We have already mentioned the fact that those who deny the existence of God do  only superficially: there is faith in God deep in their very souls and consciences.

No doubt, worldly success could create false pride in shallow, superficial individuals and this pride then leads to negligence to the extent that at times man ignores his true innate nature. However, when he is faced with terrible events he puts aside his false pride and his natural monotheism and God-knowing nature comes over him.

Human history reveals to us many such examples of people one of whom is presented below:

There once lived a powerful and despotic minister who had everything under his scrutiny and control. Once he attended a great gathering of religious scholars. Addressing them, he asked them rudely, “How much longer will you claim that there is a God? I can prove the opposite of your claim in a thousand ways.”

He put forth his proposal with a special pride. Since those scholars knew well that he was not a man of logic and that he was under the complete influence of his own power, they remained silent and ignored him in a humiliating way.

Not long after this event, the minister was accused of some wrongdoing and was arrested and sent to jail.

One of the religious scholars who was present at the session on that day thought it was the right time to pay a visit to the imprisoned minister. He thought that since he was no longer in power, and he was no longer arrogant, and he could offer him some advice. The scholar saw the former minister involved in great contemplation, reciting the following two lines of poetry: All of us are like the pictures of lions which are drawn on flags. When the wind blows the lion on the flags moves here and there with the wind and seems to be attacking its enemies but in fact, it is not the lion which moves; rather, it is the wind which makes the movement. He was confessing that he himself was nothing in contrast with the power of the Almighty God who could take away any power He has bestowed upon us at any moment He deems appropriate.

The scholar observed that the former minister had turned into a religious, God-Fearing individual. Greeting him, the scholar asked him: Do you remember you said you had one thousand reasons not to believe in God. I have come to nullify those thousand reasons through one reason: God is the one who took away your power from you. The former minister became ashamed and did not say a word since he had realized his errors.

Concerning Pharaoh, The Holy Qur’¡n says:

حَتَّى إِذَا أَدْرَكَهُ الْغَرَقُ قَالَ آمَنتُ أَنَّهُ لا إِلِـهَ إِلاَّ الَّذِي آمَنَتْ بِهِ بَنُو إِسْرَائِيلَ.

Until when drowning overtook him, he (pharaoh) said: I believe there is no God but He in Whom the children of Israel believed. [Qur’¡n 10: 90]

THINK AND ANSWER

Sixth Lecture
The Second Way to Know God

A Way from Without

A cursory look at the world will lead us to acknowledge this fact that chaos does not reign over it; rather, every phenomenon is in motion on a specific trajectory and the system of the universe, based on special order is moving towards a definite destination, like a great army.

The following points will clarify our intention:

For the creation and existence of any organism there should be some special conditions. For instance for a tree to come into existence, the proper soil, temperature and heat are crucial. If anything goes wrong, there will be no tree. The creation of these conditions calls for wisdom and knowledge.

Each creature has its specific features. Water and fire have their unique traits which are part and parcel of their very being. These features and traits follow specific laws.

All the organs of an organism work harmoniously with one another. Take the human body as an example. All the members, limbs and organs coordinate with each other in a human body. If anything threatens our bodies, all the organs unite in defending our bodies. This coordination is another sign of the order in the universe.

A glance at the world of creation will vividly show us that all creatures work in harmony with one another. For instance, for the growth of living things, the sun shines, the clouds release rain, the wind blows, and the soil cooperates. All these show the existence of a definite organization in the existing world.

The Relation of Order and Wisdom

Every conscientious person would realize that order in any organization implies wisdom, thought, and planning.

This is because man looks for a source of knowledge and power wherever he notices that order and law prevails. Man does not need any reasoning to arrive at this conclusion.

Man knows that a blind or illiterate man cannot use a typewriter to write a good composition or prepare a critical essay. Neither can a two-year old child create a masterpiece just by randomly moving his pen on the paper. Rather, we would deduce the intelligence of the Creator when we come face to face with a critical essay or a good composition. At a museum, we would appreciate the talent of the creator of a masterpiece even if we did not have the chance to see the artist in person.

Thus, wherever there is an organized system, there exists intelligence and wisdom behind it.

