Self-Evident Terms And Propositions
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ
إِنَّ الدِّينَ عِنْدَ اللَّهِ الْإِسْلَامُ وَمَا اخْتَلَفَ الَّذِينَ أُوتُوا الْكِتَابَ إِلَّا مِنْ بَعْدِ مَا جَاءَهُمُ الْعِلْمُ بَغْيًا بَيْنَهُمْ وَمَنْ يَكْفُرْ بِآيَاتِ اللَّهِ فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ سَرِيعُ الْحِسَابِ
“Verily the religion with God is Islam (submission to God’s will); and those whom the book had been given did not differ, but after the Knowledge (of the truth) had come unto them, out of envy among themselves; and whosoever disbelieveth in the signs of God: then, verily, God is quick in reckoning.” (3:19)
Deen (religion) is a term used in several meanings, which are not totally irrelevant from each other; one is a figurative expression of the other. Here, the term strictly means submissive attitude of human conscience towards some ‘sacred object’. The sacred object means a superhuman controlling power whose pleasure and displeasure are responsible for happiness and sufferings of man.
Hardly can anyone claim to be without religion in this sense. Thus, the history of religion and its development are the same as the history of the development of human consciousness. Of the various religions in their highly developed form, the religion of Islam is usually classed among the latest. But as it is presented in the Qur'an and defined in this treatise, the reader will find it the oldest or rather the only religion, the development of which is correlated with the development of human consciousness.
In other word, as the Qur'an says, it is the only faith with which human consciousness is born. The variety of religions is nothing but the outcome of the rebellious nature of power-seekers or other selfish motives. The main source of Islam is the Holy Qur’an, which is known to all. The Qur'an postulates the existence of Superhuman Power or Person as the Creator and Controller of' the whole universe, of which man with his conscience and volition is part of.
Thus, the Qur’an says that religion is a submissive attitude of human conscience towards that Almighty Power. It is the only religion approved by the Almighty - the Ultimate Power or person. To Him, every finite thing or being has willingly or unwillingly submitted. No salvation can be secured by any being but through submission to Him. All schools of thought in Islam are unanimous in this definition of Islam. The differences between them concern only with the details of this ‘submissive attitude’.
The purpose of this work is to present before the readers a brief outline of the fundamentals of Islam as advocated by the Shi’a Ithna Ash’ari school, which is one of the oldest schools of thought in Islam. To achieve this purpose, it is essential to acquaint the readers with knowledge of the following ‘self-evident’ terms and propositions.
The Principle Of Cause And Effect
No one with common sense and average intelligence can ever doubt the existence of God. One may as well deny his own existence in some sense or the other, rather than denying or even doubting an ‘effect’ being without any cause.
The thing or being by which another thing or being exists or on which the existence of another thing or being depends, is called a ‘cause’.
The thing or being which depends on or owes its existence to something else is called an ‘effect’ or an event or phenomenon.
The existence of an effect cannot depend on a non-being or nothing or nothingness. This would imply that the chain of an effect and its cause ends in a ‘self-existing’ cause. Otherwise, it would mean the existence of a being or a thing by a non-being, or naught and the absurdity of this is self-evident.
Having the definition or the cause and effect in view, mankind has been questioned by the following verse of the Holy Qur’an:
أَمْ خُلِقُوا مِنْ غَيْرِ شَيْءٍ أَمْ هُمُ الْخَالِقُونَ
“Or were they created by nothing? Or are they themselves the creators?” (52:35)
أَمْ خَلَقُوا السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضَ بَلْ لَا يُوقِنُونَ
“Or created they the heavens and the earth? Nay, they have no certainty”. (52:36)
أَمْ عِنْدَهُمْ خَزَائِنُ رَبِّكَ أَمْ هُمُ الْمُصَيْطِرُونَ
“Or do they own the treasures of thy Lord? Or have they been given charge (thereof)?” (52:36)
Various Types Of Causes
The basis of all scientific investigations is that there can be no effect without a cause. The word ‘cause' is a term meaning a thing somehow responsible for the existence of a being or another thing; and it comprises two types, the ‘structural’ and ‘creative’.
