Chapter XVII: Introduction (2)

The Ninth is Ignorance (_jahl_). Ignorance of any possible thing is impossible in God, equally whether it is simple, that is, lack of knowledge of a thing; or compound, that is, perception of a thing as different from what it really is. And Inattention (_ghafala_) and Neglect (_dhuhul_) are impossible in God. This is the opposite of Knowledge.

The Tenth is Death (_mawt_). It is the opposite of Life.

The Eleventh is Deafness (_samam_). It is the opposite of Hearing.

The Twelfth is Blindness (_ama_). It is the opposite of Seeing.

The Thirteenth is Dumbness (_kharas_). In it is the idea of Silence (_bakam_) and it is the opposite of Speech.

The Fourteenth is God’s Being Weak (_kawn ajiz_). It is the opposite of His Being Powerful.

The Fifteenth is His Being an Unwilling One (_kawn karih_). It is the opposite of His Being a Willer.

The Sixteenth is His Being an Ignorant One (_kawn jahil_). It is the opposite of His Being a Knower.

The Seventeenth is His Being a Dead One (_kawn mayyit_). It is the opposite of His Being a Living One.

The Eighteenth is His Being Deaf (_asamm_). It is the opposite of His Being a Hearer.

The Nineteenth is His Being Blind (_a‘ma_). It is the opposite of His Being a Seer.

The Twentieth is His Being Silent (_abkam_). In it is the idea of Dumbness (_kharas_) and it is the opposite of His Being a Speaker.

All these twenty are impossible in God. And know that the proof of each one of the twenty qualities necessary in God establishes the existence of that quality in Him and denies to Him its opposite. And the proofs of the seven thought-qualities are proofs of the seven derived from these. Thus, there are Forty Articles; twenty of them are necessary in God; twenty are denied in Him; and there are twenty general proofs, each proof establishing a quality and annulling its opposite.

NOTICE. Some say that things are four, entities, non-entities, states and relations (_i‘tibarat_). The entities are like the essence of Zayd which we see; the non-entities are like your child before it is created; the states are like Being Powerful; and so, too, the relations, like the establishing of standing in Zayd. This—I mean that things are four—is the view which as-Sanusi follows in his _Sughra_, for he asserts in it the existence of states and makes the necessary qualities to be twenty. But elsewhere, he follows the opinion which denies states, and that is the right view.

According to that view, the Qualities are thirteen in number, because the seven derived qualities—God’s Being Powerful, etc., drop out. God has no quality called Being Powerful, because the right view is denial that states are things. According to this, then, things are three:—entities, non-entities and relations. Then when the seven derived qualities drop out from the twenty necessary qualities, seven drop also from the opposites, and there is no quality called, Being Weak, etc., and there is no need to number these among the impossibilities. So, the impossibilities are thirteen also; at least, if existence is reckoned as a quality. That it should be is the opinion of all except al-Ash‘ari. But the opinion of al-Ash‘ari was that Existence is the self (_ayn_) of an entity. So, the existence of God is the self of His essence and not a quality. The necessary qualities, on that view, are twelve. Priority and Continuance and Difference and Self-subsistence—expressed also as Absolute Independence—and Unity and Power and Will and Knowledge and Life and Hearing and Seeing and Speech; and the derived qualities drop out, because their existence is based upon the view that there are things called states; but the right view is the opposite.

And if you wish to instruct the commonalty in the qualities of God, then state them as names (_asma_) derived from the qualities just mentioned. So it is said that God is an Entity. Prior, Different from originated things, Independent of everything, One, Powerful, a Willer, a Knower, Living, a Hearer, a Seer, a Speaker. And they should know their opposites.

And know that some of the Shaykhs distinguish between states and relationships and say of both that they are not entities and also not non-entities. But each has a reality in itself, except that a state has a connection with and a subsistence in an essence, and a relation has no connection with an essence. And it is said that a relation has a reality outside of the mind. But to this it is opposed that a relation is a quality, and if it has no connection with an essence and has a reality outside of the mind, where is the thing qualified by it? A quality does not subsist in itself, but must needs have a thing which it qualifies. So the truth is that relations have no reality except in the mind. And they are of two kinds; the invented relation (_i‘tibara ikhtira‘i_), it is that which has no ground in existence, as your making a generous man niggardly; and second, the apprehended relation (_intiza‘i_, claiming), it is that which has ground outside of your mind, as asserting the subsistence of Zayd, for that may be claimed from your saying, “Zayd subsists”; so the describing of Zayd as subsisting is existent outside of your mind.

