How Human Actions are connected with God’s Providence?
Let’s say I made a cup of tea and drank it. Let us see in a quick review how much, if any, our part is in making the cup of tea and how much is divinely arranged.
The first ingredient for tea is water. Vast reservoirs of water were created in the form of vast oceans. The formation of steam from the heat of the sun. These steam clouds travel hundreds to thousands of miles on the wind. Clouds deliver water supply through rain to different areas. Snowfall on mountains and storage of snow in the form of glaciers. To restore the water supply in different parts of the earth in the form of rivers and streams through the melting of glaciers throughout the year. Underground water reservoirs so that people living far away from rivers are not deprived of water. The surface of the earth was made so that water irrigates different areas and reaches the sea again. Extracting water by boring into the ground and then bringing water to our homes through pipes.
Allah created the tea leaf. Then the idea of its cultivation was put in the heart of some people. He created suitable regions and climates for it. Then man created companies for it. Someone packed the tea, someone imported the tea to their country, through wholesale dealers, shopkeepers and countless traffic, the tea leaf reached our home.
Similarly, sugarcane was cultivated and through a long process sugarcane came into existence and reached us through various channels. How the best animals for milk were created. Management of large plants, animal fodder, their medicines etc. to preserve their dairy farm milk.
Now let’s briefly look at the process of making natural gas. Millions of years ago, very small plants and animals in the oceans died and fell to the ocean floor. They were found in the silt that the river brought with it. This slurry could only form in stagnant water. The slurry had to be kept away from too much oxygen, otherwise the bacteria would separate and destroy the components in the slurry. The ocean floor was the most suitable for this process. This mud took the form of rocks over millions of years. It took the form of gas and oil over millions of years due to the increase in temperature and pressure in the earth two to four kilometers below the ocean. Then it was sealed and kept in the sea otherwise the gas and oil would have leaked out due to being lighter than water.
Man discovered that gas with the help of God-given consciousness and brought it home. Many people worked together in this process as well. Then it became possible for gas to reach our homes.
A few centuries ago when there were no matches, even lighting a fire was a difficult task. Matches and now lighters have brought convenience to our lives.
This is just a quick overview, otherwise think machines for water boring, tea and milk packing, means of transport, ships, trucks etc. Engineers to make these machines and means of transport, universities to make these engineers, universities to build universities. Material, food and accommodation arrangements for all these workers.
Then the pots in which the tea was made, the metals used in the stove on which it was made. Extracting these metals from their mines, preparing them in factories and then using countless means of transportation to reach us. As soon as we think of these factors, their number will soon be more than millions. These are some material things.
Recently, I agreed to read an article by a scholar. He had been unable to walk for some time due to a sprained leg. It was possible to walk with only two crutches. They say I was alone at home and wanted to drink tea. Somehow he reached the kitchen. Just made tea. Now how to carry a cup of tea to the couch of the TV lounge a few steps away because the crutches had to be handled with both hands. It had become an impossible task for me. Things I could easily do in just a few seconds before.
You made tea for yourself by using the body given by Allah. You had all the means to enjoy it and digest it. Seen like this, your share was insignificant compared to God’s share. By thinking in this way, a person comes to the conclusion that Allah alone is the best giver of everything.
