Nowadays I am doing some renovations in my house. I have having many experiences in this process. But the greatest of these is the experience of knowing God. Building and creating is not an easy task. For this, one must first come up with an outline. Then, to make it happen, it needs a variety of skills. Let’s take an example of a house. There are electricians, plumbers, laborers, mechanics, carpenters, painters and many others whose skills and energies combine to create a house. Then it happens again and again that we make a sketch, but when it starts to come into action, it becomes clear that some problem has arisen. However, such a thing is usually already in front of us. Or when something is made, it turns out that something better could have been made. Or the creators, despite their experience, can’t make things good.
But Allah Almighty, who is the King of this universe, has created this entire universe without any pre-existing pattern or sketch. Furthermore, there was no pre-existing material for what we see in this world. There are waterfalls, canals, wells, ponds, rivers and seas in this world, but there was no water. In this world there are beasts like lions and leopards, cattle like cows and goats, rides like horses and donkeys, birds like pigeons and eagles, reptiles like snakes and scorpions, and countless useful land and sea animals that give meat and milk, but there was no pattern nor any equipment to create. In this world, there are mountains, sun, moon, stars, trees, earth, sky and countless creations which are very unique, but God created them without any advice and without any raw material.
Then whatever the Creator made, created all alone. He is the engineer, the planner, the artist and designer, the accountant and the data collector. In this whole process, the resources and abilities that were needed at that time, were provided by God alone without any help. Loneliness is a sign of weakness for a human being, but the greatness of God is that He has done everything alone.
Lastly, there is no defect and lacking in anything He created. No improvement can be made in any of its creations, nor can any pattern be created beyond that. If one wants to understand this, one should look carefully at the man-made objects. He will know that every creation of man is in fact a crude and weak imitation of a creature or a pattern already present in the universe. For example, airplanes are a replica of birds, boats and submarines are of fish, trains and motor cars are of insects and animal rides, and computers are a replica of the human brain.
The truth is that we live in a great universe of God. His most beautiful creation is our home, i.e. our earth, and his most wonderful and strange creature is human. But we do not appreciate his greatness on earth, nor do we praise Him after seeing his signs in our existence. However, each of us wants to hear his own praise when he builds or creates something. This means that we know that the process of creation requires that it be appreciated, but we still do not make praising Him a purpose of life who made this universe without any model, without any help and who is building the great blessing of heaven for us in the world to come.
Those who praise God in this world are the ones who will be settled in the Hereafter in God’s unparalleled blessing, i.e. the Paradise. The price of heaven is nothing but praising the Lord unseen and living in obedience to Him. What a modest and a natural price it is, but we are unable to pay it.
By Muzamil Nazeer