Published on 28th June, 2003

Is There a God?

By Safiya A. Teja

"Recite from the book revealed to thee and offer prayers! 
Prayer restrains from the filth and evil. 
And remembrance of Allah is greatest (thing in life) without doubt and Allah knows what you do."
29:45  

Man, by creation, is a normal being. It is the intelligence of a  human being, which makes him superior to the rest of the creatures. The human mind has the power and capacity to develop through knowledge, thought and reflection. He has the power to make and invent and improve his inventions. An animal may also be said to have the power of making.

For example a bird can build his own nest easily but a man cannot do that easily, as in building his own home, and neither can an animal do the work of a man such as inventing things.

These abilities of man are due to his sense of mind, which allows him to think. All the inventions that are in the hand of man are the fruits of his thinking power. That brings to mind an event in a certain country whereby a leading daily newspaper held a gallop poll on the questions:  

As a result of this gallop poll, some of them wrote "yes", some of them wrote "no". But the majority wrote, "we have never bothered to think about God."

We here are concerned with mankind in general, so the approach to these replies will be in the reverse order.

As already proven with various examples that man has a strong sense of thinking and reasoning. Now, with the help of this sense, he has made his life more complicated, though it is very comfortable in many ways. When I say complicated, I mean he appears too occupied. No time or very little time is left with him when he can be free of his worries, cares and work. Let us appeal to his reason, the sense of responsibility he owes not only to his own self but to his fellow beings too, because of the level that he possesses. One may naturally reply;

“I know my job and my duties to others so why worry about anything more”

Our reply to him is;

“Dear Sir, you are very intelligent and wise. As you think of yourself and the duties you owe to others, why not spare some time to think over the complexities before you and about its Creator. Now when you have given it careful thought, you may agree either with those who say: "There is no God, the Creator" or with those who say "there is a God".

In this age of great haste, when everybody seems to have so little time, it must be highlighted that one must give care to the existence of God.

For example: There is an argument between two groups and one group says there is God but the other one says there is no God. Then, firstly assuming for the sake of the argument, the conclusion is: There is no God, we need to prove the existence of God. The reason we advance will be for the benefit of those who, without thinking,  have formed the belief that "there is no God".

Before proceeding any further I quote the following anecdote:

Once upon a time there was a king and he was a wise man. In his kingdom there lived many other wise men. Now some of those people would not agree to believe that God did exist, while others not only agreed but argued to the satisfaction of the king that there was ‘God’.  The king, being a wise man, arranged for a polemic between a wise man, who said there was one God and those who denied His existence.

The date and time for the polemic was fixed. The king held his court at the appointed date. The disbelievers assembled in his presence but the ‘believing’ wise man did not come at the appointed time. The people waited and waited till they lost their patience and uttered the words “he has no arguments to advance in support of his conviction, so he will not come. He has lost, we have won.

At last, the wise man arrived and there was uproar in the court of king. The people cried:

“Why are you late? You have lost!”

The king asked him to explain the cause of his delay. The believing wise man explained, saying:

“I started from my home on time, but when I came by the side of the river which I had to cross before reaching here, I did not find a single boat, by which I could cross and reach the opposite bank.”

Up to this point the disbelieving man heard him patiently and did not say a word.

The believing man then continued:

"I waited and waited till at last I saw a some planks coming out of the river". And the man began to cry:

"Oh it’s a lie! It is a lie. It is unbelievable. It is unthinkable!" Continued the believing wise man

"Plank by plank these came out of the river and then I saw the planks were cut to proper size and shaped and joined to each other with nails until they formed a boat. And then I took my seat in it and it came over to the other bank. I am late because of the delay in the availability of the boat."

Amidst a roar of the disbelieving men, the believing wise man delivered his speech. He explained the cause of delay, but the opponents would not believe him and he said:

"I observed a thing, experienced it, gave the facts but they would not believe me. It appears as something impossible to them. Now in the name of justice I ask them: do you see the earth, the sun the moon, the stars, and the skies? Everything is set according to plan. But you say it came in to existence without some Creator. In other words you deny God. How far are you justified in your statement and reasonable in your belief?"

This silenced them all and there was no answer to this. So the disbelievers lost and the believers won.

Much is written on the existence of God and can still be written. And here I want to quote another anecdote:  

A person who did not believe in God asked a wise man:

What is God?

