Tell me about Allah!

Why I don’t see Allah?   How great is Allah?   Where is Allah?  Then who created Allah?  What kind of existence is Allah?   Why Allah is one?     How does Allah do this much of work simultaneously?   Why does Allah create fruits on trees?   “Allah creates”, then what does the nature do?

Author: Tahir Akkubayev
Translator:  Aykhan Guluzade
 
CHAPTER 1
Why I don’t see Allah?

    Do you want to see Allah? Do not hesitate to say “Yes, I want to see Allah!”. I do understand your wish. I agree with you. Because I also want to see Allah.
    I also want to know Allah who hangs the bright sun as a lamp from the sky.
    Who wouldn’t like to see Allah who lights up the dark nights with the moon and stars?!
    
    Have a look at our planet, the Earth! It stands as a giant ball in the space. No, no that is not right. It does not stand but rotates around the sun. It also rotates around its own axis with a high speed. Indeed, I would like to see Allah who rotates the planet Earth in the space.  
    
    Who wouldn’t like to see Allah who covers the Earth with the blue sky?!
    
    Who wouldn’t wish to know Allah who floats giant clouds which hold enough water for lakes and seas like a ship in the sky?!

    What can be strange about wishing to know and to see Allah who creates rains from clouds and countless different shaped snowflakes?!

    Have a look at trees! They drink muddy water with their roots but in return they grow cherries and apples as sweet as honey, very tasty and sweet apples and grapes, sourish lemons and pomegranates.  

    Who wouldn’t wish to see Allah who creates all of these?!

    You are asking “Why I don’t see Allah?!”. You are right. Wishing to see him you are very right. 

    I do understand you. 

    I also wish to see Allah. I want to know him more and to love him more. 

    Have a look at flowers! Look at tulip, violet, carnation, rose!

    It is your right to know and see Allah who has created such beautiful, colourful, fragrant flowers.

    Oh I almost forgot!
    Have a look at sparrows chirping on tree branches! Think about storks! Think about pigeons you feed in the parks! 

    Close your eyes and imagine all the birds you know about. See how amazing they flap wings and float in the air?!

    What a beautiful voice they have!
    What beautiful feathers they have!
    What beautiful nests they make!
    How compassionately they feed their babies!
    
    I want to know Allah who has created these birds, gave them pointy beaks, amazing wings, sharp claws and beautiful voice more than anything and everything else. You also want to see like me and you ask “Why I can’t see?”.

    You are right. We both are right. 
    
    You were a tiny cell. Then this cell multiplied in the mother's womb. It grew and grew and so you were born. Don’t you think that it is a miracle?

    All your hands, fingers, face, eyes, mouth, tongue, ears, hairs and eyebrows are created from that one tiny cell.
    
    All these works can be seen simple but actually they are so much complex. 

    Your heart, lungs, kidneys, brain and other organs were placed in the right places and started to operate. And now you want to know Allah and ask “Why I don’t see my and entire universe’s creator Allah?”.

    You are right, so much right.
    
    I will try to explain you but first I need to remind you something. Be patient and listen to me till the end.
    
    Because the answer of this question is not such simple.
    
    Don’t forget that difficult questions have long answers.

Everything has a limit

    Everything has its own limit. For instance, how much weight can you lift at most? Let’s say twenty, twenty-five or thirty…. But you can never lift hundred or two hundred kilo weight. It is because muscles in your arms and body can handle lifting only a certain amount of weight. Not more than that. And if you tried you could break your arm or could crash under this weight. 
    Ears also have limitations. You are able to hear the voice of your teacher in the classroom. However, you cannot hear the voice of teacher who is teaching math next door.
    Your voice has a limit too. Even if you scream at top your voice your grandma living in the village will not hear you. If you want to talk to her, you need either to call her or go to her village.

    Let’s consider your feet!
    What is your speed?
    Can you reach the speed of leopard?
    
A limit has also been put to the speed of your feet.

    Either you run fast or at a slow pace it doesn’t matter as at the end you will get tired and will have to stop.

    How many glasses of water can you drink at once? Two or three…
It is because your stomach has a limit. 

    Now, answer to my question: “What is the result of three multiplied by five?”
    Ok, answer to this question:
    2134594x777=?
    
    What happened?

Without a calculator it is very hard to calculate as our brains also have limits.

To some questions you answer immediately. Some topics requires time to understand. You can’t answer every question immediately. 

    Some stuff you can never learn on your own. You have to ask the ones who know. And some stuff you will not truly understand through all your life. As I said there is a limit for knowledge as well. 
    And now it is turn for eyes.
    Do you think they also have limits? 

    Can you see whatever you want?

    In reality, if we compared the things which our eyes can see with the things which they can’t see, we would say that human beings are blind.  

    Don’t look that surprised. It is indeed true.

    According to the scientific researches, the radius of our universe is approximately 15 billion light year.  

    As you can see the universe is enormous. And understanding its size is a very difficult issue. 

    We are not able to see 70% of the universe which has a radius of 15 billion light years. Therefore, scientists call this 70% “dark energy”. 
    25% of the remaining 30% is a “dark matter”. We, human beings cannot even see this “dark matter”.

     And the only thing which we can see is the remaining 5%. 

    Don’t rush to say “Good!”! 

Because humans don’t see everything even in that 5%. We see only a small portion of 5%. 

    As we mentioned, if humans compared what they see with what they don’t, they would call themselves blind. 

    To sum up, the things we can see compared to the universe are smaller even than the footprints of ants. 

    Since we can’t even fully see the universe we live in then how can we see the creator of this universe -Allah who doesn’t look like any of his creations? Do you think it is possible?

 
Allah can’t be seen by eyes

    Some people say “I don’t believe in what I don’t see!”. What they mean is “Since I don’t see Allah, I don’t believe in him!”. However, there are so many things that we don’t see but believe in their existence. 
    
    Let’s list some:
    Gravity, intellect, love, happiness, kindness…

    You are familiar with all of these, aren’t you? Despite the fact that we haven’t seen any of these. So it is not necessary to see everything. 

    Not seeing something doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. 
    
    That is to say, even we don’t see Allah we know his existence and believe in him. 

It is not necessary to see Allah in order to believe in him

    It is not necessary to see Allah in order to believe in him. Let me give you an example. 
    I hope this example will clarify your questions. 
    Let’s go to an imaginary art gallery and notice how beautiful paintings artists have drawn.

    Have a look at the huge picture on the front wall which describes a lawn with full of tulips and violets. And white clouds are floating in the blue sky. 
There are also brown birds in the picture which slowly flap their wings.

    A green forest is seen at a distance. 
Now answer to my questions. Perhaps some of my questions will surprise you but still do answer them.
    -The painting is beautiful, isn’t it?
    -Yes, it is very beautiful.
    -Who has drawn this painting?
    -An artist of course.
    -Have you seen him?
    -No.
    -Then how do you know?
    -Because only an artist could draw such a painting.
    -You haven’t seen him, have you?
    -Not the artist but I see the painting itself. I see violets, the sky, birds, clouds.
    - If dyes and brushes stayed on the table for a long time could they decide to paint such a picture themselves?
    -No, they couldn’t even put a dot on their own.
    -Are you sure?
    -Yes, very sure! Painting such picture definitely requires an artist.
    -But we can’t see the artist?! Maybe he is inside the painting?
    -It can’t be possible! What the artist is doing inside the painting? He should be somewhere out.
    -What about these brushes then? What if they are the artist?
    -Are you joking? They could never draw a painting on their own even in million years.
    -Why?
    -Because they don’t have an intelligence. They don’t have an ability. They are lifeless.
    -Very well! You gave clever answers.

