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I went for a walk, and just so happened to look up and see a bird I've never seen before. I knew it was probably an owl of some sort, so when I got back home I looked up "species of owl in Florida" and it's apparently a short-eared owl. These are rare and elusive birds, so I'm not sure what it was doing in my neighborhood of all places, perched on the power lines. I tried to get a quick picture of it with my phone, but it flew off. Isn't Allah's (سُبْحَانَهُ وَ تَعَالَى) creation beautiful and amazing? I love seeing rare birds. My profile picture is a species of rare bird (for Florida) that was in my yard a while back (Indigo Bunting). I haven't seen one since.

O mankind! You are those in need of Allah while Allah is the Self-sufficient, the Praiseworthy. [35:15] Allah is not in need of anything nor does He gain anything from His creations. If we, the jinn, the angels, etc. do as Allah commands us, He does not gain anything. If we disobey Allah He is not in loss but rather we are: Whoever does good, it is for [the benefit of] his soul. And whoever does evil it is against it [(detriment/loss to their soul)]. Then to your Lord you will be returned. [45:15] So my question is why did Allah create us, or anything for that matter, if His creations are of no use or benefit to Him at all? I did not create jinn and humans except to worship Me. [51:56] Here Allah says He created us so that we may worship Him but then again, why does He want us to worship Him if it is of no use nor benefit to Him?

Can someone elaborate on these two wilayat concepts Also on a video by sayed ammar, I head that both shia and sunni literature suggest that Imam Ali(عليه السلام) was able to place back the fingers of a thief after already cutting them. Can I please see sources

Salam Here's an article encouraging us to broaden our thinking on what beings from another world might be like. Sci-fi is fun, but don't let it take over your way of thinking. Whatever we can think of out there, the reality is almost definitely much, much weirder. https://www.universal-sci.com/headlines/2017/10/29/why-our-imagination-for-alien-life-is-so-impoverished If there is sentient life besides us in the universe, what do you think it would be like? I think the possibilities are unlimited.

"I cannot persuade myself that a beneficent and omnipotent God would have designedly created the Ichneumonidae with the express intention of their feeding within the living bodies of caterpillars, or that a cat should play with mice." - Charles Darwin (1860) If God is benevolent, why did he deliberately create a natural system in which animals have no option but to cause other animals suffering? Why did he deliberately allow birth defected children to be born (both animal and human)? Why did he deliberately create all these viruses and bacteria that cause both human and animal suffering? And from a religious perspective, will the suffering of such animals be compensated? And regarding natural disasters like hurricanes, it is difficult to believe that they are sent to remind people or warn them of sins because many victims of these disasters are children and people who have lived relatively good lives. I would prefer that you guys don't cluster these questions into one question and rather answer each one specifically, unless you believe your clustered response is sufficient to address all these problems.

He is free of any Need. His Essence can't be known. He is Independent. He is Ever Living. He does not undergoes any state of change. His Attributes are known only to Him in the real Essence. I know He created us to know Him, to Love Him, not because He needs our Love and Devotion but because We need to know Him and to become best of His creations. But I had one Question, Why did He decided to create us? Why did He decided to shower His blessings upon a creation like us? Why? Why us? Any ahadeeth? Because this is a very basic Question of Tawheed. Any I suppose I can get as many as more than hundred thousand ahadeeths on this Question of mine. Please do a favor if you have some explanatory ahadeeth to this Question.

If God created the universe, then who created God? And who created the creator of God? Dear Readers, The question seems mind-blowing and thus has been at the center of the most heated philosophical and theological debates in Islam. To solve the very problem, I would like to draw your kind attention to the following points that can easily solve the problem raised: A) The philosophical principles are always all-inclusive and do not undergo any exception of any kind. Hence, the impossibility of ‘effect without cause’ and ‘infinite regress’ are of those philosophical principles that can never be subject to any exception. B) To the Muslim Philosophers, the proposition “everything needs a creator” is not a true philosophical rule. As mentioned earlier, had this proposition been philosophical, it should have included all cases and examples. Nothing and no one should have remained beyond this philosophical rule. But as we see the proposition is not truly applicable to the Ultimate Cause. At least, from this perspective, Allah, being the Ultimate Cause, seems an exclusion to the rule. C) To solve the very challenging problem we must reword and rephrase the above-mentioned misleading proposition with another alternative. Instead of maintaining “everything needs a creator” we must say that “every contingent and possible existent needs a creator or an efficient cause”. The subtle difference between the two propositions is “everything” and “every possible thing or being”. As a result, It is correct to say that ‘every possible and contingent existent needs its appropriate cause or creator’. This sentence, logically and rationally, does not include the Necessary Being called Allah. For He is not a contingent existent rather He is the Necessary Existent. Thus, Allah or God, the Ultimate Cause of the causes, does not stand in need of any begetter or creator. This concept is harmonious with the Quranic verses as well that says: Say, “He is God, [who is] One, God, the Eternal Refuge. He neither begets nor is born, Nor is there to Him any equivalent”.

