God is one Flashcards
Explain teleological arguments in the Qur’an on the existence and Oneness of God
o Muslims believes that there is only one God who created everything. He must therefore have complete power over what he has created.
o Muslims believe that God is ‘All Powerful’ and ‘Absolute’, it’s the basis of Islam that you submit yourself to God’s will as Allah is far greater and more powerful than anything else. This can be seen in the phrase Allah Akbar (God is great) which is chanted repeatedly during Salah and on many other occasions.
Explain Kalam cosmological argument as proof of Allah’s existence
o The kalam argument is based on the Islamic philosophy of reasoning, the word in Arabic translates to “words, discussion, and speech”.
o The cosmological argument was introduced by Aristotle and then adopted by the Christian theologian Thomas Aquinas.
o Another form of the argument is based on the concept of a ‘Prime Mover’, the premise is that every motion must be caused by another motion and the earlier motion must in turn be a result of another motion and so on. The conclusion thus follows that there must be an initial prime-mover, a mover that could cause motion without any other mover.
o One of the creators of the Kalam Argument, Al-Ghazali, wrote “Every being which begins has a cause for its beginning; now the world is a being which begins; therefore, it possess a cause for its beginning”.
Explain the Kalam argument criticisms
The argument is subject to a simple objection, introduced by asking, “Does God have a cause of his existence?”
If God is to have a cause of his existence then assuming the existence of God in order to explain the existence of the universe gets us nowhere.
If there is a God than we can’t explain his existence, and if there is no God then we can’t explain the existence of the universe.
Suggesting God’s existence using the cosmological argument leads us to a dead end.
Also if God is an uncaused being (not having a cause for his existence) then His existence would be counterexample to this premise- “Everything that exists has a cause of its existence”. If God exists but doesn’t have a cause of his existence then this premise is false, so the cosmological agreement is false.
Explain the Kalam arguments response to the criticisms
For the Kalam argument the difference between the universe and God is that the universe has a beginning in time.
Everything that has a beginning in time, the kalam argument claims, has a cause of its existence.
Kalam argument tells us that because the universe has a beginning, that beginning is God.
The uncaused existence of God, who doesn’t have a beginning in time, is consistent with the initial claim of the argument: ‘everything that has a beginning in time has a cause”. God’s uncaused existence therefore doesn’t give rise to problem encountered in the discussion of the simple cosmological argument above.
Explain Mu’tazilism in the context of God is one
o Mu’tazilis believed in Tawhid and they’re no different from the overwhelming majority of Muslims. However they differ on how to uphold divine unity in a way that’s consistent with the Qur’an and ‘reasoning’.
o Mu’tazilism originates from Ar Rashid who had brought many famous philosophical writings from Greece and Rome and translated them so they could be analysed. He believed in the importance of philosophy and wanted to meld it with Qur’anic beliefs. These ideas were taught in the ‘School of Theology’, which is where Mu’tazilism was created.
o The Mu’tazilism’s goal is difficult given that God is unique from nature, humans and material causality. All attempts to talk about Allah have faced barriers of using limited human language to conceptualize the Transcendence of Allah.
o When analysing the Qur’an, they questioned the presence of Allah. They asked whether Allah’s presence was physical like a human or beyond anything we can imagine. In doing so they adopted many anthropomorphic features to their descriptions on Allah and many people claim they have distorted the teachings of the Qur’an.
o They based the analysis of all religious texts and doctrines to be analysed by ‘sane minds and solid logic’ and if there are inconsistencies then the texts or doctrines should be rejected. This part alone made them the enemy of state and Orthodox Muslims (Muslims who follow the traditional Islamic beliefs).
Explain Ash’arism in the context of God is one
o Ash’arism is an early theological school of Sunni Islam based on religious authority and rejection of cause and effect reasoning.
o The disciples of the school are known as Ash’arites, and the school is also referred to as the Ash’arite school. It’s based on the orthodox theologies of Sunni Islam.
o The school arose manly as a response to the Mu’tazila school of thought and some of their beliefs, although both schools advocated the use of rationalism in religion and hold the same opinion on the Athari School.
Explain Hanbalism in the context of God is one
o Ahmad bn Hanbal compiled traditions of the Prophet and formulated Hanbali. He was against anthropomorphic views of God.
o Hanbalism is a traditionalist theology that rejects rationalistic Islamic theology (Kalam arguments) in favour of strict interpretation. Meaning the Zahir (explicit meaning) of the Qur’an and Hadith are the only authorities in matters of belief and law, and so the use of Ta’wil (implicit/metaphorical meaning) which is gained through rationally interpreting the Qur’an is Haram.
o As for the various divine attributes, Ibn Hanbal believed that all the regular attributes of God, such as hearing, sight, speech, omnipotence, will, wisdom, etc., were to be affirmed as ‘true’ (ḥaqq). Attributes that were ‘ambiguous’ (mutas̲h̲ābih) are God’s hand, throne, omnipresence, and a vision of Allah by the believers on the day of resurrection.