The forty-first Article is Possibility in the case of God. It is incumbent upon every _mukallaf_ that he should believe that it is possible for God to create good and evil, to create Islam in Zayd and unbelief in Amr, knowledge in one of them and ignorance in the other. And another of the things, belief in which is incumbent upon every _mukallaf_, is that the good and the bad of things is by Destiny (_qada_) and Decree (_qadar_). And there is a difference of opinion as to the meaning of destiny and decree. It is said that destiny is the will of God and the eternal (_azali_) connection of that will; and decree is God’s bringing into existence the thing in agreement with the will. So the Will of God which is connected eternally with your becoming a learned man or a Sultan is destiny; and the bringing knowledge into existence in you, after your existence, or the Sultanship, in agreement with the Will, is decree. And it is said that destiny is God’s eternal knowledge and its connection with the thing known; and decree is God’s bringing things into existence in agreement with His knowledge. So, God’s knowing that which is connected eternally with a person’s becoming a learned man after he enters existence is destiny, and the bringing knowledge into existence in that man after he enters existence is decree. And according to each of these two views, destiny is prior (_qadim_), because it is one of the qualities of God, whether Will or Knowledge; and decree is originated, because it is bringing into existence, and bringing into existence is one of the connections of Power, and the connections of Power are originated.

And the proof that possible things are possible in the case of God is that there is general agreement on their possibility. If the doing of any possible thing were incumbent upon God, the possible would be turned into a necessary thing. And if the doing of a possible thing were hindered from Him, the possible would be turned into an impossible. But the turning of the possible into a necessary or an impossible is false. By this, you may know that there is nothing incumbent upon God, against the doctrine of the Mu‘tazilites, who say that it is incumbent upon God to do that which is best (_salah_) for the creature. So, it would be incumbent upon Him that He should sustain the creature, but this is falsehood against Him and a lie from which He is far removed. He creates faith in Zayd, for example, and gives him knowledge out of His free grace, without there being any necessity upon Him. And one of the arguments which may be brought against the Mu‘tazilites is that afflictions come upon little children, such as ailments and diseases. And in this there is not that which is best for them. So, if doing that which is best is incumbent upon Him, why do afflictions descend upon little children? For they say that God could not abandon that which is incumbent upon Him, for abandoning it would be defect, and God is far removed from defect, by Agreement. And God’s rewarding the obedient is a grace from Him, and His punishing the rebellious is justice from Him. For obedience does not advantage Him, nor rebellion injure Him; He is the Advantager and the Injurer. And these acts of obedience or rebellion are only signs of God’s rewarding or punishing those described by them. Then him whom He wills to draw near to Himself, He helps to obedience: and in him whose abandoning and rejection He wills, He creates rebellion. And all acts of good and bad are by the creation of God, for He creates the creature and that which the creature does, as He has said (Qur. 37, 94), “and God hath created you and that which ye do.”

And the belief is also incumbent that God may be seen in the Other World by believers, for He has joined the seeing (_ru’ya_) of Him with the standing fast of the mountain in His saying (Qur. 7, 139), “And if it standeth fast in its place, thou wilt see Me.” And the standing fast of the mountain was possible: then, that which is connected with it of seeing must also have been possible; because what is connected with the possible is possible. But our seeing God must be without inquiring how (_bila kayfa_); it is not like our seeing one another. God is not seen in a direction, nor in a color, nor in a body; He is far removed from that. And the Mu‘tazilites—may God make them vile!—deny the seeing of God. That is one of their perverse and false articles of belief. And another of their corrupt articles is their saying that the creature creates his own actions. For this, they are called Qadarites, because they say that the actions of the creature are by his own _qudra_ (power), just as the sect which holds that the creature is forced to the action he does, is called Jabrite, derived from their holding a being forced (_jabr_) on the part of the creature, and a being compelled. It, too, is a perverse article. And the truth is that the creature does not create his own actions and is not forced, but that God creates the actions which issue from the creature, along with the creature’s having a free choice (_ikhtiyar_) in them. As-Sa‘d [Sa‘d ad-Din at-Taftazani, see above] said, in his commentary on the _Articles_, “It is not possible to render this free choice by any expression, but the creature finds a difference between the movement of his hand when he moves it himself and when the wind moves it against his will.”

