FAQ in the category of Creation

Satan is from the jinn. As it is known, humans and jinn were created by Allah (SWT) for being tested. In the first test, Satan failed. He demanded a term of respite from Allah (SWT). As a requirement of His Wisdom, Almighty Allah granted him a term of respite until Doomsday.

Since Satan did not prostrate Hz. Adam, he was dismissed from divine mercy and upon his demand and as a result of Divine wisdom; he was given the authority to disturb and deviate humans until Doomsday.
There are hundreds of reasons and wisdoms why this authority was given. The two most important reasons are as follows: Without the scruples of Satan, Allah may test humans and give the duty of him to the nafs (evil commanding soul). However, by doing so, that is, by accepting the indecent wish of Satan to deviate humans from the right way until Doomsday, Allah increased the torment Satan will experience in hell billion times more. According to the hadith, “the cause is like the doer”, sins of mankind which are performed as a result of following the scruples of Satan, will be recorded for Satan himself and this will cause the increase of his punishment.

Another wisdom is that humans are being tested with their nafs and believers who pass this test will have a higher status than angels. If human nafs had no evil commanding quality and Satan did not disturb humans, then humans would not progress spiritually and their levels would remain static like angels.

With the help of Satan’s attacks, people’s degrees will be revealed and believers and unbelievers will be found out. As Satan does not attack angels, there will never be a denier amongst them; nevertheless, as they are not tested, there will never be different degrees amongst them. Their positions are fixed. On the other hand, there are always rises and falls in the world of humankind. While some of them rise to the highest position, some of them fall to the lowest. Allah the Almighty willed – so to say - “colorfulness” in humankind. If Satan did not exist, human beings would be like angels and there would not be any difference of degrees between them. However, while some people give in to demons with the delusions of Satan, some people do not listen to them and advance in degree. Eventually, decent people such as prophets, apostles, saints and scholars have come out.

Satan only gives delusions to humans and leads them to evil; however, he does not force them. If he had such a power, then man would not have to be responsible for what he did.

Question 1: What is the difference between test-tube baby and human cloning?

Answer:

Under normal circumstances, for the formation of a baby, the ovule in the womb of the mother must unite with the sperm of father and form the zygote. The zygote which is unicellular develops in the mother’s womb and becomes a baby by the permission of God.

Test Tube Baby

If the ovule and the sperm cannot form the zygote after uniting under normal circumstances, then the method of test tube baby is applied. In order to achieve this, the ovule which is taken from the mother’s womb and the sperm from the father are united in a tube that has the same warmth and nutrition conditions of the womb. In this tube, the sperm and ovule unite and form the unicellular zygote. After a short time, this zygote is put inside the mother’s womb where the ovule is taken from and by the normal development of this zygote, a baby forms after 9 months.

So, test tube baby is the way of uniting sperm cells and ovules in a place other than the womb and let the zygote be formed there and putting it in the womb again in order to ensure the normal zygote development.

Here, the role of man is eliminating negative conditions and uniting the sperm and ovule and then putting it into the womb. The creation of the sperm and ovule and the formation of the zygote, the development and differentiation of it, the formation of organs and tissues, the coming of the spirit into the body are all beyond the will and control of man; they are the work of God’s knowledge, will and power.

Cloning and Copying

The event of cloning can also be defined as copying. The event of cloning is a bit different than the test tube baby. It was first tried with a sheep.

As it is known, for living things, including plants, animals and humans, the number of chromosomes of the sperm and ovules reduce by half in a certain period. Thus, when the ovule and sperm unite, the total chromosomes of them become the chromosome of a normal cell.

Chromosomes contain genes, namely DNAs, which are the basis of the genetic structure. In humans, the normal cell has 46 chromosomes, on the other hand, the ovule and sperm cells have 23 chromosomes. The number of the chromosomes of a zygote which is formed by the unification of the ovule and the sperm is 46. These zygote cells are at first divided into two, and then to four and so on by multiplying and differentiating; they form tissues and organs. However in every division, the chromosomes are divided too; and their pairs are formed and the number of the chromosomes remains stable in every cell. That is, the number of the chromosomes in all cells except the sperms and ovules, which are the reproduction cells in human beings, is 46.