    Now let’s go to another place.
    See where we came?
    It is a lawn. There are violets everywhere. Big clouds in the blue sky. Have look at the birds singing and flapping wings, floating in the sky. And we can also see a dense forest. 

    This scenery is very similar to the one we saw on the painting, isn’t it?
    -Yes, it is.
    -Which one do you think is more beautiful, this scenery or that painting?
    -Of course this scenery. Plus, everything is real in here.
    -Previously you said that an artist has drawn that painting. What about this scenery then? Has it been created on its own?
    -Of course not. This must be All…
    -Stop, stop! Be patient!
    
    Look at your surrounding carefully! Don’t tell anything, just listen to me.
    I want you to kneel and have a closer look at flowers. Let’s count their petals. Watch their colours. Yellow suits white colour very much, isn’t it?
    Have a look at green grass. Smell the fragrance of spring. 
    See how bees land on flowers. Looks like they are dancing around flowers. 
    Hardworking ants are supplying food for the winter nonstop. 
    Breathe deeply. Smells very nice, doesn’t it?
    Look at these tulips and violets!
    Where else can you see this kind of colourfulness?!
    What about the wings of butterflies? Have you noticed them? Have a closer look! But don’t touch! They are very elegant.

    Let’s lay down on this green carpet and watch the sky.
    The sky, blue sky!
    White clouds!
    Low flying swallows, storks with long wings….
    There is a forest nearby. 
    Can you see?! There are every tones of green. 
    How beautiful trees are. 
    Now tell me: if there is an artist of even an ordinary painting, is it possible that this kind of beauty in nature is created on its own?

    -No, no! Never! All of their creator is Allah. 
    -But you don’t see Allah with your eyes.
    -Doesn’t matter. I can see his creations such as flowers, the sky, bees, butterflies. 

    I smell the scent of flowers!
    I touch the leafs of tulip.
    I count clouds.
    I watch flying birds.
    I believe in Allah even if I don’t see him. He is the creator of all the beauty in the universe. 

The last question

    You can have such a question:
    -We don’t see Allah. But could he show himself to us if he wanted?

    I told you at the beginning that your will to see Allah is not meaningless. 
    Yes, all of his slaves want to see him. They want to learn “Who is our master? How is he?”

    Allah wouldn’t leave the wish of his slaves unanswered. He will show himself to humans as he wants. But not here, not in this world.

    -Then where?
    - In the heaven. 

    Our beloved Prophet (peace be upon him) said:

    “A voice will call the residents of heaven:
    -Allah had a promise and now he wants to fulfil it.

    And the residents of heaven will ask:
    -Isn’t he the one who saved us from hell and put us to heaven? Hasn’t he blessed us?

    Then Allah will take the curtain away. I swear there is nothing more beautiful than watching Allah!”
    What have I said at the beginning of the book? Do you remember?
    If there is a question, there is an answer. 

CHAPTER 2

How great is Allah?

    “Allah is great!” Who knows how many times have you heard this word?! And now you are asking:

    -How great is Allah?
    
    The answer for this question is long but I will try to explain by examples.     You need to be patient and read till the end.

    First, answer to my question:
    -Are you taller than your brother? How much taller?

    Let’s say you are 150 cm tall and your brother is 100 cm. 150-100=50 which means you are 50 cm taller than your brother. 

    It wasn’t difficult to learn how much taller you are, was it? Because we compared your height with your brother’s. So we calculated the difference and immediately answered to the question “How much taller are you?”:
    -50 cm.

    You could say “half meter” if you want to. Or 0.0005 km.
    
    Now listen carefully: 
    To find out how great something is you need to compare it with something else. 

    Let’s go back to the main question: 
    -How great is Allah?
    -Can you tell me what can we compare Allah with? Of course, nothing.

    In this case when we think of the question “How great is Allah?” or when we are asked this question we need to know that it is not a right question.
    Wrong question can’t have a right answer. Have you ever unlocked a flat’s door with a car key?

    So we should first change the key which means ask the right question?
    Such as:

What kind of greatness is Allah’s?

Greatness of mountains, oceans, continents, the earth, planets, universes is not the same with the greatness of Allah. 

    To begin with, all of these is either big or small.

    But Allah is great. 

    For example, you are taller than your brother but shorter than your father. This means that your height is relative. 
    The size of everything in the nature and the universe is relative. 
    Seas are great but oceans are greater than seas.
    Our planet is great but the sun is greater than the Earth.
    It is true that the sun is huge. However, there are stars in the universe which are much greater than the sun. 
    And of course, the creator of all these is much greater than everything else. 
    But his greatness isn’t anything like the greatness of mountains, oceans, our planet, the sun or the endless universe.
    Because everything compared to others is either bigger or smaller.
    But Allah is greater than everything and everyone. Nothing is greater than him.

Our intelligence can’t understand the greatness of Allah
    
    Our planet rotates around the sun, And the sun is 1.300.000 times greater than the earth. 
    
     There are more than 200 billion stars which are similar or greater than the sun in the Milky Way galaxy.  And there are more than 100 billion galaxies like a Milky Way in the universe. 
    Human brain is not capable of understanding this endless universe. And how is it supposed to understand the Allah who is the creator of this endless universe?

How should we understand the words
“Allah is great”?

    What do you mean when you say “Nizami Ganjavi is a great person”? Obviously you don’t mean “He is 30 m tall or his arms are 5 m long”, do you?

    I am not joking. Frankly speaking I am not good at joking. I am talking to you about a serious issue.

    When we say “Nizami Ganjavi is a great person” what we mean is “He is a genius poet, he has written fascinating poems and has written his name in golden letters in the history”. The word “great” in this sentence doesn’t mean “being big in size”.

    Nizami Ganjavi is great and so are mountains. But the greatness of Nizami Ganjavi and the greatness of mountains aren’t the same thing. 
    As it is seen from this example there is a difference between “greatness” and “being big in size”. 

    When you say “Allah is great” you should not think about his self but his creations. Because there is no one like the eternal and everlasting Allah. Our intelligence can never truly comprehend and imagine Allah. 
    

    When you think about his creations you will understand his greatness. 
    He is the one who controls millions of cells in our body simultaneously.     Of course, he is great. 

    He is the one who grows various delicious fruits from the ground. 
    Of course, he is great.

    He is the one who makes billions of flowers blossom simultaneously.     
    Of course, he is great.

    He is the one who makes clouds to carry water of the seas and pours it     down wherever he wishes. 
    Of course, he is great.

    He is the one who rotates the earth at the speed of 10800 km/h (30     km/sec) around the sun.
    Of course, he is great.

    Everything you see talks about the greatness of Allah. 

    Everything including birds that fly, humans that walk, tigers that run, fishes that swim, flowers that smell beautiful, winds that blow harsh, stars that twinkle, babies that smile, mothers that are compassionate tell us about the greatness of Allah. Because all of these are miracles and no one except Allah can create these.

    Indeed, our Master is great.

    He is capable of anything! He is the almighty!

    His mastery is capable of creating every single beauty. His mastery is     great.

    His compassion nourishes every living. His compassion is great. 

    He hears everything and replies to every single dua (prayer).
    
    He is our Allah, our creator and he is the greatest.

Allah is greater! Allah is greater!