Wise man:

Have you ever travelled in a boat?

Dis-believer:

Yes I have.

Wise man:

Was it ever wrecked?

Dis-believer:

Yes, once it was

Wise man:

Did you think at that time of a power, which could save you from drowning?

Dis-believer:

Yes I think of such a power.

Wise man:                             

Well, that power is God.

For a person who is really sensible and has the power of reasoning and it is not fixed or obstinate in such polemical debates, anecdotes prove of immense value.

At this stage it is worthwhile to point out that belief in God is not difficult for a man who has the power to think and reason out. The difficulty in essence lies in the next step, which a man has to take after his agreement to the existence of God. In the case of men living in a society having no concepts of God, he is rather more free to ‘act’. He has freedom to eat, drink and make merry for he thinks, ‘tomorrow I might die’. But the moment one believes in God, it follows that it is He, the one god, who has created man, the animals, the earth, the moon, the sun, the stars and the skies, the rivers on the earth, the oceans and their wealth, the forests and their contents are all created by Him. Moreover, the creation is with a certain aim and for a particular purpose. So at the next step after having thought that there is God, man has to think over the purpose of his own creation and the creation of all other things by Him.

And Allah (swt) says in the Quoran:

"[All] praise is God's, the Originator of the heavens and the earth,
 the Maker of the angels, messengers flying on wings, 
two, and three, and four: 
He addeth to His creation whatever He willeth; 
Verily God, over all things hath power."
35:1 
[Pooya Ahmed Ali Quoran]

So, many histories tells us that the disbelievers lose always because there is a God. Here I would like to say that I will be giving more examples on this through science also. So let’s go on. However I present many examples and many arguments on the existence of God.

According to science we have five laws- the first law says:

"Matter is permanent. It can never be destroyed nor be created."

Now, science is an organized knowledge gained by human’s observations and experiences, but it does not have its own limitations, and that is the reason why the greatest scientist had to accept the existence of a Creator. Some scientists had at first argued that matter cannot be uncreated but it can be destroyed. But this argument went against the ‘First law of matter’ all scientist now agree that according to our observation and experiences matter can neither be created or destroyed. However, as nothing can come through existence by itself without a creator so we maintain and hold that God creates matter and He can destroy it. By giving such a statement the scientist would do a great justice to himself and to his knowledge.

A man asked a wise man to prove the existence of God. Replied the wise man:

The waste of a camel prove the existence of camel, the dung of a donkey prove the existence of a donkey, 
and footprints are evidence that someone has passed from a certain way. 
So why should not this sky and the earth serve as the evidence of the existence of one who is most absurd,
 most kind and all cognizant, and he is the God.

An old woman was sitting at her spinning wheel when someone asked her:

How did you realize that there is God?

She replied:

When I drive the wheel, only then does it move, but it is still when I do not move it. 
When such is the case with the spinning wheel, how then could all these things, 
the vast skies, the sun, the moon, the stars and the earth stay and function without someone to cause these to function without someone to cause them to do so? 
One who causes these to function properly in ‘God’? 
It is on the reasoning that I have based my life in God.

Is there a God? The question must appear. But the way it can be answered may differ. Our wise men in the past have repeatedly asked this question. But the mental sense and intelligence of men who asked this question differed from one to another, and so did the reply and proofs or explanation given to them. A questioning and intelligent man desires mental satisfaction. It is, therefore, a very important question and it should be answered according to academic standards or it should be answered in the class of the questionnaire. It is the common experience of those who have received college or university education that some books prescribed for the various classes of a college or a university. Over here I would like to say that I do not have any examples of the books prescribed in the university or college.

Now in the matter of guidance from God the consideration of ones intellectual level is especially kept in view. As an example of another anecdote:

Once an uneducated man asked a wise man:

What is the proof with you that there is ‘God’ as you say and believe?

The wise man might have replied with a speech of confidence and strongly. But the uneducated man would have not been able to grasp the sense of his words. So the wise man gave a very simple reply:

In the case there is no God I do not lose anything. But if there is no God then you are put in to a great loss.

Explaining the wise man said:

In the case there is no ‘God’ neither shall I receive a reward for my good deeds nor would you receive punishment for your evil deeds. But in the case there is ‘God’ then you will certainly receive chastisement for your evil deeds.

