Discursive Theology, Vol 1

Foreword	1
Preface	3
Lesson 1	11
Why Should We Know God?	11
1. The Need for Preventing Serious Losses	11
2. The Need for Gratefulness to the Benefactor	12
3. Sense of Curiosity	13
The Benefits of Knowing God	13
Knowledge of God as the Fountainhead of All Knowledge	14
Review Questions	15
Lesson 2	17
The Ways of Knowing God	17
The Rationalists	17
The Intuitionists	20
Assessment	20
The Sensualists	21
Assessment	22
The Literalists	23
Assessment	24
Review Questions	30
Lesson 3	31
Natural Disposition (Fiṭrah) and Knowing God	31
Definition of Fiṭrah	31
The Distinctive Features of Fiṭrah	31
Fiṭrah in the Domain of Knowledge and Sensory Perception	33
Intrinsic (fiṭrī) Knowledge	33
Instinctive Inclinations	33
Fiṭrah and Search for God	34
Fiṭrah and Inclination to God	34
a. Love for Absolute Perfection	35
b. Hope for a Superior Power in Moments of Danger	36
Reply to Two Objections	37
What Scholars Say	38
Fiṭrah and Religion from the Perspective of Revelation	41
Review Questions	44
Lesson 4	45
Order in the Universe and Knowing God	45
The Definition and Types of Order	45
The Order of Outcome and the Argument of Design	46
It is Design and Not Accident!	47
Imām al-Ṣādiq (‘a) and the Proof of Order	48
Review Questions	50
Lesson 5	51
Assessment of Hume’s Objections to the Argument of Design	51
First Objection	51
Reply	52
Second Objection	53
Reply	53
Third Objection	54
Reply	54
Fourth Objection	54
Reply	55
Fifth Objection	55
Reply	55
Sixth Objection	56
Reply	56
Review Questions	57
Lesson 6	59
The Argument of Contingency	59
Objection	60
Reply	61
The Second Principle of Thermodynamics and the Universe’s Contingency	62
Bertrand Russell’s Objection	63
Reply	64
Review Questions	65
Lesson 7	67
The Argument of Possibility and Necessity	67
The Argument’s Premises	68
Bertrand Russell’s Misgiving	69
Reply	70
Review Questions	72
Lesson 8	73
The Unity of God’s Essence and Attributes	73
1. The Unity of the Divine Essence	74
Types of Compositeness	74
Trinity or Polytheism in the Essence of God	75
2. The Unity of the Divine Attributes	77
The Unity of the Divine Attributes in the Traditions	78
Insufficient Formula	80
The Essence that cannot be found from the existence-bestower,	80
Who can become the existence-bestower? Review Questions	80
Review Questions	81
Lesson 9	83
The Unity of God in Creation	83
Reason and the Divine Unity in Creation	83
The Qur’an and the Divine Unity in Creation	83
Traditions and the Divine Unity in Creation	84
The Interpretation of the Divine Unity in Creation	85
1. Imāmiyyah Theologians and Muslims Theosophers	85
2. ‘Ashā‘irah	85
3. Mu‘tazilah	86
Examination and Criticism	86
The Dualists and the Misgiving of Evils	87
Reply to a Question	88
The Divine Unity in Creation and the Problem of Ascribing Evils to God	89
Review Questions	91
Lesson 10	93
The Divine Unity in Lordship	93
Cosmic and Legislative Lordship	94
Lordship in This World and the Hereafter	94
The Proofs of the Divine Unity in Lordship	95
Human Being’s Deviation Relative to the Divine Unity in Lordship	96
The Divine Unity in Legislation	98
The Divine Unity in Sovereignty	98
The Divine Unity in Obedience	99
Review Questions	101
Lesson 11	103
The Divine Unity in Worship	103
What is Worship?	106
The Wahhābīs and Polytheism in Worship	108
Review Questions	113
Lesson 12	115
The Attributes of God	115
Name (ism) and Attribute (ṣifah)	115
Classifications of the Divine Attributes	116
1. The Attributes of Beauty and the Attributes of Glory	116
2. The Attributes of Essence and the Attributes of Action	117
3. The Real and the Relative Attributes	118
4. The Transmitted Attributes	119
Are the Names of Allah Tawqīfī?	120
Review Questions	123
Lesson 13	125
The Knowledge of God	125
1. God’s Knowledge of His Essence	125
2. God’s Essential Knowledge of the Creatures	126
2.1. Shaykh al-Ishrāq’s View	126
2.2. Mu‘tazilah View	126
2.3. Ibn Sīnā’s View	127
2.4. Ṣadr al-Muta’allihīn’s View	127
God’s Present Knowledge of the Creatures in the Present	129
The Divine Proofs	129
The All-hearing, the All-seeing and the Perceiver	130
Review Questions	132
Lesson 14	133
God’s Power and Will	133
The Essence of Power	133
The Proof of God’s Power and Will	134
The Extent of God’s Power	136
Power and Potentiality	137
Reply to Some Misgivings	137
Review Questions	139
Lesson 15	141
Life, Pre-existence and Eternity	141
Divine Life	141
The Essence and Classifications of Life	142
The Essence of Life with Respect to God	144
The Proof of Divine Life	144
Pre-existence and Eternity	145
Review Questions	147
Lesson 16	149
The Divine Will and Decree	149
Some Views on the Essence of Will	150
Assessment of the Views	151
An Examination and Analysis	152
The Divine Will as Described in Traditions	154
Review Questions	156
Lesson 17	157
The Divine Speech and Word	157
1. The Ahl al-Ḥadīth and Ḥanbalīs	157
2. Justice-Oriented Theologians	158
3. The Ash‘arīs and Māturdīs	159
4. Muslim Philosophers	161
The Word of God in the Qur’an and the Traditions	162
The Contingency of God’s Word	163
The Immaculate Imāms (‘a) and the Issue of Contingency of God’s Word	163