    Whenever it is a prayer time we hear these words from minarets:
    Allah is greater! 
    Allah is greater!
    Allah is greater!
    Allah is greater!

    All the Muslims start their prayers with these words:
    Allah is greater!

    We go to ruku by saying “Allah is greater”.
    We raise from ruku by saying “Allah is greater”.
    We go to sajdah by saying “Allah is greater”.
    We start the next rakat by saying “Allah is greater”.

    Pilgrims greet the Kaba by saying “Allah is greater”. After each eid     prayer everyone repeats the words “Allah is greater” at once.

    “Allah is greater” are the words which as muslims we use the most. 

    The words “Allahu akbar” can also be translated as “Allah is the greatest”. However, this doesn’t mean that there are also other great ones and Allah is the greatest among them.

    Remember what I explained you at the beginning of the topic. 
    Allah’s greatness isn’t anything like in the world. His greatness is incomparable. 

    Allah is the greatest. And there isn’t any other real greatness apart from Allah.

 
CHAPTER 3

Where is Allah?

    I would like to start this topic by asking the question “Where is Allah?” so that you can learn its answer.

    A fish can’t go out from water. Even if it had an intelligence like yours it couldn’t imagine anywhere else other than water. Because it has been living in the water right from the birth. It is not aware of other worlds, other life styles. For fish there is no other place than water.

    The meaning of water for the fish is the same with the meaning of earth for you. You have been in some place since you were born. You have never to any other place.

    You have either been at home, or on street, or at school, or at park…
    You have either been in a village, or in a forest, or in a garden, or in a country or in another city…

    You have never left the question “Where are you?” unanswered.  Because you have always been to somewhere and you are obliged to be.

    That is why your mind is asking the question:
    -Where is Allah? Doesn’t he have to be somewhere?

    It would be weird if a fish asked you “In which sea do you live?”, wouldn’t it? 

    The question “Where are you?” is about the material creatures. 

    -Where is your pen?
    -Where is your house?
    -Where is Ahmad?
    -Where are the Caucasian mountains?
    -Where is the Indian Ocean?
    -Where is the moon?
    -Where is the morning star?

    Because objects, everything consisting of materials have to be in some place.
    As Allah isn’t anything like his creations, he is not a matter or an object. Therefore, the question “Where is Allah?” is not a correct question. So it doesn’t have any answer.

    Allah isn’t obliged to be somewhere like us. Allah isn’t obliged to anything at all. 
    
    I will give another example to explain it better:
    Some creations of Allah neither are material nor they can be seen or touched. For instance, think about your life.

    If I asked you where your lungs are you would show me chest.

    The place of lungs is known by everyone. Places of brain, kidneys, stomach are known. What about life? Where is the place of life in our body?

    You cannot show it!

    It is because life is not material and so it doesn’t have a place in our body. It is not obliged to be in some place. In one sense, it is both everywhere and nowhere in our bodies. 

    As it is seen, it is very hard to locate something if it is not material or an object. In such cases questions like “Where is life, show it to me?” become meaningless. 

Allah is the one who creates life. As we can’t even ask the question “Where is life?” it is never true to ask “Where is Allah?”

Nowhere and everywhere

    Creator of the universe, stars, the sun, the earth, seas, forests, continents, in other words the creator of all places is Allah. None of these existed at some point in time. But Allah did exist. So, Allah existed even when none of the places existed. In this case, Allah is nowhere. Because at that time there was nowhere.

    Allah is both nowhere and everywhere. I am hoping that you have understood why Allah is nowhere enough with my explanation so far. Now you are asking:
    -How can someone who is nowhere be everywhere?

    Let me give you a simple example. Every example acts like a telescope. Telescopes make distances closer and examples make difficult topics closer to our minds and make them easier to understand. 
    
    Think about the sun.

    The lamp which lights up the surface of earth. 

    Everywhere gets lighted up when it is morning. 

    At this time the sun is everywhere.

    You see it wherever you look. 
    
    At the morning dew on flowers.
    
    At flowing water of ponds.

    At windows of houses.
    
    On the eyes of people, cats, birds.

    The sun lights up everywhere and everything. Is seen on everything and every place. 

    Ok, where is the sun in reality? 

    In the sky, far far away. 

    However, with its light and heat it is everywhere. Indeed, when it is morning the sun is everywhere but at the same time it is nowhere. 

    Being millions of kilometres away from our planet with its light and heat the sun is in every window, on every eyes, on every water drop, on every snowflake, but actually it isn’t in any of these. With his might, compassion and knowledge Allah is everywhere. At the same time, he is nowhere.

    Allah is the one who makes trillions of stars which rotate around their own axis move without crashing to each other. 
    Allah’s limitless might is demonstrated at these stars.

    All new born babies drink their mother’s milk. 
    Allah’s infinite compassion is with these babies.

    Countless blooming flowers in the spring demonstrate the art of Allah. 
    Allah’s unprecedented art reflected on these flowers.
 
CHAPTER 4

Then who created Allah?

    A week ago I was a guest at my friend’s place. My friend’s little daughter has just come back from the yard. 
    
    She took one big, red apple and started to bite it with her front teeth like a little bunny.       
    
    I said to her:
    -Allah has created this apple beautifully, hasn’t he?
    
    She asked:
    -Is this apple also created by Allah?

    -Yes. Allah is the one who created all the fruits for you to eat and enjoy.

    Before I could finish my word she started to ask more questions. To be honest I knew where this conversation was going to.

    -What about an orange?
    -Allah has created it too.
    -Cherries?
    -Cherries too.
    -Nuts?
    -Nuts too.
    -What about tangerines?
    -Tangerines too.
    -Hmm. Grapes?
    -Allah has created grapes too.
    -What about watermelon? 
    
The girl kept thinking but couldn’t remember any other fruit. Then she switched to animals.

    -Birds?
    -Allah has created all birds.
    -Storks?
    -Storks are also birds. So, Allah is the one who has created them.
    -Ducks?
    -Ducks too are created by Allah.

    Luckily she didn’t count all the birds that she knew. But her questions didn’t finish.

    -Clouds?
    -Allah has created clouds.

    It seemed she was enjoying this questions and answers session as she was smiling before every question.  After a while no one could stop her from asking more.

    -What about trees?
    -Mountains?
    -Fishes?
    -Humans?
    -Dogs?
    -Hedgehogs?
    -My dad and mum?
    -My granny and grandpa?
    ….
    ….

    And I knew that she was going to ask this at the end:

    -If Allah is creator of everything then who has created the Allah?

    My answer was ready. But the more important point was how I was going to explain this to the little girl.

    Suddenly the girl’s father interrupted us:
    -What kind of question is that sweet heart?

    But the girl didn’t look like she was going to give up. She turned to her father and said:

    - But I want to know.

She was right. If she had a question it was better to ask.
I looked right into her eyes and said:

    -What a clever girl you are?! Your hairs and eyes are so beautiful.

    As all little girls her face went red. I thought that after this compliment she was going to listen to me carefully. 

    -Allah has created everything that you counted. But nobody has created Allah himself. Because he is God. Allah can’t be created by someone. He is the only creator. 

    My answer was short. But I felt that it was sufficient.

Her answer was also short:
-Hmmm.

    She didn’t ask any other question but instead went to her brothers room to play with toys. 

    It seemed my answer did satisfy her. 

    ***

    I know that my answer to that girl didn’t satisfy you. And I made things more complicated by saying this. Now it is my duty to find the satisfactory answerer for you, isn’t it?

