By Ishola Balogun

“What is the matter with you, that you are not conscious of Allah’s majesty, seeing that it is He Who has created you in diverse stages? See you not how Allah has created the seven heavens one above another, and made the moon a light in their midst, and made the sun as a (glorious) lamp? And Allah has produced you from the earth, growing (gradually)” (71:13-17).

When God created the world, He provided that the forces of nature should operate according to the pattern that He prescribed. This will inevitably and perfectly as it were, continue  with the prescription of God (Allah). The world of nature has no choice but to obey His eternal decrees, and in the course of doing so, it at the same time illustrate them, explicitly disclosing these signs for those who have the wisdom to decipher it.

For those who could not, God becomes hidden as far as their intellect can grasp and therefore, they cannot see Him in the real perspective. Contrastively, one would not stop to think that the hidden nature of God (Allah) Al-batin has absolutely nothing hidden from Him. He sees and observes all the multifarious actions of man at all times whether in the open or secret.

Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w) said, “You are the First, so that there is nothing before You; You are the Last, so that there is nothing after You; You are the Evident so that there is nothing above You; You are the Hidden, the Knower of the hidden things, so that there is nothing hidden from You.”

The existence of everything including man and the creation of the entire universe are not merely by accident or products of a fortuitous nature but a perfect arrangement of the creator.  Accordingly, every single atom in the universe manifests the attributes of God and is subject to His will.

The quintessence of studying these attributes is to grasp a better understanding of God (Allah), who He is and how He works in order to know how best to serve Him. Obviously, His designs, signs as well as His Majesty and Might are quite amazing and therefore instructive to any one who desire to know Him. Although plants and non-living things, unlike human beings, lack spiritual and mental attributes, but they are subjected to the ordinances of God at all time.

No matter how ripe a leaf is on the tree, it will never fall from the tree unless by the leave of God. Honour, adoration and magnificence be unto HIM.  The act of creation, therefore, is frequently spoken of as a way of drawing the reader into thinking about the order in all things, and the All-Knowing Creator Who is behind it all.

“Verily in the heavens and the earth are signs for those who believe. And in the creation of yourselves, and the fact that animals are scattered (through the earth), are signs for those of assured faith. And in the alternation of night and day, and that fact that Allah sends down sustenance from the sky (in the form of rain and sunshine) and revives therewith the earth after its death, and in the change of the winds, are signs for those who are wise” (45:3-5).

In fact, the Quran says that “the heavens and the earth were joined together as one unit, before “We clove them asunder” (21:30). Following this big explosion and those who believe in the ‘big bang’ concept, Allah “turned to the sky, and it had been (as) smoke. He said to it and to the earth: ‘Come together, willingly or unwillingly.’

They said: ‘We come (together) in willing obedience’” (41:11). Thus the elements and what was to become the planets and stars began to cool, come together, and form into shape, following the natural laws that Allah established in the universe.

The Quran further states that Allah created the sun, the moon, and the planets, each with their own individual courses or orbits. “It is He Who created the night and the day, and the sun and the moon; all (the celestial bodies) swim along, each in its rounded course” (21:33).

But that is not to say that Allah ended the process of creation even after the six-day creation process. Each new child who is born, every seed that sprouts into a sapling, every new specie that appears on earth, is part of the ongoing process of Allah’s creation.

“He it is Who created the heavens and the earth in six days, then established Himself on the Throne. He knows what enters within the heart of the earth, and what comes forth out of it, what comes down from heaven, and what mounts up to it. And He is with you wherever you may be. And Allah sees well all that you do” (57:4).

The life of human beings began with the creation of two people, a male and a female named Adam and Hawwa (Eve).The Quran describes how Allah created Adam: “We created man from sounding clay, from mud moulded into shape…” (15:26). And, “He began the creation of man from clay, and made his progeny from a quintessence of fluid” (32:7-8). Human beings are considered as a special act of creation.

Allah created man in a special way, with unique gifts and abilities unlike any other: a soul and conscience, knowledge, and free will.  From the citation of Sahih Muslim, Chapter 1155, The beginning of creation and the creation of Adam, Hadith No. 6707:  Abu Huraira reported that Allah’s Messenger (s.a.w) took hold of his hands and said:

Allah the Exalted and Glorious, created the clay on Saturday and He created the mountains on Sunday and He created the trees on Monday and He created the things entailing labour on Tuesday and created light on Wednesday and He caused animals to spread on Thursday and created Adam (a.s) after ‘Asr on Friday; the last creation at the last hour of the hours of Friday, ie. Between afternoon and night.

Even at that, no human being is so special in the sight of Allah except he that does HIS wish, worship him and keep HIS commandments. “Verily the most honoured among you in the sight of Allah is the who is the most righteous of you. And Allah has full knowledge and is well acquainted (with all things)” (49:13).