Chapter 2: The Creation of the World and Humankind
The ḥudūth (Origination) of the World
61. Can one conclude that the world was created out of nothing and that it has a temporal beginning from the following tradition: “God was, and there was nothing with Him”?
Answer: One can infer from the narrations that God has always been creating and has been bestowing His bounties among the creation.
62. What is then the meaning of “God was, and there was nothing with Him”?
Answer: This tradition is related by Shaykh al-Ṣadūq in his book al-Tawḥīd from Imam al-Kāẓim, where the Imam subsequently says: “and He is now as He was.” This means that given the existence of God, no other being can be imagined except as a dependent creation of Him, since all things find their existence from Him. Also, in the same book there is another tradition which relates that a man named Dhiʿlab asked Imam ʿAlī: “Have you ever seen your Lord?” The imam answered, “I would never worshiped a Lord I haven’t seen…” Then the imam delivered a sermon which is also found in Nahj al-Balāghah (Peak of Eloquence). In Ṣadūq’s book, in the end of the sermon Imam ʿAlī recites:
My Master is ever known by praise!
My Master is described by grace always!
With consideration of this tradition, creation cannot be temporal. That is, we cannot say that there was some point in time when the Almighty God did not have power to create and emanate, but after a while He created the world. Rather, God’s emanation, generosity and blessings have ever been flowing.
63. Does the world [of creation] have a temporal past with reference to the beginning of its creation?
Answer: No, the world has neither a temporal past
before its appearance nor a temporal future after its end. This is due to the fact that past is with reference to time; it is time that can be divided to past and future. However, time is itself part of the world [of creation]. As mentioned in response to the previous question, there is no separation or distance in time between the Necessary Being and the contingent world within which the world did not exist. Any point in time that one imagines is part of the world and inseparable from it.
64. What is the meaning of this phrase: “God’s emanation is primordial (qadīm) while the beneficiaries are originated [in time] (ḥādith); His vision is unchanging while the objects that are viewed are subject to change”?
Answer: This means that emanation (fayḍ) is among the inseparable qualities of God’s essence; yet the particular beings and beneficiaries are dependent on God (in the sense of being created by Him, as opposed to being inseparable requirements of His essence). Therefore, creation has essential origination (al-ḥudūth al-dhātī), although the beneficiaries should be defined more broadly [to include both temporal and non-temporal beings]. Thus, origination also encompasses immaterial beings (sing. mujarrad). Vision refers to God’s vision [of His creatures]. Therefore, the world of creation and all contingent beings are originated by the virtue of their very essence [not in a temporal sense]. Their very existence is eternally dependent, relational, and needy.
65. How is it conceivable that emanation is eternal while the beneficiaries are originated?
Answer: This is explained by the fact that emanation is a requirement of the essence of God. God’s causality [of creation] is identical to His essence, and an implication of causality is emanation. This can be compared to the sun in the physical world: the sun and sunlight are unchanging, but the recipients of the rays change.
66. Why is it that among God’s creation, one is made to be human and receives human perfection, while another becomes a horse, for example, and is deprived from those blessings?
Answer: The cause of their difference is their different capacities. The horse didn’t have the capacity to receive human perfections.
67. But the capacities are also given by God. So why didn’t He give the horse the capacity for receiving human perfections?
Answer: If we deny the essential differences of capacities and potentials, then nothing will remain [that is, there will be no plurality anymore]. “The essentials cannot be explained away.” The horse cannot point to itself, while being a horse, and say: “Why wasn’t I given the faculties of human beings? Why didn’t I become a human?” One cannot make a horse to be a human, or make a horse not be a horse, because “a thing cannot be stripped of itself.” The same applies to the potentials and perfections of humankind. For example, a student, while being a student as he is, cannot say, “Why God didn’t give me the qualities of the teacher?” In other words, “why, while being me, am I not him?” Or “why am I not anything else than me?” If God were to give the qualities of the teacher to the student while he remains a student, it would mean that A ceases to be A and transforms into B. That is impossible.
Other Forms of Life
68. Is there an infinite space beyond the heavens and the earth?
Answer: In the Qur’anic language, “the heavens and earth” refer to the entire universe and not solely to the [physical] sky and earth. Therefore, there is no room to talk about an infinite space beyond the heavens and the earth. God Almighty says: It is He who created for you all that is in the earth, then He turned to the heaven, and fashioned it into seven heavens, and He has knowledge of all things ().
