The Factory of the Universe

The Factory of the Universe

1991 7 July 24 The Factory of the Universe (387) If you happen to visit a man-made factory, you will be shown round its various departments and its methods of functioning will be explained to you. You will find instructions hung at ‘various places telling you about the working of the machinery. There will be personnel at every point to answer your queries. Besides, the factory will provide you with ample literature containing all the necessary information.

The universe is the biggest of all these ‘factories’. But nowhere is there an instruction board, nowhere is there a guide to explain it. Planning and manufacturing go on there. There is the packaging industry, and there is also a constant arrangement for supplies. Here the laws of supply and demand are observed. Here there is also an arrangement for the recycling of industrial waste. Here there is control and balance, as well as an arrangement for procuring raw materials. There is all this and much more, but there is no one to tell us about it, no one to explain it to others. The tall peaks of the mountains appear like a universal stage, but on their summits there is no speaker. When the birds twitter it appears that they are going to convey some message, but we never receive it because we fail to understand their language. When there is thunder and lightning, it seems as if they are the vocal chords of nature, announcing some message, but their language too remains unintelligible to man.

‘Faith’ is what fills this vacuum in the human being, making him the confidante of nature’s secrets. The believer is, in a way, a scientist. A scientist explores the solar system amongst the scattered spheres of the ‘universe. He attempts to discover the hidden powers of matter. In static matter he sees a moving machine. Similarly a believer sees in the visible world, a world that is invisible. He finds in creation the Creator. He finds in organization the Organiser.

When faith reaches its culmination, it is converted into daw’ah (invitation). Daw’ah means to give words to the wordless melody of the universe. A da’i (preacher) is a person who converts God’s silent communication into an audible one. He hears the message from the Creator and delivers it to the people. Daw’ah means to act as a representative of God on God’s earth.