The Absence of Lie in God’s Word	164
Review Questions	166
Lesson 18	167
The Attributes of Khabariyyah	167
Literalism and Anthropomorphism	168
Ta’wīl Approach	169
Theological Foundation of Ta’wīl	170
Singular and Synthetic Appearance	172
Postponement (Tawaqquf) and Delegation (Tafwīḍ)	172
Bases of the Proponents of Tafwīḍ	173
Transmitted Attributes in the School of the Ahl al-Bayt (‘a)	175
Review Questions	177
Lesson 19	179
Negative Attributes (Al-Ṣifāt al-Salbiyyah)	179
The Proofs of Impossibility of Physically Seeing God	182
Proof of the Proponents of Ru’yah	183
Argument on the Occurrence of Ru’yah and the Objection to It	185
Review Questions	187
Lesson 20	189
The Divine Justice and Wisdom	189
The Literal and Technical Meanings of Justice	189
Justice in the Parlance of Theologians	190
The Literal and Technical Meaning of Wisdom	192
Wisdom in the Parlance of Theologians	193
1. Theoretical Wisdom	193
2. Practical Wisdom	193
Conclusion	194
Manifestations of the Divine Justice and Wisdom	195
The History and Motive for Discussing Justice	197
The Position of Justice in ‘Adliyyah Theology	200
Review Questions	202
Lesson 21	203
Rational Goodness and Evil	203
An Elucidation of the Rule of Rational Goodness and Evil	203
Theoretical Reason and Practical Intellect	204
The Affirmers and Negationists	205
Appreciation and Condemnation, Reward and Punishment	206
Incumbent upon Allah	207
The Proofs Substantiating Rational Goodness and Evil	208
Rational Goodness and Evil in the Qur’an and the Traditions	210
Review Questions	213
Lesson 22	215
The Proofs of Divine Justice and Wisdom	215
1. The Proof of Essential Necessity	215
2. The Proof of Special Attention (‘ināyah)	216
3. The Omniscience and Self-sufficiency of God	217
4. The Lack of Claimant and the Existence of Ṣārif	218
5. Signs of the Divine Justice and Wisdom in Nature	219
Design and Perfection as Viewed by Scientists and Scholars	222
Design in the Plant Kingdom	223
Factors that Contribute to the Suitability of the Earth for Living	224
Review Questions	226
Lesson 23	227
The Creation as Goal-oriented	227
The Justice-oriented Argument	227
The Ash‘arī’s Objection	228
Reply	228
Another Objection	229
Reply	229
The Goal of Action and the Goal of Agent	230
The Third View	230
The View of Theosophers	231
Motive and Exigency	231
The Qur’an and the Goal-orientedness of the Universe	232
The Perfect Man as the Philosophy behind Creation	234
Review Questions	236
Lesson 24	237
Evil and the Best Order	237
The Skepticism on Evil and the Best Order	238
Reply [to the Skepticism]	238
The Non-discernment of Evil in the Realm of Nature	238
The Beauty of the Totality or the Perfect System	242
Objection	243
Reply	243
Second Objection	243
Reply	244
Evil and the All-encompassing Power of God	244
Review Questions	247
Lesson 25	249
Evil and the Justice of God	249
General Welfare and Public Good	249
Unpleasant Things and Understanding the Sweetness of Doing Good	250
Undesirables and the Blossoming of Talents	251
Painful Incidents or Warning Signs	253
Istidrāj and Ibtilā	254
The Role of Sins in the Occurrence of Painful Incidents	256
The Saints of God’s Account as Separate	257
Evil and Retributory Justice	259
Pains and Rewards	260
Concluding Points	261
Review Questions	263
Lesson 26	265
Man and Freewill	265
The Theologians’ Opinions on the Interpretation of Freewill	267
1. The Theory of Tafwīḍ	267
Examination and Criticism	269
2. The Theory of Kasb	271
The Interpretation of Kasb	271
A Criticism of the Theory of Kasb	272
The Theory of the “Position between Two Positions” (amr bayn al-amrayn)	273
A Historical Survey of the “Position between Two Positions”	273
A Manifestation of the Divine Grace	274
Known Only to the True Men of Learning	275
An Illustrious Example	275
A Firm Principle	276
Imām al-Hādī (‘a) and the Interpretation of Amr Bayn al-Amrayn	277
The Philosophical Interpretation of Amr Bayn al-Amrayn	279
A Study of the Book of the Self	280
Review Questions	282
Lesson 27	283
Misgivings of the Predeterminists	283
The Divine Decree, Predestination and the Eternal Knowledge of God	283
The Correct Interpretation of Qaḍā and Qadr	284
Reinforcement of the Free-will on the Basis of the Principle of Qaḍā and Qadar	287
God’s Will and Man’s Free-will	288
Is Will a Voluntary Action?	288
The Divine Unity in Creation and the Issue of Predetermination	289
Reply	289
The Universality of the Divine Power and Man’s Freewill	290
The Divine Guidance and Misguidance and Man’s Freewill	290
Elements of Guidance	293
Elements of Misguidance	294
Review Questions	296
Lesson 28	297
The Mandatoriness of Obligation	297
Definition and Classification	297
The Philosophy behind Obligation	299
Obligation and Power	301
The Ash‘arīs and the Permissibility of Unbearable Obligation	301
Review Questions	305
Lesson 29	307
The Necessity for Grace	307
The Definition and Classification of Luṭf (Grace)	308
The Conditions of Grace	310
Reasons behind the Necessity for Grace	310
The Qur’an and the Rule of Grace	313
Divine Grace and Sayings of the Imāms (‘a)	315
Reply to the Objections	316
Review Questions	318