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Unity of Divine Acts

From Imam Khomeini Wiki

Unity of Divine Acts (Arabic: توحید افعالی), meaning unity of actions, is the belief that God is the only independent agent in the universe and every action that takes place in the universe is by the will and choice of God.

Importance and Status of Tawhid al-Af'ali

In the terminology of theology (kalam) and philosophy, Tawhid al-af'ali means that every action that occurs in the system of existence is the action of God.[1]

The discussion of Tawhid al-af'ali is one of the important topics in theology and philosophy. Understanding the issue of Tawhid al-af'ali and its related discussions is among the most difficult doctrinal matters that have occupied the minds of Muslim thinkers. Various views and theories have been expressed concerning Tawhid al-af'ali.[2] Imam Khomeini has also discussed and analyzed the issue of Tawhid al-af'ali, the arguments for its proof, and its related doubts in his works.[3]

Views on Tawhid al-Af'ali

Various views and theories have been put forward regarding Tawhid al-af'ali. A group such as the Ash'arites (Asha'ira), in order to safeguard Tawhid al-af'ali from any trace of shirk, attributed all influences to God and held that the only agent and influential being in the universe is God; the view of the Ash'arites in expressing Tawhid al-af'ali is accompanied by the denial of causality from intermediate causes. They interpret Tawhid al-af'ali in a manner that leads to the negation of human free will.[4]

Conversely, a group such as the Mu'tazilites (Mu'tazila), in order to deify God and avoid attributing sins and ugly acts like injustice to Him, considered causes and means to be independent in their influence and believed that contingent beings are dependent on God only in their essence and are independent in action. They believed that God created His servants, enabled them to perform their own actions, and delegated (tafwid) choice to humanity. Hence, they are independent in choice and agency.[5] However, Imami theologians and divine philosophers consider the voluntary actions of human beings to be truly attributed both to the human being and to God; therefore, even though the action is attributed to its own agent, it is simultaneously attributed to God Almighty as well.[6]

Imam Khomeini also considers Tawhid al-af'ali to mean that God Almighty is One in action. The existence of a partner in His action and the delegation of divine action to others is impossible, and all actions and creatures are the action of God. Two important and interrelated components play the greatest role in understanding and analyzing the meaning of Tawhid al-af'ali in the vision of Imam Khomeini: one is the causal system and the reduction of causality to self-manifestation (tasha'un), and the other is the manner of the agency of God Almighty.

The precise interpretation that Imam Khomeini offers of the system of causality is based on elements such as connective existence (wujud-i rabti), illuminative relation (idafa-yi ishraqi), poverty-like contingency (imkan-i faqri), and the confinement of creation (ja'l) to existence. In this analysis, the existential cause is independent and self-sufficient, rather it is independence itself, while the effect is the very embodiment of poverty and sheer dependence. In the view of Imam Khomeini, the exclusivity of the influence and agency of God Almighty under the title "There is no influential being in existence except God" (la mu'aththira fi l-wujud illa Allah) is formulated with attention to the discussion of causality and the principality of existence (asalat al-wujud); for God Almighty is an agent who is independent in being the source for all things, and in His creation and causality He is self-subsistent and has no dependence on any other. Therefore, there is no real cause in the universe except Him; rather, other things possess only relative independence. Since independence in existence is the criterion for a true and creative agent, and an existence that is pure relation cannot be a creator, therefore, influence and agency are among the affairs of existence, and existence is exclusive to God Almighty.[7]

Arguments for Proving Tawhid al-Af'ali

To prove Tawhid al-af'ali, Imam Khomeini aligned with divine philosophers and advanced several proofs; among them is that, in his belief, God Almighty is the true cause in the world and everything other than God Almighty is His effect. Since the effect has no independence or identity of its own and is the manifestation and mode of the cause, consequently, the world has no identity other than God Almighty. Therefore, agency is exclusive to the essence of God Almighty, and creatures merely serve as intermediaries and preparatory factors (mu'iddat). Citing the divine verses "Have you seen that which you emit? Is it you who creates it, or are We the Creator?",[8] "Is it you who produced its tree, or are We the Producer?",[9] Imam Khomeini attributes all actions to God and considers other things merely as preparatory causes.[10]

Doubts Regarding Tawhid al-Af'ali

It was stated that according to the view of Imam Khomeini, the creation of the entire universe and whatever is in it, as well as all actions and effects, are attributed to God. However, these doubts come to mind: do evils, the Rule of the One (Qa'idat al-Wahid), and human free will contradict the issue of Tawhid al-af'ali? In response to these doubts, Imam Khomeini believes that the goodness of everything returns to its existence, and evils, which stand in contrast to good, are not attributed to the existence of things, but rather return to the quiddity (mahiyya) of things, and quiddities are non-existential matters.[11]

Similarly, regarding the doubt about the Rule of the One, Imam Khomeini believes that the apparent conflict between the Rule of the One and Tawhid al-af'ali can be resolved by careful consideration of their contents. Anyone who understands the Tawhid al-af'ali of God Almighty as it deserves, and considers the system of existence as a form of the agency of God Almighty, will realize by proof and clarity that "there is no influential being in existence except God" is an absolute restriction.

