Chapter Qaf part 6
50:15 “What! Were We so tired from the first creation that they should be doubtful about a new creation?”
Do we see any signs of weariness in the universe? Do you think that the One who creates the universe from scratch cannot create something similar? If my bones become dust, what is the reason for me to think that they cannot be re-created? Why do I fall into the trend of thinking that resurrection will take place only after I die, rather than I am being resurrected every moment? The reason is that I took this creation for granted and I do not think that this creation is the act of a Conscious Agent who gives existence to it from scratch.
We usually say that I believe in God and in my daily life, I am dependent on myself or others. I am the one controlling my life. Yes, creation is wonderful, and we can see that everything is created anew every day. We must always remind ourselves that everything is changing, and the things cannot change by themselves or by us. When we say that God created the universe, what is lacking there? In our understanding, there is no purposeful act of continuous creation. We think that the things are renewing and continuing their existence on their own.
We say that God creates everything, but people are taking care of their young. Rather, we are given a new form of existence at every stage, which is taking place smoothly within a perfect order that we do not realize that there is continuous operation of a Conscious Agent going on in our existence.
I am missing a lot about my human reality because I do not pay attention to existence out there. Example: I put food on the stove, and it is cooking. I do not pay attention that this new act of creation is taking place within an order. I am accustomed to the order and so I take existence for granted. When we talk about the Creator God, we put the position of God in the same place as creation in our practical life. In our daily life we may think that the Creator created the universe, but now the universe acts on its own. As if the motion is putting the universe in perfect order. Rather, the Creator of the motion/order is creating the universe.
We need to pay more attention to what we mean by the language that we use. Example: While I am fixing the dinner, I must be conscious of the fact that it is not me who is creating the result but God is creating the acts of cooking my food. It means that there is a Conscious Agent acting upon everything that I am doing right now. The Quran reminds us to investigate whether the things are responsible for the change that we see.
We are not changing ourselves, am I acting by myself now? We must seriously think about it! The galaxies are changing as well. Nothing is acting on its own. Change is taking place slowly. The language that we use without any thorough reflection is preventing us from refreshing our minds.
- God does not need to rest.
- God does not get tired of creating.
- If something cannot sustain itself, then it cannot be the Creator of the universe (COU).
- If something cannot be an Absolute Being, then it cannot be the COU. He must be a self-existing One, not subject to time-space, otherwise He cannot be the Creator of the universe. We must bear in mind this.
Example: There is a relationship between me and the moment of the leaves in motion via wind that I observe. Isn’t that a relationship between the wind and the leaves? No. Everything is within an order and the things are constantly renewed. In this particular example, the wind, the leaves, and the motion are created independent from each other but at the same time within an orderly fashion. It seems that the universe is changing by itself at first glance, but it is not. A conscious Agent is behind the motion and order that we observe or are accustomed with.
It is hard to remember all the times what the Source of Existence of the universe is. Example: Take a picture of a plant day 1 and day 2. Is there any difference? Yes. Can yesterday’s universe give existence to today’s universe? No. Think about it.
Belief can be understood when the negating questions are asked. Only then belief becomes apparent. There may not be God in our language, but most people believe in God. Example: Baby is growing. Day changed to night. Can the baby grow by itself? Can the day change into night by itself?
I cannot give existence to myself tomorrow, I exist now. If someone can give existence to something, then it is the creator in the universe. In order to give existence to something, one must be Absolute. The Speech of God mentions: “Whoever gives existence to the beginning, will give existence to tomorrow. We cannot put Absolute in a time slot or a box. The words we use like “yesterday,” or “tomorrow” are our observation of the world, and may not be applied to the Absolute Creator. Absolute or self-existing Being cannot be imagined within a time frame. Time is nothing but a concept representing my observation of the act of creation as a dependent creature.
As I am changing, the information encoded in my DNA is changing. I cannot give existence to anything that is “changing”. Everything is given existence anew every time.
It seems that the order is giving existence to something which did not exist yesterday. Today’s world is a new creation. What is the Source of Existence of this new creation? Can anything give existence to itself? This seems like a logically contradictory sentence. To give existence to myself, first, I need to exist. Since I cannot claim that I am a self-existing absolute being, then I am in need of something else to give me my existence. All the things in the universe are just like me. If I must exist, then I cannot speak in this way of giving existence to myself. If I cannot give existence to myself, then I am constantly in need to be given existence.
- I find myself given existence with things created for me. This consciousness needs deliberate refreshing of our mind.
There is a constant change in this universe observed through space-time. You cannot specify space without putting time into it and vice versa. The act of fixing anything in the universe is my act of choice, and the existence is experienced within the order. We can think about existence like a river without any interruptions and without any slicing. That is how the order is established. The One who sets this order must be Infinite. We cannot catch infinite, but we measure things with infinitesimal units. Example: Today’s snapshot is different than yesterday. This shows that we cannot divide the universe with yesterday and today. There are a million universes with each passing moment, and we cannot count it. It is the act of an Infinite Absolute One. Mistake: thinking of creation from God’s perspective, as if God is continuously saying “Be”. Rather, everything is Now given existence by an Absolute Infinite Source. Infinite means something conceptually understandable, but I cannot give a physical number to it.
