THE RETURN OF THE BURDEN OF PROOF: THE 23RD LEM'A AND THE 32ND WORD

Author: Ziya Nur Birlik

The Risale-i Nur rejects this imposed fraudulent hypothesis and immediately launches a wise offensive. While cornering the philosophy of denial with the “Treatise on Nature” (TabiatRisalesi), it concretizes this colossal "burden of proof" placed back upon their shoulders and confronts them with three false paths from which there is no escape. To prevent the collapse of the "coincidence and materialism" hypothesis they impose, the materialist mind is compelled to prove at least one of the following three paths, with laboratory certainty, in explaining existence. The deniers must prove either:

1. That these wonderfully crafted beings came into being through the random coming together of unconscious, blind, and deaf causes;

2. Or that atoms combined of their own accord, without any will, and resulted in life;

3. Or that nature, which is ignorant, blind, and deaf, invented and produced them like a printing press.

Yet, Bediüzzaman demonstrates that each of these three paths contains "a hundred degrees of impossibility," and thus closes these false escape routes in the face of materialism. Since the claims of "causes, coincidental formation, and blind nature" have not been proven and have collapsed as sophistry, the denier's hypothesis has completely failed. What remains is the only and unshakeable truth that reason must accept: All this order is created by the power of a Glorious Creator (Hâlık-ı Zülcelâl), who is the One (Ehad) and the Self-Sufficient (Samed).

According to the Combinatorial Explosion in the science of statistics, the probability of independent events occurring simultaneously is found by multiplying their individual probabilities. If you multiply numerous small probabilities together, the result approaches zero with incredible speed. This is called combinatorial explosion (Multiplication of Dependent Variables). According to this rule, the probability of one atom going to the right place in that body, being there at the right time, combining at the correct angle with trillions of other atoms, the simultaneous occurrence of the sun's heat, the earth's rotation, atmospheric pressure, and the harmonious movements of trillions of cells in the body... is zero. If you do not accept the One Creator, then, as proven by the 32nd Word, you are compelled to give to a single atom an eye that sees the entire universe, a knowledge that knows everything, and a power that rules over everything. Because the universe before one's eyes is an indivisible whole.

The probability of a single cell, or of that atom given voice in the 32nd Word, establishing that perfect order through blind coincidences and unconscious causes, or even a single protein forming by chance, is zero according to Borel's Law of Impossibility. The thesis of the deniers is a collapsed delusion based on mathematics and statistical calculations. The rhetorical questions found in the Risale-i Nur, such as "Is it ever possible? Does reason ever accept it?..." are the equivalent of this statistical reality.

This impossibility is portrayed through a striking simulation in the First Station of the 32nd Word. When the proxy of the people of misguidance claims ownership over a single atom in the body or a red blood corpuscle circulating in the blood, that atom, through its connection to the indivisible unity of the universe, delivers the following slap in the face of the people of misguidance: "I perform countless duties. I enter and work within each distinct artifact. If you possess knowledge and power that can make me perform all these functions; and if, like me, there are countless atoms moving and working together within it, if you have the authority and power to employ and command all my counterparts and those atoms; and if you can truly own and dispose of the existents of which I am a part, for example, the red blood corpuscles in the blood, in perfect order; then claim to be my Creator, attribute me to someone other than Allah. Otherwise, be silent! Furthermore, just as you cannot be my Lord, you cannot even interfere. Because there is such perfect order in our duties and movements that one who does not possess infinite wisdom and comprehensive knowledge cannot even put a finger on us. If they do, they will cause disorder. Whereas someone like you, who is inert, powerless, blind, and whose two hands are in the hands of two blind entities like coincidence and nature, cannot in any way extend a finger."

Attributing a single atom or blood corpuscle to nature means attributing the entire universe, from the sun to the atmosphere, to nature. This is hundredfold impossible. When the Risale-i Nur asks many times, "Is it ever possible?", it is actually making the mind perform this probability calculation.

After demolishing the meaninglessness and coincidence (H₀) hypothesis imposed on minds by materialists, the 31st Word of the Risale-i Nur elevates the inquiring mind to the pinnacle of truth through a magnificent chain of logic. A universe constantly being renewed and the regular activities within it, proven by the sciences, are taking place before our eyes. The unshakeable rule of science and human nature (fitrah) is: A regular action cannot be without an agent; a meaningful book cannot be without an author; an artful embroidery cannot be without an embroiderer.Therefore, the wise actions filling this universe have an Agent (Fâil); the astonishing embroideries of the earth, renewed season by season, have an Embroiderer (Nakkaş); and its meaningful letters have an Author (Kâtib). This Agent is One, as witnessed by the magnificent order in the universe. Since the presence of two rulers in one affair disrupts its order, and since there are these strata of existences, moving more regularly than an army a thousandfold, from a fly's wing to the stars of the heavens, the Absolute Ruler behind the veil must be One. If that Ruler were not One, then there would have to be as many contradictory deities as there are existences, and for this magnificent order not to be disrupted is a hundred thousandfold impossible. The logical chain of truth does not stop here. In contrast to the fraudulent philosophy that considers the universe a toy of blind coincidences, this Sultan of Glory, through His infinite mercy and benevolence, wishes to make Himself loved and, through His wonderful arts, to introduce Himself to conscious beings. Since He has willed to inform conscious beings of the meaning of the mind-boggling adornment in the universe's creation and the "where they came from and where they are going" of creatures, this magnificent mystery and art in the universe necessarily requires a guide, lest it remain futile and meaningless. A teacher will be appointed to solve the Divine mystery hidden in these existences, and a herald will be appointed to announce the Creator's purposes to the universe. Thus, the institution of Prophethood, a necessary consequence of Tawhid (Divine Unity), is the most unshakeable link in this natural and logical chain.

