This entire post is my answer to some questions asked by one of my student. Although she decided not to continue her study, I still feel the urge trying to answer some of the most amazing questions that I heard from 13 year old student!
Dear AZS, I am sure you can fight the challenge ahead. Do not give up and be awesome!
Hey
girl! It’s been a while, isn’t it? I am sorry, things have been really busy for
me lately.
Anyway,
you’ve got some serious questions here hahaha and to be honest, I am more than
happy to answer it for you
First
of all, where did human come from? It’s from Allah SWT who created Prophet Adam
and his wife, Hawa, or Eve if you wish. It’s undeniable fact because Al-Qur’an
said it. I know you won’t be satisfied with such short and simple answer XD
Ok
let me tell you something. From the perspective of Darwin’s evolution theory, every
species has origin, hence the book name is “Origin of Species”. It means that
every species comes from their predecessor in the past. However, it has obvious
plot hole when someone asked “What/Who is the predecessor of everything in the
past?”. Let’s say that he said marine life was the source of all life, what was
the source of marine life? Microorganism? So, what was the predecessor of
microorganism? We can continue to question this topic, but it’s clear that we
don’t have answer for that, and the only explanation from the pro side was “coincidence”. Funny, huh? Everything
comes up to this time is the product of coincidence, are you having a laugh?
The
second perspective is astronomy. We are made of star stuff, huh? The origin of
this statement is quite long, but let me make it short. Scientists all around
the world agree that our known universe came from an extremely huge explosion
called big bang. A singularity point that had temperature and
mass beyond our comprehension, suddenly burst into a big bang. After millions of year, the primordial
universe started to cool down. There were only two main elements present at the
time, helium (1) and hydrogen (2). Those numbers represents the number of their
atom (you will get it in high school’s chemistry lesson).
It’s unique, since
our life in Earth is what the scientist called a carbon-based life. It means
our life is made mostly by carbon element, with atom number 6. So, how can
helium and hydrogen became carbon? Simple, you just add 3 helium (2), and you
get a carbon (6)!!! Haha, just kidding! It’s actually not simple as we imagine.
In the first times after the big bang, there are 4 fundamental forces in our
universe; electromagnetism, gravity, weak interaction, and strong interaction.
The number of atoms in each element is bounded by what we called strong
interaction. We cannot just put 6 hydrogen or 3 helium in a box and shake it to
make a carbon (6). What we need, in fact, is an extremely hot temperature in
order to loosen the strong interaction in each elements to create a new
element. Guess how hot does it requires? 100
million Kelvin!!! Or six times hotter than our sun’s core!
Whaaaaattt? Ok
you can close your mouth now. That’s where the sentence “We are made of
stars” comes from. Interesting, isn’t
it? So, how can those star’s core elements come to our earth? The answer is
supernova, or sometimes, a hypernova. You can search it up on google :D
But,
AZS, I still believe that Allah SWT created Adam and Hawa. I believe that,
the fact that Adam and Hawa were created from soil, or dust if you will, is
merely a simplification of what actually happened. Imagine a civilization 1400
years old ago read my explanation above, what would they call me? Crazy?
Lunatic? Hahaha yes they might call me that. That’s why Allah SWT used a simple
reasoning to avoid confusion at the time. I hope that answer your question, but
I am still widely open for another curiosity XD
The
second question, how did Allah SWT create Adam and Hawa? Simple, it’s in
Al-Qur’an surah Yaasin verses 81 – 83. Here I quote it for you:
“Dan tidaklah Rabb
yang menciptakan langit dan bumi itu berkuasa menciptakan yang serupa dengan
itu? Benar, Dia berkuasa. Dan Dialah Maha Pencipta lagi Maha Mengetahui.
Sesungguhnya keadaan-Nya apabila Dia menghendaki sesuatu hanyalah berkata
kepadanya: “Jadilah!” maka terjadilah ia. Maka Maha Suci (Allah) yang di
tangan-Nya kekuasaaan atas segala sesuatu dan kepada-Nyalah kamu dikembalikan.”
(QS. Yasin: 81-83)
Allah
SWT is creator, the only creator. We, human, are called inventor, not creator,
for a reason. It’s already there, it’s created at the first time of creation by
the only Omniscience and Omnipotent God, Allah SWT. The process? We might never
know, but who knows? You might discover it. Creation is always baffling, since
we are the creation, not the creator. Remember what Socrates said? “True
knowledge exists in knowing that you know nothing.” It’s not a sin to
not know something. Perhaps, it’s a challenge lies in the future generation, or
it’s a secret we’ll never know. Conclusion? Always be curious!
Third
question, why was the universe created? This one is extremely intriguing. You
are asking a motive of The Creator, aren’t you? You are also asking about
existentialism, why are you here? What am I doing? Am I important? What’s my
purpose in this vast and endless universe? Who am I?
In order to answer those questions, we must use multiple perspective. Our own perspective believes that we are here for a reason. Universe exists for a reason. But to identify "the motives", it would be impossible, since we are not The Creator. Yet Allah SWT told us 1,400 years ago in Al-Qur'an. Why do I believe Al-Qur'an? Because I am a moslem, of course.
Ok, let's talk the impossible. Imagine that you are immortal and omnipotent, you can do, know, create anything. What would you do? Why do you that? Out of boredom? Curiosity? Or simply to play a simulator? Even the description of immortality is ridiculous. I mean, how can something has no beginning and no end? And to define beginning and ending, we must talk about time dimension. None, none of things exist before the big bang. Even vacuum outer space has hydrogen and helium. In short, I can never tell the motive from The Creator perspective. I can, however, know that He told us long time ago through Al-Qur'an. Perhaps, you can find the answer there, too, by learning from the wise.
The meaning of you? To the universe? Perhaps nothing. You, me, the entire human kind. We mean nothing to the universe. We ride a round rock, floating through infinite space, orbiting a billion year old star, without any clear direction. But for your parents? You are her precious one. For your friend? You are their beloved and quiet girl that can draw and speak English wonderfully. For your sister? You are her annoying onee-chan that becomes important part of her life. For the future? Who knows, maybe you are one of the world-changer. One thing I believe, that we are meant to do something good. Not always big, not always spectacular, but it is beautiful and meaningful for someone else.
Those
questions have made me crazy for a long time, really. And to be honest, I am not sure myself. I am sure of one thing, that Allah SWT created us to pray and
worship Him. It is one thing I can tell you. The reason why we are who we are
is still an ongoing question, even for everyone. Hope you can find your own answer,
be humble as we made of soil, and be curious for we made of star stuff. Good
bye and see you when I see you!
