Ultimate life belongs to God only. He is the ever-living/al hayy 2:255,40:65. The prophet Daniel states in the Aramaic in which the text was recorded
Dan6:26"elaha hayya qayyam".
The words carry several implications, including the pervasive pattern throughout the Quran of God being the sole self-sufficient, uncreated, independant entity. He relies on none other than Himself to subsit and will perdure even when all things perish 55:26-7,28:88. Al hayy/the ever living is also a description meant at distinguishing Allah from false deities, as is done in the HB Joshua3:10,1Sam17:26,1Sam17:36,Jer10:9-10,etc., whether they be inanimate entities or living creatures that made themselves or were made into objects of worship 16:20-1. They are neither alive nor are able to keep others alive, they do not exist of their own accord nor can keep others into existence. Their existence depends at all times on the self-sustaining source of all life, Allah.
That notion is best captured in sura Ikhlas
112:2"Allahu ssamad".
Samad stems from s-m-d which has a wide variety of nuances. All of them, as reported by the companions and the earliest lexicographers, point to the notion of dependancy of others unto the entity on which the word is applied. IT may be applied to God or created entities. But since the created entities always need another samad, and that ultimately every creation depends on Allah in all aspects of existence, only Allah truly posesses that quality in full. 112:2 literally says "Allah IS THE SAMAD" ie Allah is the Self-sufficient source of all needs. In the "talbiya", the invocations the pilgrims in preislamic times, coming from all over Arabia, made during their rituals, Allah is
"al wahid al qahhar rabb assamad".This verse, more particularily this word "samad" is key in providing philosophical argument for God's existence, through the negation of infinite regress. If, as atheists suggest, this universe does not depend on a first, uncaused cause, and that it is instead the result of an infinite series of past events then by definition this current universe could not have existed. This is because it would have had to wait for an infinite amount of time past for it come into being. As stated by Al-Ghazali
"Each number has no end, yet some of them are less than others. This is clearly impossible".
And
"In the world there are events with causes. If these events depend upon other events without end, this is impossible and cannot be believed by a rational person". The prophet said "Satan will come to one of you and he will say, ‘Who created this and that?’ until he says to him, ‘Who created your Lord?’ When it comes to this, let him seek refuge in Allah and stop such thoughts".
We should seek refuge from Allah from asking "who created Allah" not because there is no argument against it, but because the amount of arguments for God's existence as are given both in Quran and ahadith are so manifold and easy to grasp, that the question itself is absurd
52:35"Were they created by nothing? Or were they the creators of themselves? Or did they create the heavens and the earth? Rather, they are not certain".
It is a whisper by the devil so as to confuse a simple matter with counterintuitive arguments of infinities and probabilities.
The existence of the contingent, dependent, and temporal universe is itself sufficient proof that a necessary being exists who caused it to be. This higher power must be greater than the universe and not dependent upon anything to sustain itself. These points are stressed over and over again in the Quran, including in sura ikhlas. The Creator is by definition uncreated and thus asking who created the Creator is a logical fallacy of definitions. The Quran gives the basis for which to build upon the most intricate philosophical arguments for God's existence. The independent cause is constantly sustaining the universe in all of its most intricate aspects and needs. It can never be detached from creation for a single instant or else all things fall apart 32:5,65:12,30:25,22:65,35:41. This is particularly pointed out in the verses speaking of Allah's establishing Himself upon the throne. If that is the case then Allah must similarly answer the need of the only creature endowed with the capacity to deduce the existence of the Creator. This is done through revelation and prophecy. As pledged to Adam and his wife when they left the garden 20:123.
The existence of the contingent, dependent, and temporal universe is itself sufficient proof that a necessary being exists who caused it to be. This higher power must be greater than the universe and not dependent upon anything to sustain itself. These points are stressed over and over again in the Quran, including in sura ikhlas. The Creator is by definition uncreated and thus asking who created the Creator is a logical fallacy of definitions. The Quran gives the basis for which to build upon the most intricate philosophical arguments for God's existence. The independent cause is constantly sustaining the universe in all of its most intricate aspects and needs. It can never be detached from creation for a single instant or else all things fall apart 32:5,65:12,30:25,22:65,35:41. This is particularly pointed out in the verses speaking of Allah's establishing Himself upon the throne. If that is the case then Allah must similarly answer the need of the only creature endowed with the capacity to deduce the existence of the Creator. This is done through revelation and prophecy. As pledged to Adam and his wife when they left the garden 20:123.
No comments:
Post a Comment