In
the lives of devout Muslims, a day never passes by without every one of
them using the Arabic phrase, Insha -Allah (God So Willing), at the end
of the conversation about future events. Without an understanding of
the meaning of this Arabic phrase, God's relationship with His
creatures, the concept of creation, and the role of free will cannot
bring into human comprehension. It is also not possible to counter
materialists with a rational internally consistent argument against
their exclusion of God in the evolution of life and the universe.
Materialist scientists argue that biological evolution is an "inherently
mindless purposeless process.[1] They preach that impersonal laws rule
the universe and atoms are at work in the operation of life.
Biologist
Richard Dawkins, anti-God extremist, insists that contingency and
natural selection, operating over a long period of time, account for
evolution. Dawkins assumes that blind forces of physics and natural
selection are sufficient to explain the origin and expansion of life. [2
& 3] He asserts that the unfolding of life is the result of selfish
desires of genes to increase their opportunities for survival and
reproduction. Similar fanaticism prevails among other practitioners and
admirers of science, who argue that there is no reason to include God
in the evolution of life.
Another extremist states, "...materialism is absolute [and] we cannot allow a Divine Foot in the door."[4]
Such
fanaticism stems from an absolute faith in the law of causality, which
most people acknowledge. A given cause always produces the same
effect--gravity always pulls an apple down to the earth; spring season
melts snow; drought brings destruction of crops. Chemical reactions in
any organism, amoeba or human, are explainable by the same laws of
physics and chemistry that govern the universe.
Based
on causality, scientists maintain that the future is predetermined and
can be predictable through accurate knowledge of past causes. The laws
of nature, they argue, are invariant and scientific observation of the
past is the product of those laws. Consequently, any natural event that
departs from the anticipated effect of a uniform cause is classified as
an "accident." However, scientific predictions, based on observation
of matter and invariant laws of nature, are limited by their own
earlier conclusions and experiences.
John
F. Haught's novel and outstanding treatise, God After Darwin, helped me
develop a better understanding of Islam and the concept of creation
described in the Qur'an.[5] Since I view his mode of thought as much
Islamic as his belief system, I shall apply his metaphysics to an
Islamic context. Science peers into nature to gather data from atoms to
stars, amoeba to man, fungus to maple tree or from any other phenomena
of our universe. Science has separately cataloged the collected data
using terminology such as paleontology, comparative anatomy,
biogeography, embryology, molecular genetics and others such names. The
materialist claim, that the unfolding of life as a "purposeless mindless
process," is based upon inferences from catalogued extrapolations of
past experiences. John F. Haught called materialistic metaphysics
"metaphysics of the past."[6]
With
unflinching and, on the surface contradictory faith that God created
everything, many Muslims also believe that the past determines the
future. In the Islamic universe, unlike that catalogued by materialist
science, the past and the present are not the creators of the future
and neither can humans or any other creatures because "...Allah is the
creator of everything, ... (Qur'an 13:16)."[7]
Even
creations that we boast are our own emanated from Allah. The Qur'an
states, "And God created you and what you make (The Qur'an 37:96)."[8]
Allah created everything--computers, airplanes, cars and even the atom. A
few important questions Muslims might ask are: If Allah is the creator
of what humans make, is He not also the creator of their good and bad
deeds? Why should there be reward for the pious and retribution for the
impious if Allah is the source of our actions? If Allah has sealed the
hearts of disbelievers from receiving His guidance, (Qur'an 2:7) why
does He hold them accountable for their actions on the Day of Judgment?
We will answer those questions a little later.
The
experienced past is irretrievable, the present is only a fleeting
moment that we cannot get a hold of; on the other hand, we experience
the continuous coming of the future. Future is not simply the birth of a
moment.
Future
means the yet to be born or created moment packed with contrasting or
diametrically opposite possibilities. Each moment brings each of us hope
or fear, success or failure, pain or pleasure, and routine or surprise
events. Each moment presents itself to us as different kinds of
information simultaneously. Islamic faith decrees that Allah is the
source of all information. Therefore, Muslims pray, "...My Lord,
augment me in knowledge (Qur'an 20:114)."[9] Its teachings regarding
the coming of future events is grounded in the phrase, Insha Allah (God
so willing) and the verse "And never say about anything 'Behold, I
shall do this tomorrow,' without [adding] 'if God so wills.'...(The
Qur'an 18:23)."[10] So, Muslims say Insha Allah after every statement
pertaining to the future, even for simple tasks such as meeting a friend
at 4 P.M tomorrow. Muslims believe that the future is not simply born
without cause, but that it will occur only if Allah creates it. Our
planning and our desires may or may not be what Allah has is going to
present us with in our future. Allah states:
"and they contrived, and God contrived, but God is the greatest of contrivers (Qur'an3: 54)."[11]
Islamic
theology tells us that all living creatures participate in the
actualization of the possibilities contained within future moments into
visible monuments of God. The present is the pivotal moment between
past and future. Allah tests us by asking us to make moral choices out
of possibilities-the good, bad, and neutral, the moral and the
immoral-that are contained in each approaching moment. Each moment is
different for each individual and the lessons of the past and present
are tools that help one make the right choices. Allah revealed his
words to the prophets and provided holy books to both humans and Jinn
explaining what is right or wrong, moral or immoral, preferred or not
preferred, and what is rewarding or punishable. Allah narrates the
histories of the past in the Qur'an in order to help humans and Jinn use
lessons from the history in conjunction with His revelations to make
the right choices.
If
a future moment arrives, lacking in novel possibilities, humans and
other creatures cannot change their present condition, which then
becomes stagnant and could remain so for an unlimited period of time.
Even when Allah sends our way moments with novel possibilities,
creatures will remain unchanged if they do not accept His revelation.
Thus, living creatures have the freedom only to actualize possibilities
contained as information in each moments of future arriving from God. To
label the above belief, we shall borrow John F.Haught's title
"metaphysics of the future" and modify it to read "the metaphysics of
future of Islam."
In
Islamic metaphysics of the future, the universe is always within
Allah's providence. Allah is the creator of all things and the one who
brings each moment with possibilities as information. Nothing comes into
being without the information about it initially available. Scientists
provide information to various sectors of society, such as presidents,
heads of corporations, assembly workers and others, guiding them to the
scientific basis for managing their vocations. Those who receive such
information can then actualize it into cars, airplanes, nations etc. For
instance, the ordinary assembly-line worker can choose the
manufacturing plant in which he wishes to be employed. In the work place
workers have no freedom to manufacture any products of their choice but
to assemble a product using components coming through the conveyer belt
of the factory.
The
physical and spiritual universe is the manufacturing plant of Islam
where creatures at large, and mankind in particular, are like
assembly-line workers. The chain of flowing moments of the coming future
are the conveyer belt, which delivers the raw materials (possibilities
as information) necessary for the making of many products. However, in
this factory there are components for many product lines or
possibilities and the worker is free to select any of the components
from conveyer belt (arriving future) and actualizing those possibilities
into visible monuments of Allah's creation. If there is no flow of
information from scientists, the assembly line worker is unable to
produce any anything. Even the factory would not exist. Similarly, human
or any other creatures cannot produce or act upon until the future
moment arrives with possibilities as information from Allah.
Belief
and disbelief in God also come as possibilities in the flow of moments
from the future. If human beings choose and accept disbelief in God,
their minds become unreceptive to divine revelations until they are
willing to give up their disbelief. Therefore, individuals opt to
receive reward or retribution in the hereafter universe (al-Akhirah)
based upon their earthy choices. Allah, the Merciful and Benevolent,
bestowed his creatures with free will. He does not interfere or force
us into making choices and voluntarily limits His Absolute Power as
stated in the Qur'anic verse: "And had your Lord willed, whoever in the
earth would have believed altogether.Will you then coerce the people to
become believers? (Qur'an 10:99)".[12]
Therefore,
we are free to choose and actualize any one of the worldly
possibilities available to us, such as atomic power, computer
technology, etc., but our future is limited by what possibilities that
God has in store for us.
Based
upon the far-reaching meaning of the phrase, Insha Allah (God willing)
and the concept of "metaphysics of future," the accidents or
contingencies are novelties coming from Allah even though these
novelties appear random for human mind fixed in the "metaphysics of the
past" of the materialists.For example, God created for Hind d. Utba,
one of the foremost enemies of Prophet (pbuh), the possibility of
joining the distinguished company of Prophet (pbuh), as Hamzah did, or
the decision to kill and mutilate Hamzah. Allah did not compel Hind to
choose any one of the paths. Allah created good and bad choices in her
arriving future and she decided to actualize the bad choice to kill and
cannibalize.[13] The Qur'an supports the above when it states: "Surely
God does not wrong anyone, they wrong themselves. (Qur'an 10:44)."[14]
So, there is no conflict between the belief
that
Allah is the creator of the world and all the creatures and the belief
that human beings and other creatures are endowed with free will within
the bounds of possibilities that come through the flow of moments from
the future. Such a construction of the universe and with free will
distances God as a tyrant.
If
we take a global picture of all earthly creatures, we witness a
universe filled with a mixture of pain and suffering, as well as
happiness and peace. Universe is like a musical play where actors (God's
creatures), at their individual hierarchical ranks, freely choose their
roles from possible scenarios presented to them by the choreographer
(Allah). Chance and unpredictability are inevitable and in fact built
into such an atmosphere. However, in real life, the pain and suffering,
that we experience as a result of the free choices of all creatures for
their selfish benefits, are God's way of testing, perfecting and
preparing us for the eternal world of absolute happiness and peace.
Sufi poet, Rumi, describes this universe as a battlefield where atom
struggles with atom like faith against infidelity. He states in this
struggle, some benefit and others suffer. Finally, the "metaphysics of
future of Islam" blends chance, unpredictability, and creatures with
free will altogether to form our universe within the context of the
existence of a Most Compassionate, Most Just, Omnipotent God, Allah.
REFERENCES
1 Daniel Dennett, Darwin's Dangerous Idea: Evolution and the meaning of life. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1995).1
2 Richard Dawkins, The Blind Watchmaker. New York: W.W. Norton, 1986.
3 Richard Dawkins River out of Eden (New York: Basic Books, 1995).]
4
From Richard Lewontin's review of Carl Sagan's book, The Demon-Haunted
World: Science as a Cradle in the Dark, in the New York Review of Books
(January 9, 1997)]
5 John F.Haught, God After Darwin: Boulder: Westview Press, 1999).
6 Ibid
7 M.M. Khathib. The Bounteous Koran. London: Macmillan Press, 1984.
8 Ibid.
9 Ibid.
10 Ibid.
11 Ibid.
12 Ibid.
13 Guillanme.A, The Life of Muhammad. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1955
14. Ali, Ahmed. Al-Qur'an. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1990.
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