact that everything that happens in the universe, both seen and unseen,
happens by the Will and Knowledge of Allah (Glorious & Exalted), and that
all of it occurs in accordance with the pre-existing measure of Allah Almighty,
according to a wisdom He Alone comprehends. They denied this all and refused to
believe in it.
They denied the issue of resurrection: the
reckoning, the recompense and everlasting life: either in Allah's Paradise
(Blessed & Exalted is He) and its realm of delight and good pleasure for
the virtuous believer, or in Allah's Fire (Mighty & Majestic is He) and its
painful torment for the wicked disbeliever who did not believe in it all.
They denied the existence of Allah's
Paradise (Blessed & Exalted is He) and the realm of bliss and contentment.
They denied Allah's Fire (Mighty & Majestic is He) and the realm of
punishment and wrath. They did not believe in any of it.
They are ever in a state of floundering
and wandering in their lives which have been hurried for them since they have
no religion or god to worship or draw near to. One might even be more specific
and say:
They have taken their passions and desires
as their Lord, to worship beside Allah (Glorious & Sublime), since they fall
behind them in submissive following and due to their preference for this
fleeting world over life everlasting. This confirms the Saying of Allah Most
High:
{Have you seen him who has taken as his
god his own desire? Would you then be a protecting guide over him?}[Al-Furqan
25:43]
The following should clarify the aforementioned ideas and
claims of those who deny the Divine Being:
1.
The general concept amongst
atheists and those who deny God assumes that there is no reality beyond the
material and that facts can only be material.
2.
That the universe is
self-sufficient, not in need of any external cause.
3.
That matter in itself is
eternal, and that it came together by mere accident, taking the shapes of which
the entire world has formed, including life and consciousness.
4.
They say that it is imperative
to rely on the natural sciences in learning facts, not on religion.
In response to such false
claims and invalid suppositions, we would like to say first of all that:
Allah (Glorious & Exalted) has provided
the Islamic Nation with brilliant minds among the scholars of the Sunnah who
have corrected, through logical argument and scriptural reference, the
spuriousness of the statements and claims made by atheists.
Among the refutations which demonstrate the
poverty and invalidity of the ideas and claims of atheists and deniers of the
Existence of God are:
1. Nature
is but one of the parts of the universe; it is not an explanation for it.
Religion explains to us the causes and the true impetus behind the creation of
this universe. The scientific discoveries being made in the natural sciences
are merely about the external structure of the universe.
Modern science provides
details about what happens, but these are not the explanation for this reality.
We offer the following as an example:
Ancient man knew that rain falls from the
sky, and he used to attribute that to Allah (Glorious & Exalted)—that He is
the One Who enabled and permitted the rain to pour forth, for everything that
happens in the universe happens according to His Will.
Today we know that this is the result of
the evaporation of ocean water, followed by precipitation which falls to the
earth. All of these events are the forms of reality.
But does that mean that science has
revealed to us how these events became law? How did these laws between the
earth and the heavens come to be established in this amazing way so that
scientists could deduce from them scientific laws?
Of course, it does not mean that.
Man does not discover anything but the order
of nature.
If man were to claim that his discovery
of order in nature should be considered the discovery of the explanation for
this universe, he would only be fooling himself.
Indeed, it becomes our duty, after
witnessing these events, to believe that the One behind the ancient order in
this vast universe is a Great Divine Creator.[1]
Another example:
The universe in its present condition is
nothing more than a machine which spins under its cover. We do not know anything
about it except that it spins. Yet, if we open its cover, we would see how this
machine is joined by many different discs and gears, spinning one with the
other. We would see every single movement.
Does this mean that we have learned about
the Creator of this machine merely by watching the parts spin inside it? Of
course, not!
Could it truly be understood logically
that watching things spin inside a machine could prove that the machine came
into being on its own? Or that it operates on its own?[2]
Of course, not!
No reasonable person would ever say that;
it could only come from the mouth of a denier, a rejecter.
So how could it be proven, after watching
a few cosmological events, that this came about spontaneously—that it was self-generating?