In reality, my answer to that girl is satisfactory. 

    -Allah is the creator of all creation. However, he is not created by someone. 

    But I need to give more examples to make it more clear for you.

    I have read some good examples from a book. 

    I believe these examples will satisfy you:  

    -Where does the earth get  light?
    -Of course, from the sun.
    -Where does the moon get the light?
    -Also from the sun.
    -And planet mars?
    -From the sun.
    -Mercury, Venus, Jupiter?
    -From the sun!
- And what about the sun itself? Where does it get its light from?!
-Mmm…
-What happened? Did you get confused?

I repeat the question:
-Where does the sun get its light from?
-Of course from nowhere.
-Because the sun itself is the source of light. 

    It heats and lights all the other planets. But the sun itself doesn’t get the light from anywhere.

    Did you see? The question “Where does the sun get the light?” doesn’t mean anything. Same as that, the question “Who created Allah?” is also not correct.

    Here is another example:

    Imagine a train with 10-15 carriages. Each carriage pulls the one before it. The last carriage is pulled by locomotive. Do you think it would be wise if we asked “What pulls the locomotive?”. 
    -No, it wouldn’t be! Because the power of locomotive comes from itself. 

    These simple and clear examples prove that these kind of questions are incorrect. 

 
A frog fell from the roof

    When I was studying in the middle school I heard a strange poem from one of the students. I don’t exactly remember if it was a poem or a tongue-twister. Despite the fact that long years have passed, I haven’t forgotten even a line of it. 

    A frog fell from the roof,
    Moved its tail.
    A turtle seeing this:
    Said - “Take a pen and write”.
    A frog fell from the roof,
    Moved its tail.
    A turtle seeing this:
    Said - “Take a pen and write”.
    A frog fell from the roof….

    -Ok, that is enough…
    -Do you now understand why I haven’t still forgotten the frog and the turtle? Is it possible to forget?

    And how is this absurd poem related to our topic?

    Let’s recall the question:
    -Who created Allah?

If we answered to this question wouldn’t that person ask again?
    -And who created him?
    -What about that one?
    -What about the one after that?

And these questions would go forever but never could be answered properly. 

    A frog fell from the roof,
    Moved its tail.
    A turtle seeing this:
    Said - “Take a pen and write”.

    I hope you got the relation between this poem and our question. It also doesn’t have an end like our question. 

    Let’s recall my answer to the girl’s question once again:

    -Everything you have counted are created by Allah. But Allah is not created by anyone. Because he is God. So, he is not created and can’t be created.

    As Allah is the creator, everything including the ground, sky, alive and lifeless are created by him. So, asking “Who created him?” is not right. Because a creator can’t be created.

Our master introduces himself to us in the Quran like this:

1.    Say, "He is Allah, [who is] One,
2.    Allah, the Eternal Refuge.
3.    He neither begets nor is born,
4.    Nor is there to Him any equivalent."  (Surah Al-Ikhlas).
    Do you know what happened before Allah revealed this surah to our beloved Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him)? 
    A person came to our Prophet and asked:
    -Allah has created everything. Then who has created Allah?
    As a reply to this question Allah revealed the Surah Al-Ikhlas.
 
CHAPTER 5

What kind of existence is Allah?

    Well done! I see that you are willing to learn more about Allah and not hesitating to ask questions about him. It is very natural for humans to ask questions about their creator. On the contrary, not being interested is wrong. 

    People have to make a research and try to learn about Allah. What kind of existence is Allah? Why has he created us? What does he require from us? How can we know him better? And how should we thank him for everything he has granted us? Everyone must ask these questions and look for answers.

    However, we shouldn’t forget that our mind also has a limit. Intelligence can help us only to a certain point. It can’t go further than that.

    
    When I was at your age I read some books which confused my mind. I wasn’t able to find proper answers to my questions about Allah. 
    I wanted to know Allah.
    What kind of existence is he?
    What is he like?
    Where is he?

    I didn’t have any books which could answer to my questions. Neither I had a friend from whom I could ask these.

    I started to tell myself “As my mind can’t properly understand Allah why should I believe in him?”. How can a person believe in something which he/she is not able to understand? 

One day I was alone at home sitting in front of the window. Suddenly I started to ask questions to myself:

    -Where am I?
    -In the room.
    -Where is the room?
    -In the house.
    -Where is the house?
    -At the street.
    -Where is the street?
    -At the neighbourhood.
    -Where is the neighbourhood?
    -In the city.
    -Where is the city?
    -In country.
    -Where is the country?
    -On the planet Earth.
    -Where is the planet Earth?
    -In the solar system.
    -Where is the solar system?
    -In the milky way galaxy.
    -Where is the galaxy?
    -In the space.
    -Where is the space?
    -The space?
    -Yes, where is the space?
    -I don’t know. Maybe in another space.
    -Then where is that another space?
    -I am confused. I don’t know. No one can answer to this question.
    -Right. It is the best answer that can be given to this question. 

    So I can’t deny the existence of the space if my mind doesn’t understand     it. 

    In this case, I can’t also deny the existence of Allah just because I don’t     understand it. 

    In any case my mind will never understand somethings. 

    Somethings will never be understood by anyone.

    There are somethings which all humanity will try to understand together but still they won’t succeed. 

    Considering the fact that human intelligence can’t even understand the universe it is living in, how can it understand Allah who created the universe from nothing?!

 I was trying to fit a huge ocean inside a small glass. And this was not possible. 
    As I recalled this memory, I said to myself “People feel overconfident about themselves when they are young”. Actually, there was no need to go up to the space just to see the limits of my mind.  

    We still don’t know how does a human brain with its billions of nerve cells. We haven’t been able to find out the limits of brains and minds yet.  And if we deny Allah just because we don’t truly understand him then we should also deny our minds. Because we don’t really understand it. 
    Years have passed and I learnt that my brain doesn’t understand not only my mind but also my soul, life and many more.     We can’t even understand the closest thing to us- our soul and life. We don’t know what kind of existence they are. 
    With this limited intelligence how can we understand the existence of Allah?!
    Also Allah himself doesn’t require us to understand his existence. We can only know Allah and understand that he is one by looking at his creations. 
    
    Allah has created us only for knowing him, loving him and worshiping him.

The universe is a book

    There are three great guidance which introduce Allah to us. The first one is our Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). The second one is our sacred book the Quran. The third one is the universe itself.

    Spring is here. Let’s read some pages of the universe book with you.     Let’s look and see what does this majestic book tell us and teach us about     Allah?

    Pages of the universe book won’t finish by reading. We will only look at the few pages of it. 
    
    The greatest and the most beautiful pages of this book is the sky.
    See how the sky is decorated with billions of stars!
    There is neither a rope or a pillar holding stars in the sky. Whereas, even a little tent can’t stand still without a stick. 
    Allah is the one who keeps stars in the sky and moves them around their own axes without crashing them into one another. 

    Decorated with stars this page of the universe book shows us endless might of Allah.

    Now, let’s have a look at the earth.

    It is spring on the earth. It looks like all the gardens and farms are covered with patterned carpets. Decorated with beautiful flowers this page talks about the perfect art of Allah. 

    Wouldn’t everyone who reads this flowery page say “Oh Allah, if the flowers you have created are this much beautiful, how beautiful should yourself be?!”.

    Don’t rush to turn the page. Let’s have a look at fruits as sweet as honey. 
    Apples, cherries, sweet apricots, grapes… All tree roots drink muddy water from the ground. But their branches grow and serve as beautiful fruits. 
    
