All human beings have One God, their Creator, one father – Adam – and one mother, Eve. The plight of modernity could begin to heal if human beings remember their origins. Human beings did not appear on this earth by their own will. Rather, someone else willed that human beings inhabit the earth. Someone else willed their existence and prepared the earth and sun in perfect balance to make life possible. If people were to recall this simple fact, they would proceed in the right direction. For instance, in the blessed Surat Al Mu’minun it states: Allah says:
ثُمَّ خَلَقْنَا النُّطْفَةَ عَلَقَةً فَخَلَقْنَا الْعَلَقَةَ مُضْغَةً فَخَلَقْنَا الْمُضْغَةَ عِظَامًا فَكَسَوْنَا الْعِظَامَ لَحْمًا ثُمَّ أَنشَأْنَاهُ خَلْقًا آخَرَ فَتَبَارَكَ اللَّهُ أَحْسَنُ الْخَالِقِينَ
“Then We created the semen-drop (into) a clinging substance, then We created the clinging substance (into) an embryonic lump, then We created the embryonic lump, (into) bones, then We clothed the bones (with) flesh; then We produce it (as) a creation another. So blessed is Allah (the) Best (of) the Creators.” (Surah Al-Mu’minun 23:14)
The One who willed human existence has perfect knowledge of humanity and its strengths and weaknesses. If humans recognized this, they would obey the One they owe their existence to. Allah Almighty in the Noble Quran makes very important scientific claims: Allah says:
وَهُوَ الَّذِي خَلَقَ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضَ فِي سِتَّةِ أَيَّامٍ وَكَانَ عَرْشُهُ عَلَى الْمَاءِ لِيَبْلُوَكُمْ أَيُّكُمْ أَحْسَنُ عَمَلًا وَلَئِن قُلْتَ إِنَّكُم مَّبْعُوثُونَ مِن بَعْدِ الْمَوْتِ لَيَقُولَنَّ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا إِنْ هَٰذَا إِلَّا سِحْرٌ مُّبِينٌ
“And He (is) the One Who created the heavens and the earth in six epochs, and His throne was on the water that He might test [you] which of you (is) best (in) deed. But if you say, “Indeed, you (will be) resurrected after [the] death,” surely would say those who disbelieved, “This is not but magic clear.” (Surah Hud, 11:7)
We believe that if theistic thinkers become familiar with this logic, they can, once for all, release themselves from the harassment of the materialists and also liberate those poor creatures too from the clutches of their fancies and error. Allah says:
يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ اتَّقُوا رَبَّكُمُ الَّذِي خَلَقَكُم مِّن نَّفْسٍ وَاحِدَةٍ وَخَلَقَ مِنْهَا زَوْجَهَا وَبَثَّ مِنْهُمَا رِجَالًا كَثِيرًا وَنِسَاءً وَاتَّقُوا اللَّهَ الَّذِي تَسَاءَلُونَ بِهِ وَالْأَرْحَامَ إِنَّ اللَّهَ كَانَ عَلَيْكُمْ رَقِيبًا
“O mankind! Consciously revere your Lord the One Who created you from a soul single and created from it its mate and dispersed from both of them many men and women. And consciously revere Allah (through) Whom you ask [with it] and the wombs. Indeed, Allah is over you Ever-Watchful.” (Surah An-Nisa 4:1)
Allah Almighty says in the Holy Quran:
- “He knows the unseen and the seen, He is the Great, the Highest.” (Surah Ar-Ra‘d – 9)
- “What ails you, that you look not for majesty in God, seeing He created you by stages?” (Quran 71:13‑14)
- “He creates you in your mother’s womb creation after creation in threefold shadows.” (Quran 39:6)
- “How do you disbelieve in God, seeing you were dead and He gave you life, then He shall make you dead, then He shall give you life, then unto Him, you shall be returned.” (Quran 2:28)
- “It is He Who gave you life, then He shall make you dead, then He shall give you life.” (Quran 22:66)
There are many verses on this theme and all of them consider the present current order as the system of creation. The splitting of the grain and the seed under the ground, the growth of plants and herbs, the greening of the trees in springtime ‑ all of these are mentioned as part of the ever‑new and perpetual Divine creativity. In one place the Qur’an relates God as saying to angels regarding Adam: Allah says:
هُوَ الَّذِي خَلَقَكُم مِّن طِينٍ ثُمَّ قَضَىٰ أَجَلًا وَأَجَلٌ مُّسَمًّى عِندَهُ ثُمَّ أَنتُمْ تَمْتَرُونَ
“He (is) the One Who created you from clay then He decreed a term – and a term specified with Him, yet you doubt.” (Surah Al-An`am 6:2)
In no place does the Qur’an consider the role of Divine creativity and will in the creation of life as relating exclusively to the first man or the first living creature that emerged upon the earth’s surface, or consider only that organism or grain as the creature of God and the product of the Divine will. In another place it says:
وَلَقَدْ خَلَقْنَاكُمْ ثُمَّ صَوَّرْنَاكُمْ ثُمَّ قُلْنَا لِلْمَلَائِكَةِ اسْجُدُوا لِآدَمَ فَسَجَدُوا إِلَّا إِبْلِيسَ لَمْ يَكُن مِّنَ السَّاجِدِينَ
“And certainly We created you then We fashioned you. Then We said to the Angels, “Prostrate to Adam,” So they prostrated, except Iblees. He was not of those who prostrated.” (Surah Al-A’raf 7:11)
