Does the limited capacities of the creation point towards the existence of God?
The Holy Qur’an does not arbitrarily and without reason describe God the Glorious as the Master of all souls and all cells of bodies, as do the Vedas. Almighty Allah sets forth the reason, as He says:
“ that the heavens and the earth and all that is in them belong to God Almighty, inasmuch as He has created them all ” (Ch. 57:3)
“ He has put a limit to the capacity and work of each created being, so that limited things should point to a Limiter Who is God Almighty Himself” (Ch. 25:3)
Thus, we observe that as bodies are confined within their limits and cannot go outside of them, in the same way souls are also confined and cannot create more powers and capacities than those that have been invested in them. For instance, the moon completes its orbit within a month, that is, in twenty-nine or thirty days, but the sun seems to complete its orbit in about three hundred sixty-four days, and it cannot reduce the size of its orbit to that of the moon. Nor has the moon the power to extend its orbit to that of the sun. If the whole world were to agree to alter the orbits of these two luminous bodies, it would not be possible for it to do so. Nor could the sun and the moon make any alteration in them of their own power.
Thus the Being Who has confined these celestial bodies to their respective orbits and Who determines their course, is God. In the same way, there is a great difference between the body of a man and the body of an elephant. If all the physicians were to combine to bring about a change in man’s capacities and in his bulk so as to make him the equal of the elephant, it would not be possible for them to do so. If they desired to confine the elephant to the bulk of man, this would be equally impossible. Here also there is a limitation, as there is in the case of the sun and the moon, and that limitation indicates a Limiter, that is to say, it points to a Being Who bestowed that bulk upon the elephant and determined a different one for man.
If one were to reflect one would find a hidden control of God Almighty over all these physical matters in a wonderful way. One observes the wonderful limitations imposed by Him. Beginning with the bulk of the insects which can be observed only under a microscope, up to the bulk of the great leviathans which can swallow a large vessel like a mouthful, one observes a wonderful spectacle of limitation. No animal can transcend the limits of its body. In the same way, the stars that are observed in heaven cannot go beyond their limits. This limitation shows that behind the scenes there is One Who lays down these limits. This is the meaning of the verse:
“ He has created everything, and has ordained for its proper Measure.” (Ch. 25: 3)
A similar limitation to that which governs bodies is also found in the case of souls. You can easily understand that the excellences which a human soul can exhibit, or towards which it can make progress, are not available to the soul of an elephant despite its size and bulk. In the same way, the soul of every animal is confined to the limits of its species with reference to its faculties and capacities and it can acquire only those excellences which are appointed for its species. Thus as the limitations of bodies indicate that they have a Limiter and Creator, in the same way, the limitations of the capacities of souls also indicate that they have a Creator and a Limiter.
Note: This excerpt is taken from the book “The Essence of Islam Vol 1 pages 116–118”
The original book can be free download here:
