Islam for Non-Muslims
- RELIGIOUS FAITHS VS IRRELIGIOUS IDEAS
- ISLAM AS A RELIGION
- ISLAM AS A WAY OF LIFE
The Evidences of God across the Universe
Introduction: The existence of God is the central pillar of all monotheistic beliefs. However, His invisible nature may give rise to questions in many minds. This article attempts to address these questions and clear your minds off any doubts about Him.
Invisible Hands of God behind All Creations: The existence of God is much more than a crystal clear “reality”, as manifested through His numerous creations or ‘signs” that you “pass by” (22:6; 12:105). In fact, every natural object of this Universe bears the stamp of His existence. The logic is quite simple and above board. When we look at a man-made object, the idea crosses our mind that it was made by the hands of a man. In this way, we tend to believe that a chair is made by a carpenter, an axe by an ironsmith, jewelry by a goldsmith and so on. Likewise, it seems quite logical to contend that the numerous contents of the Universe did not “come into being out of nothingness” but were created by a Creator named God (52:35).
The above fact is compatible with the plain commonsense that led to coining of the idiom “there can be no smoke without fire”. This argument should have been no less appealing to the materialists than the believers. But practically that seldom happens, as they often choose to be unbelievers by overlooking such an argument.
Why Unbelievers Cannot Perceive God: There are 2 possible explanations for this.
(i) God creates things in an invisible manner, the way it is quite possible for Him. As He is not exposed to the public eye, the atheists describe His actions like death, rotation of days and nights etc. as natural phenomena and fail to understand Him.
(ii) As God works behind the scene, the role of revealed agents or immediate causes (e.g. mother delivering a baby or farmer producing crops) creates smokescreen about God and therefore He remains unidentified to them.
Miracles: Though God usually creates things or make things happen through such apparent media, sometimes He bypasses such media and makes exception to the laws of natural science. These are known as miracles having divine origin, differently form magic which are “taught by the devils” (2:102). The miracles used to happen with intense frequency during the times of prophets. Examples include fatherless birth of Jesus, Red Sea turning into a dry passage for Moses, Muhammad’s celestial journey to God, among others. However, God stopped sending miracles or “signs” for being unhelpful as previous people “treated them false” and continued to “resist faith” (17:59; 5:115).
The divine signs or miracles are, however, not totally absent at present times even after the prophetic era is over. We sometimes come to know about miracles through newspapers or personal observations. Examples include passengers surviving mid-air plane crash, child emerging unhurt after an accidental free fall from a high-rise building, victims rescued alive from rubbles days after an earthquake, natural change of gender for both the sexes, dreaming of God’s approval or disapproval on any important matter by means of special Islamic prayer named ‘Istikhara’ and so on. Apart from these explicit evidences of God, there are numerous other signs spreading all around that bear mystery or amazement of His creativity. People with open mind and sincere intention can easily think about them and feel the Existence of God. We now recollect some of these evidences.
(A) Creation of Human Beings:
(1) The Only Creator: One strong sign of God consists in the facts of creation of life, particularly of man. For producing a baby, the role of parents is limited to discharging of father’s semen into mother’s private organ. But this semen translates into a complete baby within a course of about 9 months. Who can claim credit for this marvelous act? Invariably the answer is God. He “created your pairs” (men and women) in order to “multiply” human population in countless numbers by using a “sperm drop” (42:11; 16:4).
In several verses, the Quran revealed about the following facts of human reproduction which were astonishingly quite ahead of time. Man are created from a “drop (of detestable semen) discharged” from between the “backbone and the ribs” (86:6/7) which is “placed in a place of rest (in uterus)” (77:21). Then “(He) transforms the sperm of (semen) into a clot of blood. Next He develops that clot into a (fetus) lump; Then He makes out of that lump bones and clothe bones with flesh” (23:14). Thus He (delicately) produces you in “the wombs of mothers, in stages, one after another, in 3 veils of darkness” (39:6). Next “He breathes into his body (fetus) something of His Spirit. (Then He) “shapes you in the wombs (male or female fetus) as He pleases” (32:9; 3:6). After “rest in the wombs for an appointed term (usually 9 months)”, they are “brought out as babies” (22:5). Such realistic account provided in an era without knowledge of x-ray, anatomy etc. some 14 hundred years ago is absolutely amazing.
