Alhassanain(p) Network for Heritage and Islamic Thought

Chapter 8: Realistic Conception of the World

Islam is a realistic religion. The word "Islam" means submission. This indicates that the first condition of being a Muslim is to submit to the realities and truths. Islam rejects every kind of obduracy, stubbornness, prejudice, blind imitation, bias and selfishness, and regards all of them as contrary to realism and realistic approach to truth. From the point of view of Islam a man who seeks truth, but fails in his efforts may be excused, but the acceptance of truth by virtue of imitation or heredity by a man who is otherwise stubborn and arrogant has no value.

A true Muslim, whether a male or a female, eagerly accepts truth wherever he or she may find it. As far as the acquisition of knowledge is concerned, a Muslim shows no bias. He may go even to the farthest corner of the world for acquiring knowledge. His efforts to gain knowledge and to find truth are not confined to any particular period of his life nor to any territorial region. Nor does he insist to acquire knowledge from any particular person. The Holy Prophet has said that to seek knowledge is the duty of every Muslim, whether a man or a woman. He has also asked the Muslims to receive it even from an idolater.

There is another saying of the Holy Prophet which exhorts the Muslims to seek it even if they have to go to China for that purpose. He is also reported to have said: "Continue to seek knowledge from the cradle to the grave". Superficial and partial notions of the problems, blind imitation of the forefathers and submission to the absurd hereditary traditions, being contrary to the spirit of submission to truth, are censured by Islam and regarded as misleading.

Allah is Absolute Reality and Source of Life

Man is a realistic being. A new-born human child from the very first moments of its life, while looking for its mother's breast, seeks it as a reality. Gradually the body and the mind of the infant develop to the extent that it can distinguish between itself and other things. Though the new-born child's contact with other things is established through a series of its thoughts, it knows that the reality of the things is distinct from that of the thoughts which it entertains and uses as a medium only.

Integral Characteristics of the World

The realities which man can perceive through his senses and which we call the world, have the following integral characteristics:

(i) Limitation

Everything perceptible, from the smallest particle to the biggest star has spatial and temporal limitations. Nothing can exist outside a particular space and a particular period of time.

Certain things occupy a bigger space and last longer while some others occupy a smaller space and last comparatively for a shorter time. But in the final analysis they are all limited to a particular portion of place and a particular period of time.

(ii) Change

Everything is subject to a change and is indurable. Nothing perceptible in the world is in a standstill state. It is either growing or decaying. A material and perceptible being throughout the period of its existence passes through a constant course of change as a part of its reality. It either gives something or takes something or gives as well as takes. In other words, it either takes something out of the reality of other things and adds it to its own reality or gives something out of its reality or performs both the actions. In any case, there is nothing that remains static. This characteristic also is common to all things existing in this world.

(iii) Attachment

Another characteristic of the perceptible things is their attachment. We find that they all are conditional. In other words the existence of each one of them is attached to and , conditional on the existence of one or more other things. None of them can exist if those other things do not exist. If we look deeply into the reality of the material and perceptible things, we will find that many 'ifs' are attached to their existence. We do not find a single perceptible thing which may be existing unconditionally and independently. The existence of everything is conditional on the existence of something else, and the existence of that something else in its turn is also conditional on the existence of something else, and so on.

(iv) Dependence

The existence of all our perceptible things depends on the fulfilment of the numerous conditions attached to it. The existence of each of these conditions again depends on the fulfilment of a series of some other conditions. There is no perceptible thing which may exist independently, i.e. in the absence of the conditions on which its existence depends. Thus dependence pervades all existing things.

(v) Relativeness

All perceptible things are relative as regards to their existence a well as to their qualities. When we attribute to them greatness, power, beauty, antiquity and even existence, we say so in comparison to other things. When we say, for example, that the sun is very large, we mean that it is larger than the earth and other planets of our solar system. Otherwise this very sun is smaller than many other stars. Similarly when we say that such and such ship or such and such animal is powerful, we compare it with man or something weaker than man.