For if these scientific discoveries about
the universe increased a million or more times than what we have today, this
would be nothing more than a witness to particular cosmological events; it
would not be proof of His bringing forth or leaving the universe to run on its
own.
On the contrary, all of this should propel
us towards belief in the Lord of this universe, its Creator Who fashioned it
with such precise order. Nothing of the sort could ever have come into being
accidentally, as the liars claim.
2.
The universe is not
self-sufficient and not in need of anything external because it has been
confirmed for us, through logical argument and scriptural reference—from the
prophets, messengers and divine scriptures—that the universe has a Supreme
Creator, with Attributes essentially dissimilar to those of His creation.
3.
As mentioned before, it is
impossible for matter to be eternal or that it could have come together purely
by accident to take the forms in which our world now exists, including both
life and consciousness.
4.
The senses are not a means of
knowing all that mankind needs to know. There is no contradiction between
relying on the senses to learn about one thing which can be known in that way
and relying on logic to learn another thing which cannot be known except in
that way. There is nothing opposite about science and religion; in fact,
religion recognizes the scientific method as a means to knowledge; it merely
asserts that it is not the means of knowing everything.
There are types of knowledge
which can only be known through narration, others that can only be known
through logical deduction, and still others that cannot be reached except
through prophets, messengers and divine scriptures.
A reasonable man takes advantage of all of
these methods, according to the type of knowledge he is seeking.[3]
On the speculative philosophy
of atheists and deniers of the Existence of God:
Atheists and deniers of the
Existence of God begin with premises that are speculative, hypothetical, baseless
and unsupported. The following are a sample:
1.
They say that matter is
eternal (azali); it cannot be created or destroyed. That is incorrect.
Modern science has demonstrated that matter in any of its identifiable forms is
not perpetual; it can be broken down or transformed into other forms of matter
or energy.
It
is common knowledge that anything which can be broken down or transformed is
not eternal or uncreated; indeed, it is by definition created (haadith).
Therefore, actual matter is created and impermanent.
We present the following
example:
If we were to tell someone
conversant in chemistry and physics that matter can cease to exist and then
proved it, offering the example of death, his response might be to object,
saying, "No, I will not be cease to exist. My body will simply change
form." Then, we could say to him, "But these other forms of matter
will also cease to exist."
He would say, "But they in turn will
be transformed into other forms of matter."
We could continue, saying, "And these
in turn will cease to exist, and what they have transformed into will cease to
exist."
He would insist on his opinion that behind
all of this there would be matter which could not be destroyed.
Then we could say to him, "And what
is this form of matter that cannot be destroyed?"
We would find him unable to venture a
response.
That is because, in reality, he is not
referring to actual matter; he is referring to a substance that is in the mind,
philosophical, hypothetical and conjectural.
There we have it. This
'eternal substance' has no existence in the material world; it exists only in
the mind. But in our everyday and scientific lives, we deal with material
substances, not mental substances.[4]
In short, beyond all this matter and its
existence, there must necessarily be a real cause for everything we find in
nature, and it must be: eternal—without beginning or end. Indeed, it is Allah,
the Supreme Creator.
2.
An example of these mental,
philosophical conjectures:
Imagine that a small group of aliens from some
stars came down to earth. They could hear, but they were incapable of speech,
and they wanted to search for a way to communicate with human beings. While
they were searching, a wind blew and the limbs of one of them rubbed up against
the other, producing a sound. They repeated the process more than once until
the wind stopped, so they thought they had found the secret to human speech,
which is that the human mouth consists of two jaws full of teeth. In the friction
of the upper jaw against the lower jaw, speech occurs, for without a doubt,
when one thing rubs against another, a sound is produced. However, could such
an incident be said to be the discovery of the secret of human speech?
Of
course, not![5]
That
would be conjecture—an invalid and baseless conclusion.
Likewise, the speculative
philosophy of atheists and deniers of the Existence of God can be considered to
discover the organization of nature, but not the explanation for the
universe.
This is nothing but a trick and a false
claim, as we pointed out in the previous example.
As such, we repeat: the philosophy of
atheists is merely speculative and hypothetical. Its claims are invalid, and it
has no basis in truth.