(2) Creator of Soul: The “breathing of soul” into what becomes a living being is indeed a wonderful creation (15:29). The soul or spirit, as the Quran suggests, is only a “command” of God about which He shared very “little knowledge” with people (17:85). Accordingly, creation of the soul or giving life has been a total impossibility for mankind while it is quite an easy and routine job for God.
Since time immemorial, it has been the fancy of mankind to create their likeness in order to replace God as the Creator. The above types of human efforts range from the making of human statues at earlier time to genetic engineering in modern scientific age. But none of these attempts is anywhere near success of creating a new life independently from God’s help. For example, scientific attempts to create ‘test tube baby’ (through in vitro fertilization) or use of ‘cloning’ (production of genetically identical individuals) cannot avoid using God’s input like semen, female egg, gene etc. Remarkably, the men of science, with their best of skills, cannot independently create even a hair much less than producing a single human life. By contrast, God has been creating humans by the billions with total perfection and “spreading (them) throughout the earth” (23:79).
(3) Nurturing Babies: It is also a marvel to note how God helps fetus to survive. He arranges its food in the womb by connecting it through the umbilical cord. He fills the mother’s breast with baby milk of excellent qualities e.g. germless and balanced in nutrition most appropriate for infant health. He matches the timing of such breast food with the birth of baby and continues this food supply for about 2 years during critical period of infancy. Defaulting in breastfeeding is well-known as a risk factor for breast cancer. It is also no small wonder that “God teaches a baby to speak” (55:4) while even a best speech therapist can not put words into a mouth born with severe verbal disability.
(B) Maintenance of Human Life: The way people manage to live and survive is also not less wonderful than the way they are created or born. God’s creation of human body is one of His most amazing signs. He created it like a ‘magic box’ that embodies a variety of skills related to engineering, anatomy, biology, chemistry and what not.
(1) Nutrition & Digestion: The entire system of the body is comparable to an engine. Its various organs are so interconnected that their coordinated operations keep this engine running. For making up the loss of energy due to functioning, the engine needs regular fuelling. God therefore made deliberate provisions of food rich in vital elements like vitamin A, B, C, D, E and K, protein, starch, iodine, iron, calcium, potassium etc. These are naturally spread in variable ratios in different food so that by eating from a mix of food, you can get the benefit of balanced diet. After you take in food, beyond your vision your stomach plays the role of a chemical laboratory. Here food is mixed with digestive fluid and then, through a chemical process, is transformed into tiny particles. Necessary particles (like various vitamins, protein, calcium, iron etc.) are carried by the blood stream to the cells of the body in order to supply energy. The left-over unnecessary contents drain out of the body in the form of waste materials like stool, urine, sweat etc.
(2) Circulatory System: The blood of the human body contains white cells in addition to other cells. Amazingly, these cells act like a guard against germs, waging a total war against germs when they enter the body. If these white cells emerge as the winner, the body stands safe from disease. If otherwise germs get victorious, the disease takes over the body and the defeated white blood cells often find way out of the body as white ‘pus’.
(3) Marvelous Organs: God created numerous human organs that are full of marvels and suitable for jobs assigned from God. Human body contains about 37 trillion cells and 60,000-100,000 miles of blood vessels if were laid straight. Our amazing brain weighing 2-3 pounds contain about 100 billion neuron cells that enabled it to create countless high tech wonderful inventions like rocket, atom bomb, supercomputer among many others. Our eye is a far superior version of a modern camera in respect of both composition and functions. Look at the small organs like nostril hair that is able to trap up incoming germs and eye tears that have properties to kill germs and lubricate eyes. God also engineered a complementary relation between man and plant. Human lungs breathe in oxygen given out by plants and breathe out carbon-dioxide for use by plants.
(4) Miracles of Sleep, Dream & Love:
(a) Sleep & Dream: One amazing creation of God is “sleep for rest” (78:9). Sound sleep is such a great Blessing that only the insomnia patients knows very well about its value as they can barely stay alive for going sleepless for over a week. During sleep “by night (God) takes your souls away” (6:60). On 3 occasions (during sleep, unconsciousness, and death) He takes away your soul but returns it in 2 cases except death. During sleep, people often find themselves in the ‘wonderful land of colorful dream’ which mostly remains to be an unresolved puzzle beyond the grasp of scientific mind.
