Divine Determining, part 15
“Divine Knowledge is connected with our will and choice, that means Divine Determining corroborates the power of choice and does not nullify it.”
Recap: This statement suggests that we should not think of Divine Knowledge without accompanying human freewill. If you think otherwise, that line of thinking is wrong. For example, if God knows that I am graduating next year ,then what should I do now? If human free will is not taken under consideration, your thinking of Divine Determining is not valid and becomes an imagination.
When we start thinking about the relationship between Divine Determining and the power of choice, we need to bear in mind 2 points:
- Humans choose but cannot create. There must be a Creator and His Power must be Absolute.
- The One Who has Absolute Power must have Absolute Knowledge. The universe witnesses this. (Think about Absolute Knowledge in terms of the space/time dimension of existence at once.)
Divine Determining is a part of Absolute Knowledge, which cannot be dependent on time and space. That means this knowledge is Eternal. (The other part is creating what humans choose.)
People can believe in a Creator of the universe, but without belief in Divine Determining, no one can feel secure in their existence. That is why, belief in Divine Determining is the summary of the 5 pillars of belief (God, Angels, Books, Messengers, Hereafter) as it needs a finetuned understanding of our existence. Human beings only choose, we do not create. Can I create what I choose? No. We must first define what “creating” means, because our minds are polluted with thinking that creating means a slight transformation from the prior state of being. Rather, bringing something into existence right now is what creating means. We must understand the act of creation with space-time conditions.
Creation does not take place following the consequence of time. There is a famous saying, “We are pots in the hands of the potter”. That is, the potter is giving the shape to already existing clay. Hence, the potter is not the creator of the pot. Similarly, when we think of the act of creation, every moment each object is given a new existence, therefore, shaping the clay does not make anything the creator. With the same line of reasoning, nothing is evolving on its own as it is misunderstood in Biological Sciences. What we know is the existing world right now and we must concentrate on the existence of the universe which is in front of my eyes within my own experience. Again, we must be aware of the existence of space-time now, otherwise our understanding that the earth is revolving around an already created orbit nullifies the understanding that creation is taking place. For creation to take place, everything is a new existence every moment. The earth may seem to be revolving around an already created orbit but if we concentrate on the space-time dimension of our existence, then everything is brought into existence right now.
Most people take the literal understanding of how God created living beings with clay and water. It does not mean that water and clay are giving existence to anything or are the shape giver. But we do observe that shape is being given to things as they are brought into existence and change at every moment. The word “khalaqa” means giving existence at every moment. The One that speaks in the Quran is the One that brings things into existence. In order to bring anything into existence, this Agent must be Absolute. It is ridiculous to think of the Absolute in terms of this created universe, for example, as if this Absolute Agent will use the created things to create something. If we conclude the Agent to be Absolute then He is the One that gives existence to this universe and everything in it without the need of any created beings. For example, this building is given existence with all the existing materials. When it comes to the Creator of the universe, we cannot say that He is using the already existing materials, because He is the One who is giving existence to water and the clay anyways. Again, we must pay attention to the nature of the act of creation which takes place with space-time right now. If you say that the Creator created the apple tree yesterday, and today He is using the apple tree to bear fruits, then it means that God is using the already existing materials to create something. We must be careful not to reduce the Creator of the universe to the potter example (as mentioned above) that only gives shape. Not only is the Creator of the universe the shape Giver, but also, He creates with other endless qualities that we see manifested in creation such as wisdom, order, perfection… Therefore, when we refer to the Absolute Creator of the universe, we must use a language which cannot be limited to this created universe.
We must focus on “creation”, what does it mean to create and what does it mean that I am created, because I exist right now. Can you then say that I am carrying my existence from the previous moment that was given? No. We do not know how we are being sustained. Hence, we must explain the existence of anything the moment we encounter them. The studies of quantum mechanics look into the existence of things happening right here and now. The fact is that we cannot explain how existence is happening, so we end up explaining existence in terms of this world for that is what we observe if we do not think deeply under the quantum mechanics lens. To solve this problem, we must look into our existence right now, who can give existence to me right now? Can I attribute my existence from yesterday to today’s existence? No. Yesterday’s existence is gone. Today I am given a new existence. The word “continuous” belongs to this world, which cannot be used to describe the Absolute Creator. When I look at my life right now, I ought to question, who is giving existence to me right now? Our problem is that we are used to using languages that keep us away from understanding our reality of existence. Languages such as “I was hungry and then I ate food”; “The baby is growing”; and “I am getting old”. Rather, I am given hunger and the One that gives me hunger is providing me with food. The baby is brought into existence in a new state of being. I am given old age, for example. These are better worded languages depicting our reality of existence.
