What is the wisdom behind Allah’s creation of causes in the creation of man and events of nature?
What is the wisdom behind Allah’s creation of causes in the creation of man and events of nature?
Submitted by on Wed, 20/12/2017 - 11:20
Dear Brother / Sister,
“The world is a place of wisdom and the hereafter is a place of power.” That is, wisdom is dominant in this world. “Effects (results)” are obtained from the realm of “causes” predestinated by divine knowledge and created by divine will and power; thus, people are tested through causes whether they can see beyond causes and attribute effects to Allah.
Allah, who is Rahman (All-Compassionate) and Rahim (All-Merciful) creates many conveniences so that man will attain victory in this divine test. They are too many to count. I want to mention a few of them briefly:
Allah creates man in uterus. Mother and father are each a “cause” the child is the “effect”. And Allah is the “Cause of causes”, who creates that child through those causes and sends him to the world.
One of those causes is busy with meeting the needs of the household and the other spends time doing housework. For a while, both of them are unaware of anything. Then, it is understood that the mother is pregnant. There is no difference for the human candidate in the uterus before and after this point of understanding. The mother and father are unaware of it. Everybody spends time by doing their routine for months. At the end of the ninth month, a new guest comes to the world from the realm of ghayb.
Then, neighbors give some wrong news to one another:
“Mrs. such-and-such made a baby.”
You ask, “What part of the baby did she make?” They become astonished and say, “No part of it.” They add, "Allah created all of it."
If the mother could knit a skin as she knits a garment, weave a foot as she weaves a sock and make a head as she makes a skullcap, we could say she made a child. However, the mother is too weak to draw even the exact picture of the child. How can she make a child? The mother is unaware of what is happening inside her and inside the baby. Is it possible to do something by being unaware of it?
They are all a divine convenience for man to pass the test of this world. The child is created in the inner realm of the mother and without the knowledge and will of the mother. Therefore, the phases a human being undergoes in that nine-month period are often mentioned in the Quran so that he will pass the test easily.
Another convenience:
Very wise creatures are created from unconscious causes and, in general, the result is more excellent than the cause.
An example:
Tree is created from soil but tree is more excellent than soil. Fruit comes from a tree but fruit is more artistic than the tree. If the opposite happened, for instance, if soil came out of the branches of the tree, we would just say, “They are the waste material of the tree.” However, divine will does not work like that. The tree is created from soil and fruit comes out of the tree.
Fruits are like the children of the tree. The tree is unaware of what is happening inside and fruits appear on it. The tree does not know its fruits, their benefits and who will eat them. The fruit that comes to the world with a flavor suitable for man’s tongue, a color liked by his eye, a size in accordance with his hand and vitamins suitable for his body is created through a tree that is unaware of all those things and that does not know man.
Human body can only produce “hair” as fruit; and man has no share in its production. A thin field is created between his skull and skin; hair is produced there.
Man states clearly that he cannot own his hair by saying, “My hair has grown; my hair has turned grey, etc.”
Man cannot interfere in the production and creation of his hair; how can he claim that the fruit is created by the tree, the fish by the sea, the calf by the cow and the vegetable by the soil? How can he believe that those miraculous works are created by them? Or rather, how can he deceive his soul regarding the issue?
When we think about all causes and the results, fruits that come out of them, we will definitely approve the following statement of decree in Nur Collection:
“All of the apparent causes are only veils; they have no effect on creation.” (Şualar, p. 606)
Attention is attracted to the fact that there is a long spiritual distance between causes and effects in Sözler of Nur Collection and the truth is shown clearly with an excellent example:
“The distance from the cause to the creation of the effect is so great that the hand of the greatest causes cannot reach the creation of the most insignificant effects. Thus, it is within this long distance between cause and effect that the Divine Names each rise like stars. The place of their rising is this distance. To the superficial glance mountains on the horizon appear to be joined to and contiguous with the skirts of the sky, although from the mountains to the sky is a vast distance in which the stars rise and other things are situated; so too the distance between causes and effects is such that it may be seen only with the light of the Qur’an through the telescope of belief.” (Sözler, p. 422)
Causes are very distant from having the power, strength, knowledge, wisdom and mercy to create effects like mountains being far away from stars. In this wonderful simile, it is reminded that the sky, which seems to be touching the peaks of mountains, is actually very distant; thus, attention is attracted to the fact that there is a long distance between the effects that are adjacent to causes and that cause. We are taught that the long distance between peaks of mountains and the sky is full of stars and similarly the manifestations of divine names are hidden in the long distance between cause and effect and it is indicated that they can be read when they are looked at carefully.
For instance, the fruit is adjacent to the branch. There is no material distance between them. However, when it is considered that the tree is away from knowing us, the name “Razzaq (Sustainer)” is read clearly in this spiritual distance between the tree and fruit.
The long distance between the drug we take and cure tells the name “Shafi (Healer)” to us clearly.
Scientific studies on lifeless and unconscious beings, papers prepared and books published about them utter loudly the names “Alim (Knower of All)” and “Hakim (Perfectly Wise)” for those who are sane.
Examples can be increased.
The following sentences included in another book of Nur Collection shows the long distance between causes and effects in a nice way:
“There is the manifestation of an absolute force within an absolute weakness, and the traces of an absolute power are apparent within an absolute impotence. ...”
“There is the manifestation too of an absolute wealth within an absolute poverty and dryness. ...”
“The sprinklings of an absolute life are also apparent within an absolute lifelessness. ...” (Sözler, p. 663)
We want to remind you another point with importance:
As it is known, things come into being through “ibda (invention, originating)” or “insha (construction, production)”. Causes are in question for “insha” and the most widely seen creation form in this world is insha. However, there are many examples of “ibda”, that is, creation out of nothing and without causes, in this world. For instance, bodies are created through insha but spirits are created through ibda, without causes. That is, mothers and fathers are not used as causes in the creation of spirits.
Bounties, blessings and rewards are created without causes. The creation of an angel that will represent a tasbih we read is through ibda. That is, the air that comes out of the mouth when we read it is not used as a cause in the creation of the angel to represent it. The angel is created directly, without a cause.
It is a different issue that the tasbih is a means for the creation of that angel. When we go to a city by plane, the plane becomes only a means of arriving there; however, the plane is not used as a means in the construction of that city. That is, the city did not come out of that plane as a tree comes out of a seed.
All of the means determined by divine will for the beings created through ibda.
Questions on Islam
- What does ibda and insha mean?
- Question 31: Did creation out of nothing happen in the first beings only? Or, is it still going on?
- Question 30: How does Allah’s power become manifest through causes?
- Will you give information about the types of creation?
- What is ibda juz’i?
- Is there a difference between the creation of an atom and the whole universe?
- What does a nightingale’s not being a heap of atoms mean?
- Are beings created out of nothing? How many types of invention (ijad) does God Almighty have?
- Tell me about Allah!
- Is it acceptable for humans to talk as, I created, or We created?