    This shows us the love and compassion that Allah has towards us. If he wanted he would have made a mud, food for us. But because of his compassion he feeds us with delicious fruits. 

    Let’s have a look at animals too. See how many kinds of animals are there?

    Cows that eat grass and give us delicious milk, bees that get flower nectar and make honey for us, birds that flap wings in the sky….

    Doesn’t all this show us how great creator Allah is?

    Some animals have their babies alongside and they take care of them. 
    Even the wildest animal doesn’t hurt his/her babies. 

    Then animals also have a sense of compassion. And it shows us that Allah who gives them the sense of compassion is himself very compassionate. 

    And now let’s have a look at one of the most beautiful pages. Let’s take a mirror and pay attention to our face. 
    
    Everyone in the world has a face. And none of them is same. Allah creates billions of different faces by adding one nose, two eyes, two ears and two lips to a small facial area. 

    He has given us our eyes so that we can see. Which means Allah himself can also see. Without a doubt, Allah who has given us ears can himself hear. He is aware of the prayers done secretly or openly and everything we have in our hearts. 

    Countless pages and endless lines of the universe book teach us about Allah whom we want to know.

    The universe is a huge book. We should read its pages by taking lessons from them and have a faith in Allah who is the creator of all the existence. 

    Even though we don’t understand Allah’s essence, we will understand how is he like. And as we understand it we will love him. 

    
    

CHAPTER 6

Why Allah is one? (p. 73)

    As there is no God but Allah, he is one. The most important essence of our religion (Islam) is the oneness of Allah. It’s called tawhid. 

    The first essence of Islam is having faith in oneness of Allah. 

    There can’t be two leaders in one country. There can’t be two executives in one school. Even in a small town there can’t be two mayors. If there were then everything would get messed up. One would say “come” while the other one says “go” and vice versa. 

    I hope, from this example you could understand that, if a place was controlled by more than one person everything would get messed up. 
    Everything in the universe moves in a certain order. Neither do stars crash nor do atoms. This regulated movement of everything proves the oneness of Allah. Thus, all the stars are moved by the same God so that none of them crashes into each other. Allah is the owner of all the atoms and therefore, a pen you have on your desk doesn’t turn into an atomic bomb and blast. 
     No, I am not exaggerating! Do you know what terrible disaster could happen if the electrons inside a pen crashed into each other?!

    Why do cars have accidents? It is because every car has a different driver and all of them drives in different ways. If one doesn’t make a way for the other one, things get messed up. Then why don’t stars have accidents? Because all the stars are moved by one Allah. All of their “steering wheels” are in the hands of Allah. One Allah draws all their paths. Therefore, no accidents happen in the space. Countless stars continue their regulated movement without any accidents. 
    
    There can’t be:
        Two presidents in one country,
        Two leaders in one city,
        Two mayors in one town.

    To sum up, Sultan of the universe is one. Wherever you look you can see the signs of his oneness. 

    Let me give you another example. But listen to me carefully!
    

Everything claims the oneness of Allah

     Think about the furniture in your house. The armchairs and sofa are from one manufacturer but the television is from another one and the table is from completely different manufacturer. 
    
    But the universe is not like this. Here everything has the same label on it “Allah is my creator”. 

    Here everything you can imagine- fruits, trees, stars, birds, babies are strongly connected to each other. Whomever one of them belongs to, all the others also belong to him.

    Creator of one of them has created all of them. No one can claim that “I have created one thing!”.
    Let me give you an example of a glass of milk:
Now we will play question and answer game again. I will ask a question and you will answer.
    
-    How has the glass of milk standing on the table come here?
-    My mum has taken it from the fridge and put it on the table.
-    Then how has it come appeared in the fridge?
-    I bought it from shop yesterday.
-    How has it appeared in the shop?
-    Mmm. Perhaps they have brought it from the factory.
-    Great! Then where has it come to the factory from?
-    From a farm.
-    Where does a farm get milk from?
-    From cows of course.
-    And cows?
-    Milk is created in stomach of grass eating cows.
-    Where is grass from?
-    Grass grow from the ground. When spring comes it gets green everywhere.
-    Can you then explain where does the spring come from?
-    The earth rotates around the sun and so the seasons are created. And spring is one of them.
-    Okay. Let’s now join the beginning of our game with its ending.

    Here is the result:
    -So, to get a glass of milk the Earth should rotate around the Sun. 
    -Right.
    -In this case, to create a glass of milk the Sun must be created.
    -Yes, the one who can’t create the Sun cannot create also milk.
    -This means the owner of a glass of milk is also the real owner of the Sun.

    Everything in the universe is strongly connected to each other like this milk and the Sun. 

    Did you see how a glass of milk proved the oneness of Allah?

    Now think about an ant. For its eyes to see the Sun must lighten everywhere. So, the eyes of the ant and the Sun are created compatible with each other. Therefore, the creator of the ant and the Sun is the same. Because, the creator knows features of both of them. 

    Not one created a fly and the other one the Sun. It’s the same power created both a fly and the Sun. 
    Whoever has created birds has also created air. Because birds can fly only in this particular type of air. So, the creator of birds, their wings, feathers in their wings is the same with the creator of the atmosphere and air. 

    If you want you can take a look at your body, trees, fruits and find the examples of the oneness of Allah. Whatever you think about will shout out the oneness of Allah. Because everything in the universe is connected with each other and shows Allah who is the one. 

CHAPTER 7
                 How does Allah do this much of work        simultaneously? (p. 82)

    Sometimes we have a question like this one:
    “I can’t handle even two works simultaneously. How does Allah do countless of works simultaneously?”
    That’s right. You can’t look at two opposite directions at the same time.
    You can’t say two different words at the same time.
    There are limits for our body and intelligence. One of these limits is the following:
    We are not able to handle two different works simultaneously. We can’t even think two different things.
    But when spring comes, billions of flowers blossom at one night. 
    Also countless babies are coming out from eggs while flowers are blossoming.
    While babies are growing in the eggs, planted seeds are sprouting.
    While seeds are slowly sprouting, rain drops are being created in clouds.
    While rains drop down millions of babies are being born at the same time.
    While millions of babies are opening their eyes to the world countless of explosions happen in the sun.
    While millions of meteors hit the surface of the moon, children are watching the rainbow decorating the sky after rain.
    While rainbow is smiling, billions of new born fish under seas start to swim for the first time.
    While a lion is roaring, a heart of a gazelle is beating so fast.
    While a nightingale is singing for the first time in a forest, a gazelle is dying in Africa.
    While the sun is coming up in one place, it is setting down in another place.
    While a child is dreaming in the night, another child is waking up and saying “Good morning mum!”.
    Billions of cells in our bodies are dying and being created simultaneously.
    Blood is circulating at our veins, a heart is beating and nerve cells are passing an information to each other at the same time.
    Simultaneously stars are twinkling and angles are smiling at the sky.
    
And Allah is doing all these works without confusing them and without any deficiency.

And you ask:
    “How does Allah do these works simultaneously?”
    Have a look at nature. You will notice that Allah makes some of his creations to do countless of works. 
Then you will understand how our almighty master is doing countless of works simultaneously. 

    Think about the sky which Allah has created, for instance.

    When the sun comes up it lightens everyone and everything at the same time.
    The words of someone giving a speech in front of an audience are being heard by everyone at the same time.

    Gravitational force of the earth pulls everything to itself at the same time. 