Just like human beings have come into existence by the will of the One, human beings also trace back to the same parents. If people were to realize this, racism, ethnic superiority, and exploitation would end. Siblings would stop fighting and taking each other’s life. Siblings would realize their common Creator and be conscious of Him, and give their “kin” their due rights. Human beings would not divide themselves into casts and classes. Human beings would not let race, skin colour, or national origin determine superiority. Allah says:
أَوَلَمْ يَرَ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا أَنَّ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضَ كَانَتَا رَتْقًا فَفَتَقْنَاهُمَا وَجَعَلْنَا مِنَ الْمَاءِ كُلَّ شَيْءٍ حَيٍّ أَفَلَا يُؤْمِنُونَ
“Do not see those who disbelieved that the heavens and the earth were a joined entity, then We parted them and We made from [the] water every living thing? Then will not they believe?” (Surah Al-Anbya, 21:30)
If human beings were to realize that another soul was created from the original single soul to be their mate and to spread both men and women throughout the world, they would respect women more. Women would not have to go through centuries of oppression, and their humanity would not have been denied for centuries. Unfortunately, when human beings tried to correct one wrong, they fell into another one. They forgot that a soul was created for a soul, that a woman makes a man complete. Men and women are not engaged in an eternal battle of genders; rather, they have been created to complement and complete each other. Allah says:
وَهُوَ الَّذِي خَلَقَ مِنَ الْمَاءِ بَشَرًا فَجَعَلَهُ نَسَبًا وَصِهْرًا وَكَانَ رَبُّكَ قَدِيرًا
“And He (is) the One Who has created from the water human being and has made (for) him blood relationship and marriage relationship. And is your Lord All-Powerful.” (Surah Al-Furqan, 25:54)
Since man has no control over life, which is exclusively subject to the Divine will, man cannot create life anytime at his will with the scientific and technical means at his disposal. The prophets who raised the dead were able to do so with the leave of God. No one can perform such an act without the permission of God. Allah says:
قُلْ سِيرُوا فِي الْأَرْضِ فَانظُرُوا كَيْفَ بَدَأَ الْخَلْقَ ثُمَّ اللَّهُ يُنشِئُ النَّشْأَةَ الْآخِرَةَ إِنَّ اللَّهَ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدِيرٌ
“Say, “Travel in the earth and see how He originated the creation, Then Allah will produce the creation the last. Indeed, Allah on everything (is) All-Powerful.” (Surah Al-Ankabut 29:20)
Should man succeed in doing such a thing, surely he would have made an important achievement from the viewpoint of scientific discovery. But from the viewpoint of a role in creation. of life, his role would be the same as that of the parents in reproduction and procreation of offspring or of the peasant in creating life in wheat grains. The Noble Qur’an has described this matter in the best possible manner in the blessed Surat al‑Waqi`ah: Allah says:
أَأَنتُمْ تَزْرَعُونَهُ أَمْ نَحْنُ الزَّارِعُونَ
“Is it you (who) cause it to grow or (are) We the Ones Who grow?” (Surah Al-Waqiah 56:64)
Should man one day succeed in this achievement (i.e. `artificial’ creation of life), it would not mean that he has succeeded in doing something which the prophets did with the leave of God. The prophets used to give life and take it away with the leave of God. But if ordinary human beings someday attain such a capacity, that would be the capacity to prepare the conditions for life, in the same way as today they are capable of causing death by destroying the conditions of life, without possessing the capacity to take away life. Allah says:
وَاللَّهُ خَلَقَ كُلَّ دَابَّةٍ مِّن مَّاءٍ فَمِنْهُم مَّن يَمْشِي عَلَىٰ بَطْنِهِ وَمِنْهُم مَّن يَمْشِي عَلَىٰ رِجْلَيْنِ وَمِنْهُم مَّن يَمْشِي عَلَىٰ أَرْبَعٍ يَخْلُقُ اللَّهُ مَا يَشَاءُ إِنَّ اللَّهَ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدِيرٌ
“And Allah created every moving creature from water. Of them (is a kind) who walks on its belly, and of them (is a kind) who walks on two legs, and of them (is a kind) who walks on four. Allah creates what He wills. Indeed, Allah on everything (is) All-Powerful.” (Surah An-Nur, 24:45)
God lays out the social fabric of human society, which lies in the family. God could have created multiple families instead of Adam and Eve in the beginning, but He chose to create Adam and Eve and spread humanity from their seed. Islamic ethics considers the family to be the natural basis and cornerstone of a moral society. A family consists of a human couple and their (legal) children where both the man and woman have each essential roles to play in keeping the family happy and intact.
