4e. Oneness of Allah as the Absolute Creator and Sustainer ...... continue

TAUHIID AL-KHALIQIYYAH WA-RUBUBIYYAH

Attestation to the Oneness of Allah as the Absolute Creator and Sustainer

REFLECTION

وَفِى ٱلۡأَرۡضِ ءَايَـٰتٌ۬ لِّلۡمُوقِنِينَ

وَفِىٓ أَنفُسِكُمۡ‌ۚ أَفَلَا تُبۡصِرُونَ

"And on earth there are Signs (of Allah's existence, visible) to all who are endowed with inner certainty, just as (there are signs) thereof within your ownselves: can you not then see? "

( Qur'an: Az-Dzariyat: 51 : 20-21 )

From the previous class, we have come to realise that our existence is not accidental, but is a product created (designed) by One Who is Most Wise. And that by the obvious complexity and beauty of our own nature, the perfect coordination that is required for our whole body to survive and continue to survive, all of which is inevitable proof of the Oneness of Allah s.w.t., our Creator and Sustainer. Should we not then be grateful to Him?

In analysing, Allah s.w.t. does not want us to be man-centred in our outlook. Allah, the Creator and Sustainer of the Universe invites man to observe His other greater Signs.

Man is just a small part of the whole creation

لَخَلۡقُ ٱلسَّمَـٰوَٲتِ وَٱلۡأَرۡضِ أَڪۡبَرُ مِنۡ خَلۡقِ ٱلنَّاسِ وَلَـٰكِنَّ

أَڪۡثَرَ ٱلنَّاسِ لَا يَعۡلَمُونَ

وَمَا يَسۡتَوِى ٱلۡأَعۡمَىٰ وَٱلۡبَصِيرُ

"Greater indeed than the creation of man is the creation of the heavens and the earth: yet most man do not understand (what this implies.) But (then), the blind and the seeing are not equal."

( Qur'an: Ghafir 40 : 57 )

سَنُرِيهِمۡ ءَايَـٰتِنَا فِى ٱلۡأَفَاقِ وَفِىٓ أَنفُسِہِمۡ حَتَّىٰ يَتَبَيَّنَ

لَهُمۡ أَنَّهُ ٱلۡحَقُّ‌ۗ أَوَلَمۡ يَكۡفِ بِرَبِّكَ أَنَّهُ ۥ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَىۡءٍ۬ شَہِيدٌ

"Soon will We show them Our signs in the furthest regions (of the universe) and in their own souls, until it become manifest to them that this is the Truth. Is it not enough that thy Lord doth witness all things? "

( Qur'an: Fussilat: 41: 53 )

ٱلَّذِى خَلَقَ سَبۡعَ سَمَـٰوَٲتٍ۬ طِبَاقً۬ا‌ۖ

مَّا تَرَىٰ فِى خَلۡقِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ مِن تَفَـٰوُتٍ۬‌ۖ فَٱرۡجِعِ ٱلۡبَصَرَ

هَلۡ تَرَىٰ مِن فُطُورٍ۬

ثُمَّ ٱرۡجِعِ ٱلۡبَصَرَ كَرَّتَيۡنِ يَنقَلِبۡ إِلَيۡكَ ٱلۡبَصَرُ

خَاسِئً۬ا وَهُوَ حَسِيرٌ۬

"(Hallowed be) He Who has created seven heavens in full harmony with one another,­ no fault will thou see in the creation of the Most Gracious. And turn thy vision (upon it) once more, canst thou see any flaw?"

( Q : Mulk: 67: 3 -4 )

* In the Arabic usage, - as in other Semitic languages as well- the number "seven"' is often synonymous with "several" (see Lisanul Arab). The term "sama' " ("heaven" or "sky”) is applied to anything that is spread like a canopy above any other thing. Thus, the visible skies which stretch like a vault above the earth and form, as it were, its canopy, are called "sama' ": and this is the primary meaning of this term in the Qur’an in a wider sense, it has the connotation of "cosmic system". Thus, taken together with the accepted linguistic definition, "seven heavens" denotes the multiplicity of cosmic system.


From Inner to Outer

Because our awareness is limited to ourselves and our immediate surroundings, we tend to regard the entire creations of Allah s.w.t. within this limitation and therefore fail to fully grasp the Might of Allah, the One Absolute Creator and Sustainer. With our given faculties, we are invited to survey the vast universe in which confirmation of the Oneness of Allah, the Creator and Sustainer is ever manifested. Allah s.w.t. hints at the full harmony and the perfect order which is an inevitable indication of this Truth. See and reflect. The simple statement of the Qur'an is in actual fact very profound to those who have knowledge of the universe. For many of us although we may know about the sun, the moon and the stars yet this knowledge of ours is simply a superficial awareness; lacking depth. It is like a man standing beside a deep ravine at night without knowing how deep and dangerous it is, therefore lacking true awareness. But, when the deep ravine becomes apparent at daybreak, it sent chills down our spine especially fearing for our safety. Thus knowledge, like Astronomy is relevant and important as a means towards realization of Tauhiid, the knowledge of certainty.