The structural causes are the parts and the components of the effect.
The Creative or Agential causes are the originating factors or those producing the structure, bringing it into existence. But they are not part of the structure.
The structural cause is further subdivided into two categories, ‘material’ and ‘formal’. The material cause is the thing out of which the structure is made. The formal cause is the shape or the form by which the structure becomes what it is.
The creative cause means the factor that produces the parts and affects their arrangement. This cause consists of two types, ‘genetic’1 and ‘objective’. The former is called the First or the Active, and the latter is called the Ultimate or Final Cause (purpose or motive).
No man, with common sense, has ever denied or doubted the necessity of the Structural cause. Everything owes its existence to its component parts and to the ‘form’ in which they are arranged together.
Everything Is An Effect
Each thing or being of composite nature is an Effect, i.e., its existence is not by itself, as it depends at least on its parts and its existence is caused by them. The parts of a being or beings cannot be non-beings. The question arises whether the parts exist by themselves, or they are themselves also composite wholes and in turn depend on their parts?
If they are also composed of parts, then we will have to trace back the process till we reach the final components. That will lead to the conclusion that they are beings of non-composite nature, existing by themselves, on which the whole edifice of the effects and their causes stand. But no being of a dimensional nature and presentable in space and time, can ever be of a non-composite nature, as the simplest and the smallest being which occupies space is dimensional and geometrically divisible and depends on its part.
Therefore, no dimensional being can be taken as a self-exiting being and thus be considered as the ‘first or the beginning’ in the chain of beings. Either we accept that the chain is based on non-beings (and the absurdity of this is self-evident) or we are forced to step out of the realm of the material chain in the search of a non-composite, non-dimensional self-existing ‘Being' and assert that the chain of cause and effect is based on this ‘Being'.
This means that the whole dimensional realm presentable in the terms of space and time is an effect and the phenomenon of a Non-dimensional and Non-physical being. On this ground we will have to leave the dimensional realm and proceed in search of the self-existing being responsible for the phenomenon of the chain of cause and effect in the realm where the experimental logic and method has no approach to it at all.2
The Concrete And The Abstract Part
We have said that any being that is of composite nature depends for its existence on its parts, and hence it is an effect, a phenomenon and unreal. It is to be pointed out here that the parts and the components of a composite being may be of two types, Concrete and Abstract.
The Concrete
The concrete parts are those which our mind observes side by side in the realm outside the mind, such as the parts of an organic, chemical or geometrical compound.
The Abstract
The ‘abstract’ parts are those found in a being in the course of the mental process and analysis, but outside the realm of the mind, the parts are merged into each other as one entity such as the logical parts of a ‘definition’, Genus and Differentia. Genus, being the aspect found in an idea which is common in other ideas too, and Differentia being the aspect that is peculiar to one and is not found in another.
In any case, composition means dependence on the parts. Hence, the composite being becomes an effect and a phenomenon and is thus unreal, irrespective of whether the parts are concrete or abstract because although the abstract parts - Genus and Differentia - are merged into each other as one outside the mind, in fact they are two different things.
Therefore, the same would be the case of beings dependent on abstract parts in logical definition. They are also effects, phenomena, unreal and non-self-existing being.
Absolute Oneness Of The Self-Existing Being
As we had to step out of the limitation of space and time in search of the self-existing Being, we have also to step further out beyond the logical limitations which consists of the abstract parts of Genus and Differentia.
Hence, the self-existing being must be unlimited and could not be described in terms of space and time, Genus and Differentia. It should be beyond all dimensional and non-dimensional limitations and as such it cannot be but one; because the idea of the two self-existing beings implies limitations of both, having a common aspect or being self-existent and the aspect by which they are distinguished from each other; hence composite and dependent on their parts.
The conclusion is that the self-existing being is one, the real entity that is not divisible at all, in any sense of the term, and in any respect or form or any aspect imaginable. Therefore, it is the real unique entity, the like of which is in not possible in any sense.