    All these works are done by the rules of Allah. So Allah’s mastery of doing countless of works simultaneously is similar to the Sun lightning everything at the same time, a word being heard by everyone at the same time, the gravitational force pulling everything to itself at the same time. Even easier that these.

Allah says “be” and it is!

“Indeed, Our word to a thing when We intend it is but that We say to it, “Be,” and it is.”  (Surah An Nahl 16/40).

For Allah creating spring is as simple as creating a flower.
For Allah rotating planets is as simple as rotating electrons around atoms.
For Allah giving a life to all human beings is as simple as giving a life to one
person.

Smaller tasks are easy and bigger tasks are harder. But it is true for us- human beings.

For Allah small and big are the same. 
For Allah a little and a lot are the same.
For Allah one and thousand are the same.
For Allah heavy and light are the same.

Because Allah says “be” and it becomes. 

Let me give you an example:
You know how to write, don’t you? That is to say, you know how to put letters in the order to write words and sentences. 

Now tell me which one is harder to write “ring” or “wing”?

I can hear you saying “There is no difference”.
But how can it be so?

It is because for a person who knows how to write there is no difference between writing “ring” or “wing” apart from only one letter. Therefore, neither writing “ring” is easier than writing “wing” nor writing “wing” is easier than writing “ring”.

Moreover, is there a difference between writing “flat” and “flag”? Of course for someone who knows how to write there is no difference between writing “flat” and “flag”. Both of them are easy. 

Now let’s look at the reality through this example and you will see the big truth:

There is no difference between creating something small and something big for Allah who is capable of creating anything from nothing. 

There is no difference between creating one thing and creating many things for Allah who is capable of creating anything from nothing. 

For him, creating an atom and a planet, creating a flower and thousands of flowers are all the way same. 

When Allah says “be” whatever it is he wills, becomes. If he wishes one he creates one, if he wishes thousand he creates thousand.

If he wishes so he creates small if not, then big.

He creates a flower.
He creates a tree.
He creates spring.
He creates heaven.
He creates an atom.
He creates an ant.
He creates a mountain.
He creates a planet.

Same as he creates billions of ants, he also creates billions of stars.

Everything is the same for Allah.

Whenever he says “be”, it becomes immediately.

How does it become when he says “be”?

Nothing would become if you or me said “be”. Again nothing would become even if we said “be” together.

If we took a handful of soil and said “Become a flower!” nothing would happen.
If we took an egg and said “Become a bird!” it wouldn’t become a bird and fly.
If we said “Become a rain!” to the clouds in the sky not even a drop would fall down.
If we said “Become a fruit!” to the trees they wouldn’t become.
Nothing would happen no matter how much we said it.
Because our word doesn’t have a power over soil, water, the sun, air, tree.

Because we are not their owner.
We are not the ones who created them.

Tree branches wouldn’t listen to our word. Because we aren’t the ones who gave branches to the tree. We aren’t the ones who created its trunk, roots, leafs. Neither would the tree nor its branches would listen to us. 

By us saying “Be!” there wouldn’t be apples on trees or honey in honeycombs. By us saying “Be!” a bird wouldn’t come out from an egg and fly.

But if Allah says “Be!” it all becomes.

In the military service every troop has a commander. Whenever a commander gives a “Stop!” order everyone stops. 
When a commander gives a “Queue up!” order everyone queues up like one. 
When a commander gives a “Go to sleep!” order everyone goes to beds.
When a commander gives a “Forward!” order everyone goes forward.

But why?

If I gave the “Queue up!” order to that troop no one would move from his place. Everyone would laugh at me if I shouted “Forward!”

Because I am not the commander. The troop wouldn’t follow my orders. A troop only follows the orders of its commander. 

 Now let’s look at the universe through this simple example. You will see that in the universe only Allah’s orders are taken into account. Because he is the lord of this universe. Everything is under his order and obeys only him.

Everything both in the sky and the earth is his. Everything follows only his orders. 

The things that don’t become by our “Be!” order, become only by his order. 

Allah says “Be!”, fruits grow on trees.
Allah says “Be!”, flowers blossom in gardens. 
Allah says “Be!”, honey is made in honeycombs.
Allah says “Be!”, rain falls down from clouds.
Allah says “Be!”, babies are born to the world.
Allah says “Be!”, seeds get cracked. 
Allah says “Be!”, little sprout comes out from the ground to the daylight.

It grows, grows, and grows…

And Allah says “Be!”, a sprout grows and becomes a tree.
The tree grows branches and then fruits...
A fruit has a taste, smell and a colour…

Whatever becomes is because Allah says “Be!”.
He is the owner of everything and also our master.

Yes, every being in the heavens and on earth belongs to him and are obedient to him.

 “To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and the earth. When He decrees a matter, He only says to it, “Be,” and it is.” (Surah Al Baqarah 2/116-117)

“To Him belongs every being that is in the heavens and on earth: all are devoutly obedient to Him.” (Surah Ar Rum 30/26)

“Unquestionably, to Allah belongs whatever is in the heavens and the earth.” (Surah Yunus 10/55)

CHAPTER 8

                                   Why does Allah create fruits on trees? (p. 97)

After Allah wills to create an apple why there is a need for a tree?
Apples could fall down from the sky like a rain.

Why does Allah create a tree for creating an apple?

Is Allah obliged to create apples on trees?

    Your questions make sense and don’t worry my answers will also make sense.
    As you also know Allah doesn’t need a cow to create milk or a bee to create honey or a tree to create an apple. If Allah wanted he could have created apples without a tree and honey without a bee.

If he had wanted, apples would have been grown from grass.
If he had wanted, he would have sent a bottle of milk to our doorstep every morning.
If he had wanted, he would have made honey to fall down from the sky.

But this is not the case.

He creates everything through the means of certain causes. 

He sends apples through trees, milk through cows, honey through bees.  

    But why?

    Why does Allah create in this way but not in different way?

Everything has a reason

    Of course, there is a reason in why Allah creates everything with causes. 

    In this world, to know Allah we look at his creations and try to understand him.

    If Allah had created existence for no reason, we wouldn’t have been able to understand his greatness this much.
    For example, if he hadn’t made trees a cause to create apples, we wouldn’t have seen how Allah brings sweet fruits from wooden tree branches.

    We make items like a chair and table from wood. However, Allah creates fruits from wood such as cherries, peaches, pears and etc. 

Have you ever tried biting a tree trunk and taste it? Don’t do that!
You won’t see any sign of taste of a cherry. From this piece of wood     delicious cherries are being grown. If Allah hadn’t grown fruits from this     wooden branches, we would have never noticed this miracle. 

    We would have never said “Oh Allah, you are creating such delicious fruits for us from a piece of wood!”

    Think about milk. White and delicious milk which is created by getting filtered from blood in the body of a cow. 

    If Allah hadn’t made cows a cause for creating milk, we would have never known about this miraculous process. Isn’t a creation of milk so fascinating?

     Don’t worry I won’t ask you to take some grass and mix it with water to taste and see if it tastes like milk. 

    And what about honey? If Allah hadn’t created sweet honey through little bees’ hose, would you have realised this miracle?

    Let’s see birds. If Allah had wanted, he could have created these creatures flipping wings in the sky, from nothing in a blink of an eye. But if that had been the case, we could have never seen a little bird coming out from an egg. 

    We could have never witnessed how Allah turns various kinds of eggs into swallows, sparrows, pigeons, seagulls, peacocks and etc. 

