A friend of ours has an 11-year-old daughter who wanted to build a cat model she had seen in a store. The model consists of 1,755 LEGO pieces, and it comes with an instruction booklet. The booklet explains, with illustrations, where each LEGO piece should be placed. Her father bought the LEGO set and the booklet and gave them to her. She patiently and carefully followed the instructions, placing each piece where it belonged. By setting aside some time for the project, she completed it in two days, and the result was a remarkably beautiful cat model.
First, I congratulated the girl. Then I asked her how she had managed to complete the project with such great patience and perseverance. She told me that, alongside her schoolwork and homework, she had set aside time and patiently completed the model in two days.
I then asked her: “Suppose someone came along, poured all these LEGO pieces next to the instruction book, and then simply waited for the cat model to appear by itself. What would you say?”
She replied that “such a thing could never happen; it could not come into existence by itself. Someone would necessarily have to make it.”
In fact, this simple reasoning by an 11-year-old child pointed to an extremely important truth when it comes to understanding and making sense of human life and the universe:
If there is a work, there is a master who made it. If there is order, there is an organizer behind that order.
I then asked the child: “If even an inanimate cat model cannot come into existence by itself simply by having LEGO pieces put together, could a human being—or any other living creature—come into existence by itself if all the substances necessary for its bodily structure were merely brought together?”
She replied: “Of course not. Just as I had to put these LEGO pieces together to make the model, there must be Someone who created living beings, including human beings. There must be an intelligent Mind behind them.”
I then asked, “So, who made all of these?” She answered, “Allah.”
The cat model made by an 11-year-old child from 1,755 LEGO pieces reminds us of a truth that may seem very simple, yet is profoundly deep:
A work cannot be conceived without a master, order without an organizer, or art without an artist.
We may not be capable of fully comprehending everything in the universe. But we can learn to marvel at the order, proportion, harmony, and beauty we observe, and to reflect upon the Creator behind them.
If LEGO pieces cannot come together by themselves and produce a cat model, neither can a human being come into existence by itself. If a flower cannot become a work of art by itself, then neither is the universe ownerless or without purpose. Behind all these works is Allah, the Owner and Creator of this order.
The important point is not merely to say this with our tongues, but to attain a consciousness of faith that enables us to see and feel this truth at every moment of our lives. When I asked the child, “In the same way, could not only living beings, but also plants, the air composed of gases in specific proportions, and the vegetables and fruits we eat, which consist of different elements, all come into existence by themselves?” she again gave the same answer: “Someone must have planned and created all of these, and that Someone is Allah. Otherwise, these things could not have come into existence by themselves.”
I congratulated her and told her that she should share this remarkable way of thinking, starting from the example of the cat model, with her friends as well. Although this conversation took place with a young child, and although she was able to say that nothing can come into existence merely by chance and that there must necessarily be an intelligent Being behind it, it is quite natural that people who have reached a certain level of maturity should also be able to see the implications of this reasoning—and indeed should be expected to do so.
The approach illustrated by the cat model is extraordinarily powerful, logical, and thought-provoking. Yet people often overlook such approaches and the deeper truths to which they point. Behind every event we can observe in the universe, this perfect order and this mysterious Hand—namely, Allah (SWT)—continually manifests itself to those who are willing and able to see. When life and the events we experience are not viewed from this perspective, these realities may remain unnoticed.
This is where the importance of the guidance of people who have thought deeply, reflected, observed, and understood these truths before us becomes apparent.
Whatever phenomenon we consider, unless we approach it from this perspective, we will not be able to understand who created and arranged the oxygen in the air, the elements in the soil necessary for human life, or the extraordinary ways in which plants and animals transform what is available in nature into forms that are perfectly suited to human needs.
When we consider the magnificent creation of the human being, as well as the astonishing structures and functions of other living creatures and plants, it becomes evident that none of these could simply have come about randomly or accidentally.
Just as with the LEGO pieces of the cat model, understanding that there must be Someone who thought about, designed, and created all these things requires a person to think and use reason.
Learning under the guidance of people who have previously examined these matters through such a chain of reasoning, who have become intellectually and spiritually convinced of them, and who have seriously valued, investigated, and understood these ideas from different perspectives, is therefore of great importance. In addition to all this, the extraordinary organs, physiological systems, and functions required by human beings, plants, animals, and all other living creatures are formed with truly astonishing order, harmony, and beauty.
Once these characteristics and beauties are understood, a person should be able to reach the realization—with a certainty even greater than that of the statement “two plus two equals four”—that none of these things could have come about randomly and that they must necessarily have a Creator, and that this Creator is Allah (SWT).
This realization brings peace to a person. It also gives one the ability to look at the world and the events of life from a different perspective and to understand them with the peace that comes from being able to make sense of them. This is itself a special blessing of being truly human.
Beyond understanding these perfections by examining structures and functions, when the spiritual dimensions that Allah has placed within living beings are considered together with their physical and organic structures, we begin to understand what it truly means to be a complete living being and, in particular, a perfect human being.
We can then see that nothing exists randomly and that everything has been created within a framework of plan, order, purpose, and function.
Allah (SWT), who created all these things, also informs the conscious human being about his own nature, the wisdom behind the events taking place in the universe, and the way other living creatures serve humanity.
To enable human beings to understand these truths from a much broader perspective and to regulate their lives accordingly, Allah sent books through His prophets. These books explain, in language that human beings can understand, the magnificent workings of creation and the truths underlying them.
In addition to the physical and organic structure of human beings, their spiritual nature and psychology are also described in detail in these divine books.
Furthermore, one of the most valuable qualities Allah has given human beings is the ability first to know and recognize Allah, to love Him, and at the same time to know themselves, to perceive the events occurring around them through this perspective, and to act accordingly.
The holy scriptures, and particularly the Qur’an, also explain in terms understandable to human beings that, in addition to the limited life of this world, there is another realm and another life after death, known as the Hereafter, to which human beings will ultimately proceed. So what is required of us is to fulfill, in every respect, the responsibilities of being human in this world and to help other people understand these matters as well.
If we then obey the commands of Allah, who created us, and refrain from what He has forbidden, we are promised in the Hereafter blessings and beauties that no eye has ever seen and no ear has ever heard. Therefore, let us once again come together and recognize that neither human beings nor other living creatures, nor events occurring in nature such as wind, rain, and the changing seasons, come about randomly or independently.
Let us understand that all of these have a Creator. Let us learn the truths contained in the books sent by Allah and strive to put our lives in order accordingly. As a consequence, we should live with the awareness that in an eternal realm we will be accountable for what we did and did not do in this world, and that, according to this account, we may attain Paradise—or, otherwise, be exposed to Hell.
Let us continually observe these truths and use them to put our lives in order. Let us not live carelessly or randomly, but thoughtfully and reflectively, carefully filtering our choices and preparing ourselves seriously for the eternal life to come.
Let us also share these perspectives with others and help them attain the eternal life of Paradise.
Let us say:
“Let us see what the Lord does; whatever He does, He does beautifully. The Almighty turns away all evil. Let us see what our Lord will do.”
Thus, with faith, hope, determination, perseverance, and active patience, let us eagerly await the day when we may enter the promised Paradise.
What do you think?