Self-Consciousness Of The Self-Existing One
This unique entity by which finite beings - in part and as whole, exist - is not absent from 'Itself'. Hence, it is conscious of 'Itself'. Consciousness means the presence of the Known to the Knower, the presence of one thing to (or for) another.
If the entity or being is present to 'Itself’ then the being is conscious of ‘Itself’ and consequently becomes conscious of everything else that is present before it or stand by it. But if the being (or the entity) is absent from ‘Itself’, it cannot be self-conscious, and hence, unconscious of other things surrounding.
Non-Consciousness Of Dimensional Beings Or Entities:
All dimensional beings are composed of dimensional parts, and every dimensional part occupies a portion of space not identified with the portion occupied by the other parts. Hence, every dimensional part is absent from the other dimensional parts. The conclusion is that all dimensional beings are devoid of self-consciousness and consequently devoid of consciousness.
On the other hand, any entity or being that is non-dimensional and non-material, be it composed of abstract parts such as finite mind (which is composed of Genus and Differentia) or not composed of any parts at all such as the Absolute entity in question (who is unlimited and infinite) is not absent from itself either because it has no part at all or because it consists of parts which do not occupy different portions of space. The parts are merged into each other, and their separation is only a mental and conceptual process.
Regarding the non-dimensional Being or the Absolute Entity, it is obvious that 'It' cannot be absent from 'Itself' on account of its absolute oneness. Though the non-dimensional beings which are finite consist of parts and are hence dependent, the parts are one and identical outside the mind and the realm conception. Hence, they are also not absent from their own selves. Each is present to itself, hence conscious of itself, and consequently conscious of whatever is present before It.
The conclusion is that whatever is non-dimensional is conscious, and whatever is conscious is non-dimensional. Therefore, the Absolute Entity, by which all beings exist and stand, is necessarily present with every being, as its holding or sustaining factor is self-conscious and conscious of all that exist by it, hence Living (الحي القيوم). Therefore, the reference to the Absolute entity responsible for the whole phenomenon called ‘universe’, should be in terms of 'He' instead of 'it'.
1n light of the above statement one can realize that the personal pronoun 'He' (Huwa هو ) refers to a well-known Person, and it has no real application but to the Absolute One and no term or word can be taken as a real reference to the Absolute One but this personal pronoun 'He”. Therefore, there is no real 'He' but the Absolute One, there is no real term for Him but 'He'. This idea of ‘Huwwiyat”- (‘He-ness’ هويات), in its true significance, is given in Sura Al-Ikhlas (Chapter 112).
The fundamental articles of faith as given by this school of thought are no other than the various aspects implied in the ideas of Huwwiyat i.e. Absolute Oneness of the 'self-existing being'. Therefore, without the knowledge of these articles, the submissive attitude of human consciousness towards that Sacred Entity would be imperfect. These fundamental articles of faith are:
1. Belief in the Unity or Absolute Oneness of the Real Sacred Entity (Allah-God).
2. Belief in His justice as the total of all His analytical attributes and excellences.
3. Belief in the necessity of Nubuwwah (Prophethood) and
4. lmamah (the divine vicegerency).
5. Belief in Qiyamah (the resurrection) and final purpose of creation.
- 1. Relating to the origin [Note by al-Islam.org].
- 2. Therefore, in other words, no being of dimensional nature can be taken as the first and the fundamental unit in the chain of the structural causes of the effect. We need to postulate that either the chain of the beings in question is based on non-beings or nothingness (and the absurdity of this is self-evident) or we are forced by reason to search for a being of non-composite form, somewhere beyond the realm of matter and dimension. Thus, we will have to step in the sphere of non-material and non-dimensional beings.
It means that in the chain of the structural causes of the dimensional phenomena, there is nothing to be termed as self-existent. Therefore, neither the structure of the dimensional universe nor its structural causes - its material and formal components - are self-existent. They owe their existence to some creative or producing factor of non-material and non-dimensional nature, which is not part and parcel of the structure, but has a hold over the structure and its material and formal causes.