(b) Love: Another miraculous sign of God consists in the marriage bond between husband and wife which is blessed with God-created “love and mercy between your hearts” (30:21) and therefore you enjoy indescribable pleasure from your mental and physical relations. It is stunning to note the difference of feelings in case of love between couples and parental affection toward children. Both are invisible feelings involving your mind and heart but by nature these two feelings are widely divergent.
(5) Life Cycle: The Quran gives a framework of human life cycle that is very much real. Accordingly, a baby is born in a “state of (helpless) weakness”, then gains “strength” in adult age and finally degrades to “weakness” like a baby again with “gray head” at the “feeble (old) age (when) they know nothing after having known (many smart things during young age)” (30:54; 16:70). Such disabilities happen during old age as your physical strength is declined by complex ailments and death of body cells and your mental capacity is eroded by diseases like dementia and Alzheimer. After the mid-point of your life cycle (after at about age of 50), your health degradation becomes faster and aging process is expedited like steep diving of the setting sun and at this stage all your roads lead to death. This reality of the human life cycle runs parallel to the reality of a similar cycle for our Universe with a definite beginning and ending date. The same also provides food for thinking about where we came from, where we are now and where we will finally go to.
(C) Death of Human Beings:
(1) Certainty: Another thoughtful sign of divine existence is the death which is inseparable from our life: God created “life and death (and) takes your soul at death. (He) created you from the (earth) and into it (He) shall return you and from it (He) shall resurrect you once again” (23:80; 16:70; 20:55). Death is an unavoidable means for ending human life and this reality stands out tall as an eternal proof of divine existence. In fact, no one can make any exception to the proclamation of God “I have decreed death to be your common lot. Every soul shall have a taste of death. I did not grant permanent life to anyone before you” (56:60; 3:185; 21:34). Accordingly, death did not give any break even to the most powerful emperors in history: namely Alexander in the ancient period, Genghis Khan in the Middle Ages and Napoleon in the modern times. God also set limits to average longevity of animals such as some big animals like whales, elephants usually live over hundred years while small ones (e.g. flies) survive only days.
Under this inviolable rule of God, everyone died in the past as they will in the future. Therefore, no rational being ever asks “if” question about death even though they are uncertain about when, where or how questions regarding death. The “pain of death (relatively soft for good people and severe for bad ones) will be a reality for everyone” (50:19). To escape this fate, you may make experimental effort if you like to stop the soul’s departure from the body by placing it in an airtight concrete chamber, but there is no prospect for success. God therefore throws the challenge “Avert death from your own selves if you speak the truth. Death will find you out wherever you are, even if you are in strong and high-built towers” (3:168; 4:78).
(2) Pre-decided Time & Place of Death: God not only made the event of death a surety but also pre-fixed the exact time and place of death specific to different persons. The “length of your life (longevity) is predestined such as by writing” (3:145) and no one can die without His permission. He rules out any chance to “grant relief to any soul when the appointed time comes” (63:11). He not only knows the exact time of your death but also the definite place of your death. He affirms “Even if you would remain in your homes, those for whom death was decreed, will certainly come forth to the place of their pre-decided death. The death from what you (try to) flee will surely get you” (3:154; 62:8).
The Quran also paints a real picture of the immediate environment surrounding a dying man when “the Angel of Death, put in charge of you, takes your soul out” (32:11). When the soul “reaches the throat”, the unbeliever person on death bed is asked “why do you not (intervene)?” Then he simply “looks on” (helplessly) (56:83; 56:84). At that time God (with His Angel) is ‘nearer to Him (the dying person)” than the surrounding relatives but remains invisible (56:85). God challenges the skeptics, “Call back the soul” after death if you are able to (56:87). Defying all these signs, if you continue to deny God in your lifetime, finally after your death you will give yourself up to the funeral services conducted by your people who are believers in God. In other words, even if not in your lifetime, eventually after your death you will be subject to the system of God. However, then it will be too late for your salvation as you made a wrong choice in favor of unbelief.
