The First Rule: “Nothingness cannot do anything”

The evidence from the Qur’an is the verse: “Were they created of nothing, or were they themselves the creators? Or did they create the heavens and the earth? Nay, they have no firm belief.” (LII: 35-36)

This rule is used to discredit those who deny the existence of the Creator (SWT). This is a common rule acknowledged by all sane people. No non-Muslim atheistic researcher, or cosmologist was disputed with about this rule but acknowledged its validity.[1] The rule is based on the fact that “there is no deed without a doer, and no manufactured article without a manufacturer.” No reasonable person would believe that the chair on which he is sitting is the work of nothingness and it has no maker. If we think of the created things around us, such as humans, plants and animals, the alternation of night and day, the phenomena of winds and rain, we know that all of them existed after they had been non-existent. Who then created them? Is it nothingness?

If the human intellect refuses the notion that the chair you are sitting on has been made by nothingness though it is less important than these created things, it is more acceptable to reject the idea that it is nothingness that has created all created things. Allah (SWT) says: “Most surely in the heavens and the earth there are signs for the believers. Also in your creation, and the creation of all the animals, there are proofs for people who have Yaqin (firm belief). Also, the alternation of the night and the day, and the provisions that Allah sends down from the sky to revive dead lands, and the manipulation of the winds; all these are proofs for people who understand. These are the Signs of Allah which We recite unto you (Muhammad) with truth. Then in what fact, after Allah and His Signs, will they believe?” (XLV: 3-6)

Al-Shaikh al-Zindani, interpreting these verses, says:

1.     In the heavens: Astronomy.

2.     And the earth: Geology.

3.     And in your creation: Medicine.

4.     And the creation of all animals: Zoology.

5.     The alteration of night and day: Meteorology.

6.      And the provisions that Allah sends down from the sky: Meteorology.

Then he comments on the last verse, saying: “What comes down from the sky is real provision. If we should weigh the provision produced by a cultivated land, you would find it heaver than the soil consumed. Whence then is this increase in weight? Air contains nitrogen that equals 4/5 its size, and when lightning occurs the nitrogen combines with the oxygen to form a substance that is dissolved in water to produce the best fertilizer ever known in earth. This fertilizer fertilizes the soil and thus it is provision send down from the sky.”[2]

Then who has created the sky with all its galaxies; who has created the earth and subjected it for the good of humans; who created man, animals, plants, seas and mountains, etc? Who has created all these things with such unmatched precision and wisdom? Can it be nothingness? Of course it is not nothingness. If there should exist somebody that thinks that nothingness, chance or nature has created all these things, he would be a stubborn person that does not have a single proof.

Allah (SWT) says about such people: “And they rejected them (those Signs) in iniquity and arrogance, though their souls were convinced thereof. Then see the nature of the consequence for the wrong-doers!” (XXVII: 14) So, self-importance and arrogance diverted them from belief. Allah (SWT) says: “I will divert from My revelations those who are arrogant on earth, without justification. Consequently, when they see every kind of proof they will not believe. And when they see the path of guidance they will not adopt it as their path, but when they see the path of straying they will adopt it as their path. This is the consequence of their rejecting our proofs, and being totally heedless thereof.” (VII: 146)

Among such creatures was Satan, whose arrogance prevented him from obeying Allah when He ordered him to fall prostrate to Adam (peace be upon him). Consequently he was dismissed from the Mercy of his Lord (SWT).