69. What is then the space in which the skies and earths are located?
Answer: Space is defined by and inferred from physical bodies. It is not that there should first be some empty space and then the body is placed in it.
70. Is there human life in other planets?
Answer: God Almighty says: Among His signs is the creation of the heavens and the earth and whatever creatures He has scattered in them (). From this verse, one can conclude that on other planets there are other living beings.
71. Is there a Qur’anic verse pointing to the notion that there was a human world before the existence of our human world?
Answer: No, the Qur’an does not refer to this notion, although it points to this idea about the jinn. However, there is a tradition from Imam al-Bāqir in which he says: “The current humans are the offspring of the eighths human generations which have gone extinct.” Other traditions relate: “Before our Adam, there was another Adam, and before him another, and so on and so forth ad infinitum.” Similarly it can be said that God has been ever giving and emanating, as deduced from the end of Imam ʿAlī’s sermon in response to Dhiʿlab. There the imam says:
My Master is ever known by praise!
My Master is described by grace always!
72. God says in the Qur’an: When your Lord took from the Children of Adam, from their loins, their descendants and made them bear witness over themselves, [He said to them,] “Am I not your Lord?” They said, “Yes indeed! We bear witness.” [This,] lest you should say on the Day of Resurrection, “Indeed we were unaware of this,” or lest you should say, “Our fathers ascribed partners [to Allah] before [us] and we were descendants after them. Will You then destroy us because of what the falsifiers have done?” (). What is the relation of our current world and the world of pre-existence (ʿālam al-dharr)? And how are the people supposed to realize that they said “yes” in the world of pre-existence while they are heedless of it?
Answer: The world of pre-existence is the spirit of this world and is also known as the unseen world (ʿālam al-ghayb). Each being has two aspects of existences: (1) a divine aspect in which it exists out of time and space; and (2) a non-divine aspect in which it has time and space, in which things can be compared to one another.
God says: All His command, when He wills something, is to say to it “Be,” and it is (). From this, one can conclude that the word “be” of God is His speech, which is obviously unlike the speech of humans which depends on the use of the vocal organs. Rather, the manifestation of God’s word “be” is the very existence of beings in the external world. Therefore, the word of God is a command that at the same time creates its audience. That is, while He says to something “be” He also gives it an ear to hear and a heart to comprehend. Thus the word “be” is the existence (wujūd) of the matter from one side, and the process of its making (ījād) from another side. God says: Our command is but a single [word], like the twinkling of an eye (). In other words: “Our command is not gradual.”
All creatures and beings other than God have been created by a single command of God, meaning a single act; a single “be.” This single extensive being [which encompasses all contingent beings] has a divine aspect that is outside time, space and motion—which are properties of physical matter. Time is deduced from motion; motion is a characteristic of physical bodies; and physical body necessitates material substance. However, the divine aspect is devoid of material substance because there should be a congruity between cause and effect. This divine aspect of the realm of existence is its world of pre-existence (ʿālam al-dharr).
On the other hand, the same creation has another aspect which is manifested in this material world which is subject to time, movement and graduality. Therefore, the world of pre-existence is not divorced from the physical world. In other words, these two worlds are parallel.
Furthermore, the world of pre-existence is not how most people picture it, as microscopic beings in a primordial state seeing God with their eyes before being asked: Am I not your Lord? ()—and they answering with their tongues: Yes! ().
This notion is not compatible with the concluding remarks at the end of the verse: [This,] lest you should say on the Day of Resurrection, “Indeed we were unaware of this,” or lest you should say, “Our fathers ascribed partners [to Allah] before [us] and we were descendants after them. Will You then destroy us because of what the falsifiers have done?” (). Nonetheless, the late Sayyid al-Murtaḍá and the late Ṭabrisī have adopted the other interpretation.
The Purpose of Creation
73. Is it possible for an event to occur without a purpose?
Answer: It is impossible for any action to occur without a purpose, just as it is impossible for any action to occur without an actor. Otherwise, it means giving preponderance [to one of two sides of occurrence and nonoccurence without there being a preponderant [that would determine one side]. This reduces to preponderance without there being a preponderant [or determination of one side without there being a determinant].Thus, the occurrence of any event without a purpose is impossible just like the occurrence of any event without an actor.
74. Does this also include events that occur naturally, by natural actors and factors? Do they also necessarily have a purpose like voluntary actions of intelligent beings?
