Have you ever pondered on the existence of the universe and everything it contains? It becomes clear that everything has one single, uncreated Creator. Without Him, nothing would have been created.

Common sense tells us that everything in the universe that has a beginning, must also have a cause. Imagine you are standing at the end of a row of perfectly lined up dominoes. You hear the familiar sound of domino blocks toppling over and you witness with your own eyes each domino knocking down its neighbour, until finally, right before your feet the last domino lies flat on the ground.

Logically, you know this neatly ordered array of dominoes did not randomly appear out of nowhere. If I told you “the wind blew, some rain fell, lightning struck, and bang! – the chain of dominoes magically materialised”, would you believe me? I certainly hope not. Your common sense also tells you the dominoes did not create themselves. Imagine I said to you, “the last domino was procreated by the one before it, which was procreated by the one before it, which was procreated by the one before it, (and so on and so forth) … In fact, this chain of dominoes goes on forever, and there is no beginning domino”. You’d tell me I was mad! In other words, you know that someone or something set it up. You also know that this instigator must be independent of, and possess greater force and intelligence than the domino chain. In order to get the process in motion, there must be a beginning, and there must have been a first domino block to fall (1).

The same line of thought can be applied to the universe. Since the universe began to exist, it necessitates ‘a beginner’. To say the universe materialised arbitrarily is nonsensical and implausible. In fact, it goes against all intuition.

In the book of the Creator’s verbatim words, we are asked to reflect upon this reality:

“Were they created by nothing, or were they themselves the creator? Or did they create the heavens and the earth? Nay, but they have no firm belief.”

(Qur’an 52:35 – 36)

Based on these verses, there are three possible explanations for the existence of the universe:

Without any instigator to bring it into existence, the universe appeared from nothing.
Humans created the universe (and thereby themselves).
The universe has a Creator.

The first theory is impossible. Intuition and experience tell us that all effects have causes. All the things we witness in life have explanations at some level. As for the second theory – that humans created themselves and the universe – this can easily be dismissed as ludicrous. Humans are simply not capable of creating or maintaining an entire universe. This leaves us with the third option; the universe was brought into existence by something greater and more powerful than itself (2).

One does not need a degree in Philosophy to understand that things exist because they are caused to exist by something else. The universe itself is a vast sequence of causes and effects. Using common sense and reason, we can conclude that the universe had an original cause that set it all in motion. This mysterious cause must be independent of the universe, and possess force greater than the universe in order to bring it into being (2).

It is important to understand that God is distinct from and greatly different from the universe. This is beautifully articulated in one of the shortest chapters of the Qur’an:

Say: “He is God, the One and Unique;
God, Who is need of none and of Whom all are in need;
He does not give birth, nor was He born,
and none is comparable to Him.”

(Qur’an 112: 1-4)

Whilst we are limited by time, matter and space, God is the one who created these limitations, and by definition transcends them. “Who created God?” is a question which assumes God is a finite, created entity like you and I, whereas in fact, God is infinite, eternal, uncreated and necessary. Everything else is contingent on the existence of God. God is the only uncreated being. Without God, nothing would have been created (3).

(To be continued)
Author: Marian Stevenson

References

Tzortzis, Hamza Andreas. The Divine Reality: God, Islam & The Mirage of Atheism. s.l. : FB Publishing, 2016.
“The Case for Allah’s Existence in the Quran and Sunnah”. Parrot, Justin. s.l. : Yaqeen Institute for Islamic Research, 2017.
Tzortzis, Hamza. “Who created God?”. Sapience Institute for Islamic Thought and Education. [Online] 2021.