1
Adam and Eve (Hawwa)' s children got married. But there were no any other population so whom got married with their children? How did the children of Adam marry each other?
Humans grew in number by being born from Adam and Eve. Our mother Eve was having twins every time she was giving birth. One of them was always a boy and the other was a girl. Adam was making the twins who were born at the same time marry the previous or the next twins. The girl who was born with Abel was ugly but the girl who was born with Cain was beautiful. Under those circumstances, Adam wanted Abel to marry the girl born with Cain and Cain to marry the girl born with Abel. However, Cain did not consent that, he did not want to give the beautiful girl born with himself to Abel and he wanted to marry with her himself.
Adam did not allow that and he handed over the matter to Allah. According to the order coming from Almighty Allah, he told both of them to present a sacrifice to Allah and he said the sister of Cain would belong to the one whose sacrifice was accepted. Thereupon, Cain offered a bunch of wheat and Abel presented a sheep as a sacrifice. A fire coming down from the sky took Abel’s sacrifice but Cain’s sacrifice remained on the earth. In that situation, Abel was justified and he deserved the girl. However, Cain lost his temper completely. That event is told in the Qur’an as follows:
“Recite to them the truth of the story of the two sons of Adam. Behold they each presented a sacrifice (to Allah): it was accepted from one, but not from the other. Said the latter: be sure I will slay you. Surely, said the former, Allah does accept of the sacrifice of those who are righteous.”
“Even if thou stretch out your hand against me to kill me, I shall not stretch out my hand against you to kill you; For, I fear Allah, the Lord of the Worlds. I would rather you should bear the punishment of the sin against me and your own sin and become one of the owners of the Fire. That is the reward of evil-doers.”
“The (selfish) soul of the other led him to the murder of his brother: he murdered him, and became (himself) one of the losers. Then Allah sent a raven, who scratched the ground, to show him how to hide the shame of his brother. Woe is me said he; was I not even able to be as this raven, and to hide the shame of my brother? Then he became full of regrets.” Qur’an, The TableSpread (Al-Maidah); 27-31 (5: 27-31)
To get to the position of the marrying of the children of Adam with each other; from Hazrat Adam to the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), all prophets have taught the righteous religion. The fundamentals of the faith which are the basis of the religion have always remained the same. However, in the Shari’a ( Divine laws), which are the deeds related to the ibadah (worship) and the world, some ordinances have come by changing according to the requirements of every age from Hazrat Adam to the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) and the needs of the people. Almighty Allah has set a different Shari’a by taking the way of living and the benefits of every age into consideration. In the 48th ayah (verse) of the Surah al-Maidah, “To each among you have we prescribed a law and an open way.” Was stated about the matter.
Badiuzzaman explains that matter as follows: “Sacred laws change according to the ages. Indeed, in one age different prophets may come, and they have come. Since subsequent to the Seal of the Prophets, his Greater Shari‘a is sufficient for all peoples in every age, no need has remained for different laws.” (Said Nursi, Risaleinur Collection, the Words, Twenty Seventh Word)
For example, although the Jews can only worship in synagogues and the Christians in churches, we Muslims can perform the salats (prayer) everywhere. Still, while the suet of the animals such as cows and sheep is haram (forbidden) in the shari’a of Prophet Moses, it is halal (permissible) in our religion.
Adam is the first human and the first prophet. Allah also has sent and taught a religion and a shari’a to him, too. He used to act in the way Allah has showed him. Almighty Allah permitted marrying of Adam’s children with each other because of an exigency. Because, the progeny of the human beings had to increase. Since there were no other humans, the sisters and the brothers had to marry each other as an exigency. That practice continued for some time; but when the number of the humans increased, there were no more need and exigency to such marriages and that practice was abolished.
As Allah has created Eve from the rib bone of Adam as a partner to him, He can also create the sisters and the brothers born in different times as strangers to each other. Afterwards, the human kind increased and He prohibited the marrying of sisters and brothers even if they were from different twins.
Being halal of that marriage is based on the command of Allah. Because, the badness of something is because of Allah’s prohibiting it and the favorableness of something is because of Allah’s commanding it or unrestricting it. That is, what Allah commands becomes favorable and what Allah forbids becomes bad.
Mehmed Paksu
Editor's Selected Link
Could not Allah create a couple like Adam and Eve instead of marrying of the children of Adam, namely the brothers and the sisters with each other?
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Why Allah Almighty wished to give a share
There is a hadith-i qudsi (A saying of Allah Ta’ala narrated by the Holy prophet Muhammad , may Allah bless him and grant him peace, that is not part of the Holy Qur’an) which says "I (Allah) am a hidden treasure. I created the beings to be known" (Acluni, II, 132). Here we are going to give a brief commentary of this hadith to try to explain the wisdom of the creation and the requirements of the attributes and names of Allah.
Man has been sent to this world as an official and guest, and has been given abilities of great significance. And he has been entrusted with important duties in accordance with those abilities. And in order to employ man in fulfilling those aims and duties, powerful encouragement and severe threats have been made. We shall here summarize the fundamentals of worship and of man's duties so that the mystery of 'the Most Excellent of Patterns' may be understood.
On coming into the universe man has two aspects of worship and being a slave of God's. One is worship and contemplation in the absence of the Object of Worship. The other is worship and supplication in His presence and is addressing Him directly.
First Aspect: It is to affirm submissively the sovereignty of Dominicality apparent in the universe and to observe its perfections and virtues in wonder.
Then it is to proclaim and herald the unique arts which consist of the inscriptions of the Sacred Divine Names and to display them to others.
Then it is to weigh on the scales of perception the jewels of the Dominical Names, which are each like a hidden treasure; it is to appreciatively affirm their value with the discerning heart.
Then it is to study and ponder over in wonder the pages of beings and leaves of the earth and sky, which are like missives of the pen of power.
Then through beholding admiringly the adornment and subtle arts in beings, it is to feel love for knowledge of their All-Beauteous Creator, and to yearn to ascend to the presence of their All-Perfect Maker and to receive His favours.
Second Aspect: This is the station of presence and address wherein man passes from the work to the producer of the work and he sees that an All-Beauteous Maker wants to make himself known and acquainted through the miracles of His own art, and he responds with knowledge and belief.
Then he sees that an All-Compassionate Sustainer wants to make himself loved through the fine fruits of His mercy. So through confining his love and worship to Him, he makes himself love Him.
Then he sees that an All-Generous Bestower is nurturing him with the delights of bounties material and immaterial, and in return he offers Him thanks and praise with his actions, conduct, words, and as far as he can, with all his senses and faculties.
Then he sees that an All-Beauteous and Glorious One is announcing His tremendousness and perfections, and glory and beauty in the mirrors of these beings, and is drawing attentive gazes to them. So in response he declares: "God is Most Great! Glory be to God!", and in humility prostrates with love and wonder.
Then he sees that a Possessor of Absolute Riches is displaying His boundless wealth and treasuries amid an absolute munificence. So in response, exalting and praising Him, he entreats and asks for them, expressing his utter need.
Then he sees that the All-Glorious Creator has made the face of the earth like an exhibition and displayed on it all His antique works of art. So in response he exclaims in appreciation: "What wonders God has willed!", and in admiration: "What blessings God has bestowed!", and in wonder: "Glory be to God!", and in astonishment: "God is Most Great!"
Then he sees that in His palace of the universe a Single One of Unity has struck seals of Unity on all beings with His inimitable signature, and with His stamps, signets, and cyphers particular to Him; that He inscribes the signs of His Unity; and planting the banner of Unity in every region of the world, He proclaims His Dominicality. And he responds with assent, belief, submission, worship, and affirmation of His Unity.
