The Prophet of Mercy Website

The following are established facts and principles that all rational people agree upon:

1. The invalidity of determination without a determining factor.

2. The invalidity of an infinite sequence.

3. The invalidity of the vicious circle.

4. The law of causality.

1. The invalidity of determination without a determining factor.

This universe that is in existence must fall under one of three possibilities with respect to the nature of its existence:

1. Its existence is necessary.

2. Its existence is impossible.

3. Its existence is possible.

The first of these possibilities is false, because that would imply that the universe could never cease to exist. We can witness created things being born and dying, coming into existence and disappearing. Thus, there is no reason why the whole universe cannot perish.

The second possibility is equally false, because we can see for ourselves that the universe exists. Its existence is clearly not impossible.

The third possibility is the only one left: that the existence of the universe falls in the realm of possible things. It exists for sure, but it could just as well not have come into existence. The fact that it exists shows that there must be an outside determining factor that brought it into existence.

If someone were to say: “Maybe the universe brought itself into existence”, we would respond that this requires that a determination took place without a determining factor. If it brought itself into existence, then its existence would have to be necessary, but it clearly is not, since its nonexistence is also possible. This requires that some outside force was needed of a nature completely different than that of the universe.

If someone were to say: “Maybe some power other than Allah brought it into existence”, we would respond that the falsehood of this claim should be seen from the remaining proofs.

2. The invalidity of an infinite sequence.

The possibility that the universe was created by another force besides Allah is completely false, because it leads to an infinite sequence of causes stretching into the past. Its conceptualization would be that of an uninterrupted sequence of possibilities stretching into the past without the mind ever arriving at a point where it can settle down and decree that it has reached the beginning.

So, if someone were to say: “It is possible that some other force besides Allah brought the universe into existence.”

We would say to him: “Who, then, brought this hypothetical originator into existence?” If he were then to say: “Another originator brought it into existence.”

We would say: “This leads to a chain of causation that stretches backwards into infinity, which is false and invalid. Therefore, this sequence of events must terminate at some point with a being whose existence is necessary, existing without needing something else to bring it into existence. This being is the Divine Being.”

3. The invalidity of the vicious circle.

The vicious circle is the idea that the existence of one thing is dependent on another that in turn is ultimately dependent on the first. This is obviously false, invalid, and contrary to reason. An example of this would be to say that the egg depends upon the chicken for its existence, and the chicken in turn depends upon the egg for its existence. If this were the case, then it would be impossible for either the chicken or the egg to come into existence. This is what is meant by the “vicious circle.”

If someone were to say: “The universe has a beginning and has an initial cause, except that this cause that brought it about is no more than the spontaneous, inherent reactions of its primordial particles that continued for millions of years until ultimately resulting in the universe that we have now. In other words, its own nature brought it into existence.”

We would respond by saying: “What, then, is the initial cause that brought these interacting, primordial particles into existence in the first place? And what is the cause of these spontaneous reactions?”

If he were to say: “The particles themselves are the cause, meaning that they came into being on their own then interacted to produce the universe.”

We would say to him: “This is that very vicious circle that is rationally impossible. You have made something the cause for the existence of something else, and then made that thing in turn the cause for the existence of the first. This is because when it was in the state of absolute nothingness, its existence depended upon it coming out of that nothingness. Then, when it came out of that state it became the cause of its own existence.”

Then we would say to him: “You, yourself, said that the universe has a beginning, that it did not exist eternally in the past, so how can something that has a beginning be the cause of its own existence when it previously did not exist, and when absolute nothingness can never bring anything else into existence. Something cannot at the same time be both the creator and the thing that was created.”

4. The Law of Causality.

The determination of things and the order that exists in the universe both indicate that there was a cause for – and wisdom behind – that determination and order. It is unreasonable to assume that a cause for something or the wisdom behind it could exist without there being an influencing and directing factor for both of them. If we were to say that the Sun came into existence by mere coincidence without there being behind it any wisdom, and that every function that it performs to facilitate the existence of life are the products of pure chance and coincidence, no one would doubt – even in this day and age – that we were afflicted by insanity. Likewise, if we were to say to a specialist in internal medicine that the organs of the human body like the brain, liver, and pancreas, came into existence by mere coincidence and became ready to fulfill their specialized functions by chance, he would not doubt for a moment that we were devoid of our senses.

So, if we would take objection to the idea that these particulars could have come about by coincidence, then how can we possibly believe someone who says that the universe in its entirety came into existence by coincidence, and that the order within it has no reasoning or directing force behind it? And how can we believe someone who says that all the events that occur in the universe that result from specific causes and all the wisdom resulting from what is carried out by the various entities within it came about coincidentally without these results being deliberately intended?

Is it reasonable to assume that this universe with its miraculous order, arrangement, and precision came about in vain, and that all this precision and detail is the result of mere coincidence?

The one who believes this might as well believe someone who tells him that if we take six monkeys and give each of them a typewriter, then wait a few million years, one of them might produce for us one of Shakespeare’s sonnets. Would anyone in his right mind believe that?

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