The number of chromosomes in the normal cells of the sheep is 54, in the sperm and ovule cells, it is 27. In cloning, the 27-celled ovule cell in the womb of the sheep is removed.

The 27-chromosomed nucleus of this ovule cell is replaced by the nucleus of the 54-chromosomed normal cell of the sheep. From then on, this ovule cell has 57 chromosomes before uniting with the sperm. This 57-chromosome cell that is called a zygote is placed in the womb of the sheep again; and it is left for the normal development. Since the ovule cell has the ability of being divided, it develops and differentiates as if it has been fertilized by a sperm; then, it yields the lamb in the normal time.

The role of the researcher here is to remove the nucleus of the ovule and replace it with the nucleus of a normal body cell and then to place this cell again in the womb of the sheep. The creation of the ovule cell and the normal cells, the development and differentiation of the zygote, the formation of the organs and tissues, the arrival of the spirit in the body of the sheep are not under the control of man; they are the work of Allah’s knowledge, will and power

Question 2. Some people say if cloning is possible, the spirit is not in question. They say Dolly, the first cloned sheep, did the same acts as the sheep it was cloned from. Is it true?

Answer

The spirit of every living being is different and peculiar to that being. Identical twins act in the same way regarding some issues; does it prove that they have the same spirit? It is nonsense. Can it have anything to do with science and logical thinking?

Question 3. Are the memory of man, his personality, and character recorded in his DNA? Can man reach immortality by cloning himself?

Answer

All of the characteristics of man are recorded in his DNA but they can be activated only through the existence of the spirit. There is an independent spirit for every individual.

The immortality of man is impossible due to two reasons. The first one: The fact that the material structure of a person is the same as with another person does not make those two individuals the same because every living being has a different spirit. The creation of the spirit is independent; so, every spirit has characteristics peculiar to it. For instance, when a clever person is cloned it is possible that a mentally retarded person will come into being.

Question 4: Have any human beings been cloned so far?

Answer:

It is forbidden to clone human beings. Even if there is a work like that, it will be kept secret.

Question 5: Is it possible to clone fully the people who died in the past?

Answer:

The method of cloning has been explained above. It is necessary to remove the ovule cell from the mother’s womb because the other cells have no ability to divide, reproduce and to produce organs and cells.
Besides, there has to be a normal body cell because its nucleus has to be removed and placed in the ovule cell. The answer to the question needs to be thought under those circumstances.

Prof. Dr. Âdem Tatlı

Man had been created from soil. This is clearly stated in the following verses; “He created him from dust,” (Surah Aal-e-Imran, 3/59) “We created you out of dust.” (Surah al-Hajj,22/5) “And Allah did create you from dust.” (Surah Fatir,35/11)

According to this, our raw material is soil; so to speak,  all of us are “sons of the soil.”

The fact that man was created out of soil does not mean that he is a piece of soil. Allah filtered the soil, blew life into it and decorated it with feelings.

There are many reasons why man was created out of soil; there are also lessons to be taken from it. We will mention some of them below:

- Though soil is darker and denser than water, air and light, it is superior to the other elements in terms of all aspects. That man, who was created out of soil, has a position superior to all creatures points to this fact. "The moment that a servant is closest to his Lord is when he is in prostration."(Munawi, Faydu'l-Qadîr, 2/68) The hadith points to this issue. It shows man the way of being real man.

- Though the soil seems to be under our feet, it is the source of our life and existence. What it raises are in the hearts and they are shown respect. The soil is always modest. From this point of view, it advises man to be modest, humble and charitable.

- The soil receives beauty, mercy, life, color and decoration from Allah. The soil is a veil of Allah’s unlimited mercy; nothing that enters it remains at large. From this point of view, it can be said that the soil gives the following good news to a person that dies and is buried in the soil:
A different form of all of the visible material jewels and decorations, the weaving looms of beauty, mercy and life are under and behind the veil of the soil.   

We always like and want to go under the soil, to take refuge in the soil, which is a protective mother of us, to watch the genuine, permanent and spiritual flowers.

Death is not non-existence. It is the gate to a better realm. A seed that is under the ground seemingly dies, decays and disappears. In fact, it passes on to a better life on the ground. From the seed life, it is promoted to the tree life.

Similarly, a man who dies seemingly goes under the ground and decays. In fact, he has a better life in the realm of barzakh and grave. 

- The earth is the heart of the universe and the soil is the heart of the earth. The most appropriate place for the reflection of the lordship, teaching and ruling of Allah, the application and activities of Allah’s power, the center of vicegerency and the manifestations of the names of Allah, who is always living and who controls everything, is the soil. For instance, in the mirror of the air, a weak light of the sun is seen. The sun’s light is visible in the mirror of water but its colors are not seen there.  However, the mirror of the soil shows all of the colors in the sunlight through the colors of the flowers. 

Then, it is necessary not to be afraid of the soil and being transformed into soil, the grave and lying in the grave.(see Nursi, Mesnevi, Şule)

- Man has the properties of the soil since he was created out of soil. The soil sometimes dries, becomes scorched and desperately needs water. It shows patience with the troubles of the winter for a season. It resurrects thanks to the productive spring rains. It shows the embroideries of the divine power through thousands of beauty, colors, scents and harmony. 

Man has a destiny similar to man. He is shaken like the sand storms in the desert in the eddy of the worldly desires. He destroys himself under the hegemony of his soul. He becomes perfect only if he overcomes the barrier of his soul. He becomes an altruist by attaining the manifestations of abundance and mercy as the soil springs to life through spring rains. Thus, he gives away the bounties that come to him in the beauty and abundance of spring for the sake of Allah like productive soils in the form of good deeds, charities and abundance.

- The ephemeral body of man is fed through the soil since it was created out of soil and it disappears in the soil. That is, it turns to its origin. All of the elements in the soil are present in the body of man in certain proportions. The body of man is also a different appearance of the soil.  As a matter of fact, according to a narration, Adam (pbuh) was named Adam because he was created out of the soil.  (see Ibn Sa’d, Tabaqat, I, 26)

- People have different colors because the soil, out of which man was created, has various colors like red, black and white. The soil has hard and soft parts; similarly, people have different abilities.

To sum up, it is very nice to always listen to the following verse and lead a life accordingly: “From the (earth) did We create you, and into it shall We return you, and from it shall We bring you out once again!”(Taha, 55)

May our Lord make us one of the slaves that could return to Him as cleanly and as purely as He created us from the soil that is clean and has the property of cleaning.

Author: Adem Tatlı (Prof.Dr.)

Your question has already includes the answer; “God does not create any futile things.” However, we might not know the purpose of the creation of that thing.

When we look at our environment, nothing remains stable; there is a constant change. Spring comes; then it leaves its place to summer and after that, autumn and winter follow. Of course, one of the many wisdoms of it is that God shows His actions and possession in the universe to humans and reminds humans of them. God changes the garment of a tree which is peculiar to winter with the new one when spring comes. By doing so, man is asked to know the power of God (Qudrah) behind this event.

Man’s attention is drawn with these changes in every season and he is demanded to look at the changes in his body. Growing of nails must be one these signs. What we say here concerning the growing of nails may be only some reasons that God wished to aim because, while the reasons for creating a thing which is known by us is one, the number of the reasons known by God is one thousand.

One thing that comes to our mind concerning the growing of nails is that man is left to feel the change in his/her body and he/she is reminded that his/her organs are renewing constantly and he/she is constantly under control by a creator who has infinite power.
The elements that constitute a nail may generate nail like forms in the heart, eyes or stomach or even in blood vessels. We should contemplate and thank God that He did not create nails in blood vessels or let them grow backwardly, that is to say, toward the inside of our foot instead of outward direction.
If the human body were under the control of coincidences as it is claimed by atheist evolutionists, then, everything would be in chaos; nails might be inside of mouth or teeth might be in the place of nails. For this reason, it is not enough no matter how much we thank and praise God. The best and the most common praising of this kind is salah.

So, God wants us to see the changes in our body and to realize that all of the actions that take place there are for the continuation of our lives and He really loves us and covers us with His infinite compassion.

Allah has appointed a definite life for every human being. It is so definite that even the number of breathings of every human is determined. In the Qur’an, it is stated that the determined duration of life is neither delayed nor hastened:

No people can hasten on their doom nor can they postpone (it) (Al Hijr, 5).

