The man with fedora continued, "Since Allah's wisdom willed that, the earth, its planes, rugged lands, mountains and deserts, are all destined to give benefits of all sorts, to be the substance for creating diverse creatures, the earth is bound to have affinity with a mother that bears in her belly babies of every sort. It gives birth, for the benefit of men and animals, known or unknown to them, ejecting from inside it whatever its Lord allowed it to bring out; and at a later time to reclaim all that it had brought out. He willed that it be a provider for living things as long as they live on its surface, and then, once they die, to reclaim them and to fold them in its belly.
It takes responsibility in this way of the living things while they live and after they die. And then, when the appointed day, the Resurrection, has arrived, and the earth is heavy with conception, delivery is imminent, and the labour is due, its Lord and Creator commands it to bring out what is in its belly, to be unloaded of its burden; and so it puts out humans from its belly to its surface; then it says: "Here is what You entrusted to me, my Lord." It puts out, by the will of the Almighty, it's treasures, reveals its mysteries, and gives witness about its children, of the good deeds and bad deeds they had done.
Because winds blow around the earth, penetrate into its cavities, cause steams to be trapped in it and blow into it, without outlets, the Almighty willed that the earth occasionally 'breathe', resulting in violent earthquakes, which inspire His servants with fear and awe, driving them to repent and give up wrongdoing, supplicating to Him and penitent of their misdeeds.
Observe now air and the benefits it has for living things. It is the essence of life; it sustains living things internally since they breathe it, and externally by protecting their bodies; it carries sound and delivers it to near and far places, acting as a messenger or herald whose job is to convey information and messages. Air is the bearer of odours in their diversity, conveying them from place to place, so that a human receives an odour realizing its source by noting the wind's direction, in the same way as air conveys sounds. It is the bearer of cold and heat which are essential for the survival of animals and plants. Observe also the functions of winds as they blow over land and sea, and the mercy or torture they foretell.
Consider how much the wind has served the clouds until they rained! There is first the 'raiser', the wind that raises the cloud, which suspends it between the earth and the sky. There is then the 'transporter', that transports the cloud, carrying it on its back the way a camel transports a water-bag. Another wind is 'the collector', the wind that gathers bits and pieces of cloud into a big mass. This is followed by the 'fertilizer' that acts in the way a male fertilizes a female, but it is with water that the wind fertilizes - without it, the cloud is dry, without water.
The next wind is the 'driver', the wind that drives clouds wherever it is commanded to drive them, where they release their water. A different wind, the 'dispersed, dispersing the clouds, stretching them around the sky, so that when it rains, it does not pour the water in a mass; for if it does, it would destroy dwellings, plants and animals; so the 'dispersed is designed to keep clouds spread in a way that they rain in drops. There arc winds that fertilize plants and trees, without which they would be barren; the winds that propel ships, without which ships would be immobile on the surface of the sea. Some other functions of the wind are that it cools water, helps people in kindling fire, and dries what people want to dry.
On the whole, all that lives on earth, plants and animals, can survive only because of the winds. If Allah had not put them in the service of His servants, plants would wilt and animals would die; edible things would go bad, and pollution and rotting would be unbearable. Do you not see that when the wind subsides for long, great distress and affliction are flagrant, to a point that people do not survive if this condition lasts too long? If this happens animals will be sick, healthy people will no longer be healthy, and sick people's condition will deteriorate; fruits will go bad, plants will rot, and there will be contagion in the atmosphere. So glory be to Him Who made the blowing of wind a source of nourishment, mercy, blessing and a bounty from Allah!
Note also a finer point about air in relation to sound, that sound results from the friction of bodies: it is not the friction itself, as some assume, but the outcome of friction once a certain object collides with another and then it moves away from it; so it results from collision and the following separation, Sound results from this, and air transmits it, delivering it to people's hearing, and this serves them in so many ways in their lives day and night.
Very loud noises happen as a result of people's activities and dealings, so that if the sound that ensues from all of that were to stay in the air, there would be a great density of noises in the atmosphere, and the harm would be unbearable! People would have great difficulty trying to muffle the noises in the air to be able to hear badly needed sounds - in the same way as they wish used paper were blank to be used for useful writing. It is the mercy of the Most Mighty, the Wise, that willed that air should be like invisible paper that takes in as much voice as is needed, and then erases it with the will of Allah, so that it becomes pure and blank, ready for receiving new information at all times.
Regard also the outstanding mercy of cold and heat as vital things for the life of animals and plants! Observe how each displaces the other gradually and bit by bit until it completely dominates! If cold or heat were to displace each other in a sudden way, it would have been harmful and fatal for organisms and plants, the same as when a man comes out of an extremely hot bath to an extremely cold weather. The way heat and cold take place has no other reason but the care, wisdom and mercy of Allah! If you say, "The slow and slack way that heat and cold displace each other is a result of the sun's slow motion in ascending and descending, you will be asked: And what causes the slow motion of the sun?"
If you answer, the reason is the great distance between its rise and its setting, you will have to deal with the next question: And why this great distance? And so on. You will have to answer question after question every time you give a cause until you end up with one of two attitudes: either stubborn denial and claiming that it is mere coincidence, without a controller or maker; or recognition of the Lord of the Worlds, a submission to the Eternal Fount of all being, a resolve to be among the sensible and thinking humans. There is no midway place between the two camps at all! So do not let your mind be deluded.