We must never forget that the order of the universe has 2 aspects, space and time. The order of the universe cannot give us existence, rather, the order is the result of the act of creation which is taking place in an order, space- time. Existence is taking place within an order, and the One that gives existence in space-time with shape, colors, smells, wisdoms…and endless other qualities. We are given existence with our memory right now. For example, people with Alzheimer’s disease do not remember, therefore the ability to remember is also created right now. I cannot attribute my existence to anything created which is limited in its nature. Similarly, I cannot say that the sun is rising on its own and bringing the day to give me existence. Wrong! In the existence of any tiny creature, there is the manifestation of Absolute Knowledge. When you say, “I worship “God”, you must be able to explain what you mean by “God”. When you understand what existence means, then you know what “God” means. As a result, you worship God according to your understanding. Start by asking yourself, who is giving existence to me right now with all my qualities i.e. the ability to think, see, speak, eat for example? If you think that all your abilities are your doing and products, then your concept of “God” will be in a vacuum. You think, you smile, you walk, you see, and you say that all your qualities belong to you, then nothing is in need to be created. That is why we must be careful in what we attribute our qualities to, are you the one who is able to speak? No, you are given the ability to speak and all your other qualities are given existence right now. With this awareness of your existence, there is no way to forget about “God”. There is only one way to remember “God” which is by reflecting on your existence.
Let us think about our existence within our capacity, because I cannot think of the existence of any object without referring to space- time. This is how we are made. That is why the Quran keeps referring to the world that we observe which is the order that we live in. There must be an Absolute Creator giving existence to this continuous order. Yesterday’s drop of water is different from today’s drop of water. Who is giving existence to the drop of water? We must look for the Source of existence of anything that we are interacting with, otherwise we reduce God to a human like and fall into anthropomorphism. The Creator of the universe did not create this universe 7 billion years ago, and now is resting up in the heavens. When we conclude the Source of Existence of this universe to be Absolute, it means that it is not of the like of anything of this universe.
When you perform the religious rituals, you are worshipping and in communication with the God who is creating you right now. Without realizing our existence in the moment, we cannot be believers in God. Belief in God cannot be inherited, it is a personal endeavor for everyone, because belief is one’s personal conviction about their reality. Unfortunately, people mistake belief for cultural religion.
Human responsibility is to take care of their freewill, for the One who has given this freedom is the One that creates according to His wisdom. Every moment of my existence needs a Creator. I can only explain my existence when I refer it to an Eternal Source. Every type of existence such as birth, death, childhood needs a Creator because we cannot explain the existence of the death of childhood for example. My experience of existence is not eternal, rather it is momentary. I only experience my existence right now.
The thing known is not dependent on knowledge. Suppose there is a mirror in your hand and the area to your right is the past and the area to your left is the future. The mirror only holds what is opposite it.
Whatever occurs in the areas reflected in the mirror in this position cannot be said to precede or follow one another.
When something exists then it is known. God’s knowledge of our freechoice is known when I choose within spacetime. According to my choice, God knows. Absolute knowledge is not subject to the spacetime dimension.
A mirror encompasses whatever is exposed to it at the same time. The time that we experience includes the past and the present. God’s knowledge includes all of that along with the future, but the Absolute must not be subject to spacetime. We must think of the universe in the spacetime dimension altogether, similar to the mirror example.
We experience the manifestation of the Absolute now. In order to explain the existence of our being now, I have to attribute it to a Creator. Rather than saying, I am being created now, start with I exist and what can be the source of my existence now for I understand that my existence needs a Creator. Again, the Absolute cannot be defined with limited terminology. When I make a decision, my decision is known by my Creator with no space time limitations.
Absolute cannot be described with a number for numbers are limited entities. We cannot use any notion which is applied to the created world to describe Absolute. Practically, when I use my freewill, God creates the results accordingly. Not the other way around, that I use my freewill because God knows what I will choose. That understanding is a flag for confusion. We are choosing, but we are not creating. We are not the creators of the actions that we have. For example, I am intending to move my hand, but I am not the Creator of the choices. When I choose, the Creator of the universe creates it. The outcome of my choice can only be attributed to the Creator of the whole universe. Ask, who is giving me the ability to choose and who is creating the outcome of my choice? That is why the Quranic teaching starts with the emphasis on lailhah, I am not the creator of my actions and doings. Who is the Creator then? The One who creates the outcome of my choice is the Creator of the universe illallah.
If something is created, then in its createdness or being created, it cannot have Absolute qualities, because Absolute cannot be created. If something created does not have Absolute qualities then it cannot give existence to anything. The concept of “shirk” is also related to this where you think that God created the thing, but now the thing is doing its actions and satisfying you for example. If something is given existence, then it is created, lamyalid walam yulud. The One who creates must be Absolute and the Absolute cannot be turned into a created form.
There is no demi-God. When you sow a seed, are you contributing anything to the existence of the plant? You just ask for the outcome from the Creator of the universe while watering the plant. We are only responsible for our side of creation. How can I explain the growth of the plant for example? How do I explain my existence? What can be the Cause of the existence of this universe? There must be a Creator, God who creates this universe, creates me and the plant, because I cannot explain it otherwise.
Our life is precious, we must not waste our time here. We must try to think and use our time and abilities seriously. We are created in a way that the more we use our abilities to understand the Source of our existence, the better it develops.