Let us examine the evidence from Astronomy

Twinkle, twinkle little star?

We are not quite aware of the vastness of the universe. Many of us have seen and have described the stars as "twinkling little star." Our short-sightedness does not help us to really feel the grandeur of Allah's creation. Studies in astronomy show that the number of stars in the sky is as numerous as all the grains of sand on all the seashores of our planet, many stars being vastly greater in size than our earth, some even are so enormous that each has the girth the size of which can contain hundreds of thousand of earths inside them and still have room to spare! A few of them are even big enough to contain millions of earths!

How vast is the Universe?

Astronomers estimate that the universe consists of five hundred million galaxies. Each galaxy contains about 100,0000 stars. The nearest galaxy i.e. our galaxy, the Milky Way, which is partially visible at night, measures in 100,000 light years across. (Light travels at 186,282 miles per second. And a light year means that it would require one year travelling at this speed to cover that distance!!) We, on earth are 30,000 light years way from the centre of this galaxy. This galaxy in turn forms part of an even larger super-galaxy within which 17 galaxies similar to ours are in perpetual motion. The entire cluster is 2 million light years in diameter.

Ever expanding

وَٱلسَّمَآءَ بَنَيۡنَـٰهَا بِأَيۡيْدٍ۬ وَإِنَّا لَمُوسِعُونَ

"And it is We who have-built the universe with (Our creative) power; and, verily, it is We who are steadily expanding it _ "

( Qur'an: Az-Dzariyat: 51 :47 )

We are told that the size of the universe is not static but expanding every moment in all directions. So rapid is this expansion that according to an estimate by Sir Arthur Stanley Eddington (1882-1944), noted British physicist and astronomer, every 1300 million years, all the distances in this universe are doubled. This estimation of the vastness of the universe is based on Einstein's theory of relativity. But this is just a mathematician's guess. The truth is man has yet to comprehend the vastness of the universe.

Ever moving in harmony

The innumerable stars are continuously moving at extraordinary speeds. Some moving singly, some in groups of two or more, while innumerable stars are grouped in constellations. Have you not seen dust particles in a darken room when you allow a small ray of light to shine through. Now imagine on a much larger scale! The difference is that dust particles collide and move in combination whereas stars, notwithstanding their enormous numbers are at immeasurable distances from each other and follow their respective courses. Apart from this, the stars have their planets orbiting around it, and their respective satellites or moon are also perpetually in motion following their fixed orbits aroung the planets. Each planet also is rotating at incredible speed on its own axis.

It is amazing that all this motion is going on with a remarkable organization and regularity. Neither do the stars collide, nor does their speed alter. The revolution of our earth around the sun, its rotation around its axis and the movement of the moon around it, all are precisely timed.

According to astronomical calculations, it has frequently happened that entire galactic systems consisting of millions and millions of moving stars have entered other galactic systems and have passed right through them without colliding. In the face of all these evidence, human intellect is left with no option but to accept that this is not a self -organised system, left to “chance”. On the contrary it must be by a unique Power which set them up and maintain such boundless and infinitely varied system.

لَوۡ كَانَ فِيہِمَآ ءَالِهَةٌ إِلَّا ٱللَّهُ لَفَسَدَتَا‌ۚ

فَسُبۡحَـٰنَ ٱللَّهِ رَبِّ ٱلۡعَرۡشِ عَمَّا يَصِفُونَ

"If there were in the heavens and the earth other gods besides Allah there would have been confusion in both! But limitless in His glory is Allah, enthroned in His awesome almightiness (far) above anything men may devise by way of definition!"

( Qur'an: Anbiya 21:22 )

SUBHA- NALLAAH ( سُبْحـانَ اللهِ ) , ALHAM- DULILLAAH ( الحمدُ لله ) , LAA - lLAAHA- ILLALLAH ( لا إلهَ إلاّ اللّهُ ), ALLAAHU AKBAR ( اللهُ أكْـبر )

Glory be Allah! All Prises is for Allah! There is no god except Allah! All is Greater (to whatever that can be coceived)!

- WABILLAAHI TAUFIQ WAL HIDAYAH

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SUBHAANALLAAH!

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The Known Universe takes viewers from the Himalayas through our atmosphere and the inky black of space to the afterglow of the Big Bang. Every star, planet, and quasar seen in the film is possible because of the world's most complete four-dimensional map of the universe, the Digital Universe Atlas that is maintained and updated by astrophysicists at the American Museum of Natural History. The new film, created by the Museum, is part of an exhibition, Visions of the Cosmos: From the Milky Ocean to an Evolving Universe, at the Rubin Museum of Art in Manhattan through May 2010.

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