Page 803 - Atlas of Creation Volume 3

Harun Yahya

an appearance, but not a body…

On the other hand, philosophers who are comprised of a group of lunatics actually talk about something

else. What they mean is that the world is the work of imagination and it is shaped by the imagination. There
is a great difference between the two. 50

As Imam Rabbani has made clear, the ancient Greek sophists said that "matter is a perception we have cre-

ated ourselves." This view is rationally and scientifically flawed, and departs from true religion. As we
have stressed from the very beginning, the truth is that matter is a perception created by God.

It is a grave error to confuse this false view of those philosophers, with the explanation given here by
Islamic scholars that "matter is a perception created by God."

Objection: "If everything is an illusion, how can we explain some of the attributes of God?"
Reply: Some believers think that when we accept the true nature of matter, a curtain is brought down

on many of the names of God, and that if matter is simply an illusion, the manifestation of some of those
names cannot be explained. This is again an error that stems from shallow thinking and failure to under-
stand the nature of the subject.
First of all, no force or idea can draw a curtain over any of the names of God. No scientific truth can

prevent the manifestation of any of these names. It is God Who creates these truths in the first place. God
is not bound by the things and laws He creates. For this reason, no power or knowledge in the world can
do away with any of these manifestations. Even thinking such a thing would be failing to appreciate the
infinite might of God.

Furthermore, the fact that matter is but a perception that forms in our minds is an important proof
that, contrary to what these people may think, the manifestation of the names of God takes place at all
times and in all places. That is because, just like a film, this image which forms on the perceptual level
cannot come about of itself, and there must be something that displays it, and that means a Creator

which brings it into being.
The fact that the image is permanent and unbroken is clear evidence that our Creator continues His
act of creation at all times. In fact, one verse says that the earth and the sky (in other words, the universe)
are not fixed and unvarying, that they only exist by virtue of God's creation, and that they will cease to

exist when that creation ceases:
God keeps a firm hold on the heavens and earth, preventing them from vanishing away. And if they van-
ished no one could then keep hold of them. Certainly He is Most Forbearing, Ever-Forgiving. (Surah Fatir:

41)
In the Qur’an, sura 27, verse 64, God reveals that He "originates creation and then regenerates it". In

another verse, He draws attention to the fact that people are at every moment being created:
Do they make things into partner-gods which cannot create anything and are themselves being created?
(Surat al-A'raf: 191)

In other words, the reason for the permanent and unbroken nature of the images we see, is not that
they have a fixed and material existence, but that God creates them at every moment. So the manifes-
tation of God's continuous creation can be seen at every moment, in everything a person sees or feels.

In consequence, this truth makes the manifestation of the attributes of God in the universe even
clearer. For example, someone who knows that when he goes into a garden all the fruit, flowers and trees
are actually images being presented to him in his own mind will recall that it is God, the Provider (al-
Razzaq), who gives him countless blessings and beauties, and who shows these images to him. Someone
with a pleasant house who knows the true nature of all the furniture, antiques, gold and silver in it, in

other words who realizes that they are all images in his brain, can never brag about his possessions. Just
like the Prophet Solomon (pbuh), he identifies God, the Giver (al-Vahhab) as He Who shows the beauty
of these possessions to him and makes him wealthy by means of it. Or, when someone convinces another

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