Wonders of the Animal World:
(1) Varieties: Human beings aside, other members of the living world contain numerous evidences of God. “He scattered through (the earth) beasts of all kinds; some creep on bellies, some walk on two legs and some on four” (31:10; 24:45). Though this Quranic statement is over-simplified and misses details, if we look at the animal world across land, water and air, we shall be at our wit’s end by the vastness and varieties of animals.
(2) Amazing Features: Relative to such countless quantity and diversity of animals, more amazing are their qualities and attributes that reflect superb intellectual designs of God. These include decent stripes of the zebra, the glow of the firefly, architectural skill of the weaver bird, the spider’s craftsmanship to spin cobweb, telescopic vision of the vulture, the pigeon’s skill to deliver letters to a distant location, the parrot’s ability to copy human words, sweet voice of the cuckoo, dancing elegance of the peacock, magnetic sense of the seasonal birds, sonar power of the dolphin, honey gathering engagement of the bees, the hen’s propensity to lay on eggs, the dog’s power to smell crime, the camel’s technique of storing food in its hump, lighting of the flashlight fish, current of the electric fish, marvels of the jelly fish and so on. Amazingly, God created light shedding fish in abundance in the deep sea where darkness needs them most.
The wonderful abilities of these animals come from the power of God, as no human being is able to fashion these attributes. The Quran, for example, refers to birds “spreading their wings and folding them in; held poised in the midst of the sky. Nothing holds them up but God.” (67:19; 16:79). Likewise, He taught the bees to make “beehive cells on trees up the hills”, “eat of all the produce (fruits)” and “from their bodies comes a drink (honey) of varying colors, as a healing for people” (16:68/69). Honey is well-known for various medical values including anti-bacterial properties particularly in treatment for throat infection. To enable the bees to produce honey, God amazingly created double stomach for bee: one for its food and the other for storing honey. He reveals that like other animals, the bees also form “communities (of their own) like you (humans)” comprising of queen, workers and drone bees (6:38). All these unique features of the wing-based creatures quietly announce the existence of their Creator.
(3) Ecological Balance: In conformity with the biological term ‘ecological balance’, God produced everything on the earth “in due balance” (15:19). By means of interdependence among the members of the animal world through formation of a food chain, God maintains a balance by rationally deciding their relative number at an optimum level. Any change in this number may cause harmful effects upon other members of the environment. For example, an increase (decrease) in the snake population will cause a decrease (increase) in the number of frogs which again will increase (decrease) the quantity of insects they feed on, much to the harm of human beings.
(4) Usefulness: God fashions the features of many animals in order to make them serviceable to humanity. For example, He created “for you” four-footed animals as a source of our milk, meat, wool, hide, transport among other benefits (16:5; 16:7). As an “instructive sign” He created cattle that produce milk that is “pure and agreeable to those who drink it” (16:66). In this way, the animal world, in some way or other, is helpful to the human society.
Marvels of the Vegetation Kingdom: The vegetation kingdom also abounds with wonderful signs of God. He grows “beautiful (vegetation) of every kind” and brings out “produces (crops) of various colors” and “fruits of every types” so that mankind can enjoy the benefits therefrom (50:7; 35:27; 13:3). He creates all trees and plants “in pairs (of males and females)” (36:36) so they can reproduce their kind through His designed process of pollination, similar to male-female intercourse for reproduction of their babies. Since the trees are motionless, God sends His mobile agents like bees, butterflies etc. to perform pollination as a side business while they are busy doing their own jobs like gathering nectar etc.
God gave the trees the power of producing fruit, flower, wood, fuel, rubber etc. fulfilling the needs of people. He wrapped up fruits with cover for protection from germs; some are defended by thorns; some grow undisturbed at out of reach height e.g. coconut, palm etc. Amazingly, He applied full discretion in making these fruits super delicious with a variety of tastes: some sweet, some bitter, some sour, some hot and so on. God produces these fruits as well as vegetables and crops of all kinds that are widely differentiable in shapes, sizes, colors, tastes, and more importantly in medical properties (such as potency of garlic, ginger and turmeric against respectively cholesterol, cold and arthritis) etc.
