Every Beginning Needs a Beginner

Huduth means "beginning": Huduth (حدوث) means origination — coming into being after a state of non-existence. A thing that began to exist is called Hadith (حادث). Everything in the universe that we can observe began at some point: every star, every galaxy, every atom.

Four simple steps: The argument, Burhan al-Huduth, runs in four steps.

• Step 1: Everything in the universe is Hadith — it began to exist at some point. Nothing in the observable universe has always existed.
• Step 2: Everything Hadith needs a Muhdith — an Originator. What did not exist, and then came to exist, cannot have caused its own existence. Non-existence cannot produce existence.
• Step 3: The universe itself is Hadith — it has a beginning. Modern physics agrees with what Kalam argued 1,000 years ago: the universe began — there was a Big Bang, a point where space, time, and matter originated. The universe is not eternal.
• Step 4: Therefore the universe needs an eternal Muhdith — an Originator who is Qadim (eternal, never originated), who has no beginning, who is not made of matter or time, and who is able to originate the entire cosmos.

"He is the First and the Last": The Quran says: "He is the First and the Last" (57:3). Allah has no beginning and no end — He is the eternal Originator who brought the universe into being.

Who created Allah? This question answers itself. Allah is the eternal Originator — He was never originated, so the question does not apply to Him. It is like asking, "What is north of the North Pole?" The question sounds sensible, but it has no meaning, because the North Pole is the end of north. In the same way, the eternal Originator is the end of the question "who made it?"

Example

Think of a house. Every house has a builder — nobody says a house built itself. And the builder himself is not a house. In the same way, everything that began needs a Beginner — and the Beginner Himself never began, because He is not one of the things that began.

Key Terms

• Huduth (حدوث) — origination; coming into being after non-existence
• Hadith (حادث) — something originated; that which has a beginning
• Muhdith (محدث) — the Originator; the cause that brings something into being
• Qadim (قدیم) — eternal; never originated, having no beginning

Quran or Hadith

Quran 57:3 — "He is the First and the Last." — to be checked. Allah has no beginning and no end; He is the eternal Originator of the universe.

Fresh diagram to be drawn: A timeline with a clear starting point labelled "The universe begins — Big Bang", and before it an arrow pointing to "The Eternal Originator — no beginning".