Even the existence of a thing is comparative. Whenever we speak of any existence, perfection, wisdom, beauty, power or grandeur, we take into consideration a lower degree of that quality. We can always visualize a higher degree of it also and then a further higher degree. Each quality as compared to its higher degree is changed into its opposite. Existence becomes non-existence, perfection is changed into defectiveness. Similarly wisdom, beauty, greatness and grandeur are changed respectively into ignorance, ugliness and despicability.

The thinking power of man, the scope of which, contrary to that of the senses, is not confined to the exterior features, but also penetrates what is behind the screen of existence, tells us that existence is in no way confined to these perceptible things which are limited, changing, relative and dependent.

The scenery of existence which we observe appears on the whole to be self-existing and self-dependent. Hence there must be an everlasting, unconditional and ever-present absolute and infinite truth behind it on which everything must depend. Otherwise this scenery of existence could not stand so firmly. In other words nothing would have existed at all.

The Holy Qur'an describes Allah as Self-existing and Self-dependent, and thus reminds us that all existing things, being conditional and relative, are in need of a Self-existing truth to support and sustain them. Allah is Self-dependent because everything else depends on Him. He is Perfect, for everything else is hollow from within and needs a Truth which may fill it with existence.

The Holy Qur'an describes the perceptible things as 'signs'. In other words everything in its turn is a sign of an Infinite Being and His knowledge, power and will. From the viewpoint of the Holy Qur'an the world is like a book composed by a wise and sagacious being, every line and every word of which is a sign of the wisdom and sagacity of its author. From the point of view of the Holy Qur'an, the more a man comes to know the reality of the things, the more he gets acquainted with Divine wisdom, power and blessings.

From one angle every natural science is a branch of cosmology. From another angle and from a deeper way of looking at things, it is a branch of the knowledge (recognition) of Allah.

To elucidate the Qur'anic point of view in this respect we quote here just one verse of the Holy Qur'an out of so many similar verses: "Surely in the creation of the heavens and the alternation of night and day, the ships which sail on the sea with (cargoes) beneficial to man, the water that Allah sends down from heaven with which He revives the earth after it is dead and replenishes it with all kinds of animal life, in the movement of the winds and in the clouds held between the sky and the earth, there are signs for the people who have sense." (Surah al-Baqarah, 2:164)

In this verse the Holy Qur'an invites the attention of the people to general cosmology, to the ship-building industry, to tourism and its financial advantages, to meteorology, to the origin of winds and rain, to the movement of clouds, to biology and zoology. It regards the pondering on the philosophy of these sciences as something leading to the recognition of Allah.

Attributes of Allah

The Holy Qur'an says that Allah has all the attributes and characteristics of a perfect being.

"He has the most beautiful names." (Surah al-Hashr, 59:24).

"His is the sublime similitude in the heavens and in the earth" (Surah ar-Rum, 30:27)

As such Allah is Living, Almighty, All-Knowing, Master of His Will, Merciful, Guide, Creator, Wise, Forgiving and Just. There is no sublime quality which He does not possess.

On the other hand He is not a body nor a compound. He is neither weak nor cruel.

The first group of the sublime attributes of Allah, denoting His perfection is called His affirmative attributes and the second group of His attributes denoting His freedom from every kind of defect and imperfection is called His negative attributes. We both praise and glorify Allah. When we praise Him we mention His affirmative attributes and when glorify Him, we say that He is free from all that is not worthy of Him. In both the cases we affirm His Knowledge to our own benefit and thus uplift ourselves.

Monotheism

Allah has no associate or partner. There is none like Him. It is basically impossible that there should be anyone like Him, for in that case we shall have two or more Gods instead of one. To be two, three or more is a characteristic of the limited and relative things. Plurality has no meaning in regard to an absolute and infinite being.

For example, we can have one child. We can also have two or more children. Similarly we can have one friend. We can also have two or more friends. A friend or a child is a limited being, and a limited being can have a like of him and can be multiplicable. But an infinite being is not multiplicable at all. The following example, though not adequate may be found useful for the purpose of elucidating the point.