Can anyone besides Allah have the power of creation even by the will of Allah ? Is this what is meant by wilayat-e takwini ? I consider such belief as shirk

As salam alaikum, For some background: My mother is Hindu but more spiritual,doesnt believe in rituals etc., dad neutral about religions and a lot more spiritual, and brother is a downright atheist - I'm Muslim lol..and all of us live together so some of our discussions can be..well..interesting and disturbing.. Based on these discussions, I have a question: What is the purpose of creation and afterlife, as per Islam? I understand the purpose of our temporary earthly life is as a test to ensure jannah in the hereafter, through the worship of our creator....but then what? We enter jannah, live there...and then? Whats the point really? My dad asked me this...and I dodged the question coz I wasn't very sure on how to handle it....his view is that we don't know what happens after death, n there is no way to experience it, so how can you just believe something a book says? Mum believes in re-incarnation and the idea that the soul needs to be freed...but after its freed after several thousands of lifetimes, we don't know what will happen... My brother says: well we have no idea what happens once we die - so live this life fullest...following religion or rituals will not allow you to maximize your potential in terms of career and the rest coz it takes up too much time...in terms of creator and universe, he says "there's no way I would think that there is a creator who created this universe...its all physics and quantum mechanics" I ask him who created gravity, how did all of that exist? He says we are not qualified enough in the field of physics to know that...there may be 10 to 15 people in the world who can tell you what existed before the Big Bang and how it was created....but we are not at that level of education, but surely you cannot believe that a God created it...that would just make life so boring - imagine not being able to use your own critical analysis and science backed evidence of the existence of physics laws...and just coming to a conclusion of "oh one creator created all of this"...thats just plain silly and provides no intellectual stimulation in his opinion... They all see religion as being something just for people who haven't got a career or are not educated, to be happy and content with whatever little they have..in the false hope that there will be something better after death, so its ok if there's no money etc now...therefore they will not strive for the most, and will be more focused on religious things... All of them truly believe that religions are all man made to control and manipulate crowds who cannot think for themselves...but for critical thinkers like them (especially my super highly educated brother), it is a joke and very sad to think that you would need to live within certain limits set by someone (something) else....unless its the law of the state, noone else should have any authority over your being except yourself....he doesn't agree with a creator or soul or any of that...and immorality and morality to him is a social construct - the only things which all humans can agree are immoral are those that hurt others: murder, stealing, rape, and sometimes cheating but not always.....he can't understand why marriage is such a huge deal and premarital sex or LGBT is a problem...or the concept of chastity...according to him its all in the heads of people and society has formed it that way - in nature however, if we look at animals, there are many who are homosexual, and there is no such thing of premarital issues, or even issues with one night stands...so why do humans have to make such a big deal and complicate life so much? So based on the above viewpoints, there are many times I don't know how to answer them because I just can't deal with their perspectives...its inconceivable for me to ever think of the idea of not believing in a creator...I have pursued the quest for God since I was a kid...so I really need help answering some of these questions.. My belief is that life is temporary and it is there as a test for the hereafter....but what happens if we go to heaven, or hell for that matter...what is the purpose of getting gardens in which rivers flow? What happens after that? Yes our souls can get close to God, but then what? And ok God will punish those in hell, keep punishing them continuously, but then what? What's the point there? Why would a God do that anyway? What does He get by putting us in heaven or hell? These are the kind of questions I'm afraid to answer, but I really do need something to understand this..and I'm becoming curious of this as well..I'm sure there is a reason I don't know it yet, and I may even believe if Allah has said it is not for us to know, but that won't work with my family...so any help would be greatly appreciated in this matter... I know there are several different points - opinions on all would be great...but the most crucial is the purpose of creation, hereafter and the rest... JazakAllah...

I have read Sahih al-Bukhari "Beginning of Creation" And it poses the question where does the sun go? In the explanation it states that the sun requests the permission to rise again and after a time it will be denied to rise and will instead rise in the west. In todays time we have advanced considerably and now realize that the earth itself is spinning as well as revolving around the sun. What is the explanation the prophets misunderstanding? Did God give him this poetry to encourage his understanding of the truth? Or is this an example of incorrect logic? is it the same as those who had believed the earth was flat?

