The reason why Allah ta’ala created the Universe

Bismillāh ir Rahmānir Raheem

 Alhamdulillāhi Rabbil Álamīn w’al Salāt ū w’al Salām ū ála Sayyidunā wa Mawlanā Muhammad, Rahmatul il Álamīn, Sayyid ul Mursalīn, Khātim al Nabiyīn wa Qā’id al Ghurr il Muhajalīn wa ála Ālihī wa Sahbihī ajmaīn wa man tabīhum bi ihsānin ‘ila yawm il Dīn.

 Question: What do the respected ‘Ulama of Dīn and the Muftī’s of the Shariáh say about the Hadīth “law laaka lama khalaqtul aflaak” Which book is this Hadīth in? Is Sayyidunā RasūlAllāh şal Allāhu álayhi wa sallam the reason for creation or not? Are there other ahadīth that support this narration?

 Answer: Indeed Sayyidunā RasūlAllāh şal Allāhu álayhi wa sallam is the reason for the creation of Adam álayhis salām and the universe. If Sayyidunā RasūlAllāh şal Allāhu álayhi wa sallam was not in existence, then the Ársh and Farsh, Lawh and Qalām, the Skies and the Earth, Heaven and Hell, the trees and stones and all other creatures would not exist. There are many aḥadīth to this effect.

 

Hadīth 1

Hākim in Mustadrak, Bayhaqī in Dalā’il an-Nabuwwah, Tabarānī in Kabīr, Abū Nuáym in Hilya and Ibn Ásākir in Tārīkh Dimashq report from Sayyidunā Ameer al- Mu’minīn Fārūq al-Ádham rađhī Allāhu ánhu that:

 Sayyidunā RasūlAllāh şal Allāhu álayhi wa sallam said: “Allāh táālā said: When Adam made an error, he asked: O Allāh! I ask you for the sake of Muhammad [şal Allāhu álayhi wa sallam] to forgive me. Allāh táālā said: O Adam! How do you recognise Muhammad [şal Allāhu álayhi wa sallam] when I have not yet created him? Adam said: O Allāh! When you created me and blew into me the spirit, I lifted my head and saw written on the Ársh ‘Lā ilāha illAllah Muhammad-ur-Rasūlullah’. So, I got to know that you would only join your name with him who is most beloved to you. Allāh táālā said: O Adam! You have spoken the truth. Indeed Muhammad [şal Allāhu álayhi wa sallam] is more beloved to me than anything and when you asked me for his sake, I pardoned you. If Muhammad [şal Allāhu álayhi wa sallam] was not in existence, I would not have created you”.

[Also from Shaykh Taqī ad-Dīn Subkī in Shifá as-Siqām and Shihāb ad-Dīn Khafājī in Nasīm ar-Riyādh]

 

Hadīth 2

Hākim in Mustadrak and Abū as-Shaykh in Tabaqāt, al-Isfahānī in report from Sayyidunā ‘Abdullah ibn Ábbās rađhī Allāhu ánhu that:

 “Allāh táālā revealed to Prophet Īsa álayhis salām that: O Īsa! Have Īmān in [Sayyidunā] Muhammad [şal Allāhu álayhi wa sallam] and order your Ummah to do the same. If Muhammad [şal Allāhu álayhi wa sallam] was not in existence, I would not have created Adam nor would I have made heaven or hell”.

[Also from Shaykh Taqī ad-Dīn Subkī in Shifá as-Siqām and Shaykh al-Islām al-Balqīnī in his Fatāwa and ibn Hajar in Afdal al-Qurá]

 

Hadīth 3

Daylamī in Musnad al-Firdaus reports from Sayyidunā Ábdullah ibn ‘Abbās rađhī Allāhu ánhu that:

 Sayyidunā RasūlAllāh şal Allāhu álayhi wa sallam said that Jibra’il álayhis salām came to me and said that Allah says: If you were not created, I would not have made the heaven or hell.

 

Ḥadīth 4

ibn Ásākir reports from Salmān al-Fārsī rađhī Allāhu ánhu that:

 Jibra’il álayhis salām came to Sayyidunā RasūlAllāh şal Allāhu álayhi wa sallam and said that Allāh táālā says: I have not created anyone who is more honoured to me than you. I have created the world and all that is therein so that they may know the rank that you possess. I would not have created the world if I had not created you.

 

Ḥadīth 5

Imām Shihāb ad-Dīn ibn Hajar al-Ásqalānī says:

 These reports say that if Sayyidunā Muḥammad şal Allāhu álayhi wa sallam were not created then Allāh táālā would not have made the skies nor the Earth, neither heaven nor hell, neither the sun nor the moon.

