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If the types of creatures were presented to you on a wall in your room in a large panel containing an image of each creature or part of it, and you closed your eyes and randomly placed your finger on any point, then science could tell you for hours about the greatness of perfection and precision in that point!
(Audio effects) Peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah, dear brothers.
When we talk about the intellectual evidence for the existence of Allah, the two most commonly mentioned are: the evidence of creation, and the evidence of perfection. We discussed the evidence of creation in the episode "Why is a Creator Necessary?" As for the evidence of perfection, we begin discussing it today.
The truth is that I hesitate to delve into discussing this topic: the perfection in creation. I hesitate because it is an easy yet difficult task. Yes, it is easy to talk about the perfection of creation because if the types of creatures were presented to you on a wall in your room in a large panel, and you closed your eyes and placed your finger on any point, then science would tell you about the greatness of perfection within it.
However, at the same time, there is a difficulty in talking about perfection. A difficulty because talking about one or two or twenty models of perfection does not do justice to the subject; perfection is spread throughout every detail of this existence, indeed perfection equals existence.
Allah the Almighty said:
"The craft of Allah, who has perfected everything" [An-Naml: 88]
And He said:
"That is the Knower of the unseen and the witnessed, the Mighty, the Merciful, who has perfected everything that He created" [As-Sajdah: 6-7].
Therefore, when I say to you: come let us see models of perfection, this is equivalent to saying: come let us see models of existence; for perfection equals everything in existence.
The perfection of creation is evident in the preparation of my tongue, jaws, and teeth so that I can speak to you about the perfection in creation. It is evident in your seeing me, hearing my voice, understanding my speech, and retaining in your memory what I say. It is even evident in the movements of the denier who prepares to mock or deny what I say, even though all the operations he performs in doing so include perfection in the details of his creation!
We do not appreciate the state of perfection, order, and precision that we live in because we have not experienced the alternative.
Allah the Almighty said:
"Indeed, Allah holds the heavens and the earth, lest they cease" [Fatir: 44]
A truly great verse!
More than ninety natural elements discovered in this existence, their neutrons and protons are arranged in nuclei of a specific size with precision, attracting electrons in orbits with the necessary dimensions. These elements react with fixed chemical laws to give compounds, thus preparing the opportunity for life.
An atmospheric envelope with the appropriate height and density containing gases in the necessary proportions, and transmitting sound waves at a controlled speed. Soil prepared to receive seeds and store rainwater. Water with a specific viscosity and dissolution properties, which evaporates at a specific temperature to form clouds, and condenses at another temperature to fall as rain, and all of that in the appropriate quantities for its role in nature. Light that travels at the appropriate speed. Earth's gravity in the necessary amount, so that we do not float in the air, nor do our feet stick to the ground. Earth that rotates at a precise speed for day and night to alternate for rest and work. Four seasons that renew the soul and bring forth fruits. A precise distance from the sun, so that it does not burn us, nor do we freeze. Billions of planets and stars moving at an appropriate speed in precisely defined orbits with extreme precision, so that they do not collide.
We grew up seeing the universe like this, so we got used to it and do not imagine how astonishing and wondrous it is because we have not seen a state without order! We know the meaning of satiety because we have experienced hunger; we know the meaning of comfort because we have experienced fatigue; and by their opposites, things are distinguished... but we do not appreciate the greatness of order and perfection because we have not seen a state without perfection. In other words, we do not appreciate the greatness of the existence of Allah because we have not experienced a state without Allah!
If the earth did not rotate, and we were in the illuminated part all the time, and nothing shielded the sun's light from our homes, we would not know the meaning of light because we do not know the meaning of darkness; for we have never experienced it. And if a narrator at that time told us about the importance of light, we would not understand it because we cannot imagine the darkness that this light dispels. Similarly, we have not experienced a state without perfection, and we have not experienced a state without Allah.
"Allah is the Light of the heavens and the earth" [An-Nur: 35]
And His light does not set because:
"The Ever-Living, the Sustainer of existence. Neither drowsiness overtakes Him nor sleep" [Al-Baqarah: 255].
Therefore, when we mention in this series what atheism says, we draw the darkness so that we can understand the value of Allah's light in comparison to it. We draw the darkness that we have never seen and will never see; the darkness of the non-existence of Allah.
In the episode "How Atheism Destroys the Mind and Science," we explained that the existence of Allah is the basis upon which the truths of things are established, and that denying His existence leads to the negation of the value of reason and experimental science, and to the claim that things have no truths. And in the following episode, we explained that the existence of a God with the absolute attributes of perfection is the only foundation upon which ethics can be based.