It is impossible to escape from death:

Wheresoever you may be, death will overtake you even if you are in fortresses built up strong and high! (An-Nisa, 78).

Thus, lessening or increasing the duration of life is out of question. The length of this duration is unknown for us.

However, in a hadith, it is mentioned that sadaqa lengthens life. Here the lengthening of life is interpreted as gaining much more thawab (reward) for the hereafter within the same life duration. Thus, it is emphasized, in the Qur’an that, the night of power (Qadrr) enables a person to gain more thawab than a total of one thousand months. (See Surah al-Qadr)

It will be understood by scientific works whether the WRN gene is the sole reason for aging and constant renewing of it can stop aging or not.

Allah has connected everything to a cause. If aging is connected to the WRN gene and changing it is possible then aging can be delayed or to a certain extent or completely be stopped.

However, the issue is not related with the aging of the cell only. The number of some cells is decreasing. As it is known, every cell has a certain duration of life and this is generally two years. After a certain age, the number of some cells decreases and the dead cells cannot be replaced.

Especially the decrease in the bone cells is expressed as bone loss. Bone loss generates a set of deformities in the organism and this causes pain and sufferings.

On the other hand, aging does not mean crumpling of cells by losing water.
During old age, the most important thing is weakness, which is caused by memory loss and some kind of illnesses. In the Qur’an, attention is drawn to the fact that the people who are granted long life will be reversed in nature, that is, they will fail to understand some events or things. (Ya Seen, 68).

The reason of uncertainty caused by such and similar researches about creation and creator is because of not knowing the subject of Qadar (fate).

For example, suppose that it has been proved that the WRN gene stops aging. In such a condition, the usual evaluation is as follows:

Allah has determined a fate according to the usual aging of cells. However, a new condition has come out as a result of investigation hence interference in cells. This new condition did not exist in Qadar (fate). Now how can we explain this?     
Here the mistaken point is that man looks at the actions of God in the universe from the point of himself, that is, comparing God’s knowledge with his knowledge. There is no past and future for God. Including Hell and Paradise, everything in the past and future exist in His knowledge at once and in His sight.

Allah has already determined the lives and lifetimes of humans if the gene of aging is to be found and measures are taken.

Nothing is outside of His knowledge, will and Qudrah (power).

Prof. Dr. Adem Tatlı

The creation of the world took place based on the divine wisdom. The wisdom shows the chain of reasons among the steps of man; therefore, it enables us to read those reasons and understand the creation of man. Today scientists can make a scientific estimation about the age of the universe thanks to the door left ajar by the wisdom. The fact that the universe was created in 6 days, that is, in 6 periods, is one of the doors left ajar by divine wisdom. The Quran and the other heavenly revelations pointed out those 6 periods; so, man was able to find out that they were 2 astronomical and 4 geological periods.  

The reason why the universe was created in a way that man can understand is to teach man the existence and oneness of Allah, which is the fundamental aim of the heavenly books. Today science says that the universe was created later, which shows that the divine wisdom within the framework of the law of evolvement carried out in the creation of the universe has reached its target. The phases in the creation of man express that wisdom, too. 

The divine wisdom, which deemed it suitable to create the universe within the framework of the law of evolvement, also deemed it suitable to create man, which is the last fruit of the universe, to create last because the sultans come later. Man, who is the vicegerent on earth, the apple of the universe, the only being that is addressed by the divine revelation, the greatest sign of the book of the universe, a kind of index of the all beings, the being that was created in the best mold and placed on the peak, was created last due to the necessity of the principle of gradualism and evolvement.   

Man is a living being like the other living beings. He needs an environment that has the necessary conditions for life like the other living beings. We learn from the statements in the Quran that the last properties of the universe that were made active were the atmosphere, oxygen and similar conditions for life. Then, the fact that man was created after the formation of the conditions of life is a necessity of the wisdom. Otherwise, it would be impossible for man to live.  

The arrangement of the universe in a way to fit man after the formation of the conditions for life is another indication of the value that Allah gives to man. 