“Those who believe and do righteous deeds are the best of the creatures. Their reward from their Lord shall be everlasting gardens, below which flow rivers, they will abide there forever. Well pleased is God with them and they are well pleased with Him” Quran 98:7 Tafseer Durre Manthur Jalaladin Suyuti, (849 – 911 AH) is one of the highest ranking Sunni scholars of all time. In his commentary of this verse, he records through 3 Isnaad (chains) of narrators that the Prophet (saww) told his companions that the verse referred to Ali and his Shia. Hadhrath Ali narrates in Tafsir Durre Mansur, Volume 6 page 379 (Cairo edition) “Have you not heard this verse: “Their reward from their Lord shall be everlasting gardens, below which flow rivers, they will abide there forever”? This verse refers to you and your Shi’a, I promise you that I will meet you at the Fountain of Kawthur”. The 3 Sahaba who narrated this Hadeeth are (1) Ali (as) himself (2) Jabir bin Abdullah Ansari (ra) (3) Abdullah ibne Abbas (ra). Be joyful O' Shia of Ali (as) , we will meet the Prophet (pbuh) on that day.

Watch and enjoy XD Apologies for any mistranslations. I tried my best. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GsCDH4qc_8

"The world did not exist from eternity. It has come into existence after not being. Everything in it comes into existence, and then perishes, and it is obvious that this principle of transitoriness applies to the world as a whole. One has to seek for the cause of these changes, and, ultimately, for the primal cause of existence of world. It is impossible to think that certain portion of the world is quiescent, and is the source of the movement and of the changes in the other portion, because if the world is ultimately one, there cannot exist such a duality. Going up the chain of causation, one comes to a transcendent cause, the Primal Actor (Faa'il), whose production (Maf'ul) the world is. He is the one who has brought it into existence, while the world is something that has been brought into being. No names, i.e. attributes, can be associated with Him. A name indicates some peculiarity by which one thing in its class differs from similar things. He, being beyond comparison, and transcending human comprehension, cannot possess any such peculiarities. Negation of properties, which some people ascribe to the Creator, is a correct form of belief, because their recognition clashes with the idea of absolute unity of His nature. Properties can be either external, as in physical bodies (colour, weight etc.), or internal, as knowledge, or ignorance, etc. The nature of Creator does not permit application of idea of anything internal or external to it. His real properties, which He may possess, are beyond our comprehension. We can only postulate some of His abstract properties such as His being eternal, etc. The proper form of the principle of tawheed is the negation of all attributes, or properties which the human mind attributes to the things created. Allah Himself proofs to mankind about Himself. His recognition forms the substance of the faith of all reasonable creatures. Proofs of His existence are laid in the innate religious instinct or sense, contained in the prototypal nature (fitrat) of the man. His miracles which He works are veils (hijaab) between the Creator and the created. There is no religiousness without the search for knowledge. The visible world comes from the source (mabda') endowed with perceptible properties, sifaat . Allah, as shown above, is beyond human comprehension, and His real attributes or properties cannot be comprehended by the human mind or senses. Thus there must be an intermediary entity, brought into existence by Allah, that is, the first of created things, through which the perceptible and conceivable properties are introduced into the world. This is a great benefit bestowed by Allah upon mankind, who otherwise would not be able to understand the world around them. This first source,mabda', is the initiator of the world. This principle is that which came into existence first, and which occupies the highest position in the scale of creations. The evolution of the world received its relative reality (haqq) from the existence of mabda'. It is the limit of the possible intellectual ascension of the creations. This would not have been possible if this mabda' were not a creature (mawjood); but while being the first creation, it has direct touch with Absolute Reality. And it cannot also be really the first mawjood unless it is one, and thus perfect in nature, as the first immediate cause (‘illat) of the created world. In this quality, the mawjood must be permanent and unchangeable, must be omniscient, omnipotent and possessing all the perfect attributes. The principle attribute or quality (sifat) of this principle(mawjood) is life (hayaat), which is fundamental. Life is the center; all other qualities originate, or radiate from it. All things follow it in existence through the existence of Life. The Primal Source (mabda') of the world is infinite, but has a beginning in time. It is only one, has no rival, and is unchangeable. It acts in accordance with the principles of logic. It is perfect in its nature, and comes short of Divinity only in its being dependent for its existence on its Creator. This is the only imperfection which it possesses. Its substance is simple, free from plurality. Its properties (sifaat) become apparent only by comparison with something that is not itself. There cannot be two primal sources; if they were, there would be a split and no balance in the world. There can be only one initial source, endowed with perfect attributes, free from imperfections in all that reached it from the Creator (maajid) , who is the only source of being, One after whom nothing can be imagined. This Primal Source of the universe is what the Rasulullah (SAWS) in his revelation symbolically calls the Qalam, or the Heavenly Pen. The Primal Entity (mawjood) is not self-existing, and depends for its existence on the Most High. It is, in philosophy, called the Primal Conscious Principle. It cannot be recognized by the intellect, but can be perceived by intuition (zameer), and not by pondering over it." [Taaj ul 'Aqaaid, from Alavi Bohras site] I'm not trying to get into discussion of Bohras in and of themselves, just interested in how these concepts relate to the cosmology and metaphysics of our own tradition. Masalama, Ibrahim

This isn't the only argument for design he has

I shall be grateful if some one can explain in detail what is the purpose of creation. it could be for worship of God or it could be for testing us. But both these answers are not satisfactory. God does not need our worship, so why God should do something which he does not require. And if it was for test, then test us for what ? to give reward or punishment ? well here again the question is after all why oh why all this drama ? Since God is infinitely kind, why he did not decide to shower us with his blessings without us going thru this hell what we call as world ? Someone would say that, oh, if you were not created, you would be missing so many bounties of God. Well, also i would be saved from God"s punishment . And in any case, if i am not created at all, then i would not be knowing what i am mission in any case. correct ?? There is an interesting Urdu shairy reflecting these thoughts: NA THA KUCHH TO KHUDA THA NA HOTA KUCHH TO KHUDA HOTA HON E NE DUBOYA MUJKO NA MAIN HOTA TO KYA HOTA ??

Salamun A'laykum One of the scholars who is deeply into Erfan told me the following in a conversation. It didn't make sense to me at all after I thought about it and I produced a few questions which could potentially dismantle the arguments brought by the scholar. Even though he is somewhat famous in the English speaking population, I will refrain from mentioning his name to be safe from any fitnah. Here it is: (note: I am paraphrasing what he said; it could be the case that I misunderstood something or forgot to add a few things to clarify his arguments): {Allah's attributes are not limited to this world, meaning that His attributes are universal and everlasting. However, in order to have a title of something, one must prove to deserve it. Otherwise, that person does not truly deserve the title, or is not literally elligible to hold that title. For example, if someone is considered a teacher, they must literally be teaching. As long as that person teaches, he/she remains a teacher. But, if they do not teach, they are no longer teacher (literally). That means that even if you consider someome to be your teacher, they are not (by essence) teachers because it is impossible for them to be teaching 24 hours 7 days a week. Hence, there is no such a thing as a true teacher since no one can teach 24/7. When dealing with Allah's attributes, it is imposible that His titles or attributes be sometimes true to him; meaning that He truly deserves to have the attributes. He is ALWAYS merciful; he is ALWAYS the judge; he is ALWAYS the wise... Likewise, he is ALWAYS a creator. Otherwise, those attributes are not true to Him. Having said this, it is logical to say that because His attributes are ALWAYS in Him, and that He is ALWAYS the creator, he needs to ALWAYS have a creation. If he doesn't, he is no longer a true creator. To make it simple, Allah always needs to have a creation since he is a true creator. With that said, we can conclude that God's creation is everlasting (since he always has a creation). [I was confused about the following... It may not make any sense since I can't remember exactly his point] If you take a step forward, you can say that His creation is the manifestation of His attributes. Why? Because the creation of Allah (swt) is mumkinal wujud, not wajibul wujud. If a creation is everlasting, how can that be munkinul wujud? Therefore, we must believe in wahdatul wujud.} Here are the 5 questions I had. If you support partial or all of the arguments above which leads to the conclusion that the creation of Allah is everlasting, please answer my questions. If not, please state why you don't support it. 1. Do Allah's attributes HAVE to be 'universal' or everlasting? This premise needs proof (backed up with reliable ahadith). If it cannot, then the rest of the premises and conclusions are invalid. Assuming this premise IS true, we can move on to the next question... Otherwise there is no need to waste time on this matter. 2. Why is it that in order for someone to have attributes or title, they must ALWAYS posses it? A teacher can be a teacher even if they don't always teach... and a kind person can be mean at times. This is a little confusing to me. 3. Allah is not bound by time. I think the scholar doesnt make any sense because he is assuming there is nothing if there is no creation. We cannot think outside of time and therefore our limited minds trick us to believe that there is such a thing as nothing... Can there be nothing if we think outside of time? 4. A friend of mine came up with this question during the discussion: If something is everlasting, can it be created? The answer is obviously No. Therefore does it make any sense to say that we are Allah's creation and believe that His creation is everlasting at a same time? The words 'everlasting creation' itself is an oxymoron. 5. I don't see how the last paragrph proves wahdatul wujud... Using that logic, one has to either accept wahdatul wujud or mumkinal wujud. I am not even sure what he was trying to say. Can you figure it out? Sorry for any writing mistakes. I am too lazy to proofread :wacko:

(bismillah) (salam) -I recently viewed Hassanain Rajabali's lecture regarding the "Justice of Allah" 3 questions: -Is there any earlier discussion regarding this topic? -Are there any ahadith's supporting this perspective or is it solely grounded upon the Qur'an? -If we will all ultimately attain paradise, including unbelievers, why is hell considered as eternal after all? If so please also explain this verse; ÎóÇáöÏöíäó ÝöíåóÇ áóÇ íõÎóÝóøÝõ Úóäúåõãõ ÇáúÚóÐóÇÈõ æóáóÇ åõãú íõäÙóÑõæäó162-2 If the approach to Allah's mercy is as such, many paradoxical questions will be answer without great difficulty. For those of you who have not seen the lecture;

(bismillah) In the name of Allah, the beneficent, the most merciful. May He ward misconceptions from our souls and help us attain certainty. ßóÊóÈó Úóáóì äóÝúÓöåö ÇáÑóøÍúãóÉó He has decreed upon Himself Mercy. (6-12) The question is based upon the attribute of Mercy. It is commonly known that Allah has created humanity out of His Mercy. Therefore, Since we say Allah has created everything out of His Mercy, I raise two questions: 1) Is the attribute of Mercy created by Allah ÓÈÍÇäå æÊÚÇáì? 2) If it is a creation, why did Allah allow it to partake in His actions? i.e. Does Mercy govern Allah or does Allah govern Mercy? If Allah governs Mercy, then Allah does not need to create because of "His Mercy." If Mercy governs Allah, then there is a flaw in our understanding, which needs immediate attention, of the Most High, Most Merciful. Please, any opinions or elaborations are greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance. (wasalam)

Question: What is the reason behind creation of human beings? Allah (swt) knows everything and He knows what is awaiting each one of us and which actions he is going to perform, and if he is going to be of the people of paradise or the ones of hellfire. So, what is the aim and reason in view of the fact that Allah (swt) is justice and in view of the fact that Allah (swt) is not in need of any person to worship Him, furthermore the creation of human beings leads in the overwhelming cases to their suffering due to their sins in this world and the hereafter? Answer: Please read the following Tafseer of Ayahs 56-58 of Surah 51, from Tafseer Numana by Ayatollah Makarim Shirazi: THE AIM OF CREATION Among the most important questions any one may ask himself is:``Why am I created? What is the purpose behind my creation?'' The verse gives a brief and yet rich answer to this question: "I did not create Jinn and Mankind except to worship me. I demand no sustenance of them, nor do I want them to feed me; because I am the true Provider for and the Sustainer of all creation.'' A wise being does not do anything without a purpose. Then what is the purpose of God behind our creation? Had He any shortcomings to make up by our creation? We do know that God's existence is perfect in all aspects and respects. The above verses put the emphasis and stress on Man's service and worship, which is supposed to be the final goal of creation. Then it is important to know what does service to God, or worshipping Him, really mean? The Arabic,``Abd'' which is usually translated to ``servant" or "slave", alludes to someone who completely belongs to his Lord. He puts himself into accord with His will. He never acts sluggishly in obeying his Lord. He is the most humble before his Master. Therefore being a true servant of God is the summit of nearness to Him. The servant in such a position serves his Lord unconditionally, and only to please Him. It has been narrated from Imam Hussain (a.s) that: ``Allah has created Man in order to know him. When he knows God, he will worship him. When he worships God (properly and with knowledge), he will not worship any one else other than God.'' To turn the matter the other way, we may say : ``Creation is not a playtoy in the hand of God, He certainly has a serious purpose behind it.'' Knowingly or unknowingly, every creature is in search of his Creator. It seems that the ultimate goal of any creature is to move in search of his Creator, and to know Him more and more, and better. Worshipping God is a means of finding Him and knowing Him more. God is the source of all goodnesses and beauties. We are by instinct in love with goodness and beauty. Our progress and evolution depends on how near we approached to the source of beauty. Allah, through His Grace and Mercy provides for our progress towards beauty and goodness, which He has no benefit in our success and failure. He demands no sustenance from us, nor does He want us to feed Him. He is All-might and Power, and is the Provider for and Sustainer of all creatures. To commit sins or not to commit them, depends on mankind themselves, which means: how they had worshipped, obeyed, and known Him.