Reflect also on the creation of fire, how it is kept in waiting and how it is lighted. If it were ablaze all the time, like the continuity of water and air, it would burn the world; it would spread beyond control, and so much mischief and harm would result. If it remained a potentiality, never actually coming into existence, humans would miss many benefits that are realized because of the fire. The wisdom of the Most Mighty, the All Knowing, therefore, determined that fire should be potentially present in materials, that a human can bring it out whenever he needs, preserve it with fuel, like wood, and let it burn as long as he needs; when he no longer needs it, and ceases to supply it with fuel, it subsides with the will of its Lord, its Originator, which saves the trouble of its preservation and the harm of its continuity. So glory be to Him, who created it and put it in the control of humans in the most striking and admirable balance, combining enjoyment of its benefits, having control of it, and keeping secure from its dangers.
We praise Allah, the Tremendous! He acquainted us with Himself, with His signs, guided us with His marvels, and saved us the need for guidance from mortals. He reminds us with the fire of this world of the fire of the Hereafter, so that we may take caution, beware of it and take refuge in Him from the Fire. He adds that the fire is a provision for 'muqween', that is travellers who take rest in an uninhabited land, where the need is keen for fire, for lighting, cooking, baking, warming, dispelling loneliness and other functions.
Notice the wisdom displayed in privileging man with the use of fire in preference to all animals! Apart from man, animals are not in need of fire. If man were to be without fire, the effects would be grave and very unfavourable in all matters of life and in his interests. Other animals, in contrast, have no use of fire, nor do they enjoy its services. To refer to just one of the many uses of fire, a use that is seemingly trivial, but is really vital in the life of human beings, let us notice the use of the lamp. This device is commonly used by people to perform any of the tasks they choose to perform at night. If they were deprived of this device, humans would have to spend half of their life as inactive as the dwellers of tombs.
Who would be able to write, sew, perform a craft or do any activity in dark nights? How would an ill person behave at night? How would he manage without light to obtain medicine or to extract blood or to take any other action on his ailment? Consider the amount of light that is radiated by the tiny wick, how it lights quite a big circle around you, enabling you to see what is near and what is far! Consider, also, how if every creature of Allah's were to take a light from your light it would not weaken or grow fainter! As for the benefits of fire in cooking foods, preparing medicines, drying what is only usable after drying, analysing what has to be analysed, condensing what needs to be condensed and combined to make it useful; all these and many other uses are more than can be figured out.
Think again of the fire, how it naturally rises up! If the surrounding atmosphere did not check it, it would rise and rise; it is rather pulled down in the same way as a body that has weight is attracted down; and if, on the other hand, nothing checked its downward attraction it would go down and down. So who is it that arranged that the fire should rise to a determined level, and arranged that its descent should have a limit at the desired point? Who but the Most Mighty, the All-Knowing?
Consider Allah's wisdom revealed in the rareness of the two precious metals, gold and silver; observe the failure of the best minds among humans to artificially produce these two metals, their utter inability to emulate Allah's creation in this, despite their zeal and utmost endeavour to achieve this end. They only succeeded in producing imitations of the two metals. Had they succeeded in producing the identical gold and silver, great chaos would happen in the world, as gold and silver would be available to men in great abundance, until they become as cheap as palm leaves and pottery; in which case they would cease to serve the interest they are created to serve. Their ampleness would make them of little value, and they would no longer be used as the price for valuable property and goods, services and weaponry for fighters.
Men would refuse to be employed, since everyone would be a possessor of gold and silver. If Allah were to make all of His creatures rich, He would have virtually made them all poor, for who would let himself be employed in menial jobs which are absolutely essential for life? So glory be to Him who deemed that the rarity of gold and silver be a basis for establishing an organized system in the world! On the other hand, He did not make them as rare as red sulfur which is almost impossible to obtain, for in such little quantity they would be absolutely useless! He rather created them and laid them in such quantity as is deemed right by His judgement and mercy, for the convenience of His creatures.
Think also of the marvelous wisdom embodied in Allah's bringing within access of His servants what they most badly need, His compassion in fitting the availability and abundance of things to the extent they are needed. The more human beings need something, the more abundant it is; the less they demand it the less it is abundant; and when they need it in moderate amounts, it is available in moderate amounts - it would not in that case be too common nor too scarce.
All depends on the extent and diversity of needs. Take for example the four essentials, earth, water, air and fire. See how commonly available they are. Observe the huge amount of air Allah has created, and how commonly available it is everywhere you go. That is because land animals cannot survive without it; and so it is accessible to animals wherever they happen to be, since they cannot do without it for a moment. Had it not been there in great quantities in all lands and territories, people and animals would suffocate because of smoke and vapour that keep forming and spreading.
Observe, too, the wisdom of Allah when He caused the wind to expel smoke and vapour; when they rise into the atmosphere, the wind carries them to where they are transformed to cloud or fog, and the world is rid of their nasty effects."
The man with fedora then said, "O young man, can all human beings, if they work as a united group, transform smoke into clouds or fog, or can they blow them away from people where they would cease to be a source of danger to them? If Allah so willed. He could have held the wind from blowing away smoke, and so it would become denser and denser on the surface of the earth, causing the demise of multitudes of humans and beasts. And Allah know best."
"Indeed, in the creation of the heavens and the earth and the alternation of the night and the day are signs for those of understanding. Who remember Allah while standing or sitting or [lying] on their sides and give thought to the creation of the heavens and the earth, [saying], "Our Lord, You did not create this aimlessly; exalted are You [above such a thing]; then protect us from the punishment of the Fire." - [QS.3:190-191]
Reference :
- Capt. Anas Abdul-Hameed Al-Qoz, Men and The Universe - Reflections of Ibn Al-Qayyem, Darussalam
