By Cheikh Soubky Sylla
Africa-Press – Gambia. The philosopher Rene Descartes famously said “I think, therefore I am”. The theologians of Islam, preceded him in this by centuries, with the added caveat that “I came to be, therefore He (Allah) is”. While Descartes statement affirms the present of the self-witnessing existent, it fails to look back towards how that existent being came to be. In other words, I am aware that not only was there a time where I was not, there was also a time where I was not even thinking to know as to whether I am or not.
Therefore, I came to be. I must ask myself, did I bring myself into being? This would be a logical impossibility on multiple fronts, the most pressing of which would be in order to bring myself into existence, I would need to exist – which is absurd as the statement itself. A non-existent thing cannot exist in order to bring itself out of non-existence.
When I expand this argument beyond my own self, and into the wider world that I share physical space with, it becomes evident to me that these other entities – sentient or otherwise – possess the same quality of transience and finitude as I do, which means that they – down to the last particle and atom of the universe – had a beginning.
The existence of the larger universe is then posed with the same question, given the fact that we acknowledge it has a starting point. If it came into being, then we are claiming that there was a 50% chance of it remaining non-existent and a 50% chance of it coming into being, and then- without a mobilising force – it slid into a 100% chance of existing. This would be a mathematical impossibility. It would be equivalent to saying that something weighs 0 kgs and 2kgs at the same time.
This necessitates that the universe, therefore, have a creator. Now, an intelligent mind might say – why doesn’t this creator have a creator as well. This is a good question and the answer is that there must ultimately be one necessary existent that is not Contingent. Otherwise, we would be forced to accept an infinite regression of creators where each creator – in a hypothetical line – never gets to the front of the line to actually create the predecessor that creates the universe. Alternatively, we would be forced to affirm a limited circle of “Gods” with one “creator” being created by another “creator” that was created by something that it created – another logical impossibility. We must therefore affirm that there is a unitary creator that is dissimilar from all other existents, and whose existence is independent of All.
Another intelligent mind might say “Why can we not ascribe the status of being a God to the universe?”. You will recall, earlier, that we affirmed transcience and therefore contingency to the universe, which means that the logical problems presented above about a Contingent creator would then be applicable to it. The same problem necessitates that we establish preeernal existence to the creator, otherwise it would be transient, Contingent and subject to having a beginning – ergo being subject to the same logical problems we had solved earlier.
The affirmation of begininglessness (Ie pre-eternal existence) necessitates, by default, that we apply everlastingness (Infinite existence) o the creator. If something has an end, then it means – without obfuscation – there is a timeline that can be drawn back from the point which it ended to another point that makes it possible to identify the end. Put another way, the fact that something is pre-eternal in its essence means that at no time is it possible to draw two points and make a timeline that describes the duration of that entity.
In the manner that we have proceeded, the likes of Imam As Sanussi, Imam Ahmed Al Maqari, Imam Fakhru Deen Ar Razi and others proceeded until they established the rational necessity of not only Allah’s Existence but of his attributes and their implications. They laid out in a flowing manner that which the hearts naturally know and that which the Quran eloquently describes in multiple places.
Or were they created by nothing, or are they creators? Or did they create the heavens and the earth? In fact, they have no certainty.
-Surah Aṭ-Ṭūr, Ayah 35 – 36
Say, “Had there been other gods besides Him—as they claim—then they would have certainly sought a way to ˹challenge˺ the Lord of the Throne.”
-Surah Al-Isrāʾ, Ayah 42
How can you deny Allah? You were lifeless and He gave you life, then He will cause you to die and again bring you to life, and then to Him you will ˹all˺ be returned. He is the One Who created everything in the earth for you. Then He turned towards the heaven, forming it into seven heavens. And He has ˹perfect˺ knowledge of all things.
-Surah Al-Baqarah, Ayah 28 – 29.
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