Thus, through worship and contemplation of this kind he becomes a true man. He shows that he is on the Most Excellent of Patterns. Through the auspiciousness of belief he becomes a reliable vicegerent of God's on earth worthy of bearing the Trust.
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How is sin possible?
To see the answer click the link given below and read the following explanation. Is it Allah (SWT) Who creates evil too?
As eternal benevolence and pre-eternal wisdom necessitated, the Pre-Eternally All-Wise One created this world to be a place of trial, an arena of examination, a mirror to His Most Beautiful Names, and a page for the pen of Divine Determining and Power. Now, trial and examination are the cause of growth and development. And growth causes the disposition to unfold. And this unfolding causes the abilities to become apparent. And this emergence of the abilities causes the relative truths to become evident. And the relative truths’ becoming evident causes the embroideries of the manifestations of the All-Glorious Maker’s Most Beautiful Names to be displayed, and the universe to be transformed into a missive of the Eternally Besought One. It is through this mystery of examination and the mystery of man’s being charged with certain duties that the diamond-like essences of elevated spirits are purified of the coal-like matter of base spirits, and the two separated from one another.Thus, since it was for mysteries such as these, and for other most subtle and elevated instances of wisdom which we do not yet know of that the Pre-Eternally All-Wise One willed the world in this form, He also willed the change and transformation of this world for those instances of wisdom. He mixed together opposites for its change and transformation, and brought them face to face. Combining harm with benefit, including evil with good, and mingling ugliness with beauty, He kneaded them together like dough, and made the universe subject to the law of change and mutation, and the principle of transformation and perfection.
A day will come when this assembly of examination is closed, and the period of trial is finished, and the Divine Names have carried out their decree, and the pen of Divine Determining has completed writing its missives, and Divine Power completed the embroideries of its art, and beings have fulfilled their duties, and creatures accomplished their acts of service, and everything has stated its meaning, and this world produced the seedlings of the Hereafter, and the Earth has displayed and exhibited all the miracles of power of the All-Powerful Maker, and all the wonders of His art, and this transient world has attached to the string of time the tableaux forming the panoramas of eternity.For the eternal wisdom and pre-eternal beneficence of the All-Glorious Maker necessitate truths like the results of the examination and trial, the truths of those Divine Names’ manifestations, the truths of the missives of the pen of Divine Determining, the originals of those sample-like embroideries of art, the aims and benefits of the duties of beings, the wages of the acts of service of creatures, the truths of the meanings the Book of the Universe stated, the sprouting of the seeds of innate disposition, the opening of a Supreme Court of Judgement, the displaying of the sample-like panoramas taken from this world, the rending of the veil of apparent causes, and the surrendering of everything directly to the All-Glorious Creator. And since the All-Glorious Maker’s pre-eternal wisdom and beneficence necessitate these truths, they require the purification of those opposites in order to deliver the world from change and transience, transformation and extinction, and to separate out the causes of change and the matters of conflict. And most certainly they will bring about the Resurrection and purify those opposites in order to obtain these results.
Thus, as a result of this purification Hell will take on its eternal and dreadful form, and its inmates will manifest the threat:
And get you apart this day, Oh you sinners!
And Paradise will assume its everlasting and majestic form, and its people and companions will manifest the address:
Peace be upon you! Well have you done! Enter here to dwell for ever.
Also article given below enlightens another aspect of the question;
Why are devils created? Almighty God created Satan and evils; what is the wisdom in it? Isn't the creation of evil, evil, and the creation of bad, bad?
T h e A n s w e r : God forbid, the creation of evil is not evil, the desire for or inclination towards evil, rather, is evil. For creation and bringing into existence look to all the consequences, whereas such desire looks to a particular result, since it is a particular relation. For example, there are thousands of consequences of rain falling, and all of them are good. If through ill choice, some people receive harm from the rain, they cannot say that the creation of rain is not mercy, they cannot state that the creation of rain is evil. Rather, it is due to their ill choice and inclination that it is evil for them. Also, there are numerous benefits in the creation of fire, and all of them are good. But if some people receive harm from fire through their misuse of it and their wrong choice, they cannot say that the creation of fire is evil, because it was not only created to burn them. Rather, they thrust their hands into the fire while cooking the food through ill choice, and made that servant inimical to themselves.
In Short: The lesser evil is acceptable for the greater good. If an evil which will lead to a greater good is abandoned so that a lesser evil should not be, a greater evil will then have been perpetrated. For example, there are certainly some minor material and physical harms and evils in sending soldiers to fight a jihad, but in the jihad is a greater good whereby Islam is saved from being conquered by infidels. If the jihad is abandoned due to those lesser evils, then the greater evil will come after the greater good has gone. And that is absolute wrong. And for example, to amputate a finger which is infected with gangrene and has to be amputated is good and right, although it is apparently an evil. For if it is not amputated, the hand will be amputated, and that would be a greater evil.
Thus, the creation and bringing into existence of evils, harms, tribulations, satans, and harmful things, is not evil and bad, for they are created for many important results. For example, satans have not been set to pester the angels, and the angels cannot progress; their degrees are fixed and deficient. However, in the world of humanity the degrees of progress and decline are infinite. There is an extremely long distance through which to progress, from the Nimrod's and Pharaoh's as far as the veracious saints and the prophets.
Thus, through the creation of satans and the mystery of man's responsibility and the sending of prophets, an arena of trial and examination and striving and competition has been opened so that coal-like base spirits may be differentiated and separated out from diamond-like elevated spirits. If there had been no striving and competition, the potentialities in the mine of humanity which are like diamonds and coal would have remained equal. The spirit of Abu Bakr the Veracious at the highest of the high would have remained on the same level as that of Abu Jahl at the lowest of the law. This means that since the creation of satans and evils looks to great and universal results, their being brought into existence is not evil or bad. The evils and instances of bad that arise from abuses and the particular causes known as inclination or choice pertain to man's choice, not to Divine creation.
If you ask? The majority of humanity become unbelievers due to the existence of Satan and embrace unbelief and suffer harm, despite the sending of prophets: If, according to the rule, "the majority has the word," the majority suffers evil as a result, then the creation of evil is evil, and it may even be said that the sending of prophets is not a mercy. Is that not so?
The Answer: Quantity has no importance in relation to quality. The true majority looks to quality. For example, if. there are a hundred seeds of the date-palm and they are not put beneath the earth and watered and so do not undergo a chemical reaction and manifest a struggle for life, they are only a hundred seeds worth virtually nothing. But If they are watered and are subject to the struggle for life, and then eighty out of the hundred rot due to their faulty make-up, but twenty become fruit-bearing trees, can you say, "watering them was evil because most of them ratted?" Of course, you cannot say that, for that twenty have become like twenty thousand. One who loses eighty and gains twenty thousand suffers no harm and it cannot be evil.
And for example, if a peahen lays one hundred eggs, and they are worth five hundred kurush. If the hen sits on the hundred eggs and eighty are spoilt and twenty hatch into peacocks, can it be said that there was a high loss and the affair was evil; that it was bad to put the broody hen on the eggs and an evil occurred? No, it is not thus, it is rather a good. For the peacock species and egg family lost eighty eggs worth four hundred kurush, but gained twenty peacocks worth eighty liras.
Thus, through the sending of prophets and the mystery of man's responsibility, and through striving, and fighting with satans, in return for the hundreds of thousands of prophets and millions of saints and thousands of millions of purified scholars they have gained, who are like the suns, moons, and stars of the world of humanity mankind has lost the unbelievers and dissemblers, who are numerous in regard to quantity, insignificant in regard to quantity, and like harmful beasts.
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What is the purpose of God created anything
In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate.