Answer: Any action or event that occurs necessarily has a purpose, whether that is a voluntary act by a human being, a particular movement in the world—such as the development of a fetus, animal, plant or tree—or the actions of the Almighty God. They must have an end, just as they must have an agent as their efficient cause.
75. What was God’s purpose in creating the world and all existents including humankind? We know that the purpose of any action is a benefit that is achieved through that action, by which the agent fills some deficiency or imperfection that he has. But we also know that our Holy Lord is free from any lack and imperfection.
Answer: All actions—including particular acts in the nature, voluntary and deliberate acts [by human beings], and actions by the Almighty God—should have a purpose just as they should have an agent [in order to occur]. However, in the case of God, the purpose need not be something external and additional to the agent. Rather, in divine actions, the agent and the purpose are the same. This means that the purpose of creating an imperfect universe is a perfect universe, as God says: The day the earth is transformed into another earth and the heavens [as well] ().
God’s purpose in creating an imperfect being is the perfection that it achieves gradually through motion. Therefore, God’s actions are not purposeless, but His purpose from creation is to give blessings to the creatures and make them reach eternal bliss and perfection. Likewise, His purpose from creating perfect, immaterial, and non-gradual beings is the very beings themselves.
To explain this further, God has created two kinds of beings: (1) Some beings are at full actualization, perfect, immaterial, and not created in time. (2) Some beings are material, imperfect, and created in a potential state.
The first group consists of perfectly transcendent lights such as the prophets and the imams, who are supported by the Holy Spirit. Each of them has its position in the realm of light and total immateriality. They are not distanced from the divine realm of transcendent light and immateriality; they are not veiled from their innate monotheistic nature (fiṭrah). Their perfections are not realized over time through a gradual process; they do not have a course of motion towards perfection. That is why the perfection that is to be achieved through their creation is their very transcendent existence.
The second group includes existents in the natural world of phenomena. They are created imperfect, and the purpose of their creation is to achieve a perfection which they reach through motion and growth. This is a good that accrues to themselves, not to their Creator. These beings are stranded in the world of matter and distracted by engagement in the realm of nature. Thus they are veiled from beholding their reality and the realm of divine. However, they can grow out of this veil of attachment and distraction; they can rise towards the transcendent realm of light; they can redeem their reality; and they can reclaim the happy life which they once had, as God says: Whoever acts righteously, [whether] male or female, should he be faithful, We shall revive him with a good life (). The way to do so is through God’s help and guidance, subscribing to the leaders of religion, and seeking help from a perfect spiritual master. Thus they should attend to obligatory deeds, forsake all sins, and engage in lawful asceticism, self-combat, invocation, intimate conversation with God, and acts of worship that are not done out of habit. This would kindle the candle of their heart and insight. God says: Allah is the Guardian of the faithful: He brings them out of darkness into light ().
Indeed, it is possible to observe the hidden realities of the heavens and the earth through purifying one’s inside, polishing the heart, and concentration of the mind. This is the way to becoming a vicegerent of God, learning the divine names, and reaching the level of absolute wilāyah (guardianship, authority, friendship, sainthood). As a result, all realms—whether supernal or infernal—will be unveiled to the person, and one’s heart will be illuminated by divine lights.
God says: Is he who was lifeless, then We gave him life and provided him with a light by which he walks among the people, like one who dwells in a manifold darkness which he cannot leave? (); Allah guides to His Light whomever He wills ().
If, on the other hand, the person is so attached to this life and engrossed in its ephemeral pleasures, such that he is cut off from the higher realm and fails to develop an intimate relationship with his Holy Lord and His holy saints, then he shall suffer the pain of separation and distance from God’s threshold of mercy. God says: As for him who was rebellious and preferred the life of this world, his refuge will indeed be hell ().
For this reason, the students and scholars of religion should be most diligent to have a strong foothold in divine teachings, and especially in spiritual matters. They must purify their souls and build themselves inwardly. If they are righteous, then the society will be righteous. If they are corrupt, then the society will be corrupt. They should refrain from accepting jobs, positions and responsibilities that will be an impediment on their spiritual path and will prevent them from guiding themselves and others.
The Angels
76. Could we derive from the following verse that angels have wings and feathers: All praise belongs to Allah, originator of the heavens and the earth, maker of the angels [His] messengers, possessing wings, two, three or four [of them]. He adds to the creation whatever He wills. Indeed Allah has power over all things ().
