(2:29) Knowing the Creator Through His Creation
Knowing the Creator Through His Creation
What can we know about Allah Himself? What does His creation tell us about Him?
It is He who created for you all that the earth contains; then He turned to the heavens and made them seven skies – and He is the knower of all things. (2:29)
Allah Almighty created everything on Earth for us. There is nothing coincidental or accidental about its existence. Every detail of our planet is perfect for life to be born and survive on it. Even our dependence on oxygen is not incidental, as it has not been found anywhere else. Meticulous precision and intelligent design lies behind every aspect of our universe and so we cannot accept that life and the universe came about as a spontaneous accident.
No one has the power to create out of nothingness except Allah Almighty. All matter and even the dimensions of time and space are His creation. We may invent things and explore, but ultimately all we can do is either consciously or subconsciously imitate nature. In biomimicry, design and production is modelled on biological entities and processes. Just one example is Boeing, which has a team dedicated to studying bird movement. When aircraft engineers wanted to build larger airplanes, but maintain their stability, they analysed the flight and descent of falcons, eagles and albatrosses – which Allah Almighty has enabled to fly with effortless grace.
Every time we interfere with the balance and natural cycles that Allah has created we wreak havoc with the harmony that Allah Almighty established. In our greed-driven farming methods, we have allowed the proliferation of inhumane conditions for animals, especially in relation to chickens, to increase production. Meanwhile the level of preservatives, hormones and chemicals we are pumping into our food chain is silently ruining our health. Sadly our increased yield has not been used to feed those in need, but generated more than 1.3 billion tonnes of food that is wasted each year.
No wonder that going back to basics is now the common theme: in economics, in society and in religion.
Allah Almighty’s creation reflects His ability but not Himself – just as the one who designs a laptop, doesn’t look like a laptop. We know that:
‘Nothing resembles him in anyway.’ (26:11)
Neither does He occupy any dimension that we are aware of – Allah is not confined to space or place. While there is mention of Allah Almighty’s throne in the sky, these are ‘mutashaabihaat’, (unclear verses) because we also know that:
‘We are closer to you than your jugular vein?’ (50:16)
And that:
‘He is with you wherever you are?’ (57:4)
So where is Allah? Outside our comprehension, but always attentive to us.
Allah Almighty was in existence and nothing was with Him – no space, no time. We cannot imagine this. Wa ma qaddaraAllahu haqqa qadrihi – no one can comprehend Allah. So we do not dwell on the being of Allah Himself, as no one comprehends Allah but Allah. We simply know Allah through the attributes He has informed us of. Allah would not deserve to be Allah if He resembled anything. No one knows the reality of Allah but Allah. It’s a test of belief. All will become clear in the Hereafter.
However Allah Almighty has told of the seven skies which He created. The Prophet (peace be on him) travelled through these seven skies when he embarked on his journey. We can only see the first heaven. Till now no one has been able to reach beyond.
References:
http://www.fao.org/save-food/resources/keyfindings/en/
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