AL-MUDABBIR - The Ruler, the Director, Who governs all of creation with order and balance

Your Lord is Allah, Who created the heavens and Earth in six days and then established Himself firmly on the Throne. He directs the whole affair … (Surah Yunus, 10:3)

Allah holds sway over the entire universe, for not a single atom moves without Him knowing it. Allah is the sole ruler of everything, from a dust particle to the planets following their orbits to the billions of inhabitants living in the micro-universe. The sky that serves as a dome by His grace, the billions of stars, the planets proceeding in their orbits, and the Sun have all submitted to Allah. This perfect order proves the existence of a power that controls all of existence, regardless of time or location. This power, which is over and above any other power, manifests Allah's perfect creation.

When we gaze at Earth, we encounter an amazing order. Allah assigns every living being a particular duty, and they carry out these duties fully. For instance, trees inhale carbon dioxide and exhale oxygen. The soil produces edible food, rain falls in due measure and at a particular rate, and after a lightning flash comes thunder. This balance is always maintained. While some people die, others are born.

Allah also rules the bodies of all living beings with great balance and order, for He has caused all organs to help one another. For instance, people cannot make their hearts beat or their intestines digest food. Nor can they be aware of the war waged by leucocytes in their blood against microbes, or of the countless chemical reactions taking place in their bodies. And, in no way can they supervise them.

In addition, human life relies on countless external factors that are ruled by Allah with great order and balance. If Allah had created the universe and then left it to its own devices, as some people claim, everything would have been ruined at that very moment. In fact, all of those interrelated systems have remained intact and continue to exist because of our Creator's power, for Allah is the real owner and ruler of the universe. The Qur'an calls attention to this fact, as follows:

Allah keeps a firm hold on the heavens and Earth, preventing them from vanishing. And if they vanished, no one could then keep hold of them. Certainly He is Lenient, Ever-Forgiving. (Surah Fatir, 35:41)