Were They Created from Nothing? Or Are They the Creators?
tadabbur
Level: intermediate
aqeedah
td-044
أَمۡ خُلِقُواْ مِنۡ غَيۡرِ شَيۡءٍ أَمۡ هُمُ ٱلۡخَٰلِقُونَ
— الطور 35
Verse: "Were they created from nothing? Or are they the creators?" (52:35)
The impregnable philosophical argument: Existence has three possibilities: Created from nothing (impossible — the void produces nothing); you created yourself (impossible — nothing makes itself); a Creator made you — and that is Allah.
Uthman ibn Affan narrated: When he read this verse one night he kept repeating it until morning — "the truth became clear to him."
Lesson: Evidence of Allah's existence needs no telescope or laboratory — it needs a moment of sincere reflection on the reality of your own existence.
Source: Ibn Kathir (7/416); Al-Sadi; Al-Qurtubi (17/65)
Question: What three possibilities does the verse present to establish the existence of the Creator?
Answer: (1) Created from nothing (impossible) (2) Created himself (impossible) (3) A Creator made him — that is Allah. The only rational option.