Quran: you will be taken accountable for your action. When I think about it, I understand, it is my action and thus, my will. When I choose, I am granted. However, I cannot create the result of my choice. If I choose something which is not according to the order of creation that I learned from my experience of the creation of the universe, then I cannot get it, for it does not fit the way that the Creator has taught me how I should ask Him to create the result of my choice. I only get according to the order i.e., I obeyed His order, and He accepts my prayer.
- My choice is my prayer. We think that we are choosing, rather, we are praying.
We are just praying and worshipping the Creator of the universe, while choosing the order. I cannot say that I cooked and acted. We must always remember (zikr), our life is remembrance about our position in this universe i.e., who I am and who my Owner is. The Prophet (pbuh) also used this type of language to remind people to always reflect on creation. How is creation renewed by the Creator of the universe? (lailaha illallah)
Example: I must remind myself that I am cooking but it is not me who is cooking, the Creator of the universe is operating over everything. I am grateful to God for creating the food. We are given the tongue to remember this anytime we interact with creation lailaha illallah. This Qur’anic phrase means in this example, while I intend to cook I only pray by choosing what I need to be created. Lailaha, it is not me who is creating the result of my choice, illallah, it is the Creator of the universe who is called God who creates the result. The Quran and the Prophet did not educate people by changing their language, rather their understanding of the language. Hadith: The Prophet visited an ill person, who was learning the message of the Creator. He said in Arabic: la shifaa illa minhu, “there is no healing except from Him, my Creator”. It means that you are the Creator of healing, rather than the things. In this world, everything is created within the order and the order is created by Him. If the order requires, i.e., the will of the Creator requires, then you will be cured, otherwise no one can create a cure for your sickness.
Comment: we need to refrain from languages such as “lucky”.
Everything is a deliberate act created by God. That is how God creates. I went to the bus stop and the bus arrived right away. It was not my luck. Everything is given existence by the will of the Creator.
Comment: My free will chooses how to interpret creation. I am only worshipping the order Giver, hoping for the result to be created for me.
I am only obeying the order, hoping, and praying that the result is created for me. This obedience is worship. We do not worship the order. By obeying the order, we worship the Creator of the order.
Khalqun jadeed (every moment is a new creation): Are you aware of what this phrase which is mentioned in this verse really means? The word of God conveys the concept of creation and its Creator. Apart from the ones who are inspired by God’s Speech, no Philosophy speaks about constantly recurring “new creation.” The concept of creation and its Creator is unique to the Speech of God.
50:16 “We created man and We know what his own self whispers to him. We are nearer to him than his jugular vein.”
What does it mean that his own self whispers to him? From me, something is whispering to me: “I am in your existence. I am the One who is creating you right now. Don’t I know what is going on in yourself?”
50:17 “Whenever the two demands [of his inner self] come face to face, contending from the right and from the left. [literally: when the two receivers receive, seated on the right and on the left.]”
Messages are coming from everywhere unimaginable in creation. In Qur’anic terminologies, any goodness is represented from the right (positive side), and any bad is represented from the left (negative side).
There is something in human beings, that they know what is good and bad. Some suggestions are being whispered from the left side. Example: forget thinking about your existence and the source of it now. But at the same time the human spirit is endowed with the capacity to inform human intelligence from the right, reminding him that your Creator is operating on you now.
We have been given free will. You must choose between right and left freely, be careful and take care of your free will. One suggestion is from the spirit and the other is from the egoistic approach. You must choose between the two options.
- Make progress in your human capacity, that is what we are here for.
What is the most important thing that I need to take into consideration? Right now, you are given free will and are set free. Choose between the two options, right or left. As you exist, the right (what I am) and left (denying your reality) options are also created. The whispering from the left: “You have been good until now, right now you can be proud of your past.” Be careful, you may think that you are a good man on the right path, and are deserving of Paradise, but your neighbors may not. Can you be proud of yourself? NEVER. Can you pass judgment about your real self or others, NEVER.
- Mistake: “Thank God, I am doing well, but the neighbors, I am not sure”. I am proud of myself when I say Alhamdulillah. What happens? I am following the whispering from the left, and I lose everything. It is a blessing from God, not my doing. That is the Prophetic saying: “We are never sure that we are safe, at the last moment we may lose everything by attributing virtues to ourselves”.
He is closer to me than my existence. I must think about this seriously. He creates everyone so we must take our existence seriously and try not to forget that in our existence the qualities of our Creator manifest; He is ever present in our existence with the manifestations of His qualities.