The Islam Compass

Does Existence Need an Explanation?

Three options, and only one of them survives.

3 min

You exist. Did you come from nothing, from yourself, or from Another?

Reflection

We accept 'it just happened' for almost nothing in daily life. A door slams; we look for the wind. A number appears in our bank account; we look for the sender. Only for the largest fact of all — that anything exists — are we sometimes tempted to say: no explanation needed.

Or were they created by nothing, or were they the creators [of themselves]? Or did they create the heavens and the earth? Rather, they are not certain.
Qur'an — Surah At-Tur 52:35-36Translation: Saheeh International

Explanation

The verse lays out the only three possibilities. From nothing: but nothing produces nothing. From ourselves: but a thing must exist before it can act. Therefore from Another — One who is not Himself dependent on anything. The Qur'an does not then prove Islam; it establishes that the question 'who made me?' is not naïve. It is the only reasonable question left.

  • Qur'anQur'an 52:35-36
  • TafsirIbn Kathir, Tafsir al-Qur'an al-'Azim, on 52:35-36

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Sources & References

2 cited
    1. 1Ibn Kathir, Tafsir al-Qur'an al-'Azim, on 52:35-36

Religious content here follows the Qur'an, the authentic Sunnah, and the established scholarship of Ahl al-Sunnah wa al-Jama'ah. Qur'an citations link to the verse; hadith carry collection and number; Tafsir and historical claims name the work. Where something could not be verified, it is not published.

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