    Think about the food you eat. About wheat, potatoes, beans… Imagine grapes, melons, watermelons. Our master has chosen soil as a cause for creation of all these delicious fruits and vegetables. 

    Soil, air and water without having an intelligence and without knowing our needs have been made a cause for the creation of all the plants and vegetables.

    Now, let’s have a look at soil that is tasteless and dark, water that can’t stand still but flows away and air that is invisible to our eyes. Then think about fruits and vegetables and try to know and understand our master.  

    If we hadn’t seen these kinds of miraculous things coming out from ordinary soil and water, we wouldn’t have known Allah this much closer. All these show us His endless might. 

Good that there are causes

You may have such question:
“Wouldn’t it be more fascinating if all the fruits and vegetables appeared all of a sudden without any cause?”

-No, it wouldn’t be.

    At first it would seem to you fascinating to see apples appear from nowhere. This would make everyone amazed. 
    It would again be fascinating if it happened for the second time. But you wouldn’t be amazed as much as you were the first time.
    The third time it would get much less fascinating.
    The fourth time even less.
    And the hundredth time an apple appearing from nowhere wouldn’t amaze you at all. It would not seem to you fascinating anymore how Allah created apples and therefore you wouldn’t seek to learn about it.
    However, every spring we witness how dry trees come back to life, get green and blossom and grow delicious apples from lifeless branches. This brings us to the answer of question “How does Allah create an apple?”

    It is good that there are causes. 
    This is the reason of causes. Allah creates causes so that people can see and witness his unique art. Because all these miracles such as growth of fruits from wood, getting milk from cows, tiny bees making honey talks us about the art of our Master and helps us to know him.

Representatives of the king

    As you know kings send their presents by their representatives. It wouldn’t be appropriate to take those presents personally because of their rank.

    Once upon a time there was a very poor man. One day someone knocks his door and when he opens the door he gets surprised. There was a man at the door with strange clothing and he brought presents. 

The poor man got surprised and asked:
    -Who are you?

The man replied:
-I am representative of the king. I have brought you presents for you by his command. Take them!

The poor man became so happy and thanked him with lots of gratitude. 
    The representative said:
    -What are you doing? You shouldn’t thank me. I am just a representative.     You should be grateful to our king and praise him not me. You should     always remember his generosity, give your respects and obey him. I     couldn’t give you these valuable presents, only he could. 

    The poor man straightened up and said:
    -You are right. A true representative should be like yourself. I did lose     myself out of happiness. Now I understand. If I had taken a look at the     presents earlier, I would have understood that they aren’t from you. How     can you have this much money to give me such presents. It is clear that all     these valuable presents are from the king himself. 

    Of course, I am grateful to you too as you have spent effort by bringing     them to me. But my real gratitude belongs to our king. From now on, I will     praise only him and his treasury. I will only call his name and ask all my     needs only from him.

    From now on, whenever I receive a present at my door I will not that it is     from the king.  Because this country, these mountains, rivers all belong to     that generous king.

    After he said goodbye to the poor man, the representative went to the next     house and gave the presents of the king to another poor man. 
    This poor man also started to praise the representative. And the     representative again explained that these presents are not from him but     from the king. But this time the poor man didn’t listen to him and said:
-What king? Who is the king? I saw you when I opened the door. If the king was the owner of these presents he would have brought them himself. 

I saw these presents at your hands. I don’t know anyone else and will not thank anyone else other than you. Should I believe in what my eyes see or what they don’t? I see you, not the king. 

Our story ends here. Now let me give some explanation on this story.

The branches that present us fruits act like that representative from the story. Allah presents us various delicious gifts from his endless treasure of mercy via his representatives. 

Some people acknowledge the real owner of the presents and thanks him like in the case of first poor man. 

But some people say:
-I don’t know any master. I only see these trees and fruits grow on them. These trees are the miracles of nature.
Like in the second poor man from the story, they only know and acknowledge representatives.  They don’t know and believe in the real owner of the gifts who is Allah. 

However, our Master, the creator of the universe Allah sends us countless gifts by the means of causes (representatives).

Being one of these causes, trees tell us that:
-I am nothing more than a piece of wood. My roots are on the dark ground. I don’t eat anything else than the mixture of water and soil. I have neither an intelligence nor an ability. Moreover, I don’t know you and don’t know what you like. I am unaware of the benefits fruits growing on my branches give you. I don’t know what is a taste or a smell or a colour or a peel or a seed or a vitamin. 

I cannot create any of these. I am just a cause.
Do protect me, take care of me, water me but do not thank me.
I can’t create these cherries, these pomegranates or these apples. 

These are all the gifts Allah presents you via me. Be grateful to him, thank him, praise him and remember him. 

Never forget our Master who presents you all these gifts.

“And We brought forth for you thereby gardens of palm trees and     grapevines in which for you are abundant fruits and from which you eat.”     (Surah Al-Muminun 23/19)

“Then let mankind look at his food! How We poured down water in     torrents.     Then We broke open the earth, splitting [it with sprouts]. And     caused to grow within it grain, and grapes and herbage, and olive and palm     trees, and gardens of dense shrubbery, and fruit and grass.” (Surah Abasa     80/24-31)

CHAPTER 9

                               “Allah creates”, then what does the nature do? (p. 113)

    I have used the word nature at the end of the previous chapter for the first time in this book. But in daily life we use this word and head it so many times.
    For example, in documentaries we come across to such sentences:

    The nature has gifted birds amazing flying techniques. The nature has gifted birds such perfect wings that people get amazed when they look at them. The nature has gifted birds such beautiful feathers… etc..

    Another example- In some advertisements we see such phrases:
    Vegetable oil- a miracle of the nature!
    This miracle of the nature will give you a healthy life and for a very affordable price. 
    The next example- In some scientific magazines we see such phrases:
    “The leaping spider is an extraordinary insect of the nature. In this edition of the magazine readers will learn about the most amazing life forms of the nature.”

    Some scientists say this on TV programmes:
    While we research the evaluation process of the creatures that are created by the laws of nature…

    Another example- In newspapers there can be such news articles:
    A great scientist says:
    “We should appreciate gifts the nature has presented to us. Let’s protect the nature, love it, thank it. Don’t you see how much the mother nature loves us!”

    What an amazing thing the mother nature is!

    But what is the nature? There are people who call it “mother”. Perhaps it is very old. Shall we call it “granny” then? “Granny nature”.

    What do you think? What is the nature?

What is the nature?
    Things like the sky, seas, forests, ground, meadows, mountains, rocks, rivers… etc. are called the nature. 
Birds, insects, horses, cows, elephants, frogs, fishes…
Trees, branches, fruits, seeds, flowers…
Rains, snow, clouds, lightning…
Ground, sand, rocks…
Etc. and etc. In short, the nature is the universe that surrounds us. 
The nature is mentioned as it is a creature living in another universe. For example:
“A miracle of the nature”,
“The mother nature”,
“Laws of the nature”,
“The nature has created”,
“Art of the nature”,
“Impact of the nature”…

This phrases sound like there is someone called the nature and this nature or the mother nature does miraculous things, puts laws.
There is a mistake here. Let’s see what is that mistake?
If I asked you “who has drawn this picture?”, you would say “some artist!”
If I asked “who wrote this writing?”, you would say “a writer!”
But you would never say this:
“No one has drawn this picture. It has been drawn on its own. The writing has also been written on its own.”
Neither the drawing can be drawn on its own nor the writing can be written on its own. 