In respect of the dimensions of the material world, that is the world which we can see and perceive, the scientists have two theories. Some of them maintain that the dimensions of the world are limited. In other words this perceivable world reaches a point where it ends. But some others are of the opinion that the dimensions of the material world have no middle, no beginning and no end. If we accept the theory that the material world is limited, a question arises as to whether it is one world or more than one? But if we maintain that this world has no limits, the question of the existence of another world becomes absurd. Whatever we may presume to be another world, it will either be identical with this world or a part of it.

This examples applies to the material world as well as the material beings which are limited, conditional and created. The reality of none of them is absolute, independent and self-existing. The material world, though limitless from the viewpoint of its dimensions, is limited from the viewpoint of its reality. But as its dimensions are limitless, we cannot presume the existence of another world.

Almighty Allah has an infinite existence. He is an absolute reality, and He pervades everything. No space or time is devoid of Him. He is closer to us than our jugular vein. Hence it is impossible that He should have a like of Him. We cannot even suppose the existence of another being like Him.

Furthermore, we see the signs of His wisdom and attention prevailing everywhere and pervading everything. We observe that one single will and one single system govern the entire world. That shows that our world is unicentred, not multicentred.

Furthermore, had there been two or more Gods, evidently two or more wills would have applied to everything and two or more realities having a different centre would have existed in every existing thing. As a result everything would have become two or more things. This being an absurd proposition, in fact nothing would have existed at all. This is what the Holy Qur'an means when it says: "If there were therein (in the Universe) Gods besides Allah, then surely both the heavens and the earth had been discorded." (Surah al-Ambiya, 21:22)

Worship and Adoration

The acknowledgement of One Allah as the most perfect being, having the most sublime attributes and free from every defect and deficiency, and the recognition of His relation to the world consisting in His creatorship, guardianship, munificence, compassion and mercy, create a reaction in us which is called adoration and worship.

Worship is a kind of relationship which man establishes with his Creator. It consists of man's submission to Allah and extolling and thanking Him. It is a relationship which man can establish with his Creator only. The establishment of such a relationship with anyone else is neither conceivable nor permissible.

The acknowledgement of Allah as the only source of existence and the only Master and Lord of everything makes it incumbent on us not to associate any creature with Him in adoration. The Holy Qur'an insists that Allah alone should be worshipped. There is no sin more deadly than associating anyone or anything else with Him.

Now let us see what is worship and what kind of relationship is that which is peculiar to Allah and which cannot be established with any other being.

Definition of Worship

To make the meaning of worship clear and in order to define it correctly, it is necessary to mention two points as a prelude:

(i) Worship may consist either of words or of actions. The former kind consists of a series of words and sentences which we recite, such as praising Allah, the recitation of the Holy Qur'an or the recitation of the formulas normally recited while offering prayers, and pronouncing 'Labbayk' during Hajj.

The worship which consists of actions is represented by such acts as standing, bowing and prostration in prayers, circum-ambulation of the Holy Ka'bah, and staying at Arafat and Mash'ar. Most of the acts of worship, such as prayers and pilgrimage (Hajj) comprise words and actions both.

(ii) Human acts are of two kinds. Some acts have no remote purpose. They are not performed as a symbol of something else, but they are performed for their own natural effects. For example, a farmer carries out the functions connected with farming in order to secure their natural results. He does not carry them out as a symbol or to express any feelings. The same is the case with a tailor when he is doing his tailoring. When we proceed to school, we have nothing in mind except reaching there. With this act we do not intend to convey any other purpose or meaning.

But there are acts which we perform as a symbol of a series of some other objects or in order to express our feelings. We lower our head as a sign of confirmation, we sit in the doorway as a sign of humility and bow to someone as a sign of reverence.

Most of the human acts are of the first kind and only a few of the second. Anyway, there are acts which are performed to express our feelings or to show some other objectives. These acts are used in place of words to express an intention.

