Lesson Content
Complete knowledge, and creation from nothing, belong to Allah alone. This sentence is the answer to the atheist.
And you have not been given of knowledge except a little.al-Isra' 17:85
Allah brought you out of your mothers' wombs knowing nothing, and gave you hearing, sight and hearts (an-Nahl 16:78).
Even what we learn we forget. Adam forgot, and we found no firm resolve in him (Taha 20:115).
Some are returned to the weakest age, so that after knowledge they know nothing (an-Nahl 16:70).
Ibrahim and the four birds
Ibrahim did not doubt; he asked to see with his eyes what he already believed. Four birds were slaughtered, cut into pieces and mixed, and a part of them was placed on each hill. He called them, and each bird came together and came to him.
Sorting which piece belongs to which bird would need DNA analysis, collecting every last piece, expensive tests, equipment and people to pay. Even then we could not put the pieces back together and have a living bird fly.
Knew every piece of every bird without effort and brought them back to life with a call.
The sparrow and the sea
Context: Musa said he was the most knowledgeable person, so Allah sent him to learn from al-Khidr. They boarded a boat together.
A prophet and a man given knowledge from Allah, together, hold no more than one peck of a tiny bird next to the whole sea.
Not a leaf falls
He knows the tree, the branch, where the leaf lands, how fast it falls, its colour, how long it stayed on the tree and how long it will lie on the ground.
To predict when, where and how every leaf of just one tree will fall, we would have to attach a sensor to every single leaf and use AI tools to find the patterns. It would cost enormous time and money, and the model would still not be accurate. Our knowledge is limited and depends on resources; it is an exhausting process. Allah knows every leaf of every tree on earth, and this knowledge is effortless and does not tire Him.
Two meanings of "His knowledge"
"His knowledge" can mean (a) knowledge of Allah Himself, His essence and attributes, or (b) what Allah knows. The ayah carries both, and both are correct.
We know nothing of His essence and attributes except what He told us: that He rose over the Throne, that He descends to the lowest heaven in the last third of the night.
We know of creation only what He allows: He told us of the angels and the seven heavens. Scientists learn gradually what they did not know before, by His will.
Key points
- All created knowledge exists by His will; we were given only a little (17:85).
- Born knowing nothing, we forget, and may lose it in old age (16:78, 20:115, 16:70).
- Ibrahim and the birds; the sparrow's peck and the sea (al-Bukhari 122).
- Not a leaf falls but He knows it (6:59), with no effort.
- "His knowledge": knowledge about Him, and what He knows; both are meant.
Quiz
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