By the sun and its glorious splendour; * By the moon as it follows it; * By the day as it shows (the sun’s) glory; * By the night as it conceals it; * By the firmament and its wonderful structure; * By the earth and its wide expanse; * By the soul and the order and proportion given it.
Here is given a commentary of the verses given above:
Brother! If you want to understand a little about the talisman of the wisdom of the world and the riddle of man’s creation and the mystery of the reality of the prescribed prayers, then consider this short comparison together with my own soul.
One time there was a king. As wealth he had numerous treasuries containing diamonds and emeralds and jewels of every kind. Besides these he had other, hidden, wondrous treasuries. By way of attainment he had consummate skill in strange arts, and encompassing knowledge of innumerable wondrous sciences, and great erudition in endless branches of abstruse learning. Now, like every possessor of beauty and perfection wants to see and display his own beauty and perfection, that glorious king wanted to open up an exhibition and set out displays within it in order to make manifest and display in the view of the people the majesty of his rule, his glittering wealth, the wonders of his art, and the marvels of his knowledge, and so that he could behold his beauty and perfection in two respects:
The First Respect: so that he himself could behold them with his own discerning eye.
The Other: so that he could look through the view of others.
With this purpose in mind, the king started to construct a vast and majestic palace. He divided it into magnificent apartments and dwellings, and decorated it with every sort of jewel from his treasuries, and with his own hand so full of art adorned it with the finest and most beautiful works. He ordered it with the subtlest of the arts of his wisdom, and decked it out with the miraculous works of his knowledge. Then after completing it, he set up in the palace broad tables containing the most delicious of every kind of foodand every sort of bounty. He specified an appropriate table for each group. He set out such a munificent and artful banquet that it was as though the boundless priceless bounties he spread out had come into existence through the works of a hundred subtle arts. Then he invited his people and subjects from all the regions of his lands to feast and behold the spectacle.
Later the king appointed a Supreme Commander (PBUH) as teacher, to make known the purposes of the palace and the meanings of its contents; to describe its Maker and its contents to the people, make known the secrets of the palace’s embellishments, teach what the arts within it were pointing to, and to explain what the well-set jewels were, and the harmonious embroideries; and to explain to those who entered the palace the way in which they indicated the perfections and arts of the palace’s owner, and to inform them of the correct conduct in beholding them, and to explain the official ceremonies as the king, who did not appear, wished them to be. The teacher and instructor had an assistant in each area of the palace, while he himself remained in the largest apartment among his students, making the following announcement to all the spectators. He told them:
“O people! By making this palace and displaying these things our lord, who is the king of the palace, wants to make himself known to you. You therefore should recognize Him and try to get to know Him. And with these adornments He wants to make Himself loved by you. Also, He shows His love for you through these bounties that you see, so you should love Him too by obeying Him. And through these bounties and gifts which are to be seen He shows His compassion and kindness for you, so you should show your respect for Him by offering thanks. And through these works of His perfection He wants to display His transcendent beauty to you, so you should show your eagerness to see Him and gain His regard. And through placing a particular stamp and special seal and an inimitable signet on every one of these adorned works of art that you see, He wants to show that everything is particular to Him, and is the work of His own hand, and that He is single and unique and independent and removed. You therefore should recognize that He is single and alone, and without peer or like or match, and accept that He is such.” He spoke further fitting words to the spectators like these concerning the King and this station. Then the people who had entered the palace separated into two groups.
The First Group: Since these people had self-knowledge, were intelligent, and their hearts were in the right place, when they looked at the wonders inside the palace, they declared: “There are great matters afoot here!” They understood that it was not in vain or some trifling plaything. They were curious, and while wondering: “I wonder what the talisman to this is and what it contains,” they suddenly heard the speech the Master and Instructor was giving, and they realized that the keys to all the mysteries were with him. So they approached him and said: “Peace be upon you, O Master! By rights, a truthful and exact instructor like you is necessary for a magnificent palace such as this. Please tell us what our Lord has made known to you!” First of all the Master repeated the speech to them. They listened carefully, and accepting it, profited greatly. They acted as the King wished. And because the King was pleased at their becoming conduct and manners, he invited them to another special, elevated, ineffable palace. And he bestowed it on them in a way worthy of such a munificent king, and fitting for such obedient subjects, and suitable for such well-mannered guests, and appropriate to such an elevated palace. He made them permanently happy.
As for the Second Group, because their minds were corrupted and their hearts extinguished, when they entered the palace, they were defeated by their evil-commanding souls and took notice of nothing apart from the delicious foods; they closed their eyes to all the virtues and stopped up their ears to the guidance of the Master (PBUH) and the warnings of his students. They stuffed themselves like animals then sank into sleep. They quaffed elixirs which had been prepared for certain other matters and were not to have been consumed. Then they became drunk and started shouting so much they greatly upset the other spectating guests. They were ill-mannered in the face of the Glorious Maker’s rules. So the soldiers of the palace’s owner arrested them, and cast them into a prison appropriate to such unmannerly people.
O friend who is listening to this story with me! Of course you have understood that the Glorious Creator built this palace for the above-mentioned aims. The achievement of these aims is dependent on two things:
The First: The existence of the Master (PBUH) whom we saw and whose speech we heard. Because if it was not for him, all these aims would be in vain. For if an incomprehensible book has no author, it consists only of meaningless paper.
The Second is the people listening the Master’s words and accepting them. That is to say, the Master’s existence is the cause of the palace’s existence, and the people’s listening to him is the cause of the continuation of the palace’s existence. In which case it can be said that if it was not for the Master (PBUH), the Glorious King would not have built the palace. And again it may be said that when the people do not heed the Master’s (PBUH) instructions, the palace will of a certainty be transformed and changed.
Friend! The story ends here. If you have understood the meaning of the comparison, come and behold its reality.
The palace is this world. Its roof is the heavens illuminated with smiling stars, and its floor, the face of the earth adorned from east to west with multifarious flowers. As for the King, he is the Most Holy One, the Pre-Eternal and Post-Eternal Monarch, Whom all things in the seven heavens and the
earth glorify and extol, each with its particular tongue. He is a king so powerful He created the heavens and earth in six days, then abided on the Throne. One of Power and Majesty, Who, alternating night and day like two threads, one white and one black, writes His signs of the page of the universe; One to Whose command the sun, moon, and stars are subjugated. The apartments of the palace are the eighteen thousand worlds, each of which has been set in order and decorated in a fashion suitable to it. The strange arts you saw in the palace are the miracles of Divine power you see in this world, and the foods you saw there allude to the wonderful fruits of Divine mercy in this world, especially in summer, and above all in the gardens of Barla. The stove and kitchen there is the earth here, which has fire in its heart, and the face of the earth. While the jewels of the hidden treasuries you saw in the comparison are the similitudes of the manifestations of the sacred Divine Names. And the embroideries there, and the signs of the embroideries, are the well-ordered and finely worked beings and the harmonious impresses of the pen of power which adorn this world and point to the Names of the All-Powerful One of Glory.
As for the Master, he is our Master Muhammad (Peace and blessings be upon him). His assistants are the prophets (Peace be upon them), and his students, the saints and purified scholars. The ruler’s servants in the palace indicate the angels (Peace be upon them) in this world. And the guests invited to the banquet to spectate in the comparison are the jinn and mankind in this guest-house of the world, and the animals, who are the servants of mankind. As for the two groups, one of them here consists of the people of belief, who are the students of the All-Wise Qur’an, the interpreter of the verses and signs of the book of the universe. The other group are the people of unbelief and rebellion, who follow Satan and their evil-commanding souls; deaf and dumb, like animals, or even lower, they form the group of the misguided, who recognize the life of this world only.
FIRST GROUP: These are the felicitous and the good, who listened to the Master, ‘the Possessor of Two Wings.’ He is both the worshipping servant of God; in regard to worship he describes his Sustainer so that he is like the envoy of his community at the Court of Almighty God. And he is also God’s Messenger; with regard to Messengership he conveys his Sustainer’s decrees to men and the jinn by means of the Qur’an.
This happy community heeded the Messenger and listened to the Qur’an. They saw themselves invested with the prescribed prayers, which are the index of all the varieties of worship, and numerous subtle duties within elevated stations. Indeed, they saw in detail the duties and stations which the prayers point to with their various formulas and actions. It was like this:
Firstly: Since they observed the Divine works, and in the form of a transaction in the absence of the person concerned, saw themselves in the station
of observing the wonders of the sovereignty of dominicality, they performed the duty of extolling and glorifying God, declaring: “God is Most Great!”
Secondly: Through being seen in the station of herald of His brilliant and wonderful works, which are the manifestations of the sacred Divine Names, exclaiming: “Glory be to God! All praise be to God!”, they performed the duty of hallowing and praising God.
Thirdly: In the station of perceiving and understanding with their inner and outer senses the bounties stored up in the treasuries of Divine mercy, they started to carry out the duty of thanks and praise.
Fourthly: In the station of weighing up with the scales of their spiritual faculties the jewels in the treasuries of the Divine Names, they began the duty of praise and declaring God to be free of all fault.
Fifthly: In the station of studying the Sustainer’s missives, written with the pen of power on the plan of Divine Determining, they began the duty of contemplation and appreciation.
Sixthly: With beholding the subtle, delicate, fine beauties in the creation of things and in the art in beings, in the station of declaring God to be free of all defect, they took up the duty of love and yearning for their All-Glorious Creator, their All-Beauteous Maker. That is to say, after looking at the universe and works and performing the duties in the above-mentioned stations through transactions in the object of worship’s absence, they rose to the degree of also beholding the transactions and acts of the All-Wise Maker, whereby, in the form of a transaction in the presence of the person concerned, they responded with knowledge and wonder in the face of the All-Glorious Creator’s making Himself known to conscious beings through the miracles of His art, and declared: “Glory be unto You! How can we truly know you? What makes You known are the miracles of the works of Your art!”
Then, they responded with love and passion to that Most Merciful One’s making Himself loved through the beautiful fruits of His mercy. “You alone do we worship and from You alone do we seek help!”, they declared.
Then they responded with thanks and praise to the True Bestower’s showing His mercy and compassion through His sweet bounties, and exclaimed: “Glory be unto You! All praise is Yours! How can we thank You as is Your due? You are utterly worthy of thanks! For all Your bounties spread through all the universe hymn Your praises and thanks through the clear tongues of their beings. All Your bounties lined up in the market of the world and scattered over the face of the earth proclaim Your praises and extol You. Through testifying to Your munificence and generosity, all the well-ordered and well-proportioned fruits of Your mercy and bounty offer You thanks before the gazes of Your creatures.”
Then they responded, saying: “God is Most Great!” before the manifestation of Divine beauty, glory, perfection, and majesty in the mirrors of beings, ever changing on the face of the universe; they bowed reverently in their impotence, and prostrated in humility with love and wonder.
Then announcing their poverty and need, they responded with supplication and beseeching to the Possessor of Absolute Riches’ displaying the abundance of His wealth and breadth of His mercy, and declared: “From You alone do we seek help!”
Then they responded appreciatively to the All-Glorious Maker’s displaying the subtleties and wonders of His antique art in the exhibition of creatures, exclaiming: “What wonders God has willed!” Observing and applauding them, they declared, “How beautifully they have been made! What blessings God has bestowed!” Holding everyone witness, they said in wonder: “Come! Look at these! Hasten to the prayers and to prosperity!”
And they responded with submission and obedience to the Monarch of Pre-Eternity and Post-Eternity’s proclamation of the sovereignty of His dominicality in every corner of the universe and the manifestation of His unity. Declaring: “We hear and we obey!”, they affirmed His unity.
Then, before the manifestation of the Godhead of that Sustainer of All the Worlds, they responded with worship and humble veneration, which consists of proclaiming their poverty within need, and with the prescribed prayers, which are the summary of worship. Thus, through performing their various duties of worship in the mighty mosque known as the abode of this world, they carried out the obligations and duties of their lives, and assumed ‘the finest of forms.’ They ascended to a rank above all creatures by which, through the auspiciousness of belief and assurance and ‘the Trust,’ they became trustworthy Vicegerents of God on the Earth. And after this field of trial and place of examination, their Munificent Sustainer invited them to eternal happiness in recompense for their belief, and to the Abode of Peace in reward for their adhering to His religion of Islam. There, He bestowed on them out of His mercy bounties so dazzling that no eye has seen them, nor ear heard them, nor have they occurred to the heart of man2 - and so He does bestow these on them, and He gave them eternity and everlasting life. For the desirous, mirror-bearing lovers of an eternal, abiding beauty who gaze upon it will certainly not perish, but will go to eternity. The final state of the Qur’an’s students is thus. May Almighty God include us among them, Amen!
As for the other group, the sinners and the wicked, when they entered the palace of this world at the age of discretion, they responded with unbelief to
all the evidences of Divine unity, and with ingratitude towards all the bounties, and by accusing all creatures of being valueless, insulted them in an unbelieving manner. And since they rejected and denied all the manifestations of the Divine Names, they committed a boundless crime in a short time and became deserving of endless punishment. For the capital of life and the human faculties were given to man for the duties mentioned above.
O my senseless soul and foolish friend! Do you suppose your life’s duty is restricted to following the good life according to the requisites of civilization, and, if you will excuse the expression, to gratifying the physical appetites? Do you suppose the sole aim of the delicate and subtle senses, the sensitive faculties and members, the well-ordered limbs and systems, the inquisitive feelings and senses included in the machine of your life is restricted to satisfying the low desires of the base soul in this fleeting life? God forbid! There are two main aims in their creation and inclusion in your essential being:
The First consists of making known to you all the varieties of the True Bestower’s bounties, and causing you to offer Him thanks. You should be aware of this, and offer Him thanks and worship.
The Second is to make known to you by means of your faculties all the sorts of the manifestations of the sacred Divine Names manifested in the world and to cause you to experience them. And you, by recognizing them through experiencing them, should come to believe in them.
Thus, man develops and is perfected through the achievement of these two basic aims. Through them, man becomes a true human being.
Look through the meaning of the following comparison, and see that the human faculties were not given in order to gain worldly life like an animal.
For example, someone gave one of his servants twenty gold pieces, telling him to have a suit of clothes made out of a particular cloth. The servant went and got himself a fine suit out of the highest grade of the cloth, and put it on. Then he saw that his employer had given another of his servants a thousand gold pieces, and putting in the servant’s pocket a piece of paper with some things written on it, had sent him to conclude some business. Now, anyone with any sense would know that the capital was not for getting a suit of clothes, for, since the first servant had bought a suit of the finest cloth with twenty gold pieces, the thousand gold pieces were certainly not to be spent on that. Since the second servant had not read the paper in his pocket, and looking at the first servant, had given all the money to a shopkeeper for a suit of clothes, and then received the very lowest grade of cloth and a suit fifty times worse that his friend’s, his employer was bound to reprimand him severely for his utter stupidity, and punish him angrily.
O my soul and my friend! Come to your senses! Do not spend the capital
and potentialities of your life on pleasures of the flesh and this fleeting life like an animal, or even lower. Otherwise, although you are fifty times superior with regard to capital than the highest animal, you will fall fifty times lower than the lowest. (From The Risale-i Nur Collection by Bediuzzaman Said Nursi)
Also,this part has been quoted from The Risale-i Nur Collection
QUESTION
“We hear many lazy people and those who neglect the five daily prayers ask: “What need has God Almighty of our worship that in the Qur’an He severely and insistently reproves those who give up worship and threatens them with such a fearsome punishment as Hell? How is it in keeping with the style of the Qur’an, which is moderate, mild and fair, to demonstrate the ultimate severity towards an insignificant, minor fault?”