Answer: It is not very clear what is meant from the word “wings”; perhaps it refers to their functions, faculties and powers
77. What is the effect of denying the existence of angels or some of the past prophets?
Answer: Believing in them is a necessary component of faith, and their denial causes heresy. God says: The messenger believes in what has been revealed to him from his Lord, and [so do] the believers; they all believe in Allah, His angels, His books and His messengers; [saying:] “we make no difference between any of His messengers” ().
78. Can angels take any form?
Answer: It is said that “the jinn is a body of fire which can take any form, even that of dogs and pigs; and the angel is a body of light which can take different forms other than dogs and pigs.” However, this saying is without proof and is wrong. God reports in the story of the Holy Mary: We sent to her Our Spirit, and he became appeared to her as a well-proportioned human (). This tamaththul (appearance, resemblance, representation) refers to Gabriel’s impression on the eyes of Mary in which he seemed to be a man. But in reality, Gabriel was always an angel; he was not incarnated or transformed into a human being, not even momentarily.
79. Does each of the archangels—namely Gabriel, Michael, Isrāfīl (Seraph), and ʿIzrāʾīl (Angel of Death)—have a specific task?
Answer: Yes. Gabriel is charged with revelation; Michael with sustenance; Isrāfīl with giving life; and ʿIzrāʾīl with causing death.
80. There is a famous hadith that says: “There once was an angel called Futrus who disobeyed God. Thus God took away his wings and banished him to an island. Upon the birth of Imam al-Ḥusayn, he went to the sides of the imam’s cradle and found healing by touching it.” Is this tradition valid?
Answer: This tradition contradicts the following verses: They [the angels] are [His] honored servants. They do not venture to speak ahead of Him, and they act by His command (); They [the angels] do not disobey whatever Allah has commanded them, and carry out what they are commanded ().
The Jinn
81. Did the jinn have prophets of their own kind?
Answer: This question was once asked to an exorcist; he narrated from the jinn that the answer is negative.
82. Did God appoint Prophet Muḥammad as a messenger to the jinn as well?
Answer: The Qur’an suggests so: When We dispatched towards you a team of jinn listening to the Qur’an, when they were in its presence, they said, “Be silent!” When it was finished, they went back to their people as warners ().
83. Is there among the jinn individuals who belong to other religions than Islam?
Answer: It has been narrated from them that all religions and denominations present among human beings exist among the jinn with the exception of the Sunni sect. This is due to the fact that some jinn who were present at the event of Ghadīr Khumm are still living, and they testify to the appointment of Imam ʿAlī by the Prophet Muḥammad.
Furthermore, God says in the holy Qur’an, reporting from some of the jinn: They said, “O our people! Indeed we have heard a Book which has been sent down after Moses, confirming what was before it. It guides to the truth and to a straight path” (). From this verse, one can conclude that there are Jews among them. In another passage we read: Say: It has been revealed to me that a team of the jinn listened [to the Qur’an], and they said, “Indeed we heard a wonderful recital, which guides to rectitude. Hence we have believed in it and we will never ascribe any partner to our Lord” (). From this verse, one can further derive that there were polytheists among them as well. This is all we can infer from the Qur’an.
84. Is the war of Imam ʿAlī with the jinn factual?
Answer: Yes, in hadith it has been recorded that one of imam’s wars was with the jinn of Naṣībīn.
85. Why did Imam ʿAlī fight them?
Answer: Because the jinn too are responsible, and have believers and disbelievers. It has been reported that in Karbala, Zaʿfar the Jinn presented his devotion and obedience to the imam [al-Ḥusayn], and asked for permission to fight alongside him.
Satan and Devils
86. God says in the Qur’an: He [Iblīs] said, “My Lord! Respite me till the day they will be resurrected.” Said He [God], “You are indeed among the reprieved until the day of the known time” (). What is “the day of the known time” until which Satan has been given respite?
Answer: Satan requested from God: Respite me till the day they will be resurrected (). However, God said: You are indeed among the reprieved until the day of the known time (). This suggests that the “known time” is also known to Satan. In traditions about the Resurrection, it is reported that the army of Imam ʿAlī will fight the army of Satan and his progeny and companions, in a battle at the outskirts of Basra. It will reach a point where the army of Imam ʿAlī will be almost defeated, when the Messenger of God descends from the heaven. Then Satan will realize that his appointed time has arrived. He will flee to Bayt al-Maqdis (in Jerusalem), but the Prophet will follow him to the Rock in Bayt al-Maqdis, which was the first qiblah (prayer direction) of Muslims. The Prophet will then behead Satan, whereby the world will be filled with goodness and prosperity.
