{"id":724,"date":"2020-06-27T22:18:58","date_gmt":"2020-06-28T03:18:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ask-a-muslim.biz\/?p=724"},"modified":"2021-01-16T13:34:40","modified_gmt":"2021-01-16T18:34:40","slug":"description-islamic-answers-to-the-first-of-some-of-the-big-questions-in-life-all-humans-inevitably-ask-who-made-us-by-laurence-b-brown-md","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ask-a-muslim.com\/en\/description-islamic-answers-to-the-first-of-some-of-the-big-questions-in-life-all-humans-inevitably-ask-who-made-us-by-laurence-b-brown-md\/","title":{"rendered":"Description: Islamic answers to the first of some of the \u201cBig Questions\u201d in Life all humans inevitably ask, Who Made Us? By Laurence B. Brown, MD"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Image<\/p>\n

At some point in our lives, everybody asks the big questions: \u201cWho made us,\u201d and \u201cWhy are we here?\u201d<\/p>\n

So who did<\/i> make us? \u00a0Most of us have been brought up more on science than religion, and to believe in the Big Bang and evolution more than God.\u00a0 But which makes more sense? \u00a0And is there any reason why the theories of science and creationism cannot coexist?<\/p>\n

The Big Bang may explain the origin of the universe, but it doesn\u2019t explain the origin of the primordial dust cloud.\u00a0 This dust cloud (which, according to the theory, drew together, compacted and then exploded) had to come from somewhere.\u00a0 After all, it contained enough matter to form not just our galaxy, but the billion other galaxies in the known universe.\u00a0 So where did that<\/i> come form? \u00a0Who, or what, created the primordial dust cloud?<\/p>\n

Similarly, evolution may explain the fossil record, but it falls far short of explaining the quintessential essence of human life\u2014the soul.\u00a0 We all have one.\u00a0 We feel its presence, we speak of its existence and at times pray for its salvation.\u00a0 But only the religious can explain where it came from.\u00a0 The theory of natural selection can explain many of the material aspects of living things, but it fails to explain the human soul.<\/p>\n

Furthermore, anyone who studies the complexities of life and the universe cannot help but witness the signature of the Creator.[1]<\/a> \u00a0Whether or not people recognize these signs is another matter\u2014as the old saying goes, denial isn\u2019t just a river in Egypt.\u00a0 (Get it? Denial, spelled \u201cde Nile\u201d \u2026 the river Ni \u2026 oh, never mind.) The point is that if we see a painting, we know there is a painter.\u00a0 If we see a sculpture, we know there\u2019s a sculptor; a pot, a potter.\u00a0 So when we view creation, shouldn\u2019t we know there\u2019s a Creator?<\/p>\n

The concept that the universe exploded and then developed in balanced perfection through random events and natural selection is little different from the proposal that, by dropping bombs into a junkyard, sooner or later one of them will blow everything together into a perfect Mercedes.<\/p>\n

If there is one thing we know for certain, it is that without a controlling influence, all systems degenerate into chaos.\u00a0 The theories of the Big Bang and evolution propose the exact opposite, however\u2014that chaos fostered perfection.\u00a0 Would it not be more reasonable to conclude that the Big Bang and evolution were controlled events? Controlled, that is, by the Creator?<\/p>\n

The Bedouin of Arabia tell the tale of a nomad finding an exquisite palace at an oasis in the middle of an otherwise barren desert.\u00a0 When he asks how it was built, the owner tells him it was formed by the forces of nature. \u00a0The wind shaped the rocks and blew them to the edge of this oasis, and then tumbled them together into the shape of the palace.\u00a0 Then it blew sand and rain into the cracks to cement them together.\u00a0 Next, it blew strands of sheep\u2019s wool together into rugs and tapestries, stray wood together into furniture, doors, windowsills and trim, and positioned them in the palace at just the right locations.\u00a0 Lightning strikes melted sand into sheets of glass and blasted them into the window-frames, and smelted black sand into steel and shaped it into the fence and gate with perfect alignment and symmetry.\u00a0 The process took billions of years and only happened at this one place on earth\u2014purely through coincidence.<\/p>\n

When we finish rolling our eyes, we get the point.\u00a0 Obviously, the palace was built by design, not by happenstance.\u00a0 To what (or more to the point, to Whom), then, should we attribute the origin of items of infinitely greater complexity, such as our universe and ourselves?<\/p>\n

