Session 33 Notes
When the question is asked: “Why are we here, existing in this world”, those who are familiar with the teachings of the Qur’an would say that we are here to worship God:
وَمَا خَلَقْتُ ٱلْجِنَّ وَٱلْإِنسَ إِلَّا لِيَعْبُدُونِ
“And I did not create the jinn and mankind except to worship Me” (51:56)
That is correct as information that we have to worship God. However, in order to do that we must know Him first, i.e. without knowing someone, I cannot appreciate them. All classical scholars agree that in order to worship God alone, we must get to know Him. Do I have to see Him? It is illogical for the Creator of the universe to be in the universe for me to be able to see Him. Thus, how can I know Him? For example, if someone comes to me and claims that they made the computer that I am using. I wouldn’t believe this person unless he demonstrates to me that he possesses the qualities found in the making of the computer. I must look at his work in order to get to know him. This analogy, of course, is simply a means of illustrating that a person’s talent reveals itself only through their work. It should not be taken to imply that we must witness the Creator of the universe in the very act of creation. As human beings, we cannot step outside the bounds of our own created existence — that is, beyond the universe itself — and claim to observe the Creator of the universe at work. We cannot encompass the Absolute, we can come to know Him only through the attributes He manifests within His creation.
Similarly, I have to study the universe, paying attention to creation, in order to get to know who the Creator of this universe can be.
Nowadays, the universe is heavily studied by materially conditioned minds and left to them for interpretation which does not accept attributing existence to a transcendent Being. As we studied previously, they call the human questions that inquire about the source of existence to be mystical, outside the bounds of science whereas they can only speak and explain things in the universe from within the universe. Human beings inquire, wonder about the source of existence of the manifested qualities, and beings existing in the universe. Our consciousness asks why is there existence rather than nonexistence? For example, why does electromagnetic interaction follow the specific order it does — rather than alternative order or no order whatsoever? Why does the order exist at all? Why do they take this particular form? Do they actually produce real effects? If yes, do they have the necessary qualities originating from themselves? Since we can conceive of them being otherwise, what makes them necessarily what they are?… We also wonder why they exist, why are they there, what is their meaning and purpose? Human beings want infinite satisfaction which is not possible in this transient everchanging world. According to the physicist Feynman, “our responsibility is to learn what we can, do what we can, improve the solutions and pass them on”, meaning to study how the universe works, exploit it and pass it on to the next generation for further study. This is what we are taught in our education to have a “calculative mind” rather than a “reflective or meditative mind”. There are no human inquiries addressed in this materialistic understanding. My senses, consciousness ask as to who made these beings in the universe. Who provided them with a perfect existence, who arranged and designed them within a perfectly functioning order?
On the other hand, the Qur’an explains the reality of our existence and invites us to reflect on the perfectly fitting relationship between us and the universe. It introduces our Creator to us and draws out attention to how He treats us as His guests such as:
كُلُوا۟ وَٱشْرَبُوا۟ هَنِيٓـًٔۢا بِمَا كُنتُمْ تَعْمَلُونَ
“Eat and drink with satisfaction [good terms] in what you do” (52:19)
In the spring season, we see many flowers smiling for me that I enjoy. The flowers and trees are signs of their Creator, their Beautifier who welcomes me through them in a pleasant, welcoming setting. For example, many vegetables and fruits start out as a flower and then become a fruit. They have to go through this order to survive. The existence of the order in the universe cannot be the result of the material elements of the universe but subject to their Maker’s Will.The flowers and fruits are like a welcoming ceremony to treat me as an honored guest. Can all this arrangement be accidental, random, happening by itself? Why does it need to flower first and then become a fruit? Can this be adapting to the environment by itself as the material biologists claim? When this is deeply studied by them, they present to us the chemical composition and measured nutrients found in those fruits. This is only data which completely ignores the question of their source of existence, consequently, the One who is providing all this, presenting in a beautiful way, continuously treating me with His Mercy. Would He be pleased with my ignoring the meaningful, purposeful side of creation pointing to their Merciful Creator? When I don’t inquire who is presenting all these beautiful bounties to me, welcoming me, but just calculating things like a computer or robot, then that is deserving of Hell. God says: “I am not going to invite you again. You won’t be My guest anymore, you will be deprived of My Mercy, My Compassion, My Provision”. The Qur’an teaches us what kind of attitude we should have towards creation which deserves either Paradise or Hell. The human side “fitra” always inquires, looking for the meaning and purpose of the existence of beings in the universe. I am here in this universe to get to know the source of the existence of the universe so that I can relate my existence to this Creator. This universe by itself can never provide satisfaction to human inquiries. It always invites the human mind to study it and see the signs of the attributes of its Creator manifested on it. The material minded scientists say that you just accept it and use it to enjoy until you face death. However, I am looking for eternal satisfaction. This contradiction on seeking eternal satisfaction and not getting in this universe is an invitation from my Creator for an eternal life.
I find myself existing with capacities and longings that this transient universe cannot satisfy. This is my observation. My neediness is not a flaw but a sign: every genuine need I discover within myself points toward something capable of satisfying it. The systematic correspondence between my deepest needs and the existence of things that meet them — air for my lungs, meaning for my mind, justice for my conscience — cannot be the product of blind and purposeless forces. The universe itself, in its deliberate arrangement and overwhelming generosity, witnesses to a source beyond itself. And my own nature — my capacity to love, to demand justice, to feel genuine obligation, to find joy in goodness — points in the same direction. I did not choose to exist, nor did I design my own needs. I found myself here, needy of everything, yet surrounded by provision. This convergence of evidence — from without and from within — leads me, through observation rather than assumption, toward acknowledging a conscious Creator who is the source of my existence and the only one capable of satisfying what this universe alone never can.
