Causation and creation
- Updated On Friday, 30 May 2014
- Written by A group of writers
- Editor Kawther Rahmani
- Supervisor Sayyed Roohullah Musavi
- Published on Monday, 01 November 2010
- Hits: 691 views
- Hits: Can we use the rule of causation as it exists in nature to explain how Allah creates and sustains everything?
On the basis of causation one thing is considered to be the cause and another to be the effect. As a rule the cause should be on one side and the effect on the other. In other words, they should be in two different places. Take the example of the sun and the sunlight. There is light in the sun, but it also emits light. The sun and its light have two separate identities and are located in two different places. As the sun emits its light, the sun is the cause and the light is its effect. But the question is whether it is possible in the case of the self-existing being also to imagine such a relationship of cause and effect as found in nature. For example, fire is the cause of heat and the sun is the cause of light. In nature the effect is a consequence of the cause and the cause and effect are usually found in two separate places. In nature the cause and the effect are also usually located at two different times. But we cannot say that the Creator and the created are in two separate places or exist at two different times. It is even difficult to say how AIlah exists because He is Absolute and His existence is abstract. Whatever the way of expression you may adopt, it is impossible to say how Allah exercises His eternal and ceaseless power of creating and sustaining everything.