Allah is the Creator, Maintainer and Destroyer

اللَّهُ الَّذِي خَلَقَكُمْ ثُمَّ رَزَقَكُمْ ثُمَّ يُمِيتُكُمْ

Allahulazi khalaqakum suma razaqakum suma yumitukum:

"Allah is He Who created you and then maintained you, then will cause you to die."

(The Qur'an 30.40)

Then Shree Chaitanya Mahaprabhu said, "Creation, maintenance and dissolution come from Allah."

(Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, 18.192)

Here Mahaprabhu explains that Allah is the sole creator, maintainer and destroyer of the universe. Allah performs everything through His inconceivable potencies. When the time was ripe, He created the universe. He then undertook to maintain it with all the planets on their orbits and supply sustenance for all living beings. When the duration of the existence of the universe is over, Allah will destroy it. He is the supreme controller and everything depends on Him. Certainly, Allah acts as the creator, maintainer and destroyer only in relation to the material world because the spiritual world is never created, it is eternal and it is never destroyed.

Thus in the Holy Qur'an we can find plenty of evidence of these points. For instance, in the sura "Al-Baqarah", or "The Cow", it states:

يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ اعْبُدُوا رَبَّكُمُ الَّذِي خَلَقَكُمْ وَالَّذِينَ مِنْ قَبْلِكُمْ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَتَّقُونَ

الَّذِي جَعَلَ لَكُمُ الْأَرْضَ فِرَاشًا وَالسَّمَاءَ بِنَاءً وَأَنْزَلَ مِنَ السَّمَاءِ مَاءً فَأَخْرَجَ بِهِ مِنَ الثَّمَرَاتِ رِزْقًا لَكُمْ

Ya-'ayu-han-nasu'-budu Rabba-kumulazi khalaqakum walazina min-qablikum la-'alakum tataqun.

'Alazi ja-'aia lakumul-arza fira-shanw-wasama-'a bina-'a / wa 'anzala minas-sama-'i ma-anfa-'akh-raja bihi minas samarati rizqal-lakum:

"O mankind! Worship your Lord, Who created you and those who came before you that you may become righteous.

Who has made the earth your couch, and the sky your canopy, and sent down rain from the sky, thereby producing fruits as foods for you." (2.21-22)

Furthermore, in the sura "Qaf" there is the following verse:

Wa laqeb halaqna ssamawati wa larda wa ma baynahuma fi sittati ayyamin wa ma messana mil lugub: "Verily We created the heavens and the earth, and all between them in six Days, and nor did any sense of weariness touch Us." (50.38)

As for the Creation in six Days, in (22.47), we are told that a Day in the sight of Allah is like a thousand years of our reckoning, and in (70.4), the comparison is with 50,000 of our years.

It is also explained in the Holy Qur'an:

Huwal-lazi khalaqa lakuma fil-'arzi jami-'a / sumas-tawa 'ilas-sama-'i fasawa-hunasab-'a samawat: "It is He Who has created for you all things that are on earth. Then He turned to the heaven and fashioned it into seven firmaments." (2.29)

Yakhluqu ma yasha: "He creates what He will." (5.17)

Zalikumul-lahu . . . Khaliqu kulli shay-'in fa'-budu / wa huwa 'ala kulli shay-'inw-wakil: "Such is Allah, . . . the Creator of all things, so worship Him. And He takes care of all things." (6.102)

It is stated in the sura "Yunus", or "Jonah":

Innahu yabda-'ul-khalda suma yu-'iduhu: "Behold! He produces creation, then reproduces it." (10.4)

So Allah's creation is not a simple act, once done and finished with. It is continuous, and there are many stages.

Next, it is said in the sura "Al-Ra'd", or "Thunder":

Qulil-lahu Khaliqu kulli shay-'in wa huwal Wahidul Qahar: "Say: Allah is the Creator of all things and He is the One, the Almighty." (13.16)

Then, in the sura "Al-Hashr", or "The Gathering" is the following verse:

Huwal-lahul - Khaliqul Baari 'ul-Musawiru: "He is Allah, the Creator, the Shaper out of naught, the Fashioner." (59.24)

Ustad Abdullah Yusuf Ali comments:

"Allah's attributes of Goodness and Power having referred to, we are now told of His creative energy, of which three aspects are here mentioned. The point is emphasized that He does not merely create and leave alone; He goes on fashioning, evolving new forms and colors, and sustaining all the energies and capacities which He has put into His Creation, according to various laws which He has established.

Khalaqa is the general term for creation, and the Author of all Creation is Khaliq. Baraa implies a process of evolving from previously created matter or state: the Author of this process is Bari-u, the Shaper. Sawwara implies giving definite form or color, so as to make a thing exactly suited to a given end or object: hence the title Musawwir, Fashioner for this shows the completion of the visible stage of creation." (9, p. 1726)

Furthermore, the Holy Qur'an said:

Alladhi khalaqa fasawwa: "Who creates, then disposes." (87.2)

Anta khay-rur-raziqin: "O Allah our Lord! . . . You art the best of Sustainers." (5.114)

Iny-yasha yuz-hibkum wa ya 'ti bi-khalqin-jadid: "If He will, He can remove you and bring (in) some new creation." (14.19)

Allahu lazi khalaqakum suma razaqakum suma yumitukum suma yuhyikum: "It is Allah Who has created you; further, He has provided your sustenance; then He will cause you to die; and again He will give you life." (30.40)

Allah is not only the Creator of the universe, but the Destroyer as well. The manifested cosmic nature is created at a certain period by the will of the Lord. It is maintained for some time and then it is annihilated by His will. He extends His transcendental potency for the creation, maintenance and dissolution of the cosmic world. The creation, maintenance and dissolution of this cosmic manifestation are due to the existence of the Supreme Lord. Nonetheless, the Lord is unaffected by all these changes in the material elements. The Supreme Lord is the original cause of creation, maintenance and dissolution. Everything emanates from Him, everything is maintained by Him and everything is dissolved in Him. He is the ultimate controller of creation, maintenance and dissolution. Thus creation, maintenance and dissolution are created by His will.