Library Islam Islam: Faith, Practice & History Part I: Beliefs Lesson 4-More About God The Difference Between Creator & Maker
The Difference Between Creator & Maker
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The Difference Between Creator & Maker
The maker of a computer is not its creator and did not give it its existence; his only skill was that he gave a new form to what was already in existence. He was not aware of the computations and the information that will be stored in it in the future. Similarly, other inventors, discoverers and artisans are not informed of all the minutiae of the movements and stillness of what they have made, because they have not given existence to them, they have not brought them from non-existence into existence. The raw materials were already in existence in the world. Only, by analysing and constructing, have they changed their form. Take the case of the airplane, which is made from raw materials in mines which were extracted, smelted and forged and made into the finished products.
Clearly, then, the makers did not create what they made; they only changed the form of the materials. For this reason, they are not permanently aware of their artifacts, and one cannot, therefore, properly call them creators. If, in some cases they have to be called creators, they have only been called so figuratively, not literally.
But God, Who has given existence to all things, is always aware and knowledgeable of their actions, because He is the real and true Creator. The Qur'Än says, “Shall He not know who created?” (67:14)
Now we have understood that we ourselves and all the creatures of this world are not separated from the glorified presence of God. Wherever we are and to whatever land we travel, in the depths of the oceans, in the outer reaches of space, in the narrow places of the valleys, we are not hidden from Him. He sees the smallest of our good or bad deeds, and will reward and punish accordingly.
Can someone who has such a God and believes in Him ever fall prey to sin? Think about it.
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This lesson is based on the followings:
Dar Rah-e Haq Board, The Roots of Religion, Qum 1982.
It has been edited for this course by S.M. Rizvi.
