How Did The World Begin?

Author : Imam Reza Network Man is a thoughtful creature who lives a midst this spacious world. He contemplates everything around him and tries to understand its essence. He asks himself: How did the world come into being? How does it move in such a precise and perfect manner? Does it have a beginning? Does it have an end? What comes after? If it has a beginning, does this mean that it was non-existent and then came into being? Who created it? Did it come into being by chance, or did a wise creator manifest it? The answer to these questions forms man's doctrine and his concept of the universe and life. They effectively help to determine his fate, his civilization and social, personal and psychological stability. These answers can also make him a victim of skepticism, anxiety, loss and misery. Scholars, scientists, philosophers and thinkers attempt, through their abstract intellectual, experimental and scientific methods to find solutions to these questions. There is intellectual and inner evidence which man began with, beside the studies of the philosophers and scientists which proves that the world is the creation of a wise creator. Science, in all it branches, uncovered a great and important part of this knowledge, which was an enigma to us formerly and helped explain the truth of the world. These discoveries overwhelmed false theories and unveiled ignorance. When the veils were lifted, the structure of materialism fell in pieces. The divine creed was supported by experimental evidence, whereas materialism was based on two philosophical principles: 1. The Theory asserting that Matter is Perpetual. It had neither a beginning nor an end. Thus, it has no creator and another form of existence does not replace it. 2. The Theory of Chance and Ignoring Cause and Effect. It says that the world came into being by accident. It has no creator. These theories were overturned at the hands of experimental science and materialist philosophy was vanquished with this abstract philosophical and intellectual defeat. These ideas were exposed as imaginary suppositions by science. Let us discuss the theory of materialism based on experimental evidence and intellectual proofs as follows: 1. Proof of Order A comprehensive look at nature, man, plants, animals, etc., revealed that order is the center of their existence. Intellect tells us that something, which is wise, omniscient and omnipotent, is behind this. It should be clear that the theory stating the universe came into being by sheer chance, or that matter is eternal, is quite ridiculous. The impossibility of the world being brought into existence by chance is a fact established by scientific studies and research. About nature, the scientists say: "In the beginning, as a habitat for the human being, there was a moving planet (the earth). After a series of changes over 2 billion years or more, it became suitable for animal and floral life which was crowned by man...The earth rotates completely once every 24 hours at an average speed of 1,000 miles per hour." Let us suppose that it revolves at 100 mile per hour...Why not? Our days and nights will be ten times longer. In this case, the scorching summer sun would daily burn our plants and freeze them at night. The sun has a fiery surface of 12,000,000 degrees F. The distance between the earth and the sun is so suitably perfect that it gives our earth sufficient warmth and no more. Throughout million of years the alteration of this balance was so rare that life on earth did not cease to exist. If the temperature on earth was raised by 50 degrees during one year, the result would be the inevitable death of all plants and animals; man would also succumb to the consequences of the increased heat. The earth revolves at an average of 18 miles per second. If it revolves, for example, at 6 or 40 miles per second then all types of life would cease. The stars differ in the strength of their brightness. The majority of them could destroy all types of life on earth if they were close enough. The intensity and strength of their luminosity ranges between something below that of our sun and 10,000 times more than it. The position of our earth relative to the sun is perfect. Any variation in this distance would mean the end of life, as we know it. If the sun's radiation was reduced to half, we would freeze to death and if it increased by half we would be reduced to ashes. If we were born as a protoplasmic cell of life, we should know that our sun is the best, out of millions of suns, for sustaining our life. The earth is oblique, tilted at an angle of 23 degrees. There are many reasons for this. If the earth were not oblique, the two poles would be in perpetual darkness and the vapor rising from the oceans would move to the north and south leaving continents of snow in its wake and perhaps a desert between the Equator and the snow. This would create rives of snow flowing through valleys to salt-covered bottoms of oceans forming a short-lived pool of salt. "The moon is 240,000 miles away from earth. If this distance were 50,000 miles, the tides would be so great that all areas usually below sea level would be flooded twice daily and the water is capable of washing away the mountain themselves. In this case, perhaps no continent could have risen from the ocean beds. The earth would be destroyed and the tides would cause whirlwinds every day." (Science Calls for Faith, Chrisie Morrison, 5th ed., chapter one.) A scientist who observed states another proof against the "accident theory": "Oxygen is a good example of the perfectly precise order of creation. The air above the earth is a mixture of oxygen, nitrogen, argon, xenon, and krypton. It contains vapor and carbon dioxide at a level of 0.03% for every 1% of air or about 3:10,000. As for the rare gases, they appear in the red, blue and green spectrum. Agron, which is present in concentration of 0.9%-1%, gives us the dazzling brightness used for various purposes and which has aided human progress. Nitrogen is about 78% of the air, while the amount of oxygen is usually estimated at 21%. The air, in general, exerts a pressure of approximately 15 pounds per square inch at sea level. Oxygen helps maintain this pressure. The rest of the oxygen is present in chemicals in the outer crust of the earth. It constitutes 8% of the entire world's water. Oxygen is the breath of life for all living creatures on earth and it cannot be obtained