The Demonstration of Order (burhan al-nazm) to Prove the Existence of God

Source: the roots of religion-Dar rah-e haq –p.19-24

In this universe, from the smallest atom to the largest celestial body, in everything we see, we are reminded of its perfect orderliness and exact regulation, so much so that the great scientists have been provoked to amazement. Cecil Boyce Hamann, Professor of Biology at Asbury College, says that whenever he puts a drop of water under a microscope or observes the farthest star through a telescope, he is filled with great wonder.
There is so much orderliness in nature that it is possible to explain by means of immutable laws the course any phenomenon will take before it occurs.
For this reason (i.e. that the patterns and laws which govern nature are immutable and fixed), scientists endeavor to discover these laws. For if they did not hold would not every kind of effort in this field be fruitless?(2) The earth, in which we live, with respect to its size, its distance from the sun, the speed of its orbital movement, etc., is so arranged that it is able to act as the support for life. Because, if in the conditions of its existence the smallest changes were to take place, losses of unacceptable dimensions would occur.
The atmosphere, most of whose constituent elements are life-giving gases, is sufficiently viscous that it can, like a shield or Armour, protect the earth from the deadly attack of 200 million meteors every day, which approach the earth with a speed of 50 kms per second.
The responsibility for regulating the temperature of the earth's surface within limits which maintain life also belongs to the atmosphere, and if it did not exist, inhabited land would, like the dry deserts, become incapable of supporting life.
But why are we taking the long way round in explaining these things? Nearer than anything is ourselves. The mysteries of man's existence are without number, so much so that the world's scientists, after years of research and study, have not yet been able to fathom all the wonders of it.
After many years of study, Dr. Alexis Carrel wrote a book called ``L'homme, cet inconnue'' (Man, the Unknown). He wrote confessing that biology and other sciences were still unable to discover the facts about the working of the human body, and that many problems remained to be unraveled.
Now let us examine some of the marvels of our own existence.
The Cells of the Body:
The body of man is like a building. It is composed of small building blocks called cells, each of which is itself a living entity. Each cell, therefore, is alive, and its nourishment, digestion, absorption, elimination and reproduction, for example, are as in other organisms, and are perfectly carried out.
In the structure of the cells most metals, such as iron, copper, calcium, as also other elements such as oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen and sulphurs are used.
The number of these cells in the body of man is about 1016, which is equivalent to ten thousand, million, million.
Each one of these living cells works in perfect cooperation with the next, and all of them follow the same aim. They are very quick to suffer, having little toleration, and nourishment must be correctly supplied for their needs. The blood, with the help of the heart, performs this duty very well. The structure of the heart is of well-designed and perfect dimensions, so that it can supply blood to the whole body through the agency of the blood vessels and the capillaries.
The blood, after it has delivered nourishment to the cells, absorbs poisonous substances, which have accumulated there, and returns to the heart with a dull color. The heart delivers this to the lungs, a filtering apparatus for the blood, whereupon it is respelled to the whole body with a bright color and greater freshness. While passing through the kidneys, another part of these poisonous matters are removed, so that no kind of disturbance arises in the general working of the body.
Do we not see in the precise combination and quantity of the metals and other elements from which the cell is formed, and also the amazing structure of the heart and its way of working which is claiming the attention of the thinkers of today, a plan of perfect and superior design?
And if we see in the human body a mysterious whole and at the same time a design, are we exaggerating? Without doubt, no.
And in this same way we must confess that the world of existence is firm on the foundation of perfect orderliness, and undoubtedly every orderliness and design is the creation and accomplishment of a wise and powerful maker. This subject will be investigated completely in further chapters.
LESSON FOUR
4. The Designer of the Universe
The computer
Today, most people manage to do their most difficult work easily with the help of machines. One of the most amazing of these machines is the computer, about whose various capabilities most people have heard. For example, one variety of computers can, in a few minutes, accurately supply a doctor with medical records, which have been stored in it, and are capable of diagnosing illnesses. It investigates details of every condition reported in the past year or even ten years ago, and makes recommendations for the cure and therapy of diseases. This computer can, when necessary, recommend a suitable medicine to the hospital pharmacy, and inform the nurse, so that she can give the medicine to the patient. Some important factories also use computers for the control and adjustment of their machines.
Is it possible that an accident or chance brought the computer into existence, or is its astounding design rather a proof of the intelligence and genius of its maker?
Undoubtedly anyone faced with such a machine would agree that he is aware of the greatness of the intelligence and thinking of its maker.
The Automatic Kitchen:
``Orbits'' is the name of an apparatus, which can prepare excellent food for more than one thousand people in one hour.
In many present-day countries transport cafes and roadside restaurants make use of this apparatus; it is capable of doing the work of twenty trained cooks.
When you park your car in front of the restaurant, you press the button on a loudspeaker beside you, and immediately a voice asks you what you want. You give an order for various kinds of food, and exactly eight minutes later a special waiter brings your food.
How the Automatic Kitchen Works:
When the customer presses the button, a light switches on inside ``Orbits'', and as the customer gives his order for food (e.g. a sandwich), someone sitting in front of the apparatus depresses special switches. The machine starts to work. In this way, first, bread is cut by means of an automatic knife, and at the same moment a piece of meat is sent to the cooker, which grills it in exactly four minutes.
Then it is transferred onto the bread and the other parts of the sandwich are also placed on it. At this point the warm sandwich is put into a plastic bag and is ready.
Is the automatic and well designed ``Orbits'' without a maker or a designer, and did it come into existence as the result of an accident or chance? Or is it not rather the product of the ideas of a scientist who invented it using precise calculations?
Undoubtedly, this design and order, which you notice in the above examples, is the result of the thinking of its designer and inventor. That is to say that if there had been no inventor, and if they had not been constructed on the basis of very exact calculations and measurements, these machines would never have come into existence.
The same argument demonstrates a general proof and its undoubted truth, that design and orderliness must take their origin in a source of knowledge and power, and that chance cannot be the origin of marvels having design and orderliness, because, as to everything belongs a particular effect (e.g. cold water is an unlikely cause for being scalded), it is incorrect to suppose that design and reckoning should come from chance or mere accident.
It therefore follows that the wonderful design and orderliness which is observed in the brain, the nerves, the digestive system, the heart, the eyes, the ears and thousands of other examples constitutes complete evidence and a living proof that the world of creation has a wise and powerful designer and creator, and that whatever attracts our attention among the secrets of the way creation is arranged, permits us to become more aware of the greatness of its Creator. Can we say that the human brain and the wonders of the body are less significant than the computer?
Its designer. In addition to this, the understanding and intelligence, which is seen in man, is clear evidence of the manifestation of something knowledgeable and intelligent which produced him, because it is not possible for someone who has no understanding and intelligence to give to his constructions and creations such understanding and intelligence.
-Of course, you will acknowledge that all these things are a proof of the greatness and magnitude of the knowledge and powerful Creator of the world-its disigner .In addition to this, the understanding and intelligence which is seen in man is clear evidence of the manifestation of something knowledgeable and intelligent wich produced him, beacause it is not possible for someone who has no understanding and intelligence to give to his consturction and creations such understanding and intelligence.
The Holy Quran points to this undoubted truth and shining reality in many verses, such as the following

God is He Who raised up the heavens without pillars you can see, and then He ascended His Throne. He subjected the sun and the moon each one running to a term stated; He directs the affair; He distinguishes the signs; haply you will have faith in the encounter with your Lord. (XIII: 2)...