Jump to content

Draft:Divine Will

Add links
From wikishia

Divine Will (Arabic: الإرادة الإلهية) is one of the Positive Attributes of God, and God is called Murīd (the Willer). Muslim scholars disagree on the nature of God's will. Al-Shaykh al-Mufid and Allama Tabataba'i, prominent Shi'a scholars, considered God's will regarding Himself to be His actions, and His will regarding others to be His command. However, the Mu'tazila and some Shi'a theologians have regarded God's will as a type of His Knowledge.

Will is divided into two categories: Generative Will (al-irāda al-takwīniyya) and Legislative Will (al-irāda al-tashrīʿiyya). Both Generative Will and Legislative Will are mentioned in Quranic verses.

Place

Will is one of the Attributes of God, and on this basis, God is called Murīd (the Willer).[1] In many verses, volition (mashīyya) and will (irāda) are attributed to God;[2] including "He punishes whom He wills and has mercy upon whom He wills"[3] and "Indeed, your Lord is an effecter of what He intends."[4]

Quiddity of Divine Will

Muslim theologians agree on the principle that God possesses Will, but they differ regarding its details and characteristics;[5] such as the quiddity of God's will, whether it is an Attribute of Essence or an Attribute of Action, and whether it is eternal (qadīm) or originated (ḥādith).[6]

According to al-Shaykh al-Mufid (d. 413/1022)[7] and Allama Tabataba'i (d. 1360 Sh/1981), God's will regarding His own actions is His very action (Generative Will), and regarding the actions of other beings, it is His command for those actions (Legislative Will).[8] Based on this, "God willed to create man" means "God created man."[9] According to these two, Will is among the Attributes of Action.[10] Al-Shaykh al-Mufid considered this view to be consistent with the view of the Imams (a) and the majority of Imamiyya scholars.[11] Narrations have also been cited in this regard;[12] including a narration from Imam al-Sadiq (a) which calls God's volition (mashīyya) originated and non-eternal,[13] a narration from Imam al-Kazim (a) which introduces God's will as His very action,[14] and an expression from Imam al-Rida (a) in which volition and will are considered Attributes of Action.[15]

According to Allama Tabataba'i, the majority of philosophers, such as Mulla Sadra, have counted Will among the Attributes of Essence and identical to the Divine Essence.[16] Based on the famous view among Muslim philosophers, Generative Will is God's Knowledge of actions suitable for the Best Order (the best possible world).[17][18] In Allama Tabataba'i's view, defining Will as knowledge of the best order is incorrect, and there is no proof for its validity.[19] The Mu'tazila and many Shi'a theologians believe that God's Generative Will is His knowledge of actions that entail benefit (maṣlaḥa) for humans and other beings.[20] Therefore, this group counts Will among His Attributes of Essence.[21]

The Ash'ariyya believe that Will is distinct from Knowledge, Power, and other Attributes of Essence;[22] however, they consider it an attribute that is either essential or additional to the Essence, yet eternal (qadīm).[23][24]

Difference between Will and Mashiyya

Main article: Mashiyya

It is said that many lexicographers and theologians consider mashīyya (volition) to mean irāda (will)[25] and believe that will and volition are one attribute. However, a group, noting that in the Qur'an mashīyya is used only in generative (takwīnī) matters, have considered mashīyya and irāda to be two different attributes of God.[26] According to Ayatollah Makarim Shirazi, an examination of Qur'anic verses shows that the word irāda is used for both Generative Will and Legislative Will; but mashīyya is mostly used regarding creation and generative matters and is very rarely used regarding legislation.[27] In some narrations,[28] a differentiation and sequence are observed between mashīyya and irāda, indicating that mashīyya is not identical to irāda.[29]

Generative Will and Legislative Will

Main articles: Generative Will and Legislative Will

Divine Will is divided into Generative Will (al-irāda al-takwīniyya) and Legislative Will (al-irāda al-tashrīʿiyya).[30] Generative Will means the bringing into existence of the object of will in the external world without the interference or mediation of another will; such as God's will in the creation of the world or a human's will in eating and drinking.[31] According to Ayatollah Subhani, if the Divine Will attaches to the coming into existence of something, it is called Generative Will.[32] Legislative Will is when one wills that another person performs an action through his own will and choice; such as God's Legislative Will for His servants to perform obligatory acts and acts of worship, or a person's will that his child or servant performs an act without compulsion.[33] In other words, the will of the legislator or Lawgiver (Shāriʿ) regarding the performance of an action by the religiously accountable (mukallaf) through their own choice is called Legislative Will.[34]

Regarding the difference between Generative and Legislative Will, it is said that the object of Generative Will is the action of the willer himself; but the object of Legislative Will is the action of another person.[35] In God's Generative Will, whatever is willed necessarily occurs; but in Legislative Will, violation is possible.[36] Unlike Generative Will, Legislative Will applies only to voluntary actions.[37]

Generative and Legislative Wills are frequently used in Quranic verses.[38] The will mentioned in verses such as Qur'an 4:82,[39] the Verse of Purification (al-Taṭhīr),[40] Verse 41 of Sura al-Ma'ida,[41] Verse 5 of Sura al-Qasas[42] and Verse 7 of Sura al-Anfal[43] is considered Generative Will. The will mentioned in Verse 185 of Sura al-Baqara,[44] the first and sixth verses of Sura al-Ma'ida[45] and the seventh verse of Sura al-Anfal,[46] is considered Legislative Will.

See Also

Notes

  1. ↑ Rabbānī Gulpāyigānī, ʿAqāʾid-i istidlālī, 1392 Sh, p. 131.
  2. ↑ Rabbānī Gulpāyigānī, ʿAqāʾid-i istidlālī, 1392 Sh, p. 131.
  3. ↑ Qur'an, 29:21.
  4. ↑ Qur'an, 11:107.
  