Now keeping in mind the above two points, we may say that worship, whether it is performed by means of words or acts is a meaningful deed. Man by means of his devotion gives expression to a truth. Similarly by means of such acts as bowing, prostration, circumambulation etc. he wants to convey what he says when he pronounces devotionals and liturgy.

Spirit of Adoration and Worship

Through his worship, whether it is performed by means of words or acts, man conveys certain things:

(i) He praises Allah by pronouncing His peculiar attributes having a sense of absolute perfection, such as absolute knowledge, absolute power and absolute will. Absolute perfection means that His knowledge, power and will are not limited by or conditional on anything else and are a corollary of His total and complete independence.

(ii) He glorifies Allah and declares Him free from every defect and deficiency such as death, limitation, ignorance, helplessness, stinginess, cruelty etc.

(iii) He thanks Allah, considering Him to be the real source of everything good and of all bounties, and believing that all favours are received from Him alone. Others are only intermediaries appointed by Him.

(iv) He expresses total submission to Him and acknowledges that unconditional obedience is due to Him. He, being the Absolute Master of all that exists, is entitled to issue orders and we being slaves, it is our duty to obey Him.

(iv) In regard to His above attributes Allah has no associate or partner. None other than Him is absolutely perfect and none other than Him is absolutely free from every defect. None other than Him is the true source of all bounties and none other than Him deserves to be thanked for all of them. None other than Him deserves total submission and to be obeyed unconditionally. Every other obedience like that of the Prophet, the Imam, the lawful Muslim ruler, the parents and the teachers must culminate in His obedience and be subject to His good pleasure to be lawful. That is the appropriate response which a man should show to his Almighty Lord. Except in the case of Allah this kind of response is neither applicable nor permissible.

Chapter 11: Degrees of Monotheism

Both monotheism and polytheism have degrees and stages. Unless a man passes through all the stages of monotheism, he cannot be a true monotheist.

I. Unity of the Essence of Allah

To acknowledge the unity of His essence means that Allah is One in His essence. The first impression of Allah which anybody has is that of His Self-dependence. He is a Being who is not dependent on any other being in any way. In the words of the Holy Qur'an, He is Ghani (the Absolute). Everything depends on Him and seeks His help. He is independent of everything. The Holy Qur'an says:

"O men, it is you who stand in need of Allah. As for Allah, He is above all need, worthy of praise." (Surah al-Fatir, 35:15)

The philosophers describe Him as Self-existent or as a being whose existence is necessary.

The second impression of Allah which everybody has is that of His creatorship. He is the Creator and the ultimate source of all the existing things. All things are "from Him". He is not from anything. According to the philosophical terminology, He is the First cause.

This is the first conception of Allah which everybody has. Everybody thinks of Allah, and while thinking of Him, he has this conception in his mind. Then he decides whether there, really exists a truth, which is not dependent on any other truth, and from which originate all other truths.

Unity of essence means that this truth is not multiplicable, and has no like of it. The Holy Qur'an says:

"Nothing is similar to Him." (Surah ash-Shura, 42:11)

"And there is none comparable to Him." (Surah at-Tawhid, 112:4)

The rule that an existing being is always a member of a species, is applicable to the created beings only. For example, if is a member of the human species, we can presume that may be other members of this species. But no such thing be presumed in the case of the Self-existing Being. He is above all such notions.

The Self-existing truth being one, this world has only one source and one end. It has neither originated from various sources nor will it return to various sources. It has originated from one source and one truth. The Holy Qur'an says:

" Say: Allah is the Creator of everything." (Surah ar-Ra'd, 13:16)

Everything will return to the same source and the same truth:

"Do not all things reach Allah at last?" (Surah ash-Shura, 42:53)

In other words, the whole universe has one centre, one pole and one orbit.

