OK, so let's see if I can do this...
"...The meaning of "void" is a place without any spatial object in it. Now "place" and "a spatial object" are in that type of relation where one does not precede the other, so that if there is place there is, necessarily, a spatial object, and if there is a spatial object there is, necessarily place. It is therefore not possible for a place to exist without a spatial object; whereas by "void" a place without spatial object is meant. It is not possible for absolute void to exist."
Recently I’ve been reading "On First Philosophy" by Yusuf al-Kindi (a.k.a. “The Philosopher of the Arabs,”) for an Islamic Philosophy essay. The extract above is one of his easier concepts.
A lot of Muslims completely disregard so-called "Islamic Philosophy," and argue that Islam and philosophy just don’t go. They argue that it is ultimately impossible to use reason to prove that there is a God etc. Now, personally I'd been trying to understand their perspective, because to be honest, I'd been using a heck of a lot of reasoning to prove in my mind that there has to be a God. Of course revelation played an important role too, but so did my own reasoning.
The quote above sparked off a discussion and I figured that I shouldn't let such a discussion go unrecorded… so here it goes:
To put it in the simplest of terms, the above quote eventually implies that there is no such thing as void, and therefore something must always have existed = God. For existence cannot come into being without something to have always existed. You can't get something (e.g. the world) from nothingness; you can't have existence from non-existence. This is pretty much the reasoning I'd been using for the past five years to make sense of God's eternal existence.
Problem.
As it was pointed out to me, Yusuf-al-Kindi's thoughts are flawed, and therefore so is my own reasoning. Al-Kindi is restricted to using the laws of physics of this world to "prove" that there is a God. The ideas of existence and non-existence, void etc. are all just part of the laws of physics that we understand in THIS world. However, the laws of physics in other universes and worlds may be different, so that such reasoning cannot be applied universally, so to speak. Basically for the ultimate proof of God's existence, we need to find proof that is universally applicable. Eventually whatever reasoning I may use "prove" that there is a God, will always be counteracted by an opposing theory. After all, everything, including reasoning, has been made in pairs. Whatever reasoning I use to argue that there is a God; there will always be opposing arguments.
A while back I saw a documentary based on the life of Einstein. The one thing that really stuck out for me was that he had devoted his entire life to finding the "key." In other words, his whole life was dedicated to searching for the formula for creation itself. In essence this is also what Islamic Philosophers were doing. They were trying to use reasoning to understand the Creator and the creation- it was just another way to use rationality to show that there is a God.
I was then reminded of a story about the Prophet 'Isa (Jesus, peace be upon him,) where his disciples had requested food straight from Paradise. God agreed to send the food to them, but said very clearly to 'Isa (PBUH,) that if any of his disciples were to disobey God now, after clear proof had been given to them of His existence, then there would be no mercy for them:
“Behold! The disciples, said: "O Jesus the son of Mary! Can thy Lord send down to us a table set (with viands) from heaven?" Said Jesus: "Fear God if ye have faith." They said: "We only wish to eat thereof and satisfy our hearts, and to know that thou hast indeed told us the truth; and that we ourselves may be witnesses to the miracle." Said Jesus the son of Mary: "O Allah (God) our Lord! Send us from heaven a table set (with viands), that there may be for us - for the first and the last of us - a solemn festival and a sign from thee; and provide for our sustenance, for thou art the best Sustainer (of our needs)." God said: "I will send it down unto you: But if any of you after that resisteth faith, I will punish him with a penalty such as I have not inflicted on any one among all the peoples."” (The Holy Qur’an, 5:112-115.)
Woah.
Now for Muslims God is believed to be THE MOST Merciful, so what made the disciples any different all of a sudden? Why was it that God would punish the disciples if they resisted faith and acting upon it now? Well, the fact that they now had CLEAR proof that God exists. If they chose to disobey God despite PROOF of His existence, why then should He forgive them?
So, back to Al-Kindi and all those who wanted to prove that God existed- well, if they ever did find proof, then no man would have the choice to not to believe in God. Is it not that choice, and freedom to believe or not believe in Him what makes us human? If that freedom is taken away, then essentially there is no excuse not to believe and no excuse not to act on that belief. To believe in a religion or in God isn’t a matter of reason or even revelation, it’s a matter of pure faith.
The works of those people who tried to make sense of creation wasn’t in vain. Regardless of anyone’s view on Islamic Philosophy, there is no doubt that a lot of their ideas can be used to enhance one's faith; as it has done in my instance. But at the end of the day, it's my faith that makes me believe, and no one can take that away from me except God Himself.
