20- Did the universe come into existence by itself?
Question:
What is the response to the atheists’ objections against Islam, and to their belief that this universe came into existence by itself and, after various changes, took its present form?
Answer:
We answer this with the saying of Allah, the Most High, in Surah al-Tur:
أَمْ خُلِقُوا مِنْ غَيْرِ شَيْءٍ أَمْ هُمُ الْخَالِقُونَ
“Or were they created from nothing, or are they the creators (of themselves)?”
Our first question to such people is: did they come into existence from non-existence, or have they existed from the very beginning? Certainly their answer will be that at first we were not there, and we were created afterwards, as Allah, the Most High, also says:
هَلْ أَتَى عَلَى الْإِنْسَانِ حِينٌ مِنَ الدَّهْرِ لَمْ يَكُنْ شَيْئًا مَذْكُورًا
“Has there not come upon man a period of time when he was not a thing worth mentioning?”
If their answer is that we came into existence from non-existence, then our second question is: who created you? Are your parents your creators, or were you created by yourselves? Their answer will be that our parents are not our creators, because Allah, the Most High, says:
أَفَرَأَيْتُمْ مَا تُمْنُونَ أَأَنْتُمْ تَخْلُقُونَهُ أَمْ نَحْنُ الْخَالِقُونَ نَحْنُ قَدَّرْنَا بَيْنَكُمُ الْمَوْتَ وَمَا نَحْنُ بِمَسْبُوقِينَ عَلَى أَنْ نُبَدِّلَ أَمْثَالَكُمْ وَنُنْشِئَكُمْ فِي مَا لَا تَعْلَمُونَ
“Have you seen that (sperm) which you emit? Is it you who create it, or are We the Creators? It is We who have decreed death among you, and We are not to be outstripped, in that We replace you with others like you and bring you into existence anew in a form you do not know.”
If they answer that we were created without any creator, then our reply will be that this is contrary to reason, because everything has some originator, and the necessary result of this is that they certainly have a Creator, and He is Allah, the Most High, who is Self-Subsisting. The same question applies to the earth and the heavens: who is their Creator? Their Creator too is Allah, the Most High. The earth and the heavens in that state of theirs were in the form of water beneath the Throne of Allah, the Most High, as Allah, the Most High, says:
وَهُوَ الَّذِي خَلَقَ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضَ فِي سِتَّةِ أَيَّامٍ وَكَانَ عَرْشُهُ عَلَى الْمَاءِ
“And it is He who created the heavens and the earth in six days, and His Throne was upon the water.”
So Allah, the Most High, created the earth and the heavens from water. Allah, the Most High, says:
أَوَلَمْ يَرَ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا أَنَّ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضَ كَانَتَا رَتْقًا فَفَتَقْنَاهُمَا
“Have those who disbelieved not seen that the heavens and the earth were joined together, and We split them apart?”
So our answer to these atheists (the irreligious) is that if they do not change their position and remain upon their false belief, then this is nothing but the result of arrogance, and the saying of Allah, the Most High, which He said about Pharaoh and his followers, applies to them:
وَجَحَدُوا بِهَا وَاسْتَيْقَنَتْهَا أَنْفُسُهُمْ ظُلْمًا وَعُلُوًّا
“And they rejected them out of injustice and arrogance, although their souls were convinced of them.”