T h e A n s w e r : God Almighty has no need of your worship, nor indeed of anything else. Rather, it is you who needs to worship, for in truth you are sick. And as we have proved in many parts of the Risale-i Nur, worship is a sort of remedy for your spiritual wounds. If someone who is ill responds to a compassionate doctor who insists on his taking medicines that are beneficial for his condition by saying: “What need do you have of it that you are insisting in this way?”, you can understand how absurd it would be.
As for the severe threats and fearsome punishments in the Qur’an concerning the giving up of worship, they may be likened to a king, who, in order to protect his subject’ rights, inflicts a severe punishment on an ordinary man in accordance with the degree that his crime infringes those rights.
In the same way, the man who gives up worship and ritual prayer is violating in a significant manner the rights of beings, who are like the subjects of the Monarch of Pre-Eternity and Post-Eternity, and is in fact acting unjustly towards them. For the perfections of beings are manifested through the glorification and worship performed by that aspect of them which is directed towards their Maker. The one who abandons worship does not and cannot see this worship. Indeed, he denies it. Furthermore, beings occupy an exalted position by reason of their worship and glorification, and each is a missive of the Eternally Besought One, and a mirror to the Names of its Sustainer. Since he reduces them from their high positions and considers them to be unimportant, lifeless, aimless, and without duties, he is insulting them, and denying and transgressing their perfections.
Indeed, everyone sees the world in his own mirror. God Almighty created man as a measure and scale for the universe. And from the world He gave a particular world to each person. This world He colours for him in accordance with his sincere beliefs. For example, a despairing, lamenting, weeping person sees beings as weeping and in despair, while a cheerful, optimistic, merry person sees the universe as joyful and smiling. A reflective man given to solemn worship and glorification discovers and sees to a degree the certain, truly existent worship and glorification of beings, while a person who abandons worship through either neglect or denial sees beings in a manner totally contrary and opposed to the reality of their perfections, thus transgressing their rights.
Furthermore, since the one who gives up prayer does not own himself, he wrongs his own soul, which is a slave of its True Owner. His Owner delivers awesome threats in order to protect His slave’s rights from his evil-commanding soul. Also, since he has given up worship, which is the result of his creation and the aim of his nature, it is like an act of aggression against Divine wisdom and dominical will, and he therefore receives punishment.
I n S h o r t : The abandoner of worship both wrongs his own soul, which is the slave and totally owned property of Almighty God, and wrongs and transgresses the rights of the perfections of the universe. Certainly, just as unbelief is an insult to beings, so is the abandonment of worship a denial of the universe’s perfections. And since it is an act of aggression against Divine wisdom, it is deserving of awesome threats, and severe punishment.
Thus, it is to express this deservedness and the above facts that the Qur’an of Miraculous Exposition chooses in a miraculous way that severe style, which, in complete conformity with the principles of eloquence, corresponds to the requirements of the situation.
5
Will you explain the issue of Allah’s creating the beings in the form of ibda and insha?
Ibda means to create something out of nothing. The universe was created out of nothing when it was first created. Absence or nonexistence will not end by creating.
Insha means to make new things from the elements or atoms that were created. The atoms and elements in the first creation are used in it. Only the differences regarding shape, color and nature take place later. Only that part is created.
Ibda can be likened to an alphabet and insha to writing a book. Elements – so to speak – are a divine alphabet; they were made exist through ibda. Every being is written like a book with that alphabet of elements.
In every insha, there exists a new ibda because every being is an original version. Allah creates fast but no being is the same as another one. Some people of truth express it as “la takrara fi’t- tajalli”; that is, “there is no repetition in manifestation.”
To make a non-existing thing exist and to make an existing thing non-exist are the constant laws of Allah. Everything is created out of nothing. Scientists express some figures about the age of the universe. To determine an age for something means that it did not exist before that age. There is a beginning for everything except Allah. Besides, the fact that the things that are created are worn out and die shows that they are not pre-eternal.
Everything is composed of atoms. How can it be claimed that all beings have been created out of nothing?
First of all, let us state that some materialists and atheists perform the following plan in order to induce doubts in pure minds:
Instead of denying Allah directly, they deny the creation first by saying, “The universe was not created out of nothing but made up of atoms.” Then, by denying the creation, they proceed to deny Allah, who is the Creator of the entire universe.
Nevertheless, a work whether it has been created instantly or has been created out of atoms gradually has a maker, a creator in both cases. No work of art can be without a designer and no letters can be without a writer. The existence of the designer and the writer is known more clearly than their works. Then, the creation of the beings –in whatever way it is- indicates Allah’s existence, unity, magnificence and grandeur, attributes and names. Then, that question cannot be asked to deny the Creator of the worlds but only to learn His wisdom.
Almighty Allah has two ways of creation. One is in the way of “origination and invention”; that is, the creation of the elements constituting the universe out of nothing. The other one is in the way of “composition”; namely, invention of the beings in the form of composing them from atoms.
Almighty Allah first created the atoms, the foundation stones of numberless beings He created in that universe, out of nothing -through origination-. Then, he brought some kinds of beings into the field of existence for some wisdom such as displaying the manifestations of His Divine names, setting laws of His knowledge and principles of His wisdom and renewing His graces. Namely, He has created atoms out of nothing through origination; and He has composed other creatures from those atoms.
Let us try to answer the question through a wider perspective:
First of all, let us mention that there is no difference between the creations of beings through “ORIGINATION” or “COMPOSITION” in terms of Almighty Allah’s power. Creation of atoms out of nothing and composition of a being from those atoms are equal for the Divine Power; namely, neither one is easier, nor the other is harder.
If man, who has thousands of needs and who is unable to attain his simplest need, evaluates that fact, which is one of the essentials of divinity by his particular measures, of course misguides himself, is mistaken and can deviate into denial by deeming it unlikely. However, while considering works of arts of a person, one should take his attributes into consideration. That issue should be taken into consideration in terms of Allah’s attributes compassing everything and His boundless power. Instead of contemplating Allah’s grandeur, which makes that grand universe serve man, in His magnificent works of art, man deviates into great heedlessness by comparing the Divine Facts with his own trifling mind, strength and will.
The creation of beings through “origination” or “invention” can not be deemed unlikely from the power of the Creator of all things who sets the blue vault over us like a tent, who turns over and over countless objects in that endless space by His power and who spreads the surface of earth with His wonderful works of art under our feet. As a matter of fact, a man gets into an obvious paradox if he assigns Allah impotence, after he has believed that Allah has all perfect attributes.
Almighty Allah’s power comes from His Essence; it is boundless and absolute. There is no difference between His power’s regarding towards the sun and regarding towards a particle. He creates, administers and directs both of them with the same easiness. There is no fragmentation or division in His regarding and acting. Restrictions existing for beings cannot prevent His invention. Certainly, there is no difference between the creation of things by origination and invention in relation to His power.
The One of Grandeur, who creates everything with an extreme easiness and turns over and over suns like particles, who changes everything from a period to another, from an attitude to another, can dispatch and bring everything He wishes from nonexistence into existence or from existence into nonexistence easily.
Certainly, it is the most obvious fact that the One Powerful over All Things, who squeezes numberless inventions in a split second, creates atoms out of nothing and other things from atoms.
Considering that there is no difference between “origination” and “composition” in terms of the Divine Power; human mind accepts that fact easily; he can only investigate the wisdom of creation out of nothing. We will try to explain briefly within the borders of our scholars’ explanations expounding the essence of that matter.