Conclusion: No one will ever be able to PROVE the existence of God in this life. Believing in Him is just a matter of faith. As it is said in the Qur'an:
"It is not required of thee (O Messenger), to set them on the right path, but God sets on the right path whom He pleaseth. Whatever of good ye give benefits your own souls, and ye shall only do so seeking the "Face" of God. Whatever good ye give, shall be rendered back to you, and ye shall not be dealt with unjustly.” (The Holy Qur’an, 2:272)
“We sent not a messenger except (to teach) in the language of his (own) people, in order to make (things) clear to them. Now God leaves straying those whom He pleases and guides whom He pleases: and He is Exalted in power, full of Wisdom.” (The Holy Qur’an 14:4)
And so forth.
My reason, and therefore philosophy enhances my understanding of my faith, as does revelation and therefore theological understanding. But the truth is, without my FAITH, I'm nothing.
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6 comments:
Salaamat,
hmmm..i don't know if i agree with everything you said.
Freedom of choice is what we were endowed with at our creation. The freedom is itself can't be taken away depending on proof/lackthereof.
I think the burden of proof is responsibility. Once you know, you are obliged to act. And if you don't act, due to laziness, rejection, etc then you face the consequences (whether in this world or the next).
You see my point? I don't think having proof automatically takes away our freedom. We still have it, regardless.
I also think that faith is linked to reason/revelation. I mean how can you separate out the rational from the spiritual? I think that dichotomy could theoretically exist...
I am curious where are you taking this class?
awesome thought provoking stuff mashaallah.
Wa'salaam
I will Insha'Allah reply to your comment asap. I did actually write a reply but JUST before I posted it up it got deleted.
Take care
I think that because freedom essentially means being given the opportunity to make choices, by having God provide irrefutable proof of His existence and for Him to allow you to continue making choices afterwards, you really don't have freedom anymore *because* any such choice is ultimately an illusion. Unless you want to go to Hell, you'd always choose to obey God because you would know what would happen otherwise. To further enhance this point, the angels are fully aware of God's existence and thus never disobey, even if they dislike what He may command them (like Malik guarding Hell for example). In contrast, Iblis refused God point blank, and though he knows God exists, he is condemned to Hell because of his disobedience.
Freedom doesn't vanish per se, or get taken away in such an instance, but it does become a white elephant. For it to have any worth, God will not reveal Himself irrefutably until after we die. How do we know that to be the case? By putting faith in Divine Revelation. Thus, the verses concerning the disciples. They had been left with a white elephant once the food was given to them and that is a logical consequence of such a prayer.
Salaam
Indeed, freedom of choice and the freedom to believe in God or not is something as humans we have- with or without proof, I agree. But as Rehan has said, if in the instance where solid proof of God's existence is presented to us then that freedom is just an "illusion."
Back to our real situation- one in which there is no indisputable proof that God exists AND no indisputable proof that He does not exist. Because if there was indisputable proof that He exists then everyone would in theory become a believer and never reject God: Is it not a matter of faith therefore to believe in God? Of course we have reason and revelation to compliment this faith. But in essence it is faith that unites all the believers in my opinion.
However, Rehan: I'm unsure about your example of the angels. You see, even Adam (PBUH) was fully aware of God's existence but still disobeyed Him. I think that the angels have been designed so that they simply cannot disobey God. I was primarily concerned with the question of faith... not necessarily obedience. Allah knows best. Please correct me if I have misunderstood.
Maliha I definitely agree with you that faith, reason and revelation are linked together. There was a time when Muslims argued that reason was superior to revelation and vice versa, but in my opinion they all compliment each other: Faith is enhanced by both reason and revelation.
Finally, Maliha: I'm an undergraduate in Islamic Studies and was taking a module in Islamic Philosophy. This post however was a discussion that I had amongst my family which stemmed from what I was learning in my Islamic Philosophy module.
Thank you for the comments.
Salaamat,
See you pointed out to the two individuals that i had in mind when i talked of freedom/proof. Adam and Iblis, they both knew God, had ultimate proof, and still disobeyed.
Versus the Angels; who have no capability for Moral choice (hence NO freedom) and therefore can't disobey.
The proof can exist (which is really self-evident) but people still choose not to believe. Its just a perk of being human (or a disadvantage?).
Rehan, I agree with your point that the freedom is really illusory; but from our perception it is freedom no matter how limited it really is.
Which school are you going to Desi Monkey, just really curious where these awesome discussions are taking place.
Salaam
The discussions are taking place in my home, lol... Really, it was just a family discussion. (I have to give a lot of credit to my brother though because he was the one who gave me a lot of the ideas I've posted up.)
The University I'm at is in the UK, and it's an Islamic Studies course at degree level. But this discussion that I've blogged was more a personal rather than an academic dialogue.
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