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 Faith |
In a day and age when nothing seems acceptable without proof, we find many aspects of our religion are based on complete faith. We are required to believe in many things with or without proof. From amongst these things, is the belief that Allah exists and that He is the creator of this world and that He has no partner in His being or any of his infinite qualities. We have to not only believe this, but also proclaim it.
As we look into the lives of the pious predecessors, we find that they have been asked as to how Allah exists. They have answered in many different ways:
1) Imam Abu Hanifah was posed with this question in a debate with an atheist. The time and date was set for the debate. The whole village gathered but the Imam did not turn up on time. When he eventually arrived, the atheist began to taunt him that he was scared and that is why he turned up late.
The Imam answered calmly: “I was on my way but encountered a river. There was no bridge or boat to cross the river. To my amazement, I see a tree coming out of the ground and begin to shape itself in the form of a boat that enters the water; I was able to board it and cross the river”
The atheist began to laugh and disgrace the Imam. The Imam said the real joke is on you. If this is not possible then how can this whole world come into existence and be maintained in this order without a creator.
2) Imam Malik was asked the same question. He replied that I see a cow, a silk worm, and a honey bee, all eat the same leaf but they all produce different products. This proves to me that there is a creator who has the power to do this.
3) Imam Shafi replied to this question that the different language that people speak and use to communicate proves to me that this world has a creator.
4) Imam Ahmed on being asked this question replied that once I took three eggs of a chicken and three of a duck and placed them with the mother hen. When they hatched, they were taken to a pond. The ducks without hesitation jumped into the water but the chicks remained on the bank. Who taught the duckling to jump in the water and who taught the chicks to refrain from this? There surely has to be a creator.
Besides this, if a person truly ponders on creation, he himself will find many signs guiding him to the belief that Allah exists and that he is One.
There are billions of people but each and every person has unique features, different eyes and also unique finger prints. Allah has created many aesthetic and functional features for us such as eyebrows. These divert sweat away from eyes, enhances the beauty of the face and do not grow at a rate of other hair on the body. Fingertips are used all the time, whenever we use our hands to grip, touch, push or tap an object. They are strengthened and protected by finger nails and Allah the most merciful replaces this protection without inconvenience to us. Imagine trying to peel a banana where your finger tips would be as flimsy as banana skin or with constant use, wear and tear, they become rigid - we would loose our sense of sensitive touch not to mention damaging the computer keyboard! However with this common function of the tip of the digit Allah still made us unique; fingerprints are the ridge pattern of the skin on a person's fingertips; this is constant through life and no two are exactly the same. What kind of system allows siblings to have different fingerprints? Even though the fingerprints of the parents do not change yet each person has unique prints that are different to their brothers/sisters even where they have the same biological mother and father. What king of system design can implement this and keep everyone's finger prints unique all over the world for all time!
Brain - The brain consists amongst other things grey and white matter joined by nerves that sends chemical electrical waves reaching speeds of 160 m/525 ft per second. The brain is a magnificent controller encased in bone and capping all emotional interchanges: touch/taste, sight, smell, hearing and speech. Even though its signals can travel at high speed the position of the brain in close proximity to these senses further ensures a smaller distance of signal travel for the most highly used senses. In addition the grouping of the brain with the face and senses (the whole head) reduces the vulnerable areas to one: the head of the body. Thus by protecting it one can avert total incapacity (Other vital organs have been protected by cage of bones – rib cage). Allah has facilitated our survival by providing the mechanisms to enable us to live life safely and in comfort. These features have been designed and replicated millions of times by Allah without mutating the position of these senses.
Even our auditory senses are positioned in a prime location so that we can hear sounds 360 degrees in any direction. Had our ears been positioned closer to our eyes our range would have been considerably less; we would be able to hear what was coming but we could see them coming anyway so the ears are there to sense at different frequencies that which we can't see. Our eyes however allow us to view almost 180 degrees and we can perceive objects in 3 dimensions, colour and we can move the components of our eyes so that we can pan and tilt our visual range. The muscles of the eye are used about 100,000 times a day to focus on particular things near or far. The same organ is so unique to each person that the retina of an eye can be scanned and biometrically used for security systems – again the same function of sight, replicated around the world but unique even to same parent siblings – The existence of worlds we have yet to find and the ones we have found and everything within them all are evidence and signs of Allah's supreme intelligence and power.
Once a sperm has fertilized an egg, the egg's wall cannot be penetrated by other sperm, limiting about 4 million sperm that may have started the journey towards the egg to 1 sperm. Occasionally the fertilised egg will split in two or another sperm will fertilise another egg resulting in twins and on very rare instances triplets or a higher number of eggs are fertilised. However an ordinary pregnancy, if any could be described as such, would be where the egg is fertilised by one sperm thus allowing human population to scale in proportion to physical human capacity.
We are one the most complex of species on the planet with physical and psychological needs and so Allah has not overburdened Man or placed an impossible task upon us by allowing all sperm to fertilise all eggs. In fact He has deliberately put factors in place to govern the personal well-being of parents and children and inhibited exponential population surges. However these factors do not inhibit serial reproduction after puberty. For example the head of a sperm contains an acrosin enzyme that dissolves the ovum casing of a woman's egg enabling the sperm to penetrate it. Once a sperm has fertilized an egg, the egg's wall cannot be penetrated by other sperm. The unsuccessful sperm die after about three days even though they have managed to get to the egg. Fertilisation has been pre-determined up to 4Million:1. Another example is of the female ovary, It may have millions of eggs but it will only ovulate one egg every month and stop ovulating whilst pregnant thereby restricting the number of eggs that can be fertilised at any one time. Breast-feeding also often inhibits pregnancy and so these factors govern pregnancy intervals and well-being. The end result is that the specie propagates, survives and inherits the world for the purpose it was created.
The common peacock has a fan-shaped tail, brightly coloured with blue, green, and purple 'eyes' on a chestnut background which is raised during courtship displays. It is not used as camouflage and the pattern is not seen elsewhere nor does it change. It is a handsome bird and is aesthetic to see. We humans often marvel at its glorious plumage and derive much enjoyment from the bird's majestic display but rarely do we realise that Allah has designed exquisiteness and beauty in creations to augment the environment we have inherited. He has done this for our benefit.
Allah created the moon like a mirror in the sky reflecting light for the benefit of Man; it appears partially or completely so that man can measure the day of the month. It has a gravitational pull causing tides that prevent sea water becoming stagnant and help breakdown and deposit particles at beaches. It is an amazing sign of Allah's greatness that he has purposely placed the moon in a particular position as an aid to Man in the darkness of night and as a significant factor in the ecology of the world.
Things that are harmful to humans often have bad smells associated with them. For example, Allah allows Milk to be produced and preserved in the bodies of warm blooded animals on the hottest of days however once the milk is extracted, even if sealed it will sour and smell bad after some time. The sour smell is a signal from Allah that the status of the milk changed and it is no longer fit for normal consumption.
Likewise urine and stool smell to signal the risk of contamination and disease; everyone understands this warning from Allah but just in case the sense of smell is compromised Allah also compliments the signals by showing you flies and insects attracted to the filth and allowing buzzing noises from flies to emanate and be heard. To indicate severity of the problem, insects different in type and number appear depending on the strength and type of smell, i.e. a monitored warning level of the problem. Colour changes in water signal possible pollution and are a sign from Allah to be cautious.
Similarly pleasant fragrances and scents lead to things which can be beneficial. Aroma Therapist and Purveyors of teas and infusions will be more than happy to vouch for this fact. Herbs, spices and condiments not only smell nice but also act as active ingredients in food and drink; lemongrass, ginger, mint and vinegar being classic examples. Again Allah has put these qualities in objects so that we can recognise them and purposefully use them.
Cooperation between creations also occurs such as birds that clean the teeth of crocodiles. Crocodiles do not have a way of cleaning their extended set of teeth themselves so Allah has appointed birds to pick their teeth for food/insects and given the intelligence to the crocodiles to allow the birds to do so.
The origin of this cooperation and intelligence in creation is Allah. The ability to share information such as inherited features between generations has been created by Allah. The system of keeping each individual unique is Allah's. The ability to exclude particular traits of a person from his/her progeny (e.g. criminal tendencies) has also been by the mercy of Allah, hence we are all born sinless and have free will. We cannot blame our ill doing to our genetic makeup.
There is no evolution in the scenarios described above however the inputs, outputs and processes of the above scenarios are evidence of a system designed with intelligence. Such a system, if compared with man-made inventions, would certainly require a lead technical designer, a single coordinator - a master controller.
The above only mentions a small percentage of the signs of Allah's existence and further reading and contemplation on the topic is strongly encouraged to strengthen one's faith however since man's intellect and knowledge is finite and shataaan deploys trickery to misguide, our faith should be proclaimed with or without proof. May Allah guide us to the straight path and accept us all – Ameen.
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