The Creation of The Pen
Selections from the Book The Story of The Beginning of Creation and The Creation of Adam, peace be upon him …
Written by Dr. Ali Muhammad al-Sallabi...
Episode (31)
The "pen" referred to here is the one that Allah commanded at the beginning of creation to write the decrees of all things—what will happen with creatures, events, life, and death, up to the Day of Judgment. This is in accordance with Allah's knowledge of His creation and His perfection and majesty. He created with knowledge and decreed with knowledge, so nothing occurs in His dominion except with His knowledge, and nothing that happens is beyond His knowledge and encompassing awareness. As Allah Almighty says: {Does He who created not know, while He is the Subtle, the Aware?} [Al-Mulk: 14].
It wrote what will happen until the Day of Resurrection. On the authority of Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with them both, he said: I was behind the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, one day, and he said: ''O boy! I will instruct you in some matters. Be watchful of Allah (Commandments of Allah), He will preserve you. Safeguard His Rights, He will be ever with you. If you beg, beg of Him Alone; and if you need assistance, supplicate to Allah Alone for help. And remember that if all the people gather to benefit you, they will not be able to benefit you except that which Allah had foreordained (for you); and if all of them gather to do harm to you, they will not be able to afflict you with anything other than that which Allah had pre-destined against you. The pens had been lifted and the ink had dried up''.
The scholars have previously discussed which of the creatures was created first. Some say it was the pen, others say it was the Throne, and still others say it was the water. Some scholars have favored the view that the first creation was the Throne, which is the position followed in the arrangement of creation in this book. Scholars have interpreted the Hadith narrated by Ubadah bin Al-Samit, where it is mentioned that “Verily the first of what Allah created was the Pen. He said to it: 'Write.' So it wrote what will be until the Day of Judgment”, to mean that it was the first of the creations in this world, excluding the Throne. Alternatively, it is understood that Allah commanded the pen to write as soon as He created it. This view is supported by the Hadith reported by Muslim in his Sahih, where Abdullah bin Amr bin Al-As said: “I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) say: ‘Allah recorded the fates of all creatures 50,000 years before creating the heavens and the earth, and His throne was upon the water.’”
Ibn al-Qayyim, may Allah have mercy on him, said in Shifa' al-'Aleel after mentioning the Hadith of Abdullah bin Amr: "This Hadith provides evidence that the creation of the Throne precedes the creation of the pen, which is the more accurate view. Abu Dawood reported in his Sunan from Abu Hafs al-Shami that Ubadah bin al-Samit said to his son: ‘Son! You will not get the taste of the reality of faith until you know that what has come to you could not miss you, and that what has missed you could not come to you. I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) say: ‘The first thing Allah created was the pen. He said to it: Write. It asked: What should I write, my Lord? He said: Write what was decreed about everything till the Last Hour comes’. Son! I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) say: He who dies on something other than this does not belong to me’”.
- Ali Muhammad al-Sallabi, The Story of The Beginning of Creation and The Creation of Adam, peace be upon him, pp. 201-203.
- Musnad Ahmad, No. 2670. And in Sunan al-Tirmidhi, No. 2516.
- A summary of the explanation of the Tahawi creed, Al-Albani, p. 333.
- The Beginning and the End, Ibn Kathir: 1/9.
- Sahih Muslim, Book of Destiny, Chapter: The Arguments of Adam and Moses, peace be upon them, No.: (2653).
- The Story of Creation, Al-Kharaan, p. 78-79.
For further information and review of the sources for the article, see:
The Book of The Story of The Beginning of Creation and The Creation of Adam, peace be upon him on the official website of Sheikh Dr. Ali Muhammad al-Sallabi:
