sadrian philosophy

THEOLOGY

Metaphysical Reflections On [Q, 29:2-3]

“Do the people suppose that they will be let off because they say, ‘We have faith,’ and they will not be
tested? Certainly We tested those who were before them. So God shall surely ascertain those who
are truthful, and He shall surely ascertain the liars” [Q, 29:2-3]

The prima facie reading of the verse stated above, suggests that divine knowledge is changeable,
and consequently, the Divine Essence as well, because according to the Doctrine of Divine
Simplicity [DDS], the divine attributes of perfection, are identical to the Essence. But this is
problematic due to several reasons, because everything that changes or undergoes motion, is a
composite of an aspect of potentiality, and an aspect of actuality, and composition implies
dependence and contingency, and is therefore, contrary to divine simplicity, and essential-
necessity [wujub al-dhatti].

Moreover, if God were initially devoid of certain knowledge-forms, He would then be an

intellect-in-potentiality, and every intellect-in-potentiality is dependent upon an extraneous
cause, for becoming an intellect-in-actuality. This due to the fact that, a thing in potentiality, in a
certain respect, cannot actualize itself, in the aspect in which it is in potentiality, and to posit
otherwise, implies its being actual, in the aspect, in which it is in potentiality, and this is a
contradiction. Therefore, every intellect-in-potentiality, is dependent upon an extraneous cause,
for becoming an intellect-in-actuality. Hence, if the Necessary Existent were an intellect-in-
potentiality, then the absolutely Self-sufficient would be dependent upon an extraneous cause for
its actualization, and this, once again, entails a contradiction.

Thus, a prima facie reading of the above stated Quranic text, is not consistent with a
philosophical understanding of God, according to which the Essence of the Necessary Existent, is
absolutely Self-sufficient, and devoid of need in every respect. The notion of the absolute Self-
sufficiency of God, and His being devoid of need, in every respect, is affirmed by the Quran, in
the following manner:

“O mankind! you are they who stand in need of God, and God is He Who is the Self-sufficient, the
Praised One” [Q, 35:15]

Since the Necessary Existent is absolutely Self-sufficient, and devoid of need in every respect,
therefore, it cannot be a composite of an aspect of potentiality, and an aspect of actuality, because
every composite is dependent upon the parts that constitute its reality. Hence the Essence of the
Necessary Existent, must be completely devoid of composition, and plurality. The Essence must,
therefore, be absolutely simple. This is affirmed by the Quran, in the following manner:

“Say: He is God, the One (Ahad)!; God the absolutely Self-sufficient (Samad)” [Q, 112:1-2]

In addition to the philosophical objection that change implies composition within the essence of
that which changes, and its dependence, upon an external mover or actualizer, and therefore,
the Essence of The One, due to its absolute simplicity, and Self-sufficiency, must be immutable,
there is textual evidence as well, to substantiate the doctrine of divine immutability, as follows:

“No change is there in the words of God” [Q, 10:64]

“And you will not find in the way of God any change” [Q, 33:62]

“But you will never find in the way of God any change, and you will never find in the way of God any
alteration” [Q, 35:43]

Furthermore, there are numerous verses in the Quran regarding the absolute, and all-
encompassing nature of divine knowledge, some of which are presented as follows:

“Say, “Whether you conceal what is in your breasts or reveal it, God knows it. And He knows that
which is in the heavens and that which is on the earth. And God is over all things competent” [Q,
3:29]

“And with Him are the keys of the unseen; none knows them except Him. And He knows what is on
the land and in the sea. Not a leaf falls but that He knows it. And no grain is there within the
darknesses of the earth and no moist or dry [thing] but that it is [written] in a clear record” [Q,
6:59]

“The faithless say,‘The Hour will not overtake us.’ Say, ‘Yes indeed, by my Lord, it will surely come to
you.’ —The Knower of the Unseen, not [even] an atom’s weight escapes Him in the heavens or in the
earth, nor [is there] anything smaller than that nor bigger, but it is in a manifest Book” [Q, 34:3]

“Say,”Would you acquaint God with your religion while God knows whatever is in the heavens and
whatever is on the earth, and God is Knowing of all things?” [Q, 49:16]

But if God’s knowledge is absolute, immutable, and all-encompassing, in nature, such that,
nothing lies beyond the mantle of His knowledge, then, how can [Q, 29:2-3], be reconciled with
the verses that posit divine knowledge as an absolute, and an all-encompassing attribute of the
Necessary Existent?. According to the Sadrian Philosophers, such as ‘Allãmah Tabãtabã’i, the
change or alteration in divine knowledge, implied by [Q, 29:2-3], refers to the temporal, and
external manifestation, in the phenomenal world, of God’s eternal, and immutable, knowledge,
at the plane of the Essence [maqam al-dhat]. That is to say, that [Q, 29:2-3] refers to the temporal
disclosure, and unveiling, by God, of certain facts i.e., the traces of truth [sidq] & falsehood [kizb],
that were eternally known by Him, at the plane of the Essence, and thus, [Q, 29:2-3] does not
ascribe any real change in God’s knowledge, at the plane of the Essence.

OCTOBER 3, 2021OCTOBER 3, 2021 HASNAIN NAQVI

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