Allaah created us, but who created Allaah?

All perfect praise be to Allaah, the Lord of the worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His Slave and Messenger.

Allaah The Almighty has told us about the enmity of the devil to the believers; He Says (what means):

• {O mankind, indeed the promise of Allaah is truth, so let not the worldly life delude you and be not deceived about Allaah by the Deceiver. Indeed, Satan is an enemy to you; so take him as an enemy. He only invites his party to be among the companions of the Blaze.}[Quran 35:5-6]

Allaah The Almighty tells us that the devil seeks to mislead mankind by all possible means; He Says (what means):

• {[Satan] said, "Because You have put me in error, I will surely sit in wait for them on Your straight path. Then I will come to them from before them and from behind them and on their right and on their left, and You will not find most of them grateful [to You]."}[Quran 7:16-17]

Allaah The Almighty also told us that the devil would disassociate himself from people after leading them to disbelief; He Says (what means):

• {[The hypocrites are] like the example of Satan when he says to man, "Disbelieve." But when he disbelieves, he says, "Indeed, I am disassociated from you. Indeed, I fear Allaah, Lord of the worlds."}[Quran 59:16]

• {And Satan will say when the matter has been concluded, "Indeed, Allaah had promised you the promise of truth. And I promised you, but I betrayed you. But I had no authority over you except that I invited you, and you responded to me. So do not blame me; but blame yourselves. I cannot be called to your aid, nor can you be called to my aid. Indeed, I deny your association of me [with Allaah] before. Indeed, for the wrongdoers is a painful punishment."}[Quran 14:22]

Because of this enmity, the devil is always keen on leading Muslims to disbelief by whispering to them and making them have malicious doubts. In this way, the person becomes confused and hesitant. This question is thus one about Satan's malicious deceptions.

In order to drive such malicious doubts away, we say:

First, there is no doubt that all sensible people believe in the fact that nothingness can never create anything. In fact, believing otherwise is insane.

A Muslim scholar once arranged a debate with some atheists who denied the existence of Allaah The Almighty and said that all creatures exist only chance. The scholar agreed to meet them in a place that could only be reached by crossing a river. The Muslim scholar was late for the debate. Everyone thought that he did not come because considered himself unable to stand the argument. But the scholar arrived late and told them that he was late because, when he reached the bank of the river, there were no boats. He added that while he was waiting for one to arrive, he saw a flying rope that came around a tree and turned the tree into a boat. He said that he got on board that boat and sailed across the river to them. None of them believed what they thought was a ridiculous story. The scholar expressed his astonishment: how they could not believe that a boat was made by chance while they believed that the earth, sky and all their accurate, integrated systems and processes just happened to exist by chance! They were thus all overwhelmed.

If we hypothesize that every creature has a creator and every object has a maker, we should ask who the creator of the universe is. Who is the creator of these perfect things: the earth, sky, mountains, rivers and trees? Can the creator of all these things be nature that is silent?

The second point is how can nature, that cannot hear, see or act, give creatures the ability to see, hear, act and so forth? It is only logical that the creator of this universe should be all-hearing, all-seeing, omniscient, all-wise and almighty. He should be worthy of the attributes of perfection and should be exalted above any deficiency. Creatures are in need of a cause of existence, as there can never be a creature that is created by nonexistence. Nonexistence cannot create anything. A creature cannot create itself, because it was nonexistent, and nonexistence cannot create anything. Allaah The Almighty Says (what means):

• {Or were they created by nothing, or were they the creators [of themselves]?}[Quran 52:35]

The original creator has always existed and will always exist; without any need for a cause.

The question of who created Allaah includes two contradictory and fallacious premises:

The first, being the creator, Allaah The Almighty does not need a cause for existence; He Himself is the Creator of life, death and their causes. Also, Allaah The Almighty creates the causes but is not affected by them.

The second, is that the Creator is in need of a cause for existence. The creator must not be likened to the creation. It is corrupt that a creature would think such a thing about the Creator. Allaah The Almighty Says (what means):

• {There is nothing like unto Him, and He is the Hearing, the Seeing.}[Quran 42:11]

• {Say, "He is Allaah, [who is] One, Allaah, the Eternal Refuge. He neither begets nor is born, Nor is there to Him any equivalent."}[Quran 112:1-4]

We alert the questioner, ourselves and all Muslims to the importance of seeking refuge with Allaah The Almighty from the Devil and his whispers, and to resort to Allaah The Almighty by invoking Him a great deal in order to grant us certainty that would protect us from such malicious doubts.

It was narrated on the authority of Ibn ‘Abbaas that the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, would invoke Allaah The Almighty by saying: “Allaahumma a‘tini eemaanan wa yaqeenan laysa ba‘dahu kufr, wa rahmatan anaalu biha sharafa karaamatik fiddunya wal-aakhirah. (O Allaah grant me belief and faith that would not be followed by disbelief, and mercy that would grant me the honor of Your bestowed dignity in the worldly life and the Hereafter).” [At-Tirmithi]

And Allaah Knows best.