God helped the early nomadic people with a living through hunting of animals and gathering of fruits. Later, He taught them the skill of producing crops and made their lands suitable through measured “rain from the sky” (6:99). Early people amazingly noticed how “sprouts” were coming up days after they accidentally dropped seeds on the ground (6:95). God claims the credit for this since “it is not in your power to cause the growth of the trees” (27:60). Historians label this period as the Neolithic Revolution.
That the trees have features of life “as they bow in adoration” was first revealed in the Quran (55:6). Hence we find the trees self-reliant in producing their food in the factory of their leaves in collaboration with the sunrays and water drawn from ground through roots. This process is known as ‘photosynthesis’. The wonderful features of vegetation kingdom (e.g. adjustment of sunflower’s position along with the sun, devouring of insects by leaves of the Venus flytrap, medical properties of some trees, eye catching bright colors and mind-pleasing smell of some flowers etc. reflect the excellent creativity of God.
Earth and Natural Elements: The earth is another wonderful creation of God. He made it suitable as our “resting place (for living)”, “spread out like a carpet”, “firm” and fitted with “roads” so you can manage to “travel” (40:64; 20:53; 27:61; 67:15). He bestowed on it “blessings” including life-supporting “nourishment (like water, air etc.) in due proportion” (41:10) which are not explored yet for any other heavenly bodies like the Moon, Mars etc. Herein God has “multiplied things (animated or unanimated) in various colors” (16:13) and in such high quantities and diverse qualities that you cannot have full knowledge about them. Various natural features were developed on the earth addressing human benefits and designed with superb intellectual skills of God.
The air, for example, was made transparent so it does not stand in the way of our vision. Gravitation pulls us to the ground and protects us from being blown away into space. Likewise, the shadow of things in the absence of sunrays is created as comfortable “shade” as a protection from heat and this shadow changes size responding to solar positions which could remain “stationary” if God willed (16:81; 25:45). Variation in seasons, changes in weather, “alteration between day and night”, and “shift in the (direction of) winds” are nothing short of God’s deliberate actions (2:164).
God created mountains standing firm on earth like a “nail” so that “it does not shake with you”; made hills (with height less than 1000 feet) as “shelter” (78:7; 31:10; 16:81) and both have other ecological benefits as well. For example, mountain provides you “sweet (and wholesome) water” (77:27) as the Himalayas happen to be the largest water source during the summer of South Asia. Likewise, He made the rivers and roads that “you may guide yourselves” and identify geographical places (16:15). The creation of watery bodies like the ocean, lake etc. was intended to be a source of multiple benefits including fish food, pearl or other ingredients of “ornaments”, transportation, business and so on (16:14). God allows the towering ships “going smoothly” through gigantic oceans. He could make them “motionless by stilling the wind” or “drown” their helpless riders by storm but He generally does not do that out of forgiving mercy (17:66; 42:33/34; 36:43). The ocean water is divided into “sweet and salty” currents and under divine command they avoid mixing up, defying the natural law of water (25:53).
God plays irreplaceable role for delivering “measured rain water”, “causing it to soak in the soil” needed for making our planet greener through growth of vegetation (23:18). God reminds you that it is not “in your power to grow trees in them (orchards)” and “you are not the guardian of (water) sources” (27:60; 15:22). God gives a partial account of water cycle by describing step by step about the circumstances leading to rainfall. First, He sends the “winds” carrying slow moving, “heavy-laden clouds” (made of water vapor) to “dry land” as “glad tidings” (7:57). Then He spreads them up in the sky as He wills. Next, these clouds are “joined together” until you see them falling as “rain drop” (24:43).
The above description can become as real as your experience when, for example, as a passenger of a plane, you see thrilling sights of cotton-like, snow-white clouds flying nearby you. Likewise, as a farmer you cannot suppress your joy at the first glimpses of much-needed rains, needed for preparing your land for farming. Unfolding other secrets about weather science, God says: “He shows you the lightning by way of fear and hope. The vivid flash of His lightning almost blinds the sight. He flings the loud-voiced thunder-bolts and (also uses hail) to strike whomever He wills” (13:12; 24:43; 13:13).