Before we discuss the attributes of God in detail, we may point out that man by nature has a liking to bow down before one superior to him, and some in humility do bend down to such an extent that they begin to worship the object which they consider superior to them. Although the word worship is used in the sense of loyalty to a god.

Another thing that leads to submission is fear. In ancient days, man came across wild animals and poisonous snakes, so he began to worship these. Perhaps the ancient man could not imagine anything more dangerous to his life than a snake, nor could he find means of saving himself from its poisonous and deadly bite.

The third thing that make a man cow down is the hugeness of the object. This may be the sun, the moon or the stars or even trees and similar objects. The reasons why they worship these objects, the creation of Supreme Power or God, are simple. They did not or could not use their thinking power. As these objects appear frightfully large or powerful to them or confirmed some benefits on them the result was that there was natural desire, which led them to worship them.

The fourth thing that has led people to believe in some gods or to worship idols is their desires and its satisfaction. Man is surrounded with desires and has to satisfy his physical needs. He has a number of requirements. The first and the foremost thing he needs is air, next is water and afterwards is food. Now, when he came to live on this planet, history tells us he had to live on wild fruits and other things for his survival. Left alone to himself he thought that every thing he needed was controlled by a power. That power he named his deity. Thus how we find people worshipping "gods" whom they believe are in control of air, water, fire, life and death. So the discussion boils down to this. Man in one stage or the other who did realize and pay respect some power superior to him, but without divine guidance he could not conceive of one Supreme Being responsible for the creation, wealth and the whole universe.

And Allah (swt) says in the Quoran:

"And He it is who produceth gardens (of vine) trellised and untrellised, 
and date palms and tilth of various (kinds of food produce) and olives and pomegranates, 
similar (in kind) and different (in variety), 
eat ye of its fruit when it fruiteth and give ye His (God’s) share, on the day of its reaping, 
and act ye not extravagantly; Verily He loveth not the extravagant (ones)."
6:141  
[Pooya Ahmed Ali translation]

Let me quote a wise man that believed in one God and worshipped Him and Him alone. 

Says he:

 I do not worship Him because I have a longing to go to heaven, as this would be worship on the basis of business.

I do not worship Him because for fear of blame to the fire or hell and punishment, as this worshipping is like slaves.

I worship Him because He deserves to be worshipped. But this is very high concept of service due to our Lord, the Supreme Power and Creator of the universe.

Before proceeding any further without argumentation on the point that there is God and is one, as I have found and mentioned of heaven and hell by the wise man in the above anecdote, I want to quote another polemical anecdote: 

A disbeliever in God said:

There is nothing like resurrection of the dead, the assembling of the resurrected ones, the questioning of their deeds performed by them in this world and there is no paradise or hell.

Replied a wise man:

If it be as you say then you have nothing to worry about and we too have nothing to worry about. But if your beliefs prove to be untrue and our beliefs regarding resurrection and the life hereafter proves true, then you stand no chance of salvation.

The disbeliever was silent and could not reply to the wise man. So it is acknowledged by both the man of the primitive age and that of the modern man, that there is some power superior to him and to Him he must bow down and worship.

Proceeding to explain the uniqueness of one God, who might be called by any of His attributes, had there been more than one God as Creator, Sustainer and Cherisher of the universe, then they must either be all equal in power and excellence or unequal; and they would either all be in agreement over every matter great and small, or they would disagree among themselves.

Now supposing the" gods", so imagined, are unequal, then the most powerful and most excellent of these is alone capable of being regarded as "god", while all the others must be inferior to him.

Again, supposing they are all imagined as equal in all respects and they are believed to be perfect in all their intentions and actions, then their individuality would not be obvious and belief in the separate entities would be additional. On the other hand, if all these imagined deities were not obvious, then one of them would incline to act in one particular way while the other [or others] would prefer to act differently. The result would be disorder in the universe.

But instead of disorder, we observe all things have been moving smoothly in the universe. Therefore I must conclude that there is one God and only God the Creator and the Lord of all that exists, and that He is the Supreme and a Guide to us. The vastness of the universe, the unchanging laws of nature, the unity and diversity and the diversities themselves and the limitless varieties in the creation, all governed by a Master of system, these reflections by an abandoned mind led to beyond doubt to the belief in God.

At the end, we know that there is one God who is the Most Merciful and the Master of the World and He is the One who will do justice on the Day of Judgment.