An atheist once asked me that if the universe was created by God, then who created Him; or, if your God was there at first then I can say that the big bang was there at first.
If you say that the Big Bang came before everything else, then you have not studied the Big Bang theory and you are contradicting its meaning and basic idea. Because this theory affirms that if it is proven that the universe is constantly expanding it means it was close together in the past.
This means that gravitational force and compactness between its parts were so great that there was no space between them, (near the beginning) the pressure was so intense that all the matter that forms the universe was the size of an atom, then (further back in time, to the point of the beginning) the size was infinitely small and was nothing. This implies that at that point there was no time or space, because matter itself did not exist.
Therefore when this universe began — when its age was less than a billionth part of a second — which was approximately 15 billion years ago, as the proponents of this theory say, the size of its matter was very close to zero. Then this pressurized matter exploded and scattered its particles in the form of rays, then it began to cool down and our universe was gradually formed from it. Hence this theory is called the Big Bang.
This is the view of Stephen Hawking, whom some people called the Newton of the modern era, when he said: “The greatest misunderstanding of the Big Bang is to say that it started with a mass of matter somewhere in outer space. Matter is not the only thing that was created during the Big Bang; rather time and space were also created. Therefore in the same sense that we say place has a beginning, we also say that time has a beginning.” (The Universe, Bozlo, p. 46)
He also says: “This means that the very beginning of the universe was chosen with great care, if the theory of the hot Big Bang was correct from the beginning of time. It is very difficult to explain why the universe began in this particular way, unless we say concerning that that there was indeed a Creator who wanted to create beings like ourselves.” (A Brief History of Time, Hawking, p. 127) See: Al-Feeziya wa Wujood Al-Khaliq (p. 87-96)
This question is obviously flawed, because the Big Bang cannot, rationally, have come before everything, unless you believe that this Big Bang was the Necessary Existent, that has all attributes of perfection, but that description refers to Allah (may He be glorified and exalted) if this is what you mean, then we accept from you this claim that the Big Bang came before everything, and we will agree with you that the universe was created by a Creator Who is eternal.
But when the question demands that we regard as equal the Creator Who is the Necessary Existent, Who is possessed of all attributes of perfection and the Big Bang, which is an incident that came into being after not having existed at all, then the argument is flawed on two counts:
1. Because it describes the Big Bang as something that had no beginning, but at the same time it is regarded as an incident that came into being after not having existed at all, and this is self-contradictory, because that which existed from eternity (and had no beginning) cannot be an incident
2. Because it describes the Big Bang as being eternal (having no beginning), and does not pay attention to the prerequisites of a thing being eternal, the most important of which is that it must necessarily exist and possess the attributes of perfection, and that refers to Allah (may He be glorified and exalted). Anyone who describes the universe as having existed from eternity falls into this contradiction. What he should have done is refer (the matter of creation) to something other than this created universe, and that is Allah, the Creator, the Almighty.
As for the Muslim, he does not fall into this contradiction, because he will tell you that the Creator existed from eternity and He was and there was nothing before Him, because He is the Necessary Existent, and with Him the chain of all created beings ends. When the Muslim describes Him as being before all things that is because He cannot be compared with created beings, possibilities or incidents; rather He is greater than that. As for the atheist who affirmed that this universe came into being after not having existed, he is trying to explain it by referring to the Big Bang, which in itself is of the same nature as the universe, with regard to it coming under the heading of possibilities or incidents, then he ascribed to it the attribute of existing from eternity, but this is not possible at all.
We believe that it is easy for the human mind to believe in the idea that the universe is created, whereas it is difficult for it to believe in a universe that existed from eternity and had no beginning, when he sees at the same time all the signs that show that it is not eternal as it is clearly and obviously subject to constant alterations and changes.
As for the concept of the Creator existing from eternity that is something easy for man to believe, because of a simple and straightforward reason, which is that the Creator is not of the same nature as the created being, which means rejecting all the rules of comparison and analogy that humans use and try to apply to the Creator, may He be glorified and exalted. In that case the explanation (that there is a Creator Who existed from eternity) makes perfect sense. Although the Creator is unseen, the believer believes in Him because He the Necessary Existent who is the Knower of the unseen world.
As for the one who believes that the universe is an incident or a created thing that existed before everything, he believes in something that is impossible from a rational point of view. Undoubtedly believing in the Creator is much easier than believing in a created thing that existed from eternity.
In other words, we may ask this atheist, is the Big Bang a possibility or a necessity? If he says that it is a possibility, then that which is possible could not have existed from eternity. If he says that it is a necessity, then he has affirmed the existence of that which necessarily exists from eternity and has no creator. In that case he has affirmed the idea that there is a divine being.
The matter is as simple as that.