First of all, we find it useful to introduce some basic knowledge that will help the issue to be explained.
What Do Origination and Invention Mean?
Origination is invention out of nothing; giving things existence out nothing and nonexistence and creation of everything necessary for them from nonexistence.
Composition is the invention of things in the form of gathering them together from existing elements.
There are two kinds of origination: First is the absolute composition (or pure and general origination), that is, invention from nonexistence and from nothing. The other one is particular origination.
The first creation of the universe is through pure origination. Namely, everything has been created out of nothing in the first creation of the universe. To put it more clearly, it is the invention of the world of existence from nonexistence and nothing without any examples, imitations and precedents when there were no laws, materials, time, origins, shapes and models.
The formation of the universe, that is, the specific natures, shapes and characteristics of the earth, the moon, the sun and stars was through pure origination; the first models of all living being realms are also through “pure origination.” All realms have been created from those primary models.
The universe and the atoms composing it have been created through pure origination. After that first creation, the door of pure origination was closed down. At the moment, every being is being created from the existing atoms because, there is a general balance prevailing in everything in the world. Through that law of balance, Almighty Allah has arranged every being with such a fine measure and such a sensitive balance that there is no futility and waste in nature as there is no injustice and imbalance. Certainly, that law of balance and order prevails in everything from red and white corpuscles in the blood to births and deaths of all living beings, from the balance in atom systems to the signs of heaven, space systems. Since there is a general law of order and balance in the universe, nothing including elements which are the basic substances of this world can be excluded from that law.
The presence of models and forms of everything created in Divine Knowledge indicates that that Essence’s knowledge is unlimited; previous creation of atoms, which are the basis of everything, also shows His unlimited knowledge and measure. Certainly, that situation is a proof of that He plans and makes everything ready with a perfect measure, He manages and organizes everything favorably without conflicting, forgetting and neglecting and He does not waste even one atom.
It is a necessity of wisdom that the law of balance, which is observed in parts and pieces, also prevails in wholes. Indeed, the same measure is used in the arrangement of the every organ of man in accordance with his body and in the systems composing the universe.
Almighty Allah uses atoms, which He has created through pure origination like –so to speak- threads and He weaves all creatures like fabrics. As you see, creation of those threads out of nothing is pure origination, and weaving various things by composing them is composition. New forms, figures, themes and essences emerging through that composition are particular origination; although their materials had been created before, they are being created for the first time and out of nothing. According to that, particular origination emerges through realization of origination and composition together and happens in every moment in the universe. For instance, -so to speak- the plans and the programs of every being which is being created at the moment are origination. Emerging of things in accordance with those plans and programs are composition. Countless attributes, qualities attached to things by their emergence demonstrate again the fact of origination. So, every moment, a new composition based on origination is observed in the universe.
Let us give an example in order to comprehend origination and composition better:
Although Selimiye Mosque, which is deemed as a masterpiece in terms of architecture and aesthetics, was built of stones, nobody can call that work of art as “bulk of stones” and can claim such a thing. Without doubt, that work of art and artfulness emerging with those stones are new things emerging from their craftsman’s thought and art as being distinct from the stones.
Thus, the fact that the mosque is built of stones is a good example for the composition fact; its countless attributes, features and qualities, that is, everything related to it except the stones are examples for the origination fact.
Selimiye Mosque was built of stones; a nightingale was built of atoms. That nightingale is not a bulk of atoms, anymore. The Divine power created an utterly different essence in that being which He has created from atoms. Thus, all those features of the nightingale created out of nothing and nonexistence are origination.
That magnificent universe is like a nightingale created by Allah’s power. That nightingale proclaims the Most Sacred Essence’s beauty and perfection through boundless warbles. Now, will we call that wonderful miracle of power as nitrogen, carbon, oxygen and so? Will we attribute those completely new natures to simple elements? Or, will we assign those wonderful inventions to blind forces and aimless chance?
Everything created is a distinct miracle with its material, essence, shape and properties it bears. That universe swarms with miracles of origination and composition every moment.
Let us explain the issue with another example:
Let us suppose that a learned person wants to write a book encompassing various sciences. That person decides and determines all of the subjects of that book in his knowledge first. Then, he fills ink, enough to write that book, into his pen and he writes his book in accordance with the rules and the principles he has determined in his mind. Can it be said about that wise and learned person “Why has that person filled the ink enough to write the entire book previously? He should have used different ink for every page!” Can it be a deficiency for the writer to fill all ink previously? Indeed, that situation is a proof of the perfection of that writer’s knowledge and measure. Likewise, it signifies that the book had existed and had been ready in his knowledge before it was written; every letter was written in accordance with the plan and the determination in his knowledge. Similarly, Almighty Allah willed to write that book of universe. He determined all atoms necessary for that book in His knowledge and he created that world with His unlimited power.
Various animals and plants which have been weaved from the same simple materials and which have been written with the same ink have distinctive properties, tastes and smells, natures and abilities although they benefit from the same air, same water and same light. Thus, those countless properties which do not exist in atoms emerge through origination. Indeed, spring is a wonderful example for that fact.
Mehmet Kırkıncı
6
Can doctors manage to produce life in laboratories?
That does not mean creating life. It is nothing other than genetic modification/manipulation. Incorrect claims do not reflect the truth.
Please click on the link given below
Can living cells be produced in laboratories?
7
As we all came from Prophet Adam and Hz. Hawwa, how did it happen that the black people were created differently? Why do they have seven ribs, but we have six?
Generally, all people have 12 pairs, that is, 24 ribs. However, in some people, the twelfth pair may not fully develop. Then, the number of the ribs on one side is 11, and 22 in total. This is called anomaly. This kind of anomaly, a structural abnormality, is not at a different human race.
For instance, some people may have hearts on the right side of their bodies and other inner organs on the left side. Some may have two hearts or two bladders. A similar occasion may be seen on the vertebrae. The number of vertebrae, normally four, may be five for some people.
Race is not in question here. That is to say, there is no difference in the number of black people’s ribs. It is an occasion possible for some people. With those samples, Allah shows that He can create whatever He likes and however He likes. Actually, we must be amazed by all the organs and limbs’ being in order, not by those anomalies.
With those anomaly occasions, Allah shows us that He is able to create whatever He wants and however He wants according to the mystery of the verse “Allah is well-versed in every kind of creation.” (Yasin, 36/79)
Although our ancestor is single, how did the different races and their colours come about?
“O mankind! We created you from a single (pair) of a male and a female, and made you into nations and tribes that ye may know each other... (Al-Hujraat, 49/13).
This question can be answered with another question. What prevents the emergence of different races and their colours from a single ancestor? We may come from the same single ancestor and different races and their colours may emerge. In fact, such questions are asked by those who are not knowledgeable about biology. Because, a biologist knows that the characteristics of every parent and grandparent pass to their children at a certain proportion. Those proportions are well-known as “Mendel Laws”. According to these laws imposed by Allah, for example, a person will resemble his mother at a possibility of 50%, and his father 50% in respect of height.
It is possible to see this rate or rates close to this at almost all features of a person. However, there are some characteristics whose emergence, that is, effect on a person, is subject to certain conditions. The appearance of stars depends on the occurrence of the night; the Sun bars their vision, similarly, some recessive characteristics are influenced by dominant characteristics. Recessive characteristics will take effect when they clear away their influence. Perhaps, this becomes possible after several generations.
All present races come from the same race. There is no pure race. To illustrate, a person having a dark skin like black people may be born from a person of white race. Or, a baby having a skin as much white as a Caucasian’s may be born from a Chinese.