Explain the unity of God according to Mu’tazilites and Ash’arites
o The Qur’an explicitly asserts that God is one, and equally explicitly rejects polytheism and the Christian doctrine of the Trinity, it speaks of God’s ‘hands’ (Surah 38:75), ‘eyes’ (Surah 54:14) and ‘face’ (Surah 55:27), and of his seating himself on his throne (Surah 20:5), thus apparently implying that he has a body. Moreover, in describing the radiant faces of believers ‘looking towards their Lord’ on the Day of Resurrection (Surah 75:23), it suggests the possibility of a heavenly vision.
o However, the Mu’tazilites reject such notions, insisting God isn’t merely numerically one but also that he’s a simple essence. This led them to deny that he has a body or any of the characteristics of bodies; hence he can’t be seen, in this world or the next. The Mu’tazila therefore interpreted the Qur’anic anthomorphism as metaphors.
o Some of the later Ash’arites accepted the Mu’tazilite position on the Qur’anic anthromorphisms. In al-Ash’ari’s own view, however, they are neither to be dismissed in this way nor understood to imply that God has a body like human beings.
o Much more problematic than the Qur’anic anthromorphism are the adjectives which it employs to describe God. He’s said, for instance, to be ‘living’, ‘knowing’, ‘powerful’ and ‘eternal’. If we deny these qualities of Allah then we suggesting God is imperfect. But Allah by definition perfect, so God must have these qualities.
o However does this mean that he possess the attributes of ‘life’, ‘knowledge’, ‘powerful’ and ‘eternity’ and that they’re distinct form essence? The Mu’tazilites reasoned that this was impossible as it would imply plurality in God. When we speak of God with these attributes we are, in their opinion, considering Allah from different points of view.
Explain the significance of the belief in one God for Islam
Islam is based on one core belief, that there is no god worthy of worship but Allah. When a person embraces Islam or a Muslim wants to renew their faith, they profess their belief that there is no god worthy of worship but Allah and that Muhammad (PBUH) is His final messenger.
“Ashadu an la ill laha il Allah wa Ashadu anna Muhammadan Rasulullah”. Saying these words, the Testimony of Faith, is the first of five pillars or foundations of Islam. Belief in God is the first of six pillars of faith.
The Quran reminds us of the falsity of all alleged gods. To the worshippers of man-made objects, it asks: ‘How can you worship things you carve with your own hands, when it is God who has created you and all your handiwork?’ (37:95-96)
The most famous Ayah of the Qur’an (the Divine Book revealed to the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH)) to express this idea is in Surah 112: “Say: He is Allah, the One and Only; Allah, the Eternal, Absolute; None is born of Him, nor is He born; And there is none like Him”.
To the worshippers of heavenly bodies the Quran cites the story of Ibraham: “I have turned my face as a true believer towards Him who created the heavens and the earth. I am not one of the polytheists.’” (6:79)
Evaluation of the arguments for the existence and oneness of God and the interpretations of descriptions of God in the Qur’an
In Polytheism, no God is all-powerful because all gods are competing against each other. And not every god has the same strengths, or interested in the same things. Because not all gods are all-loving, it provides an explanation why there is injustice and suffering in our world. They’re just more powerful beings that can influence events should they choose to.
If God was all-loving, then why did he create Satan? Surely God could destroy Satan. Critics argue that instead, God rewards Lucifer’s behaviour with the gift of rule over Hell, divine-like powers, and the power to influence people. But, he’s still all powerful, and all loving, to the point that he went ahead and let Hell get created?
The perfect order seen in the beings of our planet is the greatest evidence of oneness. If anybody other than the Maker intervened in the divine activities and creation in the universe, that highly delicate order and balance would be spoiled and the marks of disorder would be seen everywhere.
When we assume that there are two equal gods in the universe, it would be problematic if they conflicted with each other’s view and decisions.
In the end of such a conflict, for instance, if one god wanted something to happen and the other wanted it not to happen, one of the following three possibilities would happen.
1. Both of the gods’ wishes would take place.
2. Neither of the gods’ wishes would take place.
3. One of the gods’ wish would take place and the other’s wish would not.
All of those possibilities are rationally invalid and impossible:
- If the wishes of both of them took place, something would happen and would not happen at the same time would take place, that is, two opposites which is logically impossible.
- If neither of the gods’ wishes would take place, it would mean something would be deprived of existence and non-existence, that is, the opposites would disappear, which is also rationally and logically impossible. In addition, the gods would suffer weakness when their wishes were not realized. Weak beings cannot be divine beings; they cannot create anything.
- In the third possibility, the wish of one of the gods would take place and the other would be prevented; then the god whose wish did not take place would become weak. A weak being cannot be a god.
Moreover, we mentioned that the gods would be equal; when one of them turned out to be weak, the other would be weak too because they were equal. Then, both of them would be weak. Weak beings cannot be gods.