 

There are many other ahadīth on this subject which have been collected by Imām Ahmad Ridā in his brilliant Tajallī al-Yaqīn bi anna Nabiyyana Sayyidil Mursalīn and it is without doubt that the righteous ‘Ulama have addressed Sayyidunā RasūlAllāh şal Allāhu álayhi wa sallam as the “Reason for the creation of Adam álayhis salām and the universe”. If the sayings of our ‘Ulama are collected, this would cover a voluminous book. A few are noted below.

 

Excerpt 1

Imām Sayf ad-Dīn Abū Jáfar bin ‘Umar al-Humairi al-Hanafī in his al-Durr al-Tanzīm fī Mawlid al-Nabī al-Karīm says:

 When Allāh táālā made Adam álayhis salām He revealed to Adam ‘alayhis salām to ask Him: O Allāh! Why have you made my kunyah as ‘Abu Muhammad’? Allāh táālā said: O Adam álayhis salām! Lift your head. He lifted his head and saw the nūr [light] of RasūlAllāh sall Allahu ‘alayhi wa sallam on the Ársh. Adam álayhis salām asked: O Allah! Whose is this nūr? Allah said: It is a Prophet from your progeny. His name is Ahmad [şal Allāhu álayhi wa sallam] in the skies and Muhammad [şal Allāhu álayhi wa sallam] on the Earth. If he were not created, I would not have created you or the skies and the Earth.

 

Excerpt 2

Sayyidī Abul Husayn Hamdooni Shādhilī writes in his Qasīda Dāliyah that:

 The dear Prophet şal Allāhu álayhi wa sallam is the essence of the universe and is the reason for all creation. Had he not have been, then nothing would have come into existence.

 

Excerpt 3

Imām Sharaf ad-Dīn Abū Ábdullah Muḥammad Busīrī writes in his Qasīda Burdah that:

 If it was not for Sayyidunā RasūlAllāh şal Allāhu álayhi wa sallam then the world would not exist.

 

Excerpt 4

Imām Shaykh Ibrāhīm Bayjurī writes in the commentary of Imām Busīrī’s poem:

 If Sayyidunā RasūlAllāh şal Allāhu álayhi wa sallam had remained non-existent, then the universe would not have come to be. Allāh táālā said to Adam álayhis salām: If Muhammad [şal Allāhu álayhi wa sallam] had not existed, I would not have created you. Adam álayhis salām is the father of all men and whatever is in the Earth has been created for man. So when Adam álayhis salām was created due to the existence of Sayyidunā RasūlAllāh şal Allāhu álayhi wa sallam, then it is obvious that the whole world was created due to him. Hence, Sayyidunā RasūlAllāh şal Allāhu álayhi wa sallam is the cause and the reason for all existence.

 

Excerpt 5: Állāmah Khālid Azharī, commenting on the Burdah, says:

 It is because of Sayyidunā RasūlAllāh şal Allāhu álayhi wa sallam that the world was bought from non-existence to existence.

 

Excerpt 6: Imām Mullah Álī al-Qārī writes:

 If it were not for the blessing and the generosity of Sayyidunā RasūlAllāh şal Allāhu álayhi wa sallam, then the whole world would not have existed and apart from Allāh táālā, nothing would exist.

 

Excerpt 7: Állāmah Abul Ayash ‘Abdul Álī Lakhnawi writes in his Fawatih al-Rahmūt Sharh Musallam al-Thubūt that:

 If Sayyidunā RasūlAllāh şal Allāhu álayhi wa sallam were not in existence, then the blessings of Allāh táālā would not have blessed the creation.

 Only an ignoramus will argue against the authenticity of the subject matter, that is, that Sayyidunā RasūlAllāh şal Allāhu álayhi wa sallam is the reason for creation. It is due to him that Allāh táālā, created the Universe.

 [This answer has been translated by Muḥammad Aqdas from Muftī Zafar ad-Dīn al-Bihārī al-Ridawī’s collection of fatawa, Naafi’il Bashar fī Fatāwa Zafar. It is a question asked by Shaykh Rahim Bakhsh of Rawalpindi received by Muftī Zafar ad-Dīn on 15th Rajab, 1324 AH. Muftī Zafar ad-Dīn was one of the foremost students of Imam Ahl as-Sunnah Imām Ahmad Ridā, the greatest scholar of the 20th century.]

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