Another argument to dismiss the concept of Creationism focuses upon what people perceive to be the imperfections of creation.\u00a0 These are the \u201cHow can there be a God if such-and-such happened?\u201d \u00a0arguments.\u00a0 The issue under discussion could be anything from a natural disaster to birth defects, from genocide to grandma\u2019s cancer.\u00a0 That\u2019s not the point.\u00a0 The point is that denying God based upon what we perceive to be injustices of life presumes that a divine being would not have designed our lives to be anything other than perfect, and would have established justice on Earth.<\/p>\n

Hmm \u2026 is there no other option?<\/p>\n

We can just as easily propose that God did not design life on Earth to be paradise, but rather a test, the punishment or rewards of which are to be had in the next life, which is where God establishes His ultimate justice.\u00a0 In support of this concept we can well ask who suffered more injustices in their worldly lives than God\u2019s favorites, which is to say the prophets? \u00a0And who do we expect to occupy the highest stations in paradise, if not those who maintain true faith in the face of worldly adversity? So suffering in this worldly life does not necessarily translate into God\u2019s disfavor, and a blissful worldly life does not necessarily translate into beatitude in the hereafter.<\/p>\n

I would hope that, by this line of reasoning, we can agree upon the answer to the first \u201cbig question.\u201d\u00a0 Who made us? Can we agree that if we are creation, God is the Creator?<\/p>\n

If we can\u2019t agree on this point, there probably isn\u2019t much point in continuing.\u00a0 However, for those who do<\/i> agree, let\u2019s move on to \u201cbig question\u201d number two\u2014why are we here? What, in other words, is the purpose of life?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

At some point in our lives, everybody asks the big questions: \u201cWho made us,\u201d and \u201cWhy are we here?\u201d So who did make us? \u00a0Most of us have been brought up more on science than religion, and to believe in the Big Bang and evolution more than God.\u00a0 But which makes more sense? \u00a0And is … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-724","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":false,"thumbnail":false,"medium":false,"medium_large":false,"large":false,"1536x1536":false,"2048x2048":false,"gform-image-choice-sm":false,"gform-image-choice-md":false,"gform-image-choice-lg":false},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"Site Admin","author_link":"https:\/\/www.ask-a-muslim.com\/en\/author\/admin\/"},"uagb_comment_info":59,"uagb_excerpt":"At some point in our lives, everybody asks the big questions: \u201cWho made us,\u201d and \u201cWhy are we here?\u201d So who did make us? \u00a0Most of us have been brought up more on science than religion, and to believe in the Big Bang and evolution more than God.\u00a0 But which makes more sense? \u00a0And is…","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pcT0IL-bG","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":6849,"url":"https:\/\/www.ask-a-muslim.com\/en\/3-reasons-for-god\/","url_meta":{"origin":724,"position":0},"title":"3 Reasons for God","author":"Site Admin","date":"06\/07\/2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Order in the Universe When we reflect upon the nature of our world, we see order everywhere from the water cycle to the movement of the earth around the sun. 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Jusqu\u2019au d\u00e9but des ann\u00e9es 20, on croyait que l\u2019univers avait toujours exist\u00e9 et que sa dimension \u00e9tait fixe et inchangeable. Mais en 1912, un astronome am\u00e9ricain du nom de Vesto\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Les Miracles Scientifiques"","block_context":{"text":"Les Miracles Scientifiques","link":"https:\/\/www.ask-a-muslim.com\/fr\/category\/les-miracles-scientifiques\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7019,"url":"https:\/\/www.ask-a-muslim.com\/en\/the-big-questions\/","url_meta":{"origin":724,"position":5},"title":"The Big Questions","author":"Site Admin","date":"06\/07\/2020","format":false,"excerpt":"(part 1 of 3): Who Made Us? At some point in our lives, everybody asks the big questions: \u201cWho made us,\u201d and \u201cWhy are we here?\u201d So who did make us? Most of us have been brought up more on science than religion, and to believe in the Big Bang\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Purpose of Life"","block_context":{"text":"Purpose of Life","link":"https:\/\/www.ask-a-muslim.com\/en\/category\/purpose-of-life\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ask-a-muslim.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/724","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ask-a-muslim.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ask-a-muslim.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ask-a-muslim.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ask-a-muslim.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=724"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.ask-a-muslim.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/724\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12274,"href":"https:\/\/www.ask-a-muslim.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/724\/revisions\/12274"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ask-a-muslim.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=724"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ask-a-muslim.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=724"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ask-a-muslim.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=724"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}