Nothing is Created in Vain
A Hadīth states that there was a Prophet of Allāh ta‛ālā before Rasūlullāh sallallāhu ‛alayhi wa sallam. His people said to him: “O Prophet of Allāh! We do not like flies. What is the wisdom behind creating them? Pray to your Allāh to put an end to them.” The Hadīth states that all the flies were destroyed through the prayer of that Prophet. Subsequently, all the humans who were present at the time experienced swelling of their bodies. They all became fat and bloated. The swelling increased to the extent that it became difficult for them to see, difficult to hear with their ears, and difficult to speak with their tongues. They experienced difficulty in relieving themselves [of urine and stool].
They went to the Prophet and said: “O Prophet of Allāh! Without doubt, Allāh ta‛ālā did not create anything in vain and without a purpose. We repent. Turn to your Allāh and pray to Him to bring back the flies.” He prayed to Allāh ta‛ālā, his prayer was accepted, the flies began appearing once again and the swelling of the people disappeared.
Man should not make such statements. There was a pious elder who was sitting on the edge of a sea. It began raining and the rain water was falling on the sea. He said to himself: “I do not know why water has to fall on water.” His internal spiritual conditions were immediately snatched away from him. He cried profusely for having considered the pouring down of water on water to be useless. He did not ponder and reflect. Had he done, he would not have made such a statement. Allāh ta‛ālā accepted his repentance and addressed him saying: “O My servant! You see these oyster shells in the sea. There is a time when they surface and open their mouths. We send rain water on them. When a drop of rain water enters them, it becomes a pearl. The oyster shell goes back to the bottom of the ocean. This is Our wisdom behind sending water on water.”
There was another pious elder who asked: “What is the reason for sending rain now!?” A voice addressed him: “O you naïve person! When did We ever send rain at inopportune times! We always send rain at the right times.”
“O our Sustainer! You have not created this [creation] in vain [rather, there is much wisdom in all this]. You are pure from all defects. Save us, then, from the punishment of the Fire.”
If a person ponders and reflects over the creation of every single creation, he will gauge numerous benefits and wisdoms. No matter how much you think and ponder, you will not reach His Being. In other words, you cannot fully comprehend Allāh’s knowledge and wisdom. Allāh ta‛ālā may inspire a person to understand certain things to a certain extent. This is a gift from Him. The more you ponder and reflect, the more your true recognition of Allāh ta‛ālā increases.
The pious elders say:
The person who recognizes his self has certainly recognized his Rabb.
A person recognizes his self and thinks to himself: “My Rabb has placed so many treasures within me, He blessed me with so many qualities. He bestowed all this to me without my deserving them. I was not eligible for any of these treasures and qualities.” A person continues pondering over all this. The more he reflects over his self, the more he will recognize Allāh ta‛ālā.
Someone asked Imām Shāfi‛ī rahimahullāh: “Hadrat! How did you get the recognition of Allāh ta‛ālā.?” He replied: “By looking at an egg. Look at Allāh’s uniqueness! From a living creation (a fowl), He creates something which is lifeless (an egg). And from this lifeless creation, He causes a living creation (a chick) to appear.”
Man ponders over his own creation. What was he created from? From a drop of semen which entered the womb. It went through certain stages whereby it became a piece of clotted blood. It then developed until it was given limbs, the spirit was blown into it, and all capabilities were placed in it. While he was being sent into this world, he was informed via the angels of his responsibilities, his name, and for how long he will be sent into this world.
A Hadīth states: Before a child is born, an angel comes into the womb of the mother and addresses the child: “This is your work, and this is your name.” What is his work? His work is to worship Allāh ta‛ālā.
The angel does not tell him to go into the world and become engrossed with it. May Allāh ta‛ālā bless us with the ability to ponder and reflect.
Hadrat ‛Alī radiyallāhu ‛anhu narrates that Rasūlullāh sallallāhu ‛alayhi wa sallam said: “There isn’t so much benefit in reading the Qur’ān without pondering and reflecting. Neither is there any special benefit in worshipping Allāh ta‛ālā without pondering.” (There is certainly a benefit; we cannot deny it. But for real benefit, there has to be pondering and reflection). Man must resort to this.
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