The one most worthy of these sublime duties in practice, the most faithful witness with the Islamic world he constituted and the light he brought, by the consensus of friend and enemy, is undoubtedly Prophet Hz. MuhammadA.s.m.(Peace and Blessings be upon him). His (PBUH) being honored with a universal, sublime, and comprehensive conversation with the Glorious Creator on behalf of all creatures, rising directly above the entire universe, and his opening this path for humanity and defining worship, this is the most magnificent outcome of this meaningful universe-scale construction and natural chain. The human being, whom the fraudulent hypothesis condemns to meaninglessness, nothingness, and being ownerless through coincidence, is elevated by these truths to the station of the most valued and honored guest addressed by this universe. The 31st Word, beginning with the creatures before our eyes, proves the chain of "Existence → The Maker (Creator) → Tawhid (Oneness) → Wisdom (Purpose of the universe) → Prophethood → Mi'raj (Worship)" in a flawless sequence for everyone, like a mathematical equation.

The Integrity of Ownership and the Rule "Ownership Does Not Change Hands"

One of the greatest cunning tricks of skepticism is attempting to change the "owner of property" by casting small seeds of doubt into the magnificent order of the universe. There is an unshakeable rule in Islamic jurisprudence: Certainty (yaqīn) is not invalidated by doubt (shak). That is, a deep-rooted and definitive ownership (certainty) does not change hands through a simple claim or a feeble doubt (doubt).

Knowing it cannot swallow the entire universe at once, the denier mind wishes to begin its stealing from a single red blood corpuscle circulating in the body or a single atom. It imagines that if it can produce a feeble suspicion of "coincidence" or "mutation" in the structure of that single cell, it will shake Allah's ownership over the universe.

However, the response given by the atoms through their state of being (lisān-ihāl) is the declaration that the universe is an indivisible whole. The existence of that single red blood corpuscle circulating in a person's veins is dependent on the heartbeat, the oxygen in the lungs, the balance of elements in the air, gravity, the sun... The universe is like a colossal factory whose gears are interlocked.

The proxy of the people of misguidance, to claim ownership over that single cell, must prove he has the power to rule over the entire universe with which that cell is connected at the same time. A weak claim of "natural law or coincidence" cannot shake this magnificent order, woven like a thread with its sun, atmosphere, and trillions of cells.

"The atom refers that claimant to the red blood corpuscles; the red blood corpuscles refer him to the cell, the cell to the human body, the human body to the human species, the human species refers him to the earth's garment woven from the kinds of living beings, the earth's garment refers him to the globe, the globe to the sun, and the sun refers him to all the stars. Each one says: 'Go, if you can subdue the one above me, then come and try to subdue me. If you cannot defeat him, you cannot capture me.' Thus, one who cannot command all the stars cannot make a single atom listen to his lordship." The trap of destroying great beliefs through small doubts planted in the mind is shattered against this unshakeable integrity of ownership.

In the Mesnevî-iNuriye, attention is drawn to this danger, and while contemplating the universe, the following striking warning is given: "Contemplation of the outer world (āfākītafakkur) resembles a bottomless ocean; it has no shore. Do not dive into it, lest you drown. O friend! If you perform detailed contemplation of the inner self (nafsītafakkur) and concise contemplation of the outer world, you will approach unity (vahdet). If you do the opposite, the multiplicity (kesret) will scatter your thought. Fancies will carry you away, your egoism will condense. Heedlessness will gain strength, and you will attribute things to nature. This is the path of multiplicity that leads to misguidance." Therefore, a person's detailed questioning of their own inner world, their faults and impotence, while looking at the whole when examining the universe to avoid getting lost in details, directly leads them to the Creator's oneness.

Again in the Mesnevî-iNuriye, the doubts and implications generated about the ProphetHz. Muhammad A.s.m. (PBUH) are eliminated through a magnificent "peacock" analogy. A peacock hatches from an egg, matures, and begins to fly in the heavens. How foolish it would be to try to confine the magnificence of that bird in the sky, searching for it within the broken eggshell left on the ground! Exactly like this, those who get stuck on the superficial aspects of the Prophet's (PBUH) human states, material life, and human needs, cannot perceive his spiritual personality that illuminates all the worlds.

At the root of this error lies a philosophical blindness: confusing the source (masdar) with the mirror (mazhar). The Glorious ProphetHz. Muhammad A.s.m. (PBUH) is not the source (inherently possessing) of that magnificent perfection and light; rather, he is merely the most perfect mirror (mazhar/ma'kes) of the manifestations of the All-Merciful (Rahmân) and All-Compassionate (Rahîm). If a person imagines that unique perfection to be the Prophet's (PBUH) own personal human possession, then failing to confine that truth within that narrow shell, they fall into a bottomless doubt. Here, the Risale-i Nur gives the believer this unshakeable measure against this philosophical blindness and materialist traps of doubt: "When a weak report is heard concerning the formal states of the beginning of the life of the Glorious ProphetHz. Muhammad A.s.m. (PBUH), one should not dwell on it; one should immediately raise one's head and look at the lights he spread throughout the surrounding worlds."

The most vital move against this insidious trick of the materialist mind, which drowns a person in the corridors of particulars and makes them forget the whole, is to reject the fragmented logic that separates issues from one another and to approach the universe with a holistic (tawhidī) perspective. Instead of getting stuck on a single letter or atom and denying the Author of the universe's book, one must see the inseparable connection of that atom with the sun, the earth, and all creatures; that is, one must read together, in the light of the universe's unshakeable wholeness and the encompassing power of its Owner, each part where doubt is being cast. For what exists in the whole does not exist in the part.The magnificent order and meaning manifested in the whole may not be seen in an isolated part detached from it.

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