FROM UNSEEN WORLD TO
UNSEEN GOD
Science has discovered electrons, neutrons, and protons, but it is also a fact that until now, no scientist has seen electrons, neutrons, and protons with their own eyes or through a microscope. Then why do scientists believe in their existence?
The scientists would reply that although they cannot see these particles, they can see their effects—for example, the heat of an electron, a falling apple, in the case of gravity, and a photo film, in the case of X-rays. We believe in the existence of all these things, not by direct observation but by their effects, or, in other words, by indirect knowledge or the inferential argument. We can believe in the existence of things that we can observe directly, as well as those that we infer by their effects indirectly. From a scientific point of view, both methods, the direct and inferential arguments, are equally valid. In terms of their validity, there is no difference between them.
An argument given to negate belief in God is that behind every event in the universe, a cause is at work. And so, it is claimed that all those things previously believed to be the result of supernatural causes can now be explained entirely through natural causes. Further study tells us this is not only an issue of ‘cause and effect.’ A more important point is that from the study of science itself, it has been learned that there is a high level of intelligence in the universe and perfect harmony and planning. Top scientists have accepted these facts. For instance, James Hopwood Jeans (1877-1946), Arthur Stanley Eddington (1882-1944), Albert Einstein (1879-1955), David Foster, and Fred Hoyle (1915-2001), among others. Now, how does one account for these features of the universe? They point to the existence and role of a Supreme Mind or the One Creator God. God is the Final Cause of all causes.
Molecular biology has conclusively proved that the stuff of the world, “matter of organic life, our very flesh, really is mind-stuff.” (Sir Arthur Eddington: The Nature of the Physical World, Cambridge [1948])
The God that religion had presented was in the form of an article of faith or belief. But even though it is not directly a subject matter of science, modern scientific discoveries indirectly affirm this article of faith by testifying to a Creator and Designer of the universe. Science has not proven the concept of God, but it would be correct to say that science has provided sufficient data as evidence for the existence of God.
In the standard model of science, one thing had the status of a missing link: this model reveals an action taking place in the universe, but not the Actor that is ultimately behind it. In contrast, in the model of the universe that the Quran provides, both the Actor—God—and the action—the universe—are present. The Quran highlights the Ultimate or Final Cause of the universe, the Mind behind the universe—the Creator, God. When science is now verifying and attesting to the intelligence evident in the universe, logically, there is no argument for it not to testify to the Mind that possesses this intelligence—the Creator, God.
