An expectant mother goes to the doctor for an ultrasound.
In the meantime, her two embryos are talking to each other.
Embryo 2: No, I am an atheist!
Source: Brother Hamza Tzortzis
We may not be able to see God but He exists. All sciences and signs point inevitably toward His direction. When we reflect upon our own existence we will come to realize, that at some point in time, we began to exist. We had a "birth" day. Since we were once non-existent and are now in existence, it follows that we must have had a beginning. In light of this, we can make some interesting points: we did not come out of nothing because from nothing, nothing comes; we obviously did not create ourselves so there must be a cause or Creator of our existence.
Because the universe had a beginning...
The second law of thermodynamics strongly suggests that the universe had a beginning. Entropy was introduced to explain the direction of various processes that occur in the natural world. Entropy is a measure of how evenly energy is distributed in a system. For example, heat always flows from a body of a higher temperature to one of a lower temperature. In a closed system, energy is always seeking equilibrium. Applying the second law of thermodynamics to the universe we will conclude that with enough time the universe will suffer a heat death or thermodynamic equilibrium. This is because entropy only increases over time. Therefore, as the universe continues to expand it will eventually become cold and dead. If the universe was infinite, it would have already reached equilibrium. But the fact that it hasn't, indicates that the universe is finite and it is gradually moving towards heat death, i.e. global warming has made North America a much warmer continent and Eastern regions of the world are increasingly cooler (snow in many Middle Eastern cities).
Some philosophers like Bertrand Russell argue that the universe is infinite, meaning it has no beginning and it will never end. However if we think about this we will conclude that this position is irrational. Does "infinite" even possible in the real world? If this blog article had an infinite number of paragraphs and I deleted 2 paragraphs, how many paragraphs will there be? Infinite or infinity minus 2? If it is infinity minus 2 then it isn't infinity is it - because I can count it! So the concept of infinity cannot be export to real life examples because it leads to contradictions and it doesn't make any sense. German mathematician David Hilbert said, "The infinite is nowhere to be found in reality. It neither exists in nature nor provides a legitimate basis for rational thought…the role that remains for the infinite to play is solely that of an idea." Similarly the ancient Greek Philosopher Aristotle explained, "…the infinite is potential, never actual." So the idea that the universe is a infinite does not make any sense because the universe is not an idea, it is series of real life calculable events.
The universe began with the Big Bang. Edwin Hubble, an American Astronomer formulated through a series of observations while trying to understand the size of the universe. He observed that the Cepheid Variables (stars) were further away than initially anticipated, and that their colour was changing to red (red-shift). From this we were able to conclude the universe is effectively expanding. As time moves on the universe will continue to expand, but if time was reversed, the theory is that the universe will shrink, it will collapse and come together. Instead of the Big Bang, we'll have a Big Crunch. In other words the universe began at a cataclysmic event which created space, time, energy and matter all at once. John Gribbin, an astrophysicist at Cambridge University, commenting on the importance of the ‘Big Bang’ said “…it is the discovery of the century, in cosmology at least, was without doubt the dramatic discovery made by Hubble, and confirmed by Einstein’s equations, that the Universe is not eternal, static, and unchanging.” This follows C.W. Davies question, “What caused the big bang? . . . One might consider some supernatural force, some agency beyond space and time as being responsible for the big bang.... It seems to me that we don’t have too much choice. It must be…something outside of the physical world….”
Because the universe did not create itself...
This nicely segues into my next point, what caused the Big Bang? Is it something really supernatural and outside the physical world? Or did the universe create itself? Everything happened on its no, there is no cause to the universe? We know the universe could not have come out of nothing, because out of nothing, nothing comes! This is an undeniable philosophical principle, as P. J. Zwart said, "If there is anything we find inconceivable it is that something could arise from nothing." But some physicists argue that the universe came out of the quantum vacuum. But the quantum vacuum is not nothing, it is actually something; a sea of fluctuating energy, which is part of the universe. The quantum vacuum does not pre-exist the universe, it came into existence along with and at the same time as the universe. So philosophically, the universe could not have created itself because that would imply a paradox. It would mean that the universe can exist and not exist at the same time. It is like saying your mother gave birth to herself. Thats absurd and self-refuting isn't it? So how can the universe create itself? How can it exist before it existed?