The relation between Allah and the world is that of the Creator and the created, that is the relation of the cause and the effect, not that kind of relation which exists between light and lamp or between human consciousness and man. It is true that Allah is not separate from the world. He is with everything. The Holy Qur'an says: "He is with you wherever you are." (Surah al-Hadid, 57:4)

Anyhow, the non-separation of Allah from the world does not mean that He is to the world as light is to a lamp or as consciousness is to a body. Had it been so, Allah would have been the effect of the world, not the cause of it, as light is the effect of a lamp. Similarly the non-separation of Allah from the world does not mean that Allah, the world and man, have the same orientation and they all move and live with the same will and spirit. All these are the attributes of the created and non-self-existing beings. Allah is free from them. The Holy Qur'an says:

"Glorified be your Lord, the Lord of Majesty, from that which they ascribe to Him." (Surah as-Saffat, 37:180)

II. Unity of the Attributes of Allah

The unity of His attributes means to recognize that the essence and the attributes of Allah are identical and that His various attributes are not separate from each other. The unity of essence means the negation of there being any peer or like of Allah and the unity of His attributes means the negation of any kind of multiplicity or plurality within His essence. Allah has all the attributes implying the perfection of majesty and beauty, but His attributes have no aspect really separate from Him.

The separation of the essence from the attributes and the separation of the attributes from each other, are the characteristics of the limitation of existence, and are not conceivable in the case of infinite existence. Multiplicity, combination and the separation of the essence and the attributes are inconceivable in the case of the Absolute Being. Like the unity of the Divine essence, the unity of the Divine attributes is an Islamic doctrine and one of the most valuable human ideas which has exclusively crystallized in the Shi'ah school. We here quote a passage from the first sermon of the Nahjul Balaghah1 which corroborates as well as explains this idea:

"All praise is due to Allah, who cannot be adequately praised by any rhetoricians, whose blessings cannot be counted by any enumerators, whom due homage cannot be paid by the most assiduous, who cannot be fully comprehended howsoever one may try, who cannot be reached by intelligence howsoever deep it may go, whose attributes are not limited by any limitation. There exist no words to describe Him fully."

As we see, in the above passage the boundlessness of the Divine attributes has been emphasized. In the same sermon after a few sentences Imam Ali says:

"Perfect devotion to Him means to deny the imputation of attributes to Him, for the person to whom an attribute is imputed, bears witness that he is different from the attribute imputed to him and every attribute of him bears witness that it is different from the person to whom it has been imputed. He who imputes an attribute to Allah compares Him (to something and he who compares him. .". (See: Sermon - 1, p. 137, Peak of Eloquence, ISP, 1984)

In the first passage it has been affirmed that Allah has attributes (whose attributes are not limited by any limitation). In the second passage also it is confirmed that He has attributes, but instruction has been given to impute no attributes to Him. The wording of these passages shows that the attributes which He has are unlimited like the limitlessness of His own self, that they are identical with His essence, and the attributes from which He is free are those which are limited and separate from His essence and from each other. Thus the unity of the Divine tributes means to acknowledge the unity of Allah's essence and His attributes.

III. Unity of the Work of Allah

Unity of His work means to recognize that the world with all its systems, ways, causes and effects is the work of Allah alone and has originated from His will. Nothing in the world is self-existing. Everything depends on Him. In the words of the Holy Qur'an, He is the sustainer of the whole world. The existing things are not independent with regard to their effect and causation. As a result, as Allah has no partner in his essence, similarly He has no partner in His work. Every agent and every cause owes its existence and effectiveness to Him and depends on Him. All power as well as ability to do things belong to Him alone.

Man is one of the existing things and hence a creation of Allah. Like other things he is effective as far as his own work is concerned and unlike of them, he is the master of his own destiny. But Allah has in no way delegated His powers to him. Thus he has not got complete discretion.

"By the power of Allah I stand and sit".

The belief that any being, whether man or a being other than man, has a complete discretion, amounts to believing that being to be a partner of Allah as far as independence of activity is concerned. As independence in activity amounts to independence in essence it is contrary to Allah's unity of essence, what to say of His unity of work.