87. Will the world be devoid of criminals at that time?
Answer: Not necessarily. The craft of Satan is to embellish and beautify the world, as God narrates from him: I will surely glamorize [evil] for them on the earth (). It is therefore possible that, even after the demise of Satan, there will be people in whom Satan had planted the seed of evil, who will commit wrongdoings.
88. There is a verse in which Satan says to the infidels: Indeed I am quit of you. I see what you do not see. Indeed I fear Allah (). Did the infidels see Satan? Further, what did Satan see that the infidels did not see?
Answer: In the Battle of Badr, Satan took the form of one of the infidels named Surāqat b. Mālik and entered among the enemy lines. He was waving a flag and was encouraging the infidel army. When the two armies of Islam and disbelief grew in proximity to each other, and when Satan saw the army of angels who had come to fight alongside the Prophet and the Muslims, with the punishment awaiting the infidels at their hands, he threw the flag and fled, saying: Indeed I am quit of you. I see what you do not see (). Further, there is no issue in Satan taking the form of a man. This was an imaginal representation (tamaththul barzakhiyyah), and there are many examples of it.
89. Can Satan still ascend to the heavens now and eavesdrop?
Answer: Eavesdropping was possible for the devils. They could ascend up to the seventh heaven, could hear the news of the heavens from the angels, and could report them to the inhabitants of the earth to inform them what events will occur in future. However, since the birth of Prophet Jesus, they could no longer go higher than the fourth heaven, and were deprived from the three higher heavens. And at the birth of Prophet Muḥammad they were further deprived from the remaining four heavens. The angels dismiss them with “brightly shining flames” ().
See Biḥār al-Anwār, vol. 3, p. 307, tradition 44, vol. 4, p. 86, tradition 23, vol. 15, p. 23, tradition 41, p. 27, tradition 48, vol. 25, p. 17, tradition 31, vol. 56, p. 66, tradition 44, p. 28, tradition 62, p. 160, tradition 94, p. 161, tradition 97, p. 169, tradition 112, p. 198, tradition 145. ↩︎
See al-Tawḥīd, p. 178, tradition 12. ↩︎
Al-Tawḥīd, p. 308, tradition 2. ↩︎
See Asfār, vol. 9, p. 39. ↩︎
TR: This is a principle in logic: al-dhatī lā yuʿallalu. It refers to the self-evident truth that the essence of something is what defines it, and is thus inseparable from it. There is no additional cause for the essence or the essential qualities of something beyond its existence. ↩︎
TR: This is another logical principle, in line with the last one. ↩︎
Biḥār al-Anwār, vol. 8, p. 374, tradition 1, p. 319, tradition 1. ↩︎
Ibid., vol. 8, p. 374, tradition 2, vol. 25, p. 25, tradition 40, vol. 57, p. 321, tradition 3, p. 336, tradition 24 and other traditions in the same section. ↩︎
Al-Tawḥīd, p. 308, tradition 2. ↩︎
See Sayyid Murtaḍá, al-Amālī, vol. 1, p. 20; Ṭabrisī, Majmaʿ al-Bayān, vol. 4, p. 390. ↩︎
TR: The first one is called tarjīḥ bi-lā murajjiḥ, and the second is called tarajjuḥ bi-lā murajjiḥ. They are two sides of the same coin. The former is nominative, while the latter is accusative. In other words, the former is from the subject’s point of view, and the latter from the object’s point of view. ↩︎
See Biḥār al-Anwār, vol. 26, p. 340, tradition 10, vol. 43, p. 243, tradition 18, p. 244, tradition 19, p. 244, tradition 19, p. 25, tradition 27, vol. 44, p. 182, tradition 7, vol. 50, p. 66, tradition 47, vol. 101, p. 348, tradition 1, p. 367, tradition 9. ↩︎
I could not find anything in the narrations to this effect. For narrations about the jinn of Naṣībīn see ibid., vol. 10, p. 44, tradition 1, vol. 17, p. 289, tradition 7, p. 77, under tradition 30. ↩︎
See ibid., vol. 44, p. 331, tradition 2; Kalimat al-Ḥusayn, p. 482 (quoted from Asrār al-Shahādah); Maʿalī al-Sibṭayn, vol. 2, p. 18; Ṭarāʾif al-Maqāl, vol. 2, p. 679. ↩︎
See Biḥār al-Anwār, vol. 53, pp. 139, 145. ↩︎