First plants, then trees, and then other living beings were created; eventually, man was created. That is, when Allah, who is the most Merciful and Compassionate, wanted to place man in the womb in the form of a fetus, He equipped the womb with the necessary conditions of life; similarly, when He wanted to place man on earth, He equipped the earth with the necessary conditions of life. Therefore, He created the sun, moon, stars, land, air, sea, plants, trees, gardens, orchards, bread, fish, apples, etc.   

Due to the wisdoms mentioned above and similar ones, man became the last guest of the universe and the last inhabitant on earth because sultans come after everybody.

Answer 1:

a. The perfection of something does not guarantee that it will exist forever. Man is a perfect being but he is doomed to die. Man sometimes dies a few seconds after he is born. One individual of a human being is like a species of the other living things in terms of its complex structure and the perfect values it has. The beings in the universe witness the existence of Allah by existing; similarly, when they die, they witness the continuation and the eternity of the existence of Allah, who kills them, by dying.

Nobody can claim that the existence of the extinction of species is less perfect than the existence of the available species. Do sane people have to believe in Darwin's nonsense of natural selection?

Every being has properties peculiar to them in terms of perfection. You cannot compare the neck of a camel to the tail of an elephant. Being long is perfect for the former and being short is perfect for the latter.

It is ridiculous to use the thin waist of an ant even for a puppet. However, it is perfect for ants.  

b. Even if we accept that this statement, "It is accepted in the world of science that wisdom teeth of man are a fault"  is true, it cannot be sufficient evidence to decide that they are really purposeless. 

For, we are familiar with a world of science that says white for something and that says black for the same thing after a while so many times. The world of science that regarded human breast milk as poison for the baby has admitted that it is a unique antidote now. 

- The world of science, which regarded the small bag of tissue called appendix as an unnecessary part a few years ago, has had to accept that it is as necessary as tonsils now.

- By the way, it is necessary not to forget the fraudulent scientists who slander science in order to confirm the thesis that man came from apes by combining one part of a woman's skull and one part of a chimpanzee's skull.

- It is wrong to look for the same perfection in every part of the universe. As the rule, "everything is known through its opposite" denotes, divine wisdom wants to show the beauty of some things by showing ugly things along with them. This ugly being also gains beauty indirectly. For instance, the darkness of night shows the moonlight nicer. Therefore, nights with moonlight are mentioned in the books of poets a lot. People have seen this fact; therefore, they sometimes place an ugly log, a rock or a few stones in a beautiful park in order to increase the beauty and perfection of its view. 

- Is it possible for the unique divine power and perfect wisdom, which gives man small teeth when he is small and removes them when he grows up and needs to eat big morsels and gives him bigger appropriate teeth instead, to create the wisdom teeth in vain or is it possible for those teeth to appear without His permission?

It is important that He teaches us through wisdom teeth (age 20 teeth), which appear at a certain period. What if there were age 20-21-….40 teeth? That is, everything is the reflection of the pre-destination of a power that operates based on endless knowledge and wisdom. "Allah is enough; the others are the desires of the soul."

Answer 2:

All names of Allah are beautiful. The manifestations of those names are also beautiful. Besides, one of the names of Allah is al-Jamil (the Beautiful). It is one of the names of Allah meaning beautiful. It is synonymous with Husn. Allah created all of the beauties. He is the most beautiful of the beautiful. Allah, who makes things and people beautiful, is beautiful and beauties are an attribute of his Jamal (beauty). He is free from faults; His beauty does not resemble creatures. The amazing beauty of each name of Asma al-Husna (the Beautiful Names) becomes manifest even in the smallest phenomena. It is Jamil dhul-Jalal (Allah, the Beautiful and Lord of Majesty) who creates the works of arts, miracles and wonderful and extraordinary events that affect man.

He created life and man in the most beautiful way.