Many brothers found it difficult to understand this speech because, simply, they could not imagine a state without the light of Allah. When we talk in the upcoming episodes about some manifestations of perfection in creation, what are we doing? We darken the complete image of the universe and leave the light in this specific part so that we can see it and give it some of its value, after we have been familiar with it for a long time and did not feel the greatness of its perfection!
What we have mentioned and what we have not mentioned of the binding laws that allow life; if any of them were to change, even by a small amount, life would not remain, and the state of order and harmony in the universe would vanish!
Who holds the particles in atoms from scattering? Who holds the energy of atoms from being released and exploding as the energy is released in atomic bombs? Who holds the creatures on earth from flying away? Who holds the planets and stars from colliding?
"Indeed, it is Allah who holds the heavens and the earth from collapsing. And if they were to collapse, none can hold them back except Him." [Fatir: 41]
You would say: the laws hold them. Are these laws an acting, willing, living entity? Is the law of gravity, for example, a willing, choosing god who knows what He does? These laws are nothing but descriptions of what happens, not that they are an acting, choosing cause of what happens. They are descriptions of the effects of Allah's actions in His creation.
Our conviction that Allah "holds the heavens and the earth from collapsing" [Fatir: 41] is not only because the Quran says so; but because this is the rational requirement for the laws to be non-rational properties that do not create themselves. The laws are nothing but descriptions of Allah's actions in His creation. The laws are not alternatives to Allah's dominion over His creation.
When we say, for example: water boils at a temperature of 100 degrees; it is a shortened sentence. If we wanted to complete it, which of the following sentences do you see as more correct: nothing created water and made it boil at 100 degrees by chance? Or did water create itself and make it boil at this degree by chance? Or did Allah create water and make it boil at this degree with knowledge and wisdom to perform a function in a created universe for a purpose? For the actions of Allah in His creation.
The existence of laws and the existence of the properties of things does not mean that this state of perfection has become inherent, automatic, and self-sufficient without the Creator and the first cause of everything. If I said: someone writes at a speed of 100 words per minute, is this a ruling law that governs someone? If someone decides to stop writing, will the computer keys be pressed automatically at a speed of 100 words per minute? The laws are descriptions of the actions of a choosing doer.
We grew up seeing the universe in this order, so this order has become the default state that we cannot imagine otherwise, and we deal with it as if the properties of things are inherent, automatic, as if the inanimate objects have chosen with knowledge and will to have these properties. If we were to think, we would see the manifestations of divine power in all existence, and we would not see any effect in existence except Allah, and we would know that there is nothing inherently true except the Creator, the first cause, and the first mover of all creatures; He is the one who gives inanimate objects their properties.
Therefore, you see the Quran attributes many actions to Allah, even though they are determined by laws and natural forces;
"He sends down water from the sky" [Ar-Ra'd: 17] "Have you not seen that Allah drives the clouds" [An-Nur: 43] "It is He who makes you travel on land and sea" [Yunus: 22]
He sent down water from the sky with the property of condensation that He created in water. He drives clouds with the winds that arise from the properties of compression and rarefaction that He created in the air.
"Have they not looked at the birds above them, spreading their wings and [sometimes] folding them in? None holds them [aloft] except the Most Merciful. Indeed, He is, of all things, Seeing." [Al-Mulk: 19]
And the reins of all matter, all laws, and all properties are in His hand -glorified be He-. And all existence -from the smallest particles to the greatest celestial bodies- is in need of Him. They have no inherent nature, no automatic nature, and they are not self-sufficient for the twinkling of an eye from Him -glorified be He-; He is:
"Allah - there is no deity except Him, the Ever-Living, the Sustainer of [all] existence." [Al-Baqarah: 255]
Who stands over the affair of the heavens and the earth:
"Neither drowsiness overtakes Him nor sleep." [Al-Baqarah: 255]
For if this were to happen, the heavens and the earth would collapse. But:
"Indeed, it is Allah who holds the heavens and the earth from collapsing." [Fatir: 41].
And if this meaning becomes clear to us, we will be convinced that there is no being that is normal in itself, and another that is strange, but rather the habituation is from our side due to the long familiarity with seeing a certain being. Otherwise, everything in existence is strange!
And if this is settled in our minds, we will not use an expression like: "divine intervention"; for there is no inherent nature or automatic nature in the universe in reality, so that Allah intervenes in something in it, but nothing is self-sufficient from Him for the twinkling of an eye.
This was an important introduction that I do not allow myself to present models of perfection in creation before it, and in its light, we will present these models in the coming episodes -with Allah's permission-.
Peace be upon you.