The question of God in the Islamic culture
- Updated On Friday, 27 June 2014
- Written by Dr. Mohammad Ali Shomali
- Editor Kawther Rahmani
- Supervisor Sayyed Roohullah Musavi
- Published on Saturday, 05 February 2011
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- Hits: How has the question of God been encountered in Islamic thought and sources?
Many arguments have been cited in Islamic theology and philosophy for the existence of God, among which the ontological argument, that is the argument of the truthful, holds a special place. In this argument, it is not the contingents that are used to prove the existence of God; rather it is existence itself that is demonstrated by existence. However, the other arguments proceed from the contingent being to the Necessary Being (God). Normally, Muslim theologians argue for the existence of God from temporal origination. However, the argument from contingency and necessity refers to the procedure of arguing from the contingency of created beings, and the argument from causality relies upon creatures as effects. The question that is posed at this point is whether the universe and the creatures within it should be used as a middle term to argue for the existence of God, or should the world be considered manifest and God non-manifest (hidden). Or perhaps it is not necessary that we should pose this question because these types of arguments are exclusive to those who lack a high degree of intellectual understanding and who have not come to possess spiritual insight. In Islamic metaphysics, in its specific sense, there is a discussion to the effect that while God is non-manifest, He is manifest, and while He is manifest, He is non-manifest. According to the Qur' an: "He is the First and the Last, the Manifest and the Hidden" (57: 3). In this verse, it is the divine essence that demonstrates His essence and unity. Imam Ali (A) says in the Supplication for the Morning: "O He who has demonstrated His Essence by His Essence." Imam Ali (A) also says in Sermon 64 of the Nahj al-Balaghah: "Every manifest thing other than Him is non-manifest, and every non-manifest thing other than Him is manifest." Also, in Sermon 186, he says: "His non-manifestation does not hide His manifestation and His manifestation does not prevent Him from non-manifestation." Similarly, in Sermon 162, he says: "He is manifest, but it cannot be said "from what." He is non-manifest, but it cannot be said "in what."" Imam Husayn (A) says in the Prayer for the Day of Arafah: "How can You be demonstrated by that which is in need of You for its existence? Can anything other than You be self-manifesting so that it may manifest You, while You are [self-manifesting]? When have You ever been hidden so that You may need a proof that demonstrates You, and when have You ever been distant so that You may be sought by the signs which lead to You?' It has been proved in the transcendent theosophy of Mulla Sadra that the aspects of manifestation and non-manifestation are identical in the Divine Essence. That is to say, He does not possess two aspects, one of which is manifest and the other non-manifest. He possesses a single aspect, which is at once the origin of manifestation and that of non-manifestation. The single aspect consists in the absolute actuality and infinite intensity of existence. As Hajji Mulla Sabzawari has said: "O He who is hidden due to the extremity of His light. O manifest One who is non-manifest due to His manifestation." To give a brief explanation, it has been proved in Islamic metaphysics that the Pure Essence of God, the Exalted, is hidden because of the intensity of self-manifestation. In order to become more familiar with this matter, we will put forward three premises: 1. In the same way that existence is of two modes: existence-in-itself (objective existence) and existence-for-others (mental existence), manifestation is also of two types: manifestation-in-itself and manifestation-for-others. Therefore, when we discuss manifestation or non-manifestation, we sometimes refer to the manifestation of a thing-in-itself and sometimes we refer to the manifestation of a thing-for-others. 2. It has been proved in Muslim metaphysics that existence is synonymous with manifestation, and non-manifestation is derived from non-existence. An existent partakes of manifestation to the same degree that it partakes of existence, and it is devoid of manifestation to the same degree that the deficiency is mixed with and pervades its existence. So, an existent that is of the highest and most perfect of existence is of the highest and most perfect of manifestation. 3. There is no correlation between two modes of manifestation, that is, it is not the case that if anything in itself is of the highest degree of manifestation, its manifestation for others should necessarily be of the highest degree. Rather, the opposite is true to some extent because the manifestation of a thing-for-others depends on the nature of the structure of our sensory faculties. Our sensory faculties have been created in such a way that they can only perceive and reflect within themselves the entities that are confined and limited within the bounds of time and space and which also possess the characteristics of opposition and similarity. Our senses perceive colours, shapes, sounds and others things, because they are limited temporally and spatially. For example, we perceive whiteness, because it exists somewhere and does not exist somewhere else. It exists at times and does not exist at other times. If there were whiteness everywhere, we would never recognize whiteness, and would have no concept of whiteness within our minds. We come to know of the existence of light because it is sometimes present and sometimes not present, and present somewhere and not present somewhere else. If there were no shadow and darkness, light would not have been recognized. If the world were uniformly lit, we would never know of light, that is, the very thing in whose light we see everything. Mahmud Shabistari, the renowned Persian mystic, says in this regard in his Gulshan-i-Raz (the Rose Garden of Divine Mysteries): 'Fool that he is! for he seeks the blazing sun By the dim light of a torch in the desert. If the sun tarried always in one position, And if his shining were all after one manner, None would know these beams are from him, There would be no distinction between kernel and husk [the disc of the sun and its light], Know that the whole is a beam of the light of "the Truth," Yet "the Truth" within it is concealed from manifestation; And since the light of "the Truth" alters not nor varies, And is void of change and transitoriness.' The same is the case with sounds. If we always heard a sound uniformly, we would never hear it. Things are known by their opposites. Based on the explanation of the above three premises, it can be said that the Divine essence is Pure Being and Pure Actuality, and is totally free from potentiality. In terms of manifestation, He is the very manifestation, and there is no aspect of non-manifestation within Him. However, in terms of manifestation, such is not the case. The very perfection of His manifestation is the source of His non-manifestation because He is existentially unlimited, and He is Omnipresent and with everything and nothing, no place and no moment are void of him but not in the sense of incarnation or union. This is the reason why our limited senses, our sensory faculties, cannot perceive Him. The perfection of manifestation of the Divine essence and the infinitude of His existence mean that His being is hidden from us. This is the meaning of the first line of the above-mentioned verse. God is hidden due to the extremity of manifestation and this is the message relayed in the words of the Muslim philosophers. The aspects of manifestation and non-manifestation within the Divine essence are one and the same. It is not the case that part of His existence is manifest while another is non-manifest. He has no parts at all, and His whole existence is at once manifest and non-manifest. The Muslim 'urafa (gnostics) strictly criticise the philosophers for proving the existence of God through creatures and for considering the universe to be manifest and God to be non-manifest. Rumi, the renowned Persian mystic and sage, also says in this regard: 'The proof of the sun is the sun (himself); If thou require the proof, do not avert thy face from him! If the shadow gives an indication of him, The sun (himself) gives spiritual light every moment. The shadow, like chat in the night-hours, brings sleep to thee; When the sun rises the moon is cloven asunder.' (Nicholson Translation) Junaid of Baghdad was once asked, "What is the proof for the existence of the Creator?" In reply, he said: "The light of daybreak makes the light of a lamp redundant."