In order to infer the existence of the intelligence as the source for any organized system, man at times uses the laws of probability and reasons in the following fashion: It will take millions of years for an illiterate man to press the right buttons on the type-writer so that he may randomly type out an essay or a piece of poetry (For more details, refer to the book entitled “The Creator of the World” or to the book entitled “In Search of God”)

The Holy Qur’¡n states:

سَنُرِيهِمْ آيَاتِنَا فِي الآفَاقِ وَفِي أَنفُسِهِمْ حَتَّى يَتَبَيَّنَ لَهُمْ أَنَّهُ الْحَقُّ أَوَلَمْ يَكْفِ بِرَبِّكَ أَنَّهُ عَلَى كُلِّ شَيْءٍ شَهِيدٌ.

We will soon show them Our signs in the Universe and in their own souls, until it will become quite clear to them that it is the truth. It is not sufficient as regards your Lord that He is a witness over all things? [Qur’¡n 41: 53]

THINK AND ANSWER

Seventh Lecture
Some Examples of the Order of Creation

Order, purpose and planning are vividly observable in all of creation. Here are some striking examples.

Luckily, the doors of knowing God are open to us today due to the great advances in the physical sciences, the uncovering of the mysteries of the world, the vast knowledge of man’s anatomy and the structure of the bodies of animals and plants and our vast knowledge about the stars and galaxies. Now we could claim that all the books and resources dealing with the physical sciences are books on monotheism and on knowing God. These sources teach us the magnanimity of God. This is due to the fact that these books reveal the very nature of creatures in this world. They show us the Grandeur and Power of the Great Creator.

The Headquarters of the Territory of Man’s Body:

The inside of the skull is filled with a gray matter called the “brain” which is the most important organ in the body. This is because it commands all the activities of the organs of the body.

To appreciate the function of this vital organ, let us give you a piece of medical news:

Recently it was reported in the newspapers that an Iranian University student from Shiraz received a blow to his brain in a driving accident. All his organs seemed to be in good condition except for the fact that he had forgotten his entire past. He could not recognize his parents. He was taken to his house in Shiraz, but he was unable to remember any of the items he had worked with in his room. He declared that he could not recognize any of those items.

It was revealed by physicians that a blow to one specific location in his brain had deprived him of his recollections and memories.

Perhaps the damaged section in his brain was the size of the head of a pin but the impact was tremendous.

Our brain and nervous system consists of two distinct sections:

The sympathetic nerves have control over all the voluntary movements of our bodies, such as walking, looking, speaking, and the like.

2. The parasympathetic nervous system, controls the involuntary functions of the heart, stomach, and the like.

The Cerebrum, the Most Amazing Part of the Brain:

The cerebrum is the center of intelligence, will, and memory. It is the most amazing section of the brain. It controls most mental reactions, such as anger, fear and the like. If an animal’s cerebrum is removed but the nerves remain intact, it will continue to live, however it will lose its intelligence. The cerebrum of a pigeon was once removed, and then the pigeon was given seeds. It could not distinguish them despite the fact that it was hungry. When it was given the opportunity to fly, it continued to fly up to the point where it confronted an obstruction in its path.

Another Astonishing Section of the Brain is the Memory:

Have you realized the significance of memory in our lives? Have you realized how miserable we would be if we were deprived of our memory even for one hour?

The memory center, which forms a small section of our brain, files all the memories of our lives. It records all the features and traits of the people we have come in contact with during our lifetime. As soon as we come across a person we have already met, we will recognize him instantly. Then our mind tells us how to react towards him. If he happens to be a friend, we are told to respect him and if he is an enemy, we are told to keep our distance. However, all these reactions are spontaneous.

If we are asked to describe through pictures what we will have in our memory, we need to use hundreds of pages. Our memory, however, has done this filing with the easiest mechanisms available to it.

How Could Unconscious and Unintelligent Nature Create Intelligence?

Hundreds of books have already been written about the miracle of the human brain. Could we believe this highly delicate, precise, complicated and mysterious organ to be created by an unconscious nature? Nothing would be more amazing than to assume unintelligent nature to be the creator of human wisdom. Concerning this The Holy Qur’¡n says:

وَفِي أَنفُسِكُمْ أَفَلاَ تُبْصِرُونَ؟

And in your own souls too; will you not then see?” [Qur’¡n, 51:21]