Since the universe had a beginning and it did not come out of nothing or create itself, the best explanation is that the universe must have been created or brought into existence by an uncaused entity. This cause or Creator must be uncaused due to the absurdity of an infinite regress. To illustrate this better, if the cause of the universe had a cause and that cause had a cause ad infinitum, then there wouldn’t be a universe to talk about in the first place. For example, imagine if a Stock Trader on a trading floor at the Stock Exchange was not able to buy or sell his stocks or bonds before asking permission from the investor, and then this investor had to check with his, and this went on forever, would the Stock Trader every buy or sell his stocks or bonds? The answer is no. Or imagine you are a soldier ready to fire a gun, but before you shoot you have to ask permission for the soldier behind you, but he has to do the same, and it goes on for infinity. Will you ever shoot? No you wouldn’t. In similar light if we apply this to the universe we would have to posit an uncaused cause due to this rational necessity. The Qur'an confirms that the Creator of the universe is uncaused. “He neither begets nor is born.” (112:3)
Because the universe was created by a cause....
The cause or Creator for the universe must be a single cause for several reasons. Occam’s razor enjoins that we do not multiply entities beyond necessity. In other words, we should stick to explanations that do not create more questions than it answers. In the context of the cause for the universe we have no evidence to claim multiplicity, in other words more than one. The Qur’an affirms the Oneness of the Creator, “Say: He is God, [who is] One.” (112:1)
The cause or Creator must be non contingent meaning that its existence is dependent on nothing but itself. The Qur’an verifies this, “God is Independent of (all) creatures.” (112:2) He is free of need, Self-Sustaining. He gives life to and supports the universe.
The cause or Creator must also be transcendent, this means that the cause of the universe must exist outside of and apart from the universe. This is confirmed in the Qur’an, “There is nothing like unto Him, and He is the Hearing, the Seeing” (42:11) and "Indeed, your Lord is Allāh, who created the heavens and earth in six days and then established Himself above the Throne. He covers the night with the day, [another night] chasing it rapidly; and [He created] the sun, the moon, and the stars, subjected by His command. Unquestionably, His is the creation and the command; blessed is Allāh, Lord of the worlds." (7:54)
This cause must have the power to create the universe. The Qur’an testifies to the Creator’s power, "Blessed is He in Whose Hand is dominion, and He is over all things competent - [He] who created death and life to test you [as to] which of you is best in deed - and He is the Exalted in Might, the Forgiving" (67:1-2)
So the Creator for the universe exists, He is one, All powerful, uncaused and immaterial.
Stop for a moment and observe your surroundings. "Indeed, in the creation of the heavens and earth, and the alternation of the night and the day, and the [great] ships which sail through the sea with that which benefits people, and what Allāh has sent down from the heavens of rain, giving life thereby to the earth after its lifelessness and dispersing therein every [kind of] moving creature, and [His] directing of the winds and the clouds controlled between the heaven and the earth are signs for a people who use reason." (2:164) What causes the alternation of night and day? Who made the sun and the moon? Why does the wind blow? How does it rain? Where does life come from? What is the origin and source of this phenomena? Lets reflect upon our own being. Descartes said, ‘I think, therefore I am…’ But who is this ‘I’? Where did 'I' come from? Who 'caused' me? Allah, the cause and Creator of the universe says, He "made the sperm-drop into a clinging clot, and made the clot into a lump [of flesh], and ... made [from] the lump, bones, and ... covered the bones with flesh; then... developed him into another creation. So blessed is Allāh, the best of creators." (23:14)
I am a Believer =) alhamdulillah
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