"He Who has made everything which He has created most Good. He began the creation of man with (nothing more than) clay."(as-Sajda, 32/7)

However, Satan, who rebelled against his Lord and who will make man deviate up to the Day of Judgment, brings about all ugly deeds. Things are beautiful either by themselves or through their effects. Things have good aspects and bad aspects. Allah orders us not to follow the footsteps of Satan, and eat and drink good things. (al-Baqara, 2/168-172). Satan and his friends change and spoil the beauties that Allah created; they render haram (forbidden) what is halal (legitimate). Therefore, the bad things are for the bad people and the good things are for the good people. The good will gain rewards and the bad and the ugly will obtain sins. If it were not for the grace, bounties and mercy of Allah, people would never be purified. (an-Nur, 24/21) After swearing by the night and the day, Allah gives the glad tiding that He will prepare the one who "... (in all sincerity) testifies to the Best " to the easiest thing.(al-Layl, 92/1-7)

Answer 3:

“Everything about Qadar (Divine Determining) is good and beautiful. Even the evil that comes from it is good, and the ugliness is beautiful.”(Sözler (Words))

First of all, man should examine his own body and think of each organ individually. Then, he should ask himself: The place, shape, size and duty of which one has not been determined in the best way? Then, he should move to his world of spirit and think in the same way: Is memory unnecessary or imagination? Is love extra or fear? 
The body forms a whole with all of its organs and only in that case does it become useful; similarly, the spirit forms a whole with all of its feelings, emotions and faculties; only then does it become effective. If you remove the mind and memory from man's spirit, he will not be able fulfill any of its functions. If you remove the feeling of anxiety, he will be lazy; he will not work for this world or for the hereafter. If you remove fear, he will not be able to protect his life. If he does not have the feeling of love, he will not find pleasure in anything.   

“All of Allah’s names are beautiful; similarly, all of their manifestations are beautiful.”

In Risale-i Nur collection, beauty is examined in two parts: “beautiful itself” and “beautiful in terms of its effects”. We can give some examples for this classification: Day is beautiful itself; night has a different beauty peculiar to itself. One of them denotes wakefulness and the other denotes sleep. Is it not clear that we need both of them?

On the other hand, fruit is beautiful itself but medication is beautiful in terms of its effect. Similarly, health is beautiful itself but illness is beautiful in terms of its effect. Eating is beautiful itself but going on a diet is beautiful in terms of its effect. The rose is beautiful itself but the manure is beautiful in terms of its effect. 

The incidents man faces are like night or day. Health is like day and illness is like night. If it is considered that illnesses are atonement for sins, that they teach man that he is weak and that they make man's heart break off its ties with the world and turn to his Lord, it will be seen that illness is a great bounty like health. Health is a festival for the body and illness is food for the heart.   

“Day and night” are only one link of the chain of the manifestations of the names “jalal and jamal” (beauty and majesty), which are active in the universe all the time. There are many more links like the positive and negative poles of electricity, the black and white part of the eye, the red and white cells of blood, etc. We are surrounded by these dual things in our inner and outer world; we obtain different benefits from them.   

One of the verses of the Quran regarding the issue is as follows:

“…But it is possible that ye dislike a thing which is good for you, and that ye love a thing which is bad for you...” (al-Baqara, 2/216)

The verse is related to jihad but its decree is general. Another dual thing is shown to us in this verse: war and peace. Peace is like day; everybody likes it; war is like night. However, if people do not fight when it is necessary, their future will be dark and their next generations will be lost in darkness. Those who are martyred in jihad are elevated to the rank of sainthood; the worldly life that they lose is like night compared to their new rank.

Can there be a misfortune worse than death? The verse tells us that there may be many good things behind an incident that man's soul does not like. Thus, it consoles us for the misfortunes, illnesses and disasters of the world.   

The following is stated in a sacred hadith: “My mercy surpasses My wrath.” This hadith is interpreted as follows: “There are so many merciful signs of Allah behind every misfortune that they surpass the pains and agonies caused by that misfortune.”

When compared to eternity, man's lifespan is not even like a moment. We should not worry about the illnesses, misfortunes and problems that strike us in this short life if they are beneficial for our eternal life. Seventy or eighty years is like nothing compared to eternal life. All of the ephemeral misfortunes and troubles of this world are like nothing compared to the endless bliss. 

However, man's soul demands current pleasures; it does not wait for the future. The future belongs to the mind and the heart. As we have just mentioned, not all misfortunes are troublesome. The incidents that our souls do not like and that darken our ephemeral world are either divine warnings that prevent us from going to wrong directions or atonements for our sins that make us suffer in this world without leaving any punishment to the eternal realm. Or, they are means of making man's heart turn to Allah and to the hereafter from the ephemeral world life.

On the other hand, misfortunes are a test of patience for man; the reward for this test is great.