Transitory Nature Of The World
Transitory Nature Of The World: The previous tradition also is indicative of the fact that this material world is transitory and only Allah the Creator is Immortal. He was there when there was nothing, He shall always be there when nothing will remain of the world. The people of all the faiths who believe in the coming of the Prophets, subscribe to the belief that everything in this world is transitory and only God (Allah) is immortal.
But some philosophers, who hold the view that all the living things will perish and the universe with the land and the skies shall remain forever, are unbelievers in the eyes of the Faith of Islam.
All the Revealed Books have asserted again and again about the Day of Reckoning when the earth, the sky, the mountains and the stars would break into smithereens and fly around like shreds of paper. Barring God (Allah) nothing will remain in the universe.
About The Individuality Of The Creator
Faradiat or the Individuality of Allah means that He is One, Incomparable and Unique. He is Wahdahu la Shareek, that is, He is Alone and Has no Equals. If there was any other god, he would certainly have introduced himself, and would send his laws and assertions through messengers. Further there would have been conflict in the Universe. One god would order something and the other god would ask for the contrary. If both the gods issued the same edicts then what would be the need for having more than one!
“He has always been there and shall always be there.” This expression does not mean that Allah is there ever since the Universe has come about. But it means that even when the Universe was not there, Allah was there and He will be there even after the Universe is destroyed.
There are several traditions of Amir’ul-Mu’mineen ‘Ali (as) and Imam Musa al-Kadhim (as), which can be summarized as follows: “The beginning of Faith consists in knowledge about Allah and its height is in the belief that Allah is incomparable. The claim of incomparability of Allah is at its height when the person accepts the Attributes and the Individuality of Allah as one. Because if the Individuality and the Attributes are different, then there can be a doubt of duality and it is impossible that the Creator will have an equal.”
The Attributes Of Allah
Reliable traditions indicate that on the ninth day of the demise of the Holy Prophet (S), Amir’ul-Mu’mineen ‘Ali (as) delivered a sermon, the initial part of it was as follows: “Praise be to Allah who has rendered the wisdom incapable of finding about His Individuality and Attributes. Allah is One, Is not of many and Is Incomparable. He is away from everything. This distance is not because of location but is because of Excellence and Purity. He is Omnipotent and in Control. These Attributes are not such that they are there in the things but with His own Knowledge and Potentiality, He knows about everything. He does not have to physically look at anything. It is believed that He has always been there. But this doesn’t mean that His always having been there is time bound. He is in fact since the beginning and shall always be there. His not being there is impossible.”
Imam Muhammad Al-Baqir (as) says, “Allah is Ancient (Qadeem), One (Wahed) and Eternal (Samad). His Attributes are Unique and there cannot be another equal of His.”
The narrator asked the Imam (as), “In Iraq there is a sect of people who believe that the Attribute with which Allah listens and that with which He sees are different.”
The Imam (as) replied, “They are liars and apostates that they compare the Attributes of Allah with human attributes. Allah has His own way of hearing and looking at things.”
It is said that Imam Ar-Ridha’ observed that one who has such beliefs is a polytheist and not our Shi’a. Allah is Omniscient and Omnipotent; He sees and He hears.
Explanation of A Point
It is said that during the battle of the Camel (jamal), an Arab approached Amir’ul-Mu’mineen ‘Ali (as) and asked him, “What is the meaning of Allah being One?”
The companions of Amir’ul-Mu’mineen ‘Ali (as) chided him for coming to ask a question when they were in the midst of a battle.
Amir’ul-Mu’mineen ‘Ali (as) calmed them down and said that the very purpose of the conflict was on the point of accepting the Unity of Allah.
Then he addressed the questioner thus, “O person! You have said that Allah is one. It has four meanings. Out of those four meanings, two are impossible for the Individuality of Allah and the other two are definite. The first two that are impossible are that we call Allah the First because if we call Him the First then there must be another like Him and that would be heresy; as the Christians say that God is the third of the three gods.
The meaning of the second impossibility is considering Allah as an object. For example Zaid is called one of the men. If anyone calls Allah as one of several gods, it would be heresy. The other two meanings are definite. The first is that He is Unique in His Excellence and there is none other equal to Him or His partner. The other definite meaning is that Allah has no definite physical personality.”
Here it is worth mentioning that philosophers and thinkers deliberated for thousands of years to arrive at the truth but our Imams (as) have provided much clearer explanation of the facts in their traditions. However people don’t give serious thought to this matter.