How do we address the misconception of "Who created God?" and what is the logical and rational response to this inquiry?

Some inquire about the cause of the Creator's existence, Exalted be He, raising a doubt: If every existing thing has a creator, then who created God? High is He above what they say. This misconception stems from a deficient understanding of the nature of the Creator and the necessity of His eternal existence, overlooking the fundamental distinction between the originated, which requires an originator, and the Pre-eternal, who is independent of all things.

The Soldier and the Bullet Rule: A Rational Clarification of the Necessity of the Creator

To address this doubt, we may employ the Soldier and the Bullet Rule—a rational metaphor illustrating the difference between that which requires a cause and that which does not. Imagine you found a bullet. It is intuitive to ask: Who fired this bullet? This question is logical and necessary because the bullet is an originated physical object; it cannot exist by itself but requires an agent (a soldier) who fired it.

However, is it logical to ask: Who created the soldier? This question does not apply to the soldier in the same manner it applies to the bullet. The soldier is a rational living being with his own existence; even if his existence had a beginning, the inquiry into his creator differs from the inquiry into the one who fired the bullet. The distinction lies in the nature of each existent.

Applying the Rule to the Creator, Exalted be He

When applying this rule to the Creator, Exalted be He, we find that the question Who created God? is fundamentally flawed. Allah, the Almighty, is not like the bullet that requires a shooter, nor like the soldier who requires a creator. Allah is the First Creator, the Eternal, who has no beginning and no end; He is the Self-Sustaining (Al-Qayyum) whose existence does not depend on another. If He had a creator, that creator would be the deity, and so on infinitely, which is a logically impossible infinite regress.

The existence of the Creator is a rational necessity to escape the infinite regress of causes. The entire universe, with all its precision and order, bears witness to the existence of a Great, Capable, and Wise Creator. This Creator cannot be originated, otherwise He would also require a creator, leading to a fallacious circularity.

Conclusion

Faith in Allah, the Eternal Creator, is the only resolution to the doubt: Who created God?. For Allah is the First before whom there is nothing, the Last after whom there is nothing, the Manifest above whom there is nothing, and the Hidden beyond whom there is nothing. He, Exalted be He, is independent of the worlds; He needs nothing, while everything is in need of Him.