And to that which is possible in God belongs also the sending of a number of Apostles (_rasuls_). And God’s sending them is by His grace, and by way of necessity, as has preceded.

And it is necessary to confess that the most excellent of created beings, absolutely, is our Prophet [Muhammad], and there follow him in excellency the rest of the Endowed with Earnestness and Patience (_ulu-l-azm_; see Qur. 46, 34); they are our Lord Ibrahim, our Lord Musa, our Lord Isa, and our Lord Nuh; and this is their order in excellency. And that they are five along with our Prophet, and four after him is the correct view. And it is said, too, that the Endowed with Earnestness and Patience are more numerous. And there follow them in excellency the rest of the Apostles. Then, the rest of the Prophets (_nabis_), then the Angels.

And it is necessary to confess that God has aided them with miracles (_mu‘jizat_) and that He has distinguished our Prophet in that he is the seal of the Apostles, and that his law (_shar_) will not be abrogated till time is fulfilled. And Isa, after his descent, will judge according to the law of our Prophet. It is said that he will take it from the Qur’an and the Sunna. It is said also that he will go to the Glorious Tomb [of Muhammad] and learn from him. And know that he will abrogate one part of the law of our Prophet with a later part, just as the waiting period of a woman after the death of her husband was changed from a year to four months and ten days. And in this there is no defect.

And it is necessary also that every _mukallaf_, male and female, should know in detail the Apostles who are mentioned in the Qur’an, and should believe in them in detail. As for the other Prophets, belief is necessary in them as a whole. As-Sa‘d handed down an authority in his commentary on the _Maqasid_ that belief in all the Prophets as a whole suffices, but he was not followed.

And someone put them into verse as follows:

“There is imposed upon every _mukallaf_ a knowledge
Of Prophets in detail, who have been named
In that document of ours [_i.e._, the Qur’an]. Of them are eight
After ten [_i.e._, eighteen]. And there remain seven who are
Idris, Hud, Shu‘ayb, Salih, and similarly,
Dhu-l-Kifl, Adam, with the Chosen One [Muhammad] they close.”

And it is necessary to confess that the Companions (_sahibs_) of the Prophet are the most excellent of the generations. Then their followers (_tabi‘s_); then the followers of their followers. And the most excellent of the Companions is Abu Bakr, then Umar, then Uthman, then Ali—in this order. But al-Alqami said that our Lady Fatima and her brother, our Lord Ibrahim, were absolutely more excellent than the Companions, including the Four [Khalifas]. And our Lord Malik [ibn Anas] was wont to say, “There is none more excellent than the children of the Prophet.” This is that the confession of which is incumbent; and we will meet God confessing it, if it is His Will.

And of that the confession of which is also necessary, is that the Prophet was born in Mecca and died in al-Madina. It is incumbent on fathers that they teach that to their children. Al-Ajhuri said, “It is incumbent on the individual that he know the genealogy of the Prophet on his father’s side and on his mother’s.” A statement of it will come in our Conclusion, if God will. The learned have said, “Every individual ought to know the number of the children of the Prophet and the order in which they were born, for an individual ought to know his Lords, and they are the Lords of the People.” But they do not explain, in what I have seen, whether that is required (_mawjub_) or desired (_mandub_); the analogy (_qiyas_) of things similar to it would say it was required. His children were seven, three male and four female, according to the right view. Their order of birth was: al-Qasim, he was the first of his children, then Zaynab, then Ruqayya, then Fatima, then Umm Kulthum, then Abd Allah, he had the to-names (_laqab_) at-Tayyib and at-Tahir, which are to-names of Abd Allah, not names of two other different persons. These were all children of our Lady Khadija. And the seventh was our Lord Ibrahim, born of Mariya, the Copt. So it stands. Let us now return to the conclusion of the Articles.

The Forty-second is the Veracity (_sidq_) of the Apostles in all their sayings.

The Forty-third is their trustworthiness (_amana_), that is, their being preserved (_isma_) from falling into things forbidden (_muharram_) or disliked (_makruh_).

The Forty-fourth is their Conveying (_tabligh_) to the creatures that which they were commanded to convey. The Forty-fifth is intelligence (_fatana_). These four things are necessary in the Apostles in the sense that the lack of them is unthinkable. And Faith depends on the knowledge of these, according to the controversy between as-Sanusi and his opponents.