By utilizing the Rule of the One and accepting the expansive existence (al-wujud al-munbasit) as the first emanation, Imam Khomeini explains Tawhid al-af'ali in another way and believes that if the meaning of the connection of effects to the divine agent is well conceived, the oneness of the God of the universe will be affirmed.[12] Furthermore, he sees no conflict or contradiction between Tawhid al-af'ali and human free will. With regard to the theory of "amr bayn al-amrayn" (the matter between the two matters), he believes that human actions are directly attributed both to God and to the human being himself; that is, from the aspect that the human being and his actions are under the dominion of the power, knowledge, and will of God Almighty, they are attributed to God Almighty, and from this attribution, no compulsion (jabr) in human actions necessarily follows.[13]

Notes

  1. ↑ Mullā Ṣadrā, Al-Ḥikmat al-mutaʿāliya, vol. 2, pp. 216-219; Muṭahharī, Majmūʿa-yi āthār, vol. 2, p. 103.
  2. ↑ Mullā Ṣadrā, Al-Ḥikmat al-mutaʿāliya, vol. 6, p. 387; Jurjānī, Sharḥ al-mawāqif, vol. 8, p. 145; Fakhr al-Rāzī, Al-Barāhīn fī ʿilm al-kalām; Taftāzānī, Sharḥ al-maqāṣid, vol. 4, pp. 257-262; Qāḍī ʿAbd al-Jabbār, Sharḥ al-uṣūl al-khamsa, p. 527; Ṣadūq, Al-Tawḥīd, pp. 206, 362; Muṣannafāt-i Shaykh-i Ṣadūq, p. 36.
  3. ↑ Imām Khumaynī, Taqrīrāt-i falsafa, vol. 2, pp. 60, 79, 298; Sharḥ duʿāʾ al-saḥar, p. 104; Ādāb al-ṣalāt, p. 372; Sharḥ-i chihil ḥadīth, p. 659; Al-Ṭalab wa-l-irāda, p. 41; Taʿlīqāt ʿalā Sharḥ Fuṣūṣ al-ḥikam wa-Miṣbāḥ al-uns, pp. 268-269.
  4. ↑ Jurjānī, Sharḥ al-mawāqif, vol. 8, p. 145; Fakhr al-Rāzī, Al-Masāʾil al-khamsūn fī uṣūl al-dīn, p. 59.
  5. ↑ Taftāzānī, Sharḥ al-maqāṣid, vol. 4, pp. 257-262; Qāḍī ʿAbd al-Jabbār, Sharḥ al-uṣūl al-khamsa; Al-Mughnī fī abwāb al-tawḥīd wa-l-ʿadl, p. 3; Ṭūsī, Sharḥ al-Ishārāt wa-l-tanbīhāt, vol. 3, p. 623.
  6. ↑ Ṣadūq, Muṣannafāt-i Shaykh-i Ṣadūq, p. 36; Mufīd, Taṣḥīḥ iʿtiqādāt al-Imāmiyya, p. 47; Mīr Dāmād, Al-Qabasāt, p. 449; Mullā Ṣadrā, Al-Ḥikmat al-mutaʿāliya, vol. 6, pp. 372-374; Āmulī, Jāmiʿ al-asrār, pp. 147-151.
  7. ↑ Imām Khumaynī, Ādāb al-ṣalāt, p. 372; Sharḥ duʿāʾ al-saḥar, pp. 94, 104; Taqrīrāt-i falsafa, vol. 2, pp. 60, 79; Ṣāḥibī, Ḥikmat-i maʿnawī, pp. 437-438; Asrār-i malakūt, vol. 2, pp. 118-120.
  8. ↑ Quran 56:58-59.
  9. ↑ Quran 56:72.
  10. ↑ Imām Khumaynī, Taqrīrāt-i falsafa, vol. 1, p. 296; vol. 2, pp. 192-195; Ṣāḥibī, Ḥikmat-i maʿnawī, p. 439; Asrār-i malakūt, vol. 2, p. 119.
  11. ↑ Imām Khumaynī, Sharḥ duʿāʾ al-saḥar, pp. 133-135; Al-Ṭalab wa-l-irāda, p. 141; Taʿlīqāt ʿalā Sharḥ Fuṣūṣ al-ḥikam wa-Miṣbāḥ al-uns, pp. 268-269; Ṣāḥibī, Ḥikmat-i maʿnawī, pp. 442-445.
  12. ↑ Imām Khumaynī, Ādāb al-ṣalāt, pp. 276-277; Miṣbāḥ al-hidāya, pp. 64-65; Taqrīrāt-i falsafa, vol. 2, pp. 83-84; Ṣāḥibī, Ḥikmat-i maʿnawī, p. 453.
  13. ↑ Imām Khumaynī, Al-Ṭalab wa-l-irāda, p. 37; Taqrīrāt-i falsafa, vol. 2, pp. 323-324; Ṣāḥibī, Ḥikmat-i maʿnawī, pp. 455-456.

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