Presented by Zia H Shah MD

In classical physics a ray of light striking water splits into reflected and refracted portions in fixed proportions (by Snell’s law), but quantum mechanics reveals that each photon’s fate is truly random. As Shah explains, when one hundred identical photons hit a mirror “no one can predict in advance what will happen” thequran.love. On average 95% reflect and 5% pass through, but “for one hundred photons fired at the surface, … there is nothing we can do, not even in principle, to figure out which will pass through” thequran.love. Similarly, “it’s impossible to predict with certainty whether a specific photon will reflect or refract; it’s a probabilistic process” thequran.love. In other words, individual rays behave unpredictably – only statistical distributions (e.g. 95/5%) are fixed. This fundamental indeterminacy, seen in experiments like the double-slit or single-photon mirror tests, highlights that science can only compute probabilities, not causal certainties, for each photon thequran.love thequran.love.

Occasionalism: God as the True Cause

From a philosophical standpoint, this randomness opens space for occasionalism: the view that God – not physical laws or particles – is the real cause of every event. In Al-Ghazali’s doctrine, “what we call ‘natural causation’ is merely a habitual sequence established by God”. Created things have no autonomous power; every effect comes directly from God’s will thequran.love thequran.love. For example, Al-Ghazali famously wrote that when fire burns cotton, “the cotton burns not because of the fire’s inherent properties, but because God directly causes the combustion” thequran.love. Likewise, Shah notes that “every link in the causal chain is forged by God anew. When a billiard ball strikes another…God recreates the motion of the second ball at the moment of impact” thequran.love.

Image: Newton’s cradle – a symbol of classical causality. In occasionalism, even this is seen as God’s doing. In this view the universe is like a ball of light that must be re-lit at every moment thequran.love. One medieval analogy likened the cosmos to a globe of light continuously powered by God’s will: if God’s “supply” stopped for an instant, “reality would vanish” thequran.love. Natural laws (like reflection or refraction percentages) are then understood as descriptive habits of God – not mechanical constraints thequran.love. As Shah emphasizes, even though physics can catalog regularities (“we can learn how to plant crops or set bones”), those regularities are the result of God’s consistent action, not blind necessity thequran.love. In short, God is the only true cause; what we call photons, mirrors or water molecules are merely occasions for His will thequran.love thequran.love.

• No Independent Causality: Created things have no power of their own; “the outcome of every affair is with God” (Quran 31:22) thequran.love.
• Continuous Divine Action: God sustains and renews the universe moment by moment – “Every day He is engaged in an affair” (Quran 55:29) thequran.love.
• Absolute Sovereignty: Every event, from a falling leaf to a beating heart, unfolds by God’s command thequran.love.

Together, these themes (drawn from the Qur’an) imply that even each tiny ray of light is subject to divine oversight thequran.love.

Light as a Sign of the Divine

In Abrahamic theology, nature and light often function as signs of God. The Qur’an explicitly calls the sky, the sun, the moon and stars āyāt (signs) of divine wisdom thequran.love. As Shah observes, the celestial phenomena are repeatedly invoked to inspire awe: “The Qur’an frequently draws attention to the cosmos – the skies, stars, sun, moon, and the very structure of the universe – as signs … of divine wisdom.” thequran.love. Indeed, one verse proclaims that God will show people His signs “in every region of the earth and in themselves…until it becomes clear…Is it not enough that your Lord witnesses everything?” thequran.love. In this context, each ray of sunlight, moonlight, or starlight is literally a witness of God’s presence. The famous “Verse of Light” even states that “Allah is the Light of the heavens and the earth”, metaphorically making all illumination an aspect of God thequran.love. Shah notes that “science is catching up to the Quranic proclamation that ‘Allah is the Light of the heavens and the earth’ … Occasionalism articulates the logical endpoint…: the cosmos is a dependent reality, signifying at every moment the presence of an absolute, independent Reality (al‑Haqq).” thequran.love.

Likewise, Quranic imagery often personifies the heavens as testifying to God’s power. For example, one oath swears “by the sky full of pathways,” explicitly invoking the ordered sky “as a witness to God’s power and precision.” thequran.love. In practical terms, when we watch a sunset or a star twinkle, we are beholding what believers see as divine “signs.” Each unpredictable flicker or ray thus becomes an exhibition of God’s will – a continued fulfillment of that promise that our Lord “witnesses everything”thequran.lovethequran.love.

Overall, modern science and Islamic metaphysics reach a surprising harmony. Quantum theory shows that at a fundamental level “events do not always follow from prior states in any necessary way” thequran.love, and Shah points out that this indeterminacy “resonates with Ghazali’s principle that no secondary cause necessitates its effect… A → B in the lab, but God could will a different outcome” thequran.love. Thus what looks like chance or randomness to us can be understood theologically as the space where God’s will freely operates. Each photon’s unmeasured path is thus no flaw in nature, but a manifestation of divine freedom. As Shah concludes, a unified view emerges: “the cosmos is empirically lawful yet metaphysically contingent, consistent in its observable patterns yet ultimately reliant on an external Sustainer.” thequran.love thequran.love. In short, every ray of light – from the sun, moon, or stars – is a living witness to God’s creative act, a tiny yet telling “ayat” of the divine orderthequran.lovethequran.love.

Sources: Zia H. Shah, The Glorious Quran and Science series (2025) thequran.love thequran.love thequran.love thequran.love thequran.love (see citations).