I believe you understand what I mean. But I want to explain the topic better by giving an example. Because this is a very important topic. 

Let’s take a pen and write down the word “bird”. Also draw a picture of bird. Then ask:
-Who wrote this word? Who drew this picture?

The answer would be like this:
-I wrote. I drew!

Then whose art is the bird sitting on the window? 

As there is a writer of even just a word “bird” and an artist of the picture of “bird”, how can a bird itself get created on its own? So, the bird itself is also an art of someone. 

Let’s play a game.
There is a bird on the yard and we will make a research to find out whose art it is. First, let’s consider all the likelihoods:

1. The bird has been created on its own.
2. The bird has been created coincidentally.
3. The nature has created the bird.
4. Allah has created the bird.

Is there any other likelihood? I think there is not any other one apart from those four.

In this case let’s check all options one by one and see which one is true.
1.    The bird has been created on its own.

    We immediately cross this option out. Have you ever seen anything being created on its own? Have you ever witnessed a single letter being written on a paper on its own?

2.    The bird has been created coincidentally.

    This option doesn’t have difference from the first one in terms of its essence. A person telling that “The bird has been created coincidentally” should also believe in the following story.

    There were brushes, paints and papers on the table. Suddenly a strong wind blew. First, brushes went up to air and then fell down near the paints. Wind kept blowing strongly. Caps of the paints started to open and this took 5 million years. 

    In the year of sixth million brushes coincidentally joined the paints. And a few million years have passed this way. 

    In the year of seventh million the brushes coincidentally fell on white papers. After that point another half a million years passed. And brushes coincidentally drew a bird on the paper. And that bird happens to be a peacock. 

    The theory of evolution is not any different than this story.  According to evolutionists birds and all the other livings have been created coincidentally throughout millions of years.

    So strange that some people prefer believing in evolution on believing in Allah. Moreover, it is not only a simple peacock picture that was created coincidentally on its own but also real peacocks that have dazzling feathers, albatross that have incredible flying ability, swallows, eagles… and all the other living forms of the world. According to what they say humans also have been created coincidentally. 

3.    The nature has created the bird

    If you were told that the writer of this book was blind and deaf, you would get surprised, wouldn’t you?  And what would you say if you were told that he was “blind, deaf and also unintelligent”? 

    And what if you were told that the writer has also been in coma while writing this book?

    Without any doubt, you wouldn’t believe in any of these. Because all these are nonsense. Believing in the picture of bird being created by the nature is million times more nonsense. Because the bird from its beak to feathers is a perfect creature. It is not something as simple as letters creating words and then sentences. 
    The nature is blind, deaf, unintelligent and dead. Because the core elements of the nature- earth, aid and water neither can see, hear, think nor they can breathe.

    On the contrary, birds can see, hear and breathe. So in that case, it is not the lifeless nature who gives these abilities to birds.     

    Let’s now ask a question to people claiming that it is the nature who created birds:
-    Okay let’s say that the nature has created birds. What about fishes, molluscs, corals then? Who has created them?
-    The nature.
-    Then what about seas, mountains, meadows, rivers?
-    The nature.
-    And forests, trees, fruits, flowers?
-    The nature.
-    Deers, zebras, gazelles, elephants?
-    The nature.
-    Stars, planets, the Sun?
-    Also the nature.  
-    The atmosphere, clouds, rains, rainbow, snowflakes?
-    The nature.
-    Everything you have counted are nothing different than the nature. You keep talking about the nature like it is someone living in another universe. So that nature you mention is not the nature itself. Perhaps, what you mean is Allah?

    If you are saying “the nature did”, “the nature created”, “the nature caused it rain” just for not saying “Allah”, you are fooling not us but yourself. 

Listen to this ayah from the Quran:

“He created the heavens without pillars that you see and has cast into the earth firmly set mountains, lest it should shift with you, and dispersed therein from every creature. And We sent down rain from the sky and made grow therein [plants] of every noble kind.
This is the creation of Allah . So show Me what those other than Him have created. Rather, the wrongdoers are in clear error.” (Surah Luqman, 31/10-11)

    As you see birds neither can get created on their own nor they can be created coincidentally or by the nature.
    And if three of the four options are wrong there is no need to doubt the fourth option. What was the fourth option?

4.    Allah is the one who creates birds.
“Do they not see the birds above them with wings outspread and [sometimes] folded in? None holds them [aloft] except the Most Merciful. Indeed, He is, of all things, Seeing.” (Surah Al-Mulk, 67/19)

Can the nature make an egg fly?
    I was just about to conclude “the bird” topic but just remembered a question: “Can the nature make an egg fly?”
    Then I sat down and wrote an answer for this question:
    Can you make a plane out of paper? Most probably you can. If you showed this paper plane that you made to anyone and said “I have made this plane”, no one would say to you “It can’t be possible. You aren’t capable of making this!”

    What if showing the real plane, you said “I have made this plane!”. Would anyone believe?
    Of course, not. Because your knowledge and abilities are not enough for making a real plane. Only certain countries in the world are making real planes. So no one would believe that you could make a real plane by yourself. 
    On the contrary everyone would laugh at you. If you insist but not say “I was joking”, they would send you to see a doctor because they would think that you have gone mad.
    Moreover, the real owners of that plane would get angry at you and say “look at the child. He wants to arrogate our plane to himself.”
    You can only make a paper plane. The real plane is not something you can make. Because for doing this you don’t have the necessary knowledge, ability, money and power. 
    But who can make a real plane? Only big and wealthy countries who have advanced technologies can make a real plane. No one would object if they said “we have made this plane”. Because they do have the necessary knowledge, skills, money and technology. 
    Then, can countries that make real planes create a real bird?
    For example, can they make a pigeon, an albatross, an owl, a flamingo, a duck, a goose or a swan? 

    What do you say? Can they create any of those?

    Even if all the big countries got together, joined all their knowledge, money, skills and power they wouldn’t succeed in creating a real bird. Not even a wing or even a feather of a bird. 

    They can’t create a little sparrow that flips its wings in the air while singing. They can’t even make a plane similar to this bird. Because not even the most modern planes are as perfect as birds. 
    Planes neither can take off from wherever they want nor they can land wherever they want.  I don’t even mention how noisy they are, how much they pollute the air, how much fuel they burn and how sometimes they got in accidents. 

    No one can compete with the way birds are flying. 
    As people who create a plane can’t create a bird, how can a deaf, blind and unintelligent nature and coincidence can create one?

    Can nature make a flying bird from an egg? 
    Can coincidence make an eagle with huge wings from an egg?
    Can a bird singing beautiful songs be created from an egg on its own?
    Can nature itself make a peacock with colourful feathers from an egg?
    Inside a dark egg can different beaks of storks and ducks be created coincidentally?
    Is it the nature who gives claws to eagles, webbed feet to ducks and never confuses them?

    If one day we see a plane getting created out of old car parts on its own, we can rethink about it. But only with one condition that the plane should be alive, fly on its own, land on wherever it wants, sing songs, have a nest and babies in the nest. And a plane cockpit which is much simpler than a brain of pigeon should be created on its own. Or an engine of a plane which is much simpler than a heart of swallow flying thousands of kilometres each year, should be created on its own. 

    Plane wings which are more primitive than bird wings should be created on their own, should appear coincidentally by the laws of nature.

    Only in these cases maybe we would say that “As a wing can be created on its own, birds also can”

“…Indeed in that are signs for a people who believe.” (Surah Al-An’am, 6/99)