So how did it all start? God. Nothing else. The Prophet of Islam, may the mercy and blessings of God be upon him, was asked, "O Messenger of God, where was our Lord before He created His creation?" He said: "Nothing existed but Him, with nothing beneath Him and nothing above Him."[1]
Think about how amazing that is, basically it tells us that there is nothing but God that is truly worthy; creation needs God and nothing else because in the beginning there was God while there was nothing else.
God says in the Quran:
"God is the Creator of all things and He is the Guardian over all things." (Quran 39:62)
So everything besides God was created by Him, is under His dominion and His disposal, and He brought it into existence.
Jubayr, a contemporary of Prophet Muhammad describes himself, saying, "I was one of the greatest enemies of the Prophet," and he said, "I hated him more than any other human being on the face of this earth," but then something strange happened. "One time I walked into the mosque and I heard the Prophet reciting verses from Surah at-Toor (Quran 52:35-36), ‘Were they created from absolutely nothing or are they themselves suggesting that they are the creators? Or did they create the heavens and the earth? Rather they have absolutely no idea, they are at confusion!’"
Jubayr says that at that moment when the Prophet said that, even though he wouldn't officially accept Islam until later on in his life, "faith entered my heart. I knew at that point that there is absolutely no way that there is no God!"
If you just sit with yourself and you go through the process of elimination of the possibilities of how we and everything else around us is here, you will find that there is no other way to explain it except by God.
Creation of the Water, Throne (Arsh) & The Footstool (Kursi)
Prophet Muhammad said: "Nothing existed but Him, with nothing beneath Him and nothing above Him. Then He created His Throne above the water."[2]
The Prophet tells us that there was God first and nothing else. Then, God created the water and the Throne (Arsh). They were created independent of any angels and were created before the creation of the heavens and the earth. Prophet Muhammad said, "There was God, and there was nothing else besides Him, and His Throne was over the water. He wrote all things in the Book (in heaven) and He created the heavens and the earth."[3]
God mentions many times in the Quran that He is the Lord of the Glorious Throne, because it is one of the foremost and most magnificent of his creations.
The Kursi is a Footstool that is like a stair to the Throne and God is above the Throne, yet nothing is hidden from Him. In the greatest verse of the Quran, known in Arabic as Ayah al-Kursi, or the "Verse of the Footstool," before God mentions His Footstool, He mentions His knowledge." (Quran 2:255).
His Kursi, the Footstool, alone has all of the heavens and the earth under it (Quran 2:255). The Prophet Muhammad said, "The Footstool in relation to the Throne is no more than a ring of iron thrown into an open desert on earth."[4] Also, Ibn Abbas said that if the Kursi, the Footstool, encompasses the entire heavens and earth, then what about the Throne? We have absolutely no indication of how great is the Throne in size and obviously we cannot estimate the greatness of God Himself.
God is not distant; He stresses throughout the Quran that He is with us wherever we may be. In Surah al-Hadid (Chapter 57), immediately after God tells us that He rose above His Throne, He tells us that He knows everything that goes in and out of the earth, everything that descends from the heaven and what ascends therein, in short, He knows the minutest details of everything (Quran 57:4). We know Allah is above His Throne, but He is Omnipotent and His knowledge encompasses everything.
Moreover, God talks about the great angels that carry the Throne. They are huge magnificent creatures from the best of God’s angels. On the Day of Judgement, God tells us there will be eight angels that will bear His Throne (Quran 69:17). The Prophet said, "I was permitted to speak about one of the angels of God, the Almighty, the All-Powerful, who is one of the bearers of the Throne and (to tell you) that the distance between his earlobe and his shoulder is a journey of seven hundred years." (Abu Dawud) It was also narrated with this wording, "The distance is (like) that of a bird flying for seven hundred years." (Ibn Abi 'Asim)
What are those angels doing?
God tells us that those angels who bear His Throne and those around it glorify His praises, believe in Him and ask for forgiveness for those who believe. They pray for them saying "Our Lord, You have encompassed all things in mercy and knowledge, so forgive those who have repented and followed Your way and protect them from the punishment of Hellfire." (Quran 40:7)
They are glorifying God and declaring the perfection of God to show that God is independent of the Throne and is independent of those who bear the Throne. God does not need the Throne; God does not need those who bear the Throne.
The Pen
After the creation of the water and the Throne, God created the Pen. When the Prophet says that God created the Pen, he says that His Throne was settled upon water, that there was a layer of water under the Throne of God.
"God ordained the measures of the creation fifty thousand years before He created the heavens and the earth while His Throne was over the water."[5]
What are the dimensions of the Pen? How does it look? We have absolutely no idea.
The Prophet said, "God said to the Pen: ‘Write.’ It said: ‘O Lord, what should I write?’ He said: ‘Write down the decrees of all things until the Hour begins.’"[6]
The Pen, which was created 50,000 years before the heavens and the earth, wrote in what’s known as al-Lawh al-Mahfuz, the Preserved Tablet. God calls it al-Lawh Al-Mahfuz because it’s protected from any changes and is also protected from access. Everything is within that Book, even, as God tells us, a leaf falling from the tree. Everything that would have happened, that has happened, and will happen is written there.
What it does is it establishes the trust of a believer in God that what He wrote was written for our good, and that everything happens for a wisdom. Sometimes we can figure it out, but at other times we are comforted and content knowing that God knows what He is doing.
Heavens and Earth
Referring to what scientists call the Big Bang today, the Quran says, "Have not those who disbelieve known that the heavens and the earth were joined together as one piece, then We parted them and We have made from water every living thing? Will they not then believe?" (Quran 21:30)
Based on the following verse, some scholars state that God created the heavens before He created the earth, "Are you more difficult to create or is the heaven that He constructed. He raised its height, and has perfected it. Its night He covers and He brings out its forenoon. And after that He spread the earth. And brought forth therefrom its water and its pasture. And the mountains He has fixed firmly, as provision and benefit for you and your cattle." (Quran 79:27-30)
God says in the Quran,
"Indeed, your Lord is God, who created the heavens and the earth in six days." (Quran 7:54)
God really does not need six days, God could simply have said, "Be," and it would have come into existence. Why would God create in six days as opposed to just one second or less? Perhaps, God wanted to teach us one of the beloved qualities to Him, which is to take things slowly and planning them out properly.
Seas, Rivers & Rain
God tells us that He is the One who created the heavens and the earth, sent down rain from the sky, producing fruits and sustenance for our survival. God provided for us seas and ships to sail through these seas. God put the rivers at our service and placed the sun and the moon in their circuits. God put for our service the night and the day. God says that He gave us everything that we need to survive. If we were to try to count the blessings of God, we would not be able to do so (see Quran 14:32-34).
"And it is He who subjected the sea for you to eat from it tender meat and to extract from it ornaments which you wear. And you see the ships plowing through it, and [He subjected it] that you may seek of His bounty; and perhaps you will be grateful. And He has affixed into the earth mountains standing firm, lest it should shake with you, and rivers and roads, that you may guide yourselves. And landmarks and by the stars, they [mankind] guide themselves. Then is He who creates like one who does not create? So will you not be reminded? And if you should count the favors of God, you could not enumerate them. Indeed, God is Forgiving and Merciful." (Quran 16:14-18)
The earth benefits us in innumerable ways. If you look at the surface of the earth, God says He made it special for us, meaning that it is ease to tread. Now imagine if the surface of the earth was all like mountains and we all had to live in regions that were rough and difficult to walk. He made the surface soft so we can dig into it and plant things. But at the same time, He made the earth stable and firm enough to allow construction and building from its materials. He also created gravity so we’re not just flying all over the place.
Sun & Moon
The sun is a magnificent creation of God and you will find that God swears by the sun in Chapter Ash-Shams in order to bestow greater appreciation for this gift that He gave us. Many religions in the past assigned special qualities to the sun; a lot of people worshipped the sun. God says,
"And of His signs are the night and day and the sun and moon. Do not prostrate to the sun or to the moon, but prostate to God, who created them, if you [really] worship Him." (Quran 41:37)
With the sun, moon, and the stars you have a lot of superstitions and even rational human beings will have these very strange superstitions. People often put logic aside when it comes to superstitions. You have astrology, horoscopes and other similar things that make absolutely no sense, but they give people either hope that’s not really there or they give people a reason for their paranoia. Islam completely prohibits going to fortunetellers or believing in them.
Creation of the Angels
Then, God created the angels from light. They are incapable of disobeying to Him and do exactly as they have been commanded. They are responsible to carry out many different tasks. For example, Gabriel was responsible to convey the revelation from God to the messengers. God by teaching us about the angels, clarifies to us the integrity of the message as it came down to the messengers, among many other things.
Something unique in regards to the Islamic belief in the angels is that we do not believe in any fallen angel, and we do not believe that devil was an angel.
Furthermore, angels are not robots. They have plenty of character; they love and hate, pray, and they incline toward certain things, but all of it is within the scope of obedience to God.
Creation of the Jinn
They are created from fire, but they are not just created from any form of fire, but from a smokeless flame.[1] God created them before us. Their purpose is in essence the same purpose as human beings: to worship and serve God alone.
