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Unity of Divine Attributes

From Imam Khomeini Wiki

Unity of Divine Attributes (Persian: توحید صفاتی), the identity of the attributes with the Divine Essence.

Importance and Position of Unified Attributes

In theological and philosophical terms, unified attributes means that God's attributes are identical with His essence, and in external reality, the essence and attributes exist through a single existence.[1]

The discussion on the identity of the attributes with the Essence of the Truth is considered a theological, philosophical, and mystical topic, with each group presenting a different view in this regard. The Mu'tazila and some hukama believed in the negation of attributes from the essence, which yields nothing but the suspension of intellects from knowing the attributes of God. In contrast, the Ash'arites believed in multiple attributes that are separate from and addition to the essence.[2]

Imami theologians and some divine philosophers believe that the attributes of the Necessary Existent are identical with His essence, and they refer to this doctrine as unified attributes.[3] Imam Khomeini, aligned with Imami theologians and divine philosophers, has brought numerous discussions in his works concerning Divine attributes, unified attributes, and the fact that the Divine attributes are identical with the Essence of the Truth in reality and external existence.[4]

Views on Divine Attributes

There is disagreement among theologians and divine philosophers concerning the Divine attributes and their relationship with the Essence of the Truth, and various views have been presented in this regard, including:

The Ash'arite View

This group of Islamic theologians considers the Divine attributes to be eternal and separate from the essence, which have occurred to the essence from eternity and inhered in it. The Ash'arites have two claims in this regard: First, the eternity of the Divine attributes; from the perspective of the Ash'arites, the eternity of the attributes means that God is always described by His attributes, and the implication of this statement is that if God is not accompanied by a certain attribute of perfection, He would inevitably be described by its opposite. Second, the addition of attributes to the Divine essence; that is, for example, they have interpreted God being all-knowing by a knowledge that is separate from and addition to the essence.[5] Fakhr al-Din al-Razi has advanced eight proofs for the addition of God's attributes to His essence and believes that if the attribute of knowledge were identical with the essence of the Necessary Existent, then by the negation of knowledge, existence would also inevitably be negated, whereas this is not the case, and by the negation of one of the attributes, the essence is not negated.[6]

The Mu'tazilite View

This group of Islamic theologians advocates for the concept of substitution (niyaba) regarding the Divine attributes; meaning that the essence of the Necessary Existent substitutes for the attributes, and any effect that is manifested through attributes in things other than the Necessary Existent is manifested through the essence of the Necessary Existent directly and without an intermediary.[7] This theory is a combination of two claims: one is the negation of attributes from God, and the other is the claim of the substitution of the essence for the attributes; meaning that although they negate the existence of the attribute for God, they keep the effects of the attributes preserved for the essence, meaning that the Divine essence can alone perform all the functions that attributes perform in contingent beings.[8]

The View of the Imami and Divine Philosophers

This group believes that the Divine attributes are not addition to the essence, but rather are identical with His essence.[9] Imam Khomeini also, by rejecting the views of the Ash'arites and Mu'tazila, believes that both groups have taken the paths of excess and deficiency. He believes that the attributes of God are different from one another in terms of word and concept, but in terms of referent, each is identical with the other, and all are identical with the essence.[10] According to Imam Khomeini, the point of contention in unified attributes does not include all types of attributes of the Creator; because negative attributes certainly cannot be identical with the essence of the Necessary Existent, since if a non-existent or negative meaning were a part of His essence, a non-existent aspect would be required in the Essence of the Truth, therefore the identity is in the category of affirmative attributes.[11]

By stating two reasons, Imam Khomeini first establishes the attributes for God and then proves their identity with the essence:

  • The first reason: The comprehensiveness of Pure Existence (Sarih al-Wujud) in relation to perfections; the prerequisite of purity in existence is that it possesses every perfection and beauty, and no aspect of perfection is outside of it.
  • The second reason: The return of the attributes of perfection and beauty to the reality of existence; every perfection and beauty, according to external reality, returns to existence and originates from it; because the assumption is that every perfection and beauty possesses realization, and based on this, if every perfection and beauty does not return to existence, it entails corruptions, each of which paves the way for another and ultimately leads to the possibility of the existence of the Necessary Existent. These implications include: multiple principles in the stage of realization, composition in the Divine essence, and the entry of possibility into the Necessary Existent. Therefore, with regard to these premises, the theory of the identity of the attributes with the essence of God is proven.[12]

Notes

  1. ↑ Mullā Ṣadrā, Mafātīḥ al-ghayb, p. 332-334; Al-Ḥikmat al-mutaʿāliya, vol. 6, p. 145; Muṭahharī, Majmūʿ-yi āthār, vol. 2, p. 101.
  2. ↑ Shahrastānī, Al-Milal wa-l-niḥal, vol. 1, p. 104 & 164; Rāzī, Tabṣirat al-ʿawāmm, p. 109; Ashʿarī, Al-Lumaʿ fī l-radd ʿalā ahl al-zaygh wa-l-bidaʿ, p. 31 & 27; Maqālāt al-Islāmiyyīn, p. 165-166 & 298.
  3. ↑ Lāhījī, Gawhar-i murād, p. 241; Mullā Ṣadrā, Al-Ḥikmat al-mutaʿāliya, vol. 2, p. 315-317, Mafātīḥ al-ghayb, p. 333-334.
  4. ↑ Imam Khomeini, Al-Ṭalab wa-l-irāda, p. 12-13; Sharḥ-i chihiḥl ḥadīth, p. 609; Taqrīrāt-i falsafa, vol. 2, p. 117 & 127.
  5. ↑ Ashʿarī, Al-Lumaʿ fī l-radd ʿalā ahl al-zaygh wa-l-bidaʿ, p. 26-31.
  6. ↑ Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī, Al-Maṭālib al-ʿāliya, vol. 3, p. 143; Jurjānī, Sharḥ al-mawāqif, vol. 8, p. 44-45; Taftāzānī, Sharḥ al-maqāṣid, vol. 3, p. 52; Ṣāḥibī, Ḥikmat-i maʿnawī, p. 419.
  7. ↑ Jāmī, Al-Durrat al-fākhira, p. 167; Ashʿarī, Maqālāt al-Islāmiyyīn, p. 165-166; Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī, Al-Maṭālib al-ʿāliya, vol. 3, p. 228-230; Ṣāḥibī, Ḥikmat-i maʿnawī, p. 417-419.
  8. ↑ Shahrastānī, Al-Milal wa-l-niḥal, vol. 1, p. 57 & 64; Ḥillī, Kashf al-murād, p. 296; Sabziwārī, Asrār al-ḥikam, p. 123.
  9. ↑ Lāhījī, Gawhar-i murād, p. 241; Jāmī, Al-Durrat al-fākhira, p. 168; Ibn Sīnā, Al-Ilāhiyyāt min al-Shifāʾ, p. 394.
  10. ↑ Imam Khomeini, Al-Ṭalab wa-l-irāda, p. 12-13; Sharḥ-i chihiḥl ḥadīth, p. 609; Taqrīrāt-i falsafa, vol. 2, p. 127.
  11. ↑ Imam Khomeini, Taqrīrāt-i falsafa, vol. 2, p. 117 & 121-122; Ṣāḥibī, Ḥikmat-i maʿnawī, p. 423-424.
  12. ↑ Imam Khomeini, Al-Ṭalab wa-l-irāda, p. 12-13, Sharḥ-i chihiḥl ḥadīth, p. 416 & 606-607; Ṣāḥibī, Ḥikmat-i maʿnawī, p. 426-430.

References

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