Heavenly Bodies: (i) Creations: Above the earth is the sky that contains numerous evidences of God. His creation of the sky as a “canopy or roof” (40:64) is indeed a gigantic task of astronomical proportion. In this universe, there are billions of galaxies and each of the galaxies has billions of stars, some of which are larger than the sun. Each of these heavenly bodies rotates along its own orbit in the space and as a rule they do not collide among themselves due to gravitational force put in place by God. He also “created the vastness of space” as well as the sky with power and skill without any defect therein (51:47). He “raised the sky without any pillars (in empty spaces)” and “withholds the sky (or other heavenly bodies like stars, meteor etc.) from falling on the earth except by His permission” (13:2; 22:65).
(ii) Benefits: God made no secret about subjecting other creations to the service of humanity (14:33). He created bright stars for “beautifying” the sky and “guiding” people to their destinations “through dark spaces of land (e.g. for travelers) and sea (e.g. for sailors)” (41:12; 6:97).
Day: He made the sun for “measuring” of time (rotation between day and night leading to progress of month and year etc.), as a “shining glory” and a maker of the Day “to make things visible” through “light” and thereby help people to “make a living” (6:96; 10:5; 10:67; 27:86; 78:11). Under the artistic design of God, seven charming colors (violet, indigo, blue, green, orange, yellow and red) combine in the sunrays that occasionally paint the sky with an amazing rainbow.
Night: Setting of the sun marks the beginning of night that is created as a “covering” and noiseless peaceful time for “rest” and sleep (78:10; 6:96; 10:67). During night, people find the moon to be a source of “(pleasant) light” and a means for “knowing the number of years and the count (of time)” for lunar calendar through measurement of its varying successive “stages” (10:5). Thus we see none of God’s creations is devoid of planning.
(iii) Skillful Manager: God is not only the original Maker of everything in the Universe, but is also its skillful Manager. “He created the sun, the moon, and the stars- (all) governed by laws under His command. All are obedient to Him. The sun is not permitted to catch up the moon, nor the night can outstrip the day” (7:54; 30:26; 36:40). One example of perfect loyalty of the heavenly bodies to the divine system can be found in the fact that at a particular place (say New York) and on a particular day (e.g. June 21), the sun rises (at 5:24 am) and sets (at 8:31 pm) which are at about the same time for each year either be that 1920 or 2020. The Universe is so well managed by Him that there has never been a single case of His failure, comparable to human failures in space missions like ‘Skylab’ in 1979, ‘Challenger’ in 1986 and ‘Columbia’ in 2003 etc. If God wished otherwise, He could “cause a piece of the sky to fall” gravely endangering our earth (34:9).
Limits of Human Exploration: Evidently, the Universe abounds with countless divine creations plain enough to convince a clear conscience about the reality of God. Despite this, if you fail to realize His existence, then that might be due to poverty of your understanding or problem of attitude. In fact, it is not possible for a finite man to know all about the Infinite God or His marvelous Creations. Astonishing progress in modern science has so far enabled mankind to put their feet on the moon in 1969 and master little knowledge about other planets. But that much of human knowledge covers only a tiny fraction of our solar system which is only a microscopic unit of our Milky Way Galaxy which is again only a billionth part of our total Universe.
Unlimited Expanse of God’s Kingdom: It is beyond our powers even to imagine the “Vastness of Space” involving “the seven heavens one above other” created by God (51:47; 67:3). At this point you are warned from confusing these seven layers with several layers of our atmosphere like troposphere, stratosphere, ozone layer etc. While atmospheric layers extend into only few hundred miles up into the sky, the length and breadth of God’s seven heavens cannot be measured in mileage by any number known to humanity. So far the farthest boundary of human exploration involving billions of galaxies, Black Hole etc. is confined only to the lowest layer of the “seven heavens” created by God while the remaining six layers are off-limits to human knowledge. Echoing this, He said to have “decorated the lower heaven with beauty of the stars” (37:6). About the infinite and superlative nature of His creations, God states, “You will see no want of proportion in (His) Creations. Turn your vision again, can you see any flaw? Again turn your vision a second time. (Your) vision will come back to you humbled and in a state of weariness” (67:3; 67:4). You will, therefore, be doing justice to your wisdom if you accept the reality about the Creator, as was done by the great scientists like Einstein, Newton among others.
Conclusion: It appears from the above that the signs of God are too numerous to count. If you accept Him as a reality, you will be on track to sure success with full of Blessings.