Some argue that the black race emerged by adapting to the intensive ultraviolet rays in tropics. However, this argument cannot expound why those who are exposed to the same rays in northern and southern America do not get blacker. Recent studies suggest that the difference in skin colour is hereditary.
So, the black people who appeared in the period of the formation of races emigrated to the land where there were rays not hazardous for them On the other hand, the Scandinavians, who are light-colured and blue-eyed, went to the north in order to get rid of intensive ultraviolet rays around the equator.
Imagine an isolated tribe who has no relation with other tribes. Their genetic features are equal to the number of hereditary characteristics owned by those tribal individuals. Such a region in certain borders can be called a “gene pool”. In this gene pool, recessive characteristics give rise to new different characteristics by intermingling with one another as a result of hybridism in the course of time.
One should see different colour and race characteristics from this point of view. It is strongly probable that in the genetic structure of Prophet Adam, the first human, were many different colour and race characteristics. Just like a gene pool, his genetic structure included a variety of characteristics. Of course, it is not possible for all these characteristics to emerge at once. Different characteristics have derived from some genetic reactions in the course of time. As a result, present different individuals have come to existence.
In the verses “O man! What has beguiled you from your Lord, the Gracious one, who created you, then made you complete, then made you symmetrical? Into whatever form He pleased He constituted you” (al-Infitar, 82/6-8), it is indicated that humans are created and shaped in different ways depending on Allah’s will and determining
Also, In the verse “And one of his signs is the creation of the heavens and the earth and the diversity of your tongues and colours; most surely there signs in this for the learned” (ar-Room, 30/22), it is indicated that humans have different characters and faces.
According to a narration from Abu Musa al-Ashari, our prophet (PBUH) said:
“Allah created Adam (first human) out of a handful of soil which He gathered together from the whole of the Earth. That is why, Adam’s children (humans) vary like soil types. Some were created as white, some as red-blonde, some as black, and some in a tone between these colours.” (Ibn Kathir, the explanation of the verse ar-Room, 30/22)
8
What if our father Adam would have not ever been eat that fruit?
Man’s actual homeland is Paradise. While once Hz. Adam had been in Paradise with Hz. Hawwa (Eve), Allah (SWT) had not created them to stay there. On the contrary, He created them for reproduction and hereby for testing which has a great purpose. For this reason Allah (SWT) had let them sin.
Allah (SWT) put this into practice with His wisdom in order to show to the father and mother of humanity that the actual homeland is Paradise and that this world life had just been created for a temporary land of test.
Allah had also created angels who have no ability to sin and animals that have no responsibility.
Other than these two creatures, He created man who can be both so perfect as to surpass angels and so mean as to be inferior to brainless animals. Satan was created to show what kind of characteristics such a creature has.
For example, gold and copper are heated on fire in order to discriminate between them; similarly, Allah createdSatan from fire in order to discriminate the good and ill natured habits of the creature named human being and let it be discriminated between good natured Hz. Abu-Bakr and ill natured Abu- Jahl.
Besides, the seeds in the barn must be put into soil so that they can be trees. Seemingly, underground is dark and boring. However it is the way of being a tree. A tree does not appear even if the seed stays in a barn for thousands of years.
As you see, Allah (SWT) had sent Hz. Adam from the barn of Paradise to the field of the earth. In order for him to return back to the paradise Allah tested Hz. Adam with the fire of Satan so that he would return to Paradise in the form of a tree. Then, He buried Adam into to the soil of worshipping. Our situation is just like this.
One of the events that occupies man’s mind and exhausts it is the expulsion of Hz. Adam from Paradise, his being sent to the earth and Satan’s causing this event. A question like this comes to the mind of some people: “If the Satan had not existed, would Hz. Adam have stayed in Paradise and would we have been there?”
Let us look at the dialogue between Hz. Allah (SWT) and angels before the creation of man. It is narrated in the Surah of al-Baqara as follows: “Behold thy Lord said to the angels: "I will create a vicegerent on earth." They said "Wilt thou place therein one who will make mischief therein and shed blood? Whilst we do celebrate Thy praises and glorify Thy holy (name)?" He said: "I know what ye know not." (The Surah of al-Baqara, 30)
As it is seen in the interpretation of the verse, before creating Hz. Adam, Allah (SWT) had informed that He was going to create mankind on the earth. That is, He had informed that people would live on earth instead of Paradise. Satan’s deceiving of Hz. Adam is only a reason for his being sent to the earth.
On the other hand, unlike angels, man has been given nafs (evil-commanding soul) and carnal feelings. Man had to be sent to the earth and given some responsibilities and tested so that the reflections of these feelings would be seen, so that he would be assessed as worthy of Paradise or Hell after being tested and tried.
It is very important in what sense the words are used in the Qur’an. When it is thought that the prophets are innocent, it is clearly understood that this is not a conscious disobedience.
As a matter of fact, while this event is narrated in the previous verses, it is stated that Hz. Adam had forgotten this promise: “We had already beforehand, taken the covenant of Adam, but he forgot: and We found on his part no firm resolve.” (Taha, 115)
That is, the behavior of Hz. Adam is not consciously executed aiming to oppose the order of Allah. That is why it is possible to understand the meaning of the verse not as disobedience but as follows: “In the result, they both ate of the tree, and so their nakedness appeared to them: they began to sew together, for their covering, leaves from the Garden: thus did Adam disobey his Lord, and allow himself to be seduced.” (Taha, 121)
If the Satan had not been created, would we all have been in Paradise?
There are some incidents that man thinks about, which are Adams (PBUH) having been driven out of Paradise, having been sent to the world, and the Satans having caused that. Some people happen to think about this question: If Satan had not been created would Adam (PBUH) has stayed in Paradise, and would we all have stayed in there too?
Before answering this question, let us pay attention to Allah Almightys dialogue with angels before He created Adam (PBUH). This event is expressed in Surah Al-Baqarah: And when thy Lord said unto the angels: Lo! I am about to place a viceroy in the earth, they said: Wilt Thou place therein one who will do harm therein and will shed blood, while we, we hymn Thy praise and sanctify Thee? He said: Surely I know that which ye know not. (Al-Baqarah Surah, 2:30)
As is clear from the translation of the verse, Allah Almighty announces that He would let humankind exist on earth before He created Adam (PBUH). That is, He (SWT) announced that humankind would live in the world not in Paradise. That the Satan deceived Adam (PBUH) only became a cause for mans having been sent to the world.
On the other hand, differently from angels, man has been given self-appetites and carnal feelings. In order for the reflections of these feelings to be seen, it was necessary for man to be given responsibilities and be tested so that at the end of this test and experiment, either he acquires a value worthy of Paradise or falls to a position fit for Hell.
Badiuzzaman explains how expulsion from Heaven resulted in the wisdom behind Allah’s creation of humankind to be manifest as follows:
“Question: What wisdom does it spring from, Adam (Upon whom be peace) being expelled from Paradise?
Answer: The wisdom of it concerns the charging of duties; Adam was sent charged with such a duty that the unfolding of all mankind’s spiritual progress and the revealing of all mankind’s potentialities and man’s essential nature being a comprehensive mirror to all the Divine Names, are the results of it. If Adam had remained in Paradise, his rank would have been fixed like that of the angels; man’s potentialities would not have unfolded. In any case, the angels, whose ranks are unchanging, are numerous, and there is no need for man to perform that sort of worship. Indeed, since Divine wisdom required a realm of accountability appropriate to the potentialities of man, who would traverse infinite degrees, he was expelled from Paradise for his well-known sin, sin being the requirement of man’s nature and contrary to that of the angels. That is to say, just as Adam being expelled from Paradise was pure wisdom and pure mercy, so is it just and right that the unbelievers should be sent to Hell.”1
So, Adam’s being expelled from Heaven is both a wisdom and a mercy.
b. In this event, there are significant lessons to be drawn for the humankind, in the example of Adam of Eve, because Adam and Eve understood through this event they experienced that human beings had some weaknesses and they had a disposition which made them prone to be deceived by Satan and therefore they needed to seek refuge with Allah all the time.
They fully understood that following Satan would put human beings in such big troubles. They learnt what following Satan could cost them and thus they learnt that they should not be deceived by him again. If Adam and Eve had been sent down unto Earth directly, without staying in Heaven for some time, and if they had not been imposed to Satan’s first trick, they could not have learnt all matters properly. Even though they had had divine warnings and advices, they would not have known how much following Satan could degrade one and how much of Allah’s wrath it would cause. However, this event they experienced was a good lesson for them and taught them a lot of things. It showed them the true colors and danger of Satan clearly. A well-known proverb says: “One trouble teaches better than a thousand advices.”
The following is stated in the Quran after the event that happened between Adam and Satan is narrated: “O ye Children of Adam! Let not Satan seduce you, in the same manner as He got your parents out of the Garden, stripping them of their raiment, to expose their shame.” 2
Allah invites all human beings to learn lessons through this cautionary event in question so that they could be alert for Satan’s tricks.
c. Maybe, the most important result of this significant even is the fact that it paved the way for human beings to repent. Human beings cannot avoid sins and faults due to their disposition. For them, having such disposition and repentance is a significant blessing. Through it, they can be purified from their sins and faults and gain Allah’s forgiveness and mercy. The Dearest Prophet put this matter into words as follows:
“Man always sins and makes mistakes. The most virtuous person is s/he who does not persist on their sins and repents right away…”
Another hadith says:
“One who repents for his sins becomes as if he had never sinned.”3
The following saying by Abu’l-Hasan Shazali is quite though-provoking:
“What an honorable fault it was to elevate the faulty one to the rank of vicegerency and to enable repentance for people to come till the Day of Judgment.” 4
This saying is not meant to praise the fault but to congratulate Adam on coming down to the Earth and be a vicegerent there and also to appreciate having such nice blessing as repentance.
The following hadith expresses very well what a significant blessing and means of salvation the repentance is:
“The Honorable Messenger one day said that there would be believers who would enter Heaven because of their sins. Hearing this, the Companions asked him to explain it by saying: How can it be, O Messenger of Allah? The Messenger of Allah said: A believer does not forget the sins he committed and this forms a fear of Allah in his heart and he seeks refuge with his Lord sincerely. This way, he becomes a favorable servant in the eyes of Allah.” 5
Abu’l Jawza says: “A servant (of Allah) commits a sin and he feels great regret inside. Finally, he goes to Heaven. When Satan sees him, he complains saying I wish I had not made him sin…” 6
1 The Letters, 39.
2 al-A’raf, 27.
3 Kash¬fu’l-Kha¬fa.
4 H.Jis¬ri, ibid, 611.
5 ibid., 612.
6 Tan¬bi¬hu’l-Mugh¬tar¬rin, 329.
9
I wonder why the first person who was created was a man. Why a man but not a woman?
There may be a lot of reasons (wisdoms) for it but the real reason is Allah's wish since He created man. It is Allah's choice. If He had created Hawwa (Eve) first, some people could have asked, "Why was Hawwa created first?" Others could have asked, "Why were they not created together?"
Every living being has an ancestor from whose lineage he comes. This living being is the first member of that species. The species of human beings has a father and first member too. The female is subject to the male. This is Allah's custom.
Our personal view regarding the issue is as follows:
Women cannot be prophets due to some conditions. Therefore, prophethood, the duty of being the head of the family, and some deeds of worshipping that women are not responsible for are under the responsibility of men.
Allah addresses prophets among people through revelation. He informs the other people what He wants through prophets. Therefore, the Divine Will decreed that first member of human beings, and the person to be addressed by Allah and to be taught the names of things, etc would be a prophet and a man.
10
Can human beings create something out of nothing when technology advances? Does the property of creating something out of nothing belong to Allah?
Even if technology advances, it is not possible forhuman beings to create something out of nothing; it is peculiar to Allah.
Ibda: creating out of nothing.The universe was created out of nothing when it was first created.Allah uses non-existence as capital. This property is peculiar to Him. Non-existence does not end with creation.
In the first creation of the realm, elements and atoms that will be sufficient until the Day of Judgment were created. That is, after the first creation, creating out of nothing in terms of weight does not exist.
Insha: making new things from the existing materials, elements or atoms. In this deed, the atoms and elements in the first creation of the universe that will be sufficient until the Day of Judgment are used. The differences in terms of shape, color and content occur later. Only this part is created.
That is, ibda in first creation means to create everything out of nothing; insha after that means to bring the essential things (elements) together and to create everything of the new things except their weight out of nothing.
To create what does not exist and to eliminate what exists is one of the laws of Allah that is always active. Everything was created out of nothing. For instance, the age of the world and the universe is certain though there are different numbers. To attribute age to something proves that it did not exist before the age attributed to it. There is a beginning for everything except Allah.Besides, that the things that were created undergo lapse of time, that they wear and die show that they are not pre-eternal.
Absolute non-existence is non-existent. Allah existed and nothing was existent. However, everything existed in the divine knowledge. Allah willed and transferred them from the circle of knowledge to the circle of power (that is, created) with His command “be”.
The transformation of matter into something else is not absolute non-existence but matter exists with attributes; therefore, when those attributes disappear, matter disappears too. For instance, think that a person has a poem in his memory. This is the circle of knowledge. When he writes it, it is transferred to the circle of power. That is, it occurs. When it is deleted, it is transferred into knowledge from power.
The real existence is the existence in knowledge; therefore, disappearing or being deleted from the page is not real non-existence. What matters is the existence in knowledge.Absolute non-existence is non-existent. However, there is relative non-existence. Suppose that you burn a piece of paper. Smoke and ash occurred. However, the matter of paper disappeared. It became something else. For, ash and smoke are not called paper.
In conclusion, to change something that exists does not mean real non-existence. Relative existence is in question. If Allah wishes, He makes what exists non-existent and what does not exist existent.
11
Is there a realm called the realm of non-existence? If there is, how can it be defined? If there is not, how can something that does not exist be talked about as if it exists?
There is no realm of non-existence in the true sense. However, Badiuzzaman Said Nursi calls something that is used in a way that is outside its real purpose "adam al-wujud (non-being, non-existence)".
“Realms of non-existence means the negative outcomes that occur when positive things are abandoned: Negative outcomes like non-existence and deprivation.”
“Wujud” means existence and “adam” means non-existence.
In fact, there is no separate and independent thing called non-existence in this realm. If there were something like that, it would be a different being. The abandoning of existence causes non-existence.
Light is positive and existential. However, darkness has no existence. Darkness is lack of light. As a matter of fact, darkness, which seems to cover everywhere, disappear when the sun rises.
Deterioration of health is called illness; what is not true is called a lie; abandoning honesty is called dishonesty; being deprived of belief is called unbelief; aberration from tawhid (oneness) is called shirk (polytheism).
Performing a prayer is an existential deed; not performing a prayer is a non-existential deed. There is no separate deed callednot performing a prayer but when a person abandons performing prayers, this non-existential deed appears on its own.
Telling the truth is from the realm of existence; telling a lie is anon-existential deed. Seeing is from the realm of existence; blindness is non-existence. If a person blinds another person, it means he works on behalf of the realms of non-existence.
When a person accepts the truth of tawhid, he shows a positive belief. However, shirk is non-existence. Since Allah has no partners, shirk cannot exit from the realm of non-existence. However, some people can support this wrong belief, which is not true. Those mushriks exist but “the existence of shirk” is non-existent.