To encourage the study of the universe alongside the Qur’an, the serious contemporary scholar Said Nursi, as a careful human observer without any specialized knowledge of sciences such as Physics says in his work:
“The transformation of particles are the vibrations and wanderings that occur while the signs of creation are being written in the book of the universe by the pen of power of the Pre-Eternal Inscriber. They are not games of chance and jumbled and meaningless motion like the Materialists and Naturalists fancy.” Said Nursi (in 1926)
Quantum mechanics was newly being introduced during that time where new discoveries were being made, theories were introduced. They mentioned field theories and concluded that there is no fixed existence of a particle but it is constantly moving as vibrations. Now, scientists observe quantum fluctuations which are constant vibrations that manifest as the continuous creation and annihilation of particle pairs. There is no absolute emptiness in the universe as the vibrations are continuously happening. However, the materialist scientists interpret these vibrations by saying: “it is happening like this, probably by itself”. There is no agent involved as to be the source of the existence of the vibrations.
Let’s see what the Qur’an, which is the source that Said Nursi learned from, says:
يَمْحُوا۟ ٱللَّهُ مَا يَشَآءُ وَيُثْبِتُ ۖ وَعِندَهُۥٓ أُمُّ ٱلْكِتَـٰبِ
“God annuls and confirms [Infinitely, continually] whatever He wills and with Him is the Master Record” (13:39)
There are some who claim to believe in the Qur’an because there are miracles mentioned in it. One of the examples used is regarding the movement of the mountains which is seen as a miracle:
وَتَرَى ٱلْجِبَالَ تَحْسَبُهَا جَامِدَةًۭ وَهِىَ تَمُرُّ مَرَّ ٱلسَّحَابِ ۚ صُنْعَ ٱللَّهِ ٱلَّذِىٓ أَتْقَنَ كُلَّ شَىْءٍ ۚ إِنَّهُۥ خَبِيرٌۢ بِمَا تَفْعَلُونَ
“And you see the mountains thinking them as motionless, while they will pass as the passing of the clouds. [It is] the work of God who perfected all things. Indeed, He is aware of what you do.” (27:88)
Although this description in the verse has some notion of a miracle as everything in creation can be seen as a miracle, there are verses in the Qur’an which the general public is unaware of that truly demonstrate the miraculousness of the Qur’an. The verse referenced above 13:19 can only be claimed by the One who creates continuously giving existence to the everchanging whole universe. This message was brought by the “ummi” prophet (pbuh) having no philosophical, scientific education, living in a completely pagan society. Although the ultimate meaning of this verse may refer to other aspects of the universe which will be discovered later on, we now understand from this world referring to “vibrations of particles.” This is the true miracle mentioned 1450 years ago. It is only now that we see the observation of particle and anti-particle is continuously going on in creation without any gap in between. That is why the scientists say there is no empty space in the universe.
ۖ قَالَ كَذَٰلِكِ ٱللَّهُ يَخْلُقُ مَا يَشَآءُ ۚ إِذَا قَضَىٰٓ أَمْرًۭا فَإِنَّمَا يَقُولُ لَهُۥ كُن فَيَكُونُ
“God creates what He wills. When He wills a thing to be, He but says unto it ‘Be’ – and it is” (3:47)
The phrase “Be- and it is” must be understood as there is no time difference in between each act of the continuous creation of the universe. A classical example is the whole reel of a film represents the “Imam Mubin”, Divine Knowledge and the movie displayed on the screen is the universe as we experience frame by frame. We usually call the frame changes in time where time actually means continuous creation in the universe where we observe the present moment in spacetime as the universe manifests to me. For the film, it may be an hour long as we experience but the whole film altogether is actually one instant representing “Be – and it is”, representing the Absolute Knowledge and Power of God. From my perspective the universe is being continuously renewed but I understand that from the Creator’s perspective, the universe is like the whole film. From my perspective the universe is continuously changing with no gap shows that the Creator of the universe must be an Absolute Being. Only an Absolute Being can create with no gap at all in creation. For example, mathematically any large number divided by infinity results in infinity. This infinity represents the Absolute Being.
“Indeed the transformation of particles are motions and meaningful vibrations that proceed according to the principles of the ‘Clear Record’ (Imam Mubin). This “Clear Record” is a title for Divine Knowledge (ilm-i-ilahi) and Divine Command or ‘Amr’ (‘kun fa yakun’), and it contains the ordered plan of the past origins and future outcomes of all things in the World of the Unseen.
These transformations are then brought into the visible realm through a kind of ‘transcription’ from the ‘Clear Book’ (Kitab Mubeen). The Clear Book is a title for Divine Power (Absolute Kudra) and Divine Will (Iradah), and it relates to the present moment and the Manifest World where the power and will actively bring things into existence.
[The world of the unseen is the frames in the film that is in Divine Knowledge but we haven’t experienced yet. This universe is the picture frame we see in time, also called the Tablet of Effacement and Reaffirmation (Lawhu’l-Mahw wa al-ithbaat).]
Thus, these motions and meaningful vibrations emerge through the ongoing writing and drawing of the words of power on the Tablet of Effacement and Reaffirmation. This tablet is a metaphorical page that represents the continuous unfolding, change and renewal of events – in other words the very reality of the flow of time.” Said Nursi (in 1926)