The opposites of these four are impossible in the Apostles, that is, Lying (_kidhb_), Unfaithfulness (_khiyana_) in a thing forbidden or disliked, Concealment (_kitman_) of a thing they have been commanded to convey, and Stupidity (_balada_). These four are impossible in them, in the sense that the existence of them is unthinkable. And Faith depends upon the knowledge of these, as has preceded.

These are Nine and Forty Articles and the Fiftieth is the possibility of the occurrence of such fleshly accidents in them as do not lead to defect in their lofty rank.

And the proof of the existence of Veracity in them is that if they were to lie, then information from God would be a lie, for He has guaranteed the claim of the Apostles by the manifestation of miracles at their hands. For the miracle is revealed in place of an utterance from God, “My servant is truthful in all that he brings from Me.” That is, whenever an Apostle comes to his people and says, “I am an Apostle to you from God,” and they say to him, “What is the proof of your apostolate?” then he shall say, “The splitting of this mountain,” for example. And when they say to him, “Bring what you say,” God will split that mountain at their saying, as a guarantee of the claim of the Apostle to the apostolate. So, God’s splitting the mountain is sent down in place of an utterance from God, “My servant is truthful in all which he brings to you from Me.” And if the Apostle were lying, this information would be lying. But lying is impossible in the case of God, so lying on the part of the Apostles is impossible. And whenever lying is denied in them, Veracity is established.

And as for the proof of the Trustworthiness, that is, their being preserved internally and externally from forbidden and disliked things; if they were unfaithful in committing such things, we would be commanded to do the like. But it is impossible that we could be commanded to do a forbidden or disliked thing, “for God does not command a vile thing” (Qur. 7, 27). And it is evident that they did nothing except obedience, whether required or desired, and “permitted” (_mubah_) things entered among their actions only to show, whenever they did a “permitted” thing, that it was allowable (_ja’iz_).

And as for the proof of Intelligence, if it were failing in them, how would they be able to establish an argument against an adversary? But the Qur’an indicates in more than one place, that they must establish arguments against adversaries. And such establishing of arguments is only possible with intelligence.

And the proof that fleshly accidents do befall them is that they do not cease to ascend in their lofty rank; for the occurrence of such accidents is in them for increase in their lofty rank, for example, and that others may be consoled, and that the thoughtful may know that the world is not a place of recompense for the lovers of God; since if it were, why should aught of the defilements of the world befall the Apostles? The Blessing of God be upon them and upon their Mighty Head, our Lord Muhammad, and upon his family and Companions and descendants, all!

The Fifty Articles are completed with their Glorious Proofs.

Let us mention to you now somewhat of that which must be held of the things whose proofs are authority (_sam‘i_): Know that it must be believed that our Prophet has a Tank (_hawd_); and ignorance as to whether it is on one side or the other of the Bridge (_as-sirat_) does not hurt. On the Day of Resurrection (_yawm al-qiyama_) the creatures will go down to drink of it. It is different from _al-Kawthar_, which is a River in the Garden.

And it must also be believed that he will make intercession (_shafa‘a_) on the Day of Resurrection in the midst of the Judgment, when we shall stand and long to depart, even though it be into the Fire. Then he shall intercede that they may depart from the Station (_mawqif_); and this intercession belongs to him only.

And it must also be believed that falling into great sins (_kabiras_), other than Unbelief (_kufr_), does not involve Unbelief, but repentance (_tawba_) from the sin is necessary at once; and if the sin be a small one (_saghira_) repentance is necessary to him who is liable to fall into it. And repentance is not injured by returning to sin; but for the new sin a new repentance is necessary.

And it is incumbent upon the individual that he set aside arrogance (_kibr_) and jealousy (_hasad_) and slander (_ghiba_) on account of what the Prophet has said, “The gates of the Heavens have curtains which reject the works of the people of arrogance, jealousy and slander.” That is, they prevent them from rising, and so they are not received. Jealousy is a desiring that the well-being of another should pass away, equally whether it is desired that it should come to the jealous one or not. And arrogance is considering the truth to be falsehood and rejecting it, and despising God’s creation. And it is incumbent also upon him that he should not spread malicious slanders among the people, for a tradition has come down, “A slanderer (_qattat_) shall not enter the Garden.” And jealousy is forbidden, as is said above, when the well-being does not lead its possessor to transgression, and if it does, then desire that the well-being should pass away is allowable.

It is necessary also to hold that some of those who commit great sins will be punished, though it is only one of them.