Symposium 15
More on Qualities of the Glorious Allah
Anwar:Salam ‘Alaykom! I am still waiting for more explanation!
Hasan:‘Alaykom As-Salam! I am at your service. I will start with the example from our last session. So, if we ask ‘would God be able to create an equal match of His?’, We have to answer that this creature would not be like God, because God is not in need to anyone in his existence but that creature is. It is impossible for the creature to be like Him because that would mean turning a needy and poor creature that is possibly in existence to absolute perfection who is essential in
existence, and this is impossible!
Here we must mention another important point, which is that an impossible is actually false, untrue and null i.e. it has no existence at all. This is because nothingness cannot have any power, as power and strength are concerned with things in existence. That is why the Glorious Allah says in the Noble Quran:(and Allah is able to do all things)33;27.
Anwar:Thank you very much indeed.
Hasan:All thanks to God!
The Alive
Anwar:Now, will you explain another quality of the Almighty Allah, namely ‘the Alive’?
Hasan:Yes, of course! Theologians agree that the Alive is one of the qualities of Allah, Praised Be His Name, but we first need to know the reality of life which is based on two things:
· Action and being affected which can be referred to by ‘the effectiveness'.
· Sense and cognition which can be referred to by ‘the perception'.
The Almighty Allah is Alive in a sense that is appropriate to His exalted status. His effectiveness and perception is not similar to that of creatures and possibly in existence. Now, the evidence to His life is actually a combination of what has already been proved through our discussion on His Omnipotence and Omniscience and the correlation between them as well as the life we have just introduced through effectiveness and perception.
In other words, without His Omnipotence, it couldn’t be true to say He has perception. Also, without His Omniscience, it couldn’t be true to say He has effectiveness; this is the meaning of ‘He is the Alive’, and it is untrue to say otherwise, because He is described with Omnipotence and Omniscience, then He must be Alive. Moreover, the fact that He gives life to His creatures proves He is the Alive, otherwise He could not give what He did not have in the first place.
Anwar:Will you please support this through quotations from the Noble Quran and more?
Hasan:Yes! The Glorious Allah describes Himself in the Noble Quran with the eternal life:(And trust thou in the Living One Who dieth not, and hymn His praise)25;58.
There is another proof in the Qursi Verse:(Allah! There is no God save Him, the Alive the Eternal, neither slumber nor sleep overtaketh Him. Unto Him belongeth whatsoever is in the heavens and whatsoever is in the earth)2;255.
Imam Al-Baqir (PBUH) has a word in this regards as well:“There was Allah, Praised Be His Name, and nothing but Him: the Light without darkness, the Right without lies, the Omniscient without ignorance, the Alive without death. This is also how He is today and how He will be for eternity”.
Imam Al-Kadim (PBUH) also says:“There is no God but Him, the Alive without doubt, the Alive without being created, but freely Alive”.
Anwar:Thank you very much! How about other qualities of His like hearing, seeing, comprehension and will?
Hasan:The interpretation of hearing and seeing, as we read in the Holy Verse:(Allah is the All-Hearing, the All-
Seeing)31;28, is that the Almighty Allah has knowledge for everything that can be heard and seen, and this is part of His Omniscience.
As for His Comprehension, we have this Verse:(Vision comprehendeth Him not, but He comprehendeth all vision. He is the Subtle, the Aware)6;103.
It shows that the Almighty Allah is witnessing things that cannot be seen and He is fully Aware of them. As for His will, it means the Glorious Allah is willingly a doer and not by force. That is what we can say in brief.
Anwar:Thank you, sir!
Hasan:All thanks to God! We will continue next time.
CHAPTER TWO
Divine Justice
(Al-‘Adl al-ilahi)
·Introduction to Divine Justice
·Is It One of the Essence Qualities or Deed Qualities?
·Interpretation of Evils and Tribulations
·Are Tribulations a Form of Punishment?
·Is Punishment Equal to Sin?
·Fate and Destiny
·Are Good Deeds and Bad Deeds From Allah or Mankind
·What is the implication of ‘Guidance and Aberration are in the Hands of Allah’?
·Are Happiness and Misery from Allah?
این صفحه در کتاب اصلی بدون متن است / هذه الصفحة فارغة في النسخة المطبوعة
Symposium 16
Introduction to Divine Justice
Anwar:Salam ‘Alaykom, Akhi Hasan!
Hasan:‘Alaykom As-Salam!
Anwar:We are done discussing the qualities of the Glorious Allah, and it is time to talk about divine justice, isn’t it?
Hasan:Talking about the qualities of the Glorious Allah and monotheism can take ages to cover, but I tried to give you some simplified information so you have certain ideological knowledge. You can have further studies in this regard if you like.
Anwar:Yes, I feel I can manage the subject and interact with it easier.