The likes of these atheists and deniers of
the Existence of God have shut their eyes to obvious facts and built imaginary
archways of assumption, as demonstrated in their uncommon reasoning.[6]
They are none but slaves to passion and
desire. They submit to vanity and pride.
Another example of this
fanciful, intellectual philosophy of atheists and deniers of the Existence of
God is the following:
Such a person who denies the Existence of
Allah Almighty might say, "Could your Lord create a stone that cannot be
moved?" Such a question assumes that we would be forced to answer yes or
no, and in either cases, he would get the answer he wants.
If we were to say, "Yes, He
could." He would say, "Then there is something he cannot do: move
that stone."
But if we were to say, "No," he
would reply, "Then there is something He cannot do, so He is not
All-Powerful!" But we will not give either answer. Instead, we say:
Your question conceals a fundamental
incongruity, for it is a logical contradiction. The Power of Allah Almighty is
not contingent on impossibilities, for that which is logically impossible is
not in reality anything.[7]
3.
Atheists and deniers of the
Existence of God propose that experimentation and observation are the only two
ways of discovering facts. This is a false claim.
We
will give an example that will prove that experimentation and observation are
not the only two ways of discovering facts. Science is not limited to that
which can be directly experienced. There is knowledge that can only be acquired
through narration, knowledge that can only be acquired through logical
deduction, and still more knowledge that can only be acquired through prophets,
messengers and divine scripture.
Among that which proves that
knowledge is not limited to what can be directly experienced is:
People in ancient times used
to build sailboats made of wood, believing that water would only carry that
which is lighter than it. When some of them said that an iron boat could float
on the surface of the water, just like wood, people rejected the idea and
ridiculed him. They would come to him with a metal shoe in a bucket of water to
show people that this piece of iron settles to the bottom instead of floating
on the top of the water. This was an experiment.
Yet, we all know today and we admit that
this experiment was wrong. Had they used a metal dish instead, they would have
seen with their own eyes the truth of what he said about iron boats.[8]
Such is the case with atheists and deniers
of the Existence of God: their knowledge is limited to what they have seen with
their own eyes or in direct experimentation, and they use this to prove the
truth of what they say.
That is why atheists deny the Existence of
God the Creator, arguing that they cannot see Him. They have limited their
knowledge to that which they can see with their own eyes or directly
experience, which is, without a doubt, a speculative philosophy and a false,
invalid claim.
Another proof of this is:
At the start of the 20th
century, the telescope was still weak, so when astronomers would look at the
sky with this instrument, they would observe many cosmological objects like
light. They deduced that they were clouds of vapor and gas which were in the
phase right before turning into stars. But after more powerful telescopes were
built and these cosmological objects were viewed again, they learned that these
multiple bodies of light were a grouping of many stars that only looked like a
cloud because of the incredible distance between them and the earth.[9]
This is one of the many examples which
confirm that experimentation and observation are not the only two methods of
discovering hard fact. Knowledge is not limited to things which can be seen
with the eye or directly experienced.
Everything we believe in was at one time a
mere supposition, until new facts were discovered to support the truth of the
claim. Scientists do believe in the existence of things they cannot see as a
result of the appearance of their products and effects.
This is the principle which determines our
belief that, behind this universe, there is a Supreme Creator, since we can see
His Signs and effects which point to the greatness of His Attributes and
Abilities in creating this astonishingly sublime universal order.
4.
They say that matter came
together by accident, taking the forms from which our whole world is designed,
including life and consciousness. This is a false claim.
Chance alone—especially in this case—is useless; there must necessarily
be design behind it.
To
give an example: if all beings were formed from a combination of atoms, it
would have to have been by chance, but that contradicts the fact that the atoms
themselves were designed, such that if they come together in one way, they form
gold and if they come together in another way, they form water, and so on.
Chance alone does not solve this
conundrum, for it is not free of design.[10]
Among that which confirms the Existence
of this Designer and Maker is these atoms and their pattern of coming together,
and by extension, this entire universe.
All we can say is that, behind this
well-designed, exquisite universe is God, the Supreme Creator.
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