"All praise is due to Allah who has taken no spouse nor a child. He has no partner in His sovereignty, nor has He a helper to help Him out of weakness. Therefore glorify Him a great deal." (Surah Bani Isra'il, 17:111)

IV. Unity in Worship

The three degrees of monotheism mentioned above are theoretical and a matter of creed. They are to be recognized and acknowledged. But the unity in worship is a practical matter. It is a form of 'being' and 'becoming'. The above degrees of monotheism involved right thinking. This degree is the stage of becoming righteous. The theoretical stage of monotheism means to have a perfect view. The practical stage of it means to move forward to attain perfection.

The theoretical monotheism means to comprehend the Divine oneness and the practical monotheism means man's becoming one. The theoretical monotheism is the stage of seeing and the practical monotheism is the stage of going. Before we further explain the practical monotheism, it is necessary to mention one more point about the theoretical monotheism. The question is whether it is possible to know Allah together with the unity of His essence, the unity of His attributes and the unity of His work, and if possible, whether such a knowledge is conducive to human weal and bliss; or out of the various degrees and stages of monotheism it is only practical monotheism that is useful.

As far as the possibility of gaining such a knowledge is concerned, we have discussed this problem in our books, Principles of Philosophy and the Method of Realism. As far its being useful or otherwise, that depends on our own conception of man and his weal and bliss. The modern wave of materialistic thinking has induced even the believers in Allah to consider the questions related to His knowledge to be of little use. They regard such questions as a kind of mental exercise and an escape from the practical problems of life. But a Muslim who believes that the reality of man is not his physical reality alone, but his true reality is his spiritual reality and that the essence of human spirit is the essence of his knowledge, sanctity and purity, knows well that the so called theoretical monotheism, besides being the basis of practical monotheism, is in itself a psychological perfection of the highest order. It uplifts man, leads him towards the Divine Truth and makes him perfect.

"To Him good words ascend and the pious deeds does He exalt." (Surah al-Fatir, 35:10)

Humanity of man depends on his knowledge of Allah.

Man's knowledge is not something separate from him. The more man attains knowledge of the universe, its system and its source, the more will develop his humanity, the 50% substance of which consists of knowledge.

From the point of view of Islam, especially the Shi'ah doctrine, there is not the least doubt that the attainment of the knowledge of Allah, irrespective of its practical and social effects, is in itself a goal of humanity.

Now we take up the question of practical monotheism:

Practical monotheism or unity in worship means to worship Allah alone. In other words to be single-minded in respect of the worship of Allah. Later we will explain that from the viewpoint of Islam, worship has a number of degrees. The most clear degree of it is the performance of the rites related to glorification and exaltation of Allah. The performance of such rites in respect of anyone other than Allah, means total exit from the pale of Islam. Anyhow, from the viewpoint of Islam worship is not confined to this degree alone. Every form of spiritual orientation and accepting something as one's spiritual ideal is included in worship. The Holy Qur'an says:

"Have you seen him who has chosen for his god his own lust?" (Surah al-Furqan, 25:43)

He who obeys someone whom Allah has not allowed to be obeyed and submits to him totally, worships that person: "They have taken their rabbis and their monks as their lords besides Allah." (Surah at-Tawbah, 9:31)

"And similarly none of us shall take others as our lords besides Allah." (Surah Ale Imran, 3:64)

Thus practical monotheism or unity in worship means to accept Allah alone as fit to be obeyed unconditionally, regard Him alone as one's ideal and the direction of one's conduct and to reject all others and consider them to be unfit to be obeyed unconditionally or regarded as one's ideal. Practical monotheism means to bow to Allah alone, to rise for Him, to live for him and to die for Him.

"(Prophet) Ibrahim said: I have set my face earnestly to Him who has created the Heavens and the earth. I am not a pagan. My prayers and my sacrifice, my living and my dying all are for Allah, the Lord of the universe. He has no partner. So have I been commanded, and I am the first to submit to Him."(Surah al-An'am, 6:79 & 163- 164)

This monotheism of Prophet Ibrahim is the practical monotheism. This is what the creed, 'There is no god but Allah", visualizes.

Note

1. The Islamic Seminary has published this book in English language under the caption, Peak of Eloquence, 1984.