The Logic Proof of the Existence of Allah (1/2)

Existence

Things may exist at three levels: If they are sighted they have original true existence; if they are imagined by us (i.e. seen by the eye of the mind) they have formative, acknowledged existence; and if they are expressed in words (i.e. verbally) they have verbal referential existence.

Verbal referential existence expresses the formative acknowledged existence that embodies the original true existence.

If things were not sighted they would not have been imagined, and if they had not been imagined they would not have been acknowledged by the human being and hence not expressed in words.

The Word, the Knowledge, and the Known

These three things, though ostensibly different, are identical and parallel; each one has its specific characteristics, and so are the name, the named, and the naming.

God’s name is Allah; the named, Glory be to Him, is the Exalted Being; as for the naming, either it has been done by the people or by Him, and in either case the name has been known and acknowledged since eternity. When Allah inspired the people to utter His name, the verbal existence was thus established; His Name is eternal, as far as the formative acknowledged existence is concerned because it has been known to Him since eternity, but as far as the verbal existence is concerned it is incidental when it is uttered by the people.

Divisions of the Known

Verbal referential existence leads necessarily to the formative acknowledged existence. The word (Allah) connotes God’s existence in minds; any word denotes a Known that is divided as follows:

1) The Impossible in Itself: Is that whose non-existence is not due to any cause save the impossibility of itself, such as the impossibility of the existence of any two contradictory elements at the same time, i.e. we cannot assume the existence and the non-existence of one thing at the same time, this is not accepted by the mind. The Impossible does not exist in minds or in reality.

2) The Possible by Itself: Is that whose existence and non-existence are due to cause. All the existing things perceptible by our senses are an example for the Possible by itself; they need a cause to exist and another to cease to exist. The existence of the cause must precede the existence of the Possible, and anything that is preceded by non-existence is incidental, hence the Possible is incidental because it is preceded by non-existence.

Possible things not only need a cause to exist but they also need a cause to continue to exist. This cause is the originator, the donor of existence, and the true doer; it grants existence to these possible things.

As long as the Possible needs a cause to exist, then they need a finder; this finder can neither be an Impossible nor another Possible, so it could only be the Necessary Being, whose existence is the true cause of all existence.

3) The Necessary Being: Is that who is self-existent and whose existence is not due to any other cause save its true presence and epithets; i.e. if this Being is imagined by the mind in an absolute manner, it cannot be anything other than what is imagined.

The Necessary Being must have the following epithets:

 [1] It must be eternal. If we assume anything save this, then this will denote that it has a period of non-existence, and anything whose existence is preceded by a period of non-existence is an incident and needs a cause to endow it with existence. If the Necessary Being was not eternal, it would have needed an originator, and this is impossible because the Necessary Being is that who is self-existent; it needs no cause to endow it with existence and is the originator of all existing things.

 [2] Non-existence can never befall the Necessary Being, otherwise it would be deprived of itself and this is impossible.

[3] It must not be composed of parts, because if this were the case it would have required the precedent presence of these parts, which have an independent existence. Hence it would have needed the existence of something else, and the existence of the Necessary Being is not due to any cause save itself. Moreover, if it had been composed of parts its existence would have depended on the existence of these parts.

 [4] It must not be divisible, because if it had been divisible the resultant would have been a number of partitions, consequently a number of existing things liable to non-existence or composition, and this is impossible as aforementioned.

[5] It must be omniscient; its all-inclusive knowledge must precede the acknowledged so that the acknowledged coincides with the eternal knowledge of the Necessary Being.

 [6] It must have absolute ability so as to be able to originate and create all the possible and potential things, the means of their existence, their survival, as well as the causes of their annihilation.

 [7] It must have an overwhelming will and absolute freedom of choice, as all the possible things exist at a certain time and according to certain characteristics, and it could have been otherwise. Therefore they exist according to the eternal will of their originator and creator.