from sources other than the air. "Here we raise a question: How could this super active element, as far as chemistry is concerned, be free in the air in suitable quantities for animal life? If oxygen were, 50% of the air instead of 21%, all inflammable materials would be on the verge of being set ablaze so that any spark from say a thunderbolt that might strike a tree would incinerate the entire forest. If the percentage of oxygen dwindled to 10% or less, life would have been nearly the same, but many of the elements which were conducive to man's progress, like fire, would have been scarce. If free oxygen were absorbed by the many million parts of the soil, then every form of animal life would cease at once." (Science Calls for Faith, Chapter: Gases We Breathe.) Another commanding scientific proof of the existence of wisdom and order behind creation quotes: "If the earth revolved quicker than usual, the houses would have been scattered and the earth would be splintered into small lumps in infinite space as a result of centrifugal force produced by the spinning of the earth. If the earth revolved more slowly, for instance at 100 hours instead of 24, all creatures on earth, be it plants or animals, would have been dead for half of the earth would have been under the blazing sun for a long period and the inevitable result would have been the death of all forms of life on earth as a result of the sun's fatal heat." (Frank Ellen's lecture, "Allah Appears in the Scientific Era", compiled by a group of scientists, translated by Damirdash.) These scientific realities contribute to the fact that every aspect of creation is perfect and faultless and that life on earth, especially that of man, is rendered comfortable by design. Chaos and confusion can, by no means, bring into creation such an extensive, balanced and perfectly organized universe. "...and there is a measure with Him of everything." Holy Qur'an (13:8) "...and made in it firm mountains, and We caused each seemly thing to grow." Holy Qur'an (15:19) Other facts to ponder include: "If the earth's crust were thicker by only a few feet, the oxygen and carbon dioxide would be absorbed and no life on earth could be possible." (Science Calls for Faith, Chapter on Air and Environment.) "If the earth were as large as the sun, with its present density, its magnetism would increase 150 times and the altitude of the atmosphere would decrease by four miles. The process of vaporization would be impossible. Furthermore, atmospheric pressure would increase to more than 150 kgs/ square cm, and the weight of an animal, which now scales only one pound, would be 150 pounds. The size of man would be reduced to the size of a weasel or squirrel, and the life for such animals would be rendered difficult indeed." (Frank Ellen's lecture.) If these proofs deny the creation of the universe by accident, then the formation of living materials and life by accident is all the more impossible as presented by a scientist who wrote: "Proteins are basic chemicals in all live cells. They are composed of five elements: carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen and sulphur. The number of atoms in every protein molecule amounts to 40,000. "As the chemical elements number 92, distributed randomly, the possibility of the coalescing of the five elements to compose one protein molecule can be known by defining the quantity of the material sufficient to compose it by a continuous process of mixing together and by defining the period of time through which the various atoms of the molecules gather. "The Swiss mathematician, Charles Eugene Jay, labored prodigiously on this point. He found that the chance by which one protein molecule could be composed equals of percentage of 1 in 10 to a power of 160! In other words, at a rate of 1 to 10 multiplied by itself 160 times. It is a figure so immense that it cannot be expressed in words. The quantity of material required for the process to be done by accident is more than the universe can accommodate by a million times. The time required is billions of years, estimated by the Swiss mathematician at 10 multiplied by itself 243 times in years! "Proteins are, in fact, long chains of amino acids. How do the atoms of these molecules combine? It they combine in a way other than the usual method, they will be harmful to life and may transform into poisons. The British scientist, J. B. Liths, estimated the ways the atoms in a simple molecule of protein can combine at 10 to the 48th power. Then, in light of the fact, it is completely illogical for a protein molecule to come into existence by chance. "Proteins are nothing but inert chemicals. They can never be stirred to life unless that mysteriously enigmatic secret slips into them. It is the limitless mind, God alone, Who knows, through His infinite knowledge, that the protein molecule can be a container of life, so He built and furnished it with life." (Frank Ellen's lecture.) Doesn't all of this scientific fact point to the wisdom and planning behind creation and deny chaos, randomness and chance in every cell of the most wonder world? Doesn't this give us cause to admit that there is a Merciful Creator? 2. Proof of Motion and Inertial System The world is in continuous motion from the parts of an atom to the huge galaxies. In accordance to a balanced and delicate order, the sun, moon, stars, planets and galaxies move incessantly. How was this movement given existence? Physics emphasizes the first law of motion, which states that: "Every body continues in its state of rest or uniform motion in a straight line, except insofar as it is compelled by external forces to change that state." If material cannot move on its own, neither can it produce movement; then who moves the world and animates it in this brilliantly conceived way? The source of the movement must be an external force. This force must be God, the Most Glorified. The proof of motion and the inertial system indicates that there is a force setting the world into motion. The second law of thermodynamics proves that the world had a beginning and has an end and so repeals the theory of materialism's perpetuality. It is of benefit to us all to know the viewpoint of the renowned physicist, Claude M. Hachawai, who wrote: "Planning, order or arrangement, or whatever you call it, can never be achieved except in two ways; per chance, or perfect planning. The more complicated the planning is, the more chance is excluded. Living in this limitless world, we cannot but admit the existence of God. "The second point worth mentioning in this respect is that the designer of this world is not material. I think that God is kind and non-material. I believe in the existence of metaphysical things. As I am a physicist, I feel a great need for the existence of an original, non-material source of creation. My philosophy allows for existence of non-material things, which as understood from the name, cannot be discerned by the natural senses. It is something crazy to deny His existence because modern science failed to reach Him. Modern physics has, moreover, taught me that nature is far less capable of setting itself in order, or controlling itself." (Frank Ellen's lecture.) "Sir Isaac Newton came to the conclusion that the universe is moving toward desolation. It is edging to a point where the temperature of all its elements are equal. He deduced that there must have been a beginning to the universe and that it must have been created according to a particular scheme and a planned system. "Thermal studies support this theory and help us to differentiate between simple energy and more complicated forms or hard energy. He had found that any thermal change allows a certain amount of simple energy to be transformed into more complex energy, but the reverse process cannot happy in nature. This is the second law of thermodynamics. "Poltsman paid due attention to this point. He studied it with his genius and mathematical capability. He could finally prove that the loss of easy or simple energy is not but a special case of a general phenomenon which makes clear that any natural change is accompanied by loss or diminishing of the cosmic order. Simple energy's transformation into hard energy causes loss or deficiency in the molecular order. In other words, it results in disintegration and loss of structural integrity. "This clearly means that nature can in no way design or program itself. This is attributed to the fact that any natural change inevitably leads to a sort of loss of order, or division in the general structure. In some cases the system may move from its simple form to a complicated one. This can never occur except at the expense of a greater split in the order and arrangement at another place in the chain. "This universe is an integrated whole that is subject to a certain order. Consequently, there must be an original cause for its existence which is not conditioned by the second law of thermodynamics. Non material, this original cause, should be in its nature: This is God the Kind, All Knowing and Omnipotent." (Frank Ellen's lecture.) So, the scientists explain that the whole world is subject to the law of thermal transmission and its loss in all natural activities and interactions. Nature is unable to undo what is dissolved. It needs a manager and a designer who possesses knowledge, power and wisdom. This great designer is God, the Most Exalted and Glorified. 3. Proof of Possibility This is the proof employed by the Muslim clergy to make clear that the universe needs a creator who is not subject to the laws of the possible. Existing things are placed into three categories with respect to the capability of the mind to discern them: 1. impossible to exist (mumtani'); 2. possible to exist; 3. self-existent. This is based on the idea that anything of which we think or imagine should fall into one of these categories. 1. Impossible to Exist This is anything we can imagine but which can never exist in reality like the harmonization of contradictions, or the existence of a thing and its non-existence at the same time, or the existence of something without its cause, for example the existence of sound without the source for it, or movement without someone or something that causes its movement. 2. Possible to Exist This is anything that is equidistant to existence and non-existence. It can be existent and can be non-existent. Its existence or non-existence needs a cause that makes its reality manifest either way. The whole world falls into this category. The world, with all its elements and events, is possible to exist. Every one of its facts was a possibility before being brought into creation, like man, the sun, the moon, etc. When the causes behind their existence occur, these things appear from the realm of possibility to that of existence. A chair, book or picture are facts likely to exist. They are also likely not to exist. When the conditions of their being are actualized, they become existing. This can be applied to the whole of creation for it is a nexus of events, stimuli and results that came into existence due to certain causes. Everything in reality is a cause of something else, and it is the result of a cause at the same time. The entirety of creation, energy, the elements of an atom and the planets have passed the stage of possibility as did the book, chair and picture. The earth and all its elements passed this stage then crystallized into facts, each one being originated from another one. The result is this complete form of a group of possibilities. The possible, does not, as previously mentioned, move from the stage of possibility to the stage of reality except when there is a cause. Otherwise it remains in the first stage and never becomes reality. The possible has a number of characteristics: a. It is equidistant between existence and non-existence. It depends on it cause. If there is a cause, there is a reality and vice versa. b. Bringing it from possibility to existence needs a cause. The cause is, like any other cause that leads to the existence of man, animal, plant, events, actions, etc., natural. The universe and its structure is a group of causes and results which need natural and consecutive causes. These consequences do not continue endlessly. It is impossible and the intellect clearly realizes the impossibility of it. So there must be an original cause which is the source of all the possibilities while it is itself not possible. In other words, it is independent in its existence. It is self-existent. "He is the First and the Last; the Manifest, and the Unseen; He is Omniscient of everything." Holy Qur'an (57:3) The self-existent is the cause of the possible. This is an axiom supported by the intellect. This brings us to the conclusion that the universe is possible to exist and so it needs a creator who is God, the Self-Existent. Source: alhassanain.com