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The Question Of Allah's(swt) Power

Question:

Sometimes, an atheist or non-believer asks me this question and I am always left clueless as to how I could respond. The question is this: "If Allah is All-Powerful, could he create a rock that even He himself cannot lift?" Now the problem here is that if he can do such a thing, then he will not be All-Powerful as he cannot lift the rock. However, if He cannot do that then He is not All-Powerful because He cannot do a certain action. How can I go about responding to this question in a suitable and convincing way? I want to be able to address it directly rather than beat around the bush as is the norm with such questions.

Answer:

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The question itself is invalid. It is similar to asking can 1 be equal 2. The very nature of 1 prevents it being equal to 2, otherwise it would not be 1. Thus to ask can God create a rock that He could not lift? (Maadhallah), is nonsensical, as God Almighty would not be God if that was the case, ie. If He could create a rock that He could not lift. In other words it is the proof of God Himself, the Unique, without partner, that He cannot create a thing that is greater than Himself otherwise He would not be God. This inability is the demand of the reality and essence of God. Such a questioner would also ask the similarly absurd question: Can God annihilate Himself? The question that remains is, then how can you say God is All-Powerful? The reply to which is, that to be All-Powerful does not necessitate that God can do such a thing that would negate His own essence and reality. We believe God is not in need of anything. He does not eat nor requires another thing for His existence. God sees and hears everything, yet He does that without the organs of eyes or ears. He sees and knows what every person, ant, nay, even atom in the universe is doing at every time, indeed, He is the One that gives it the power to do that. In fact if He wanted to create a billion universes of the same complexity and design as our universe, He merely has to will it and they will be created. When this is the case, is there anyone who realistically would sanely challenge Him being the All-powerful?


Mufti Mohammed Sajjad

Wallahu Aalam bis-sawab

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The answer to this question is the opinion of the scholar and does not reflect the opinion of other scholars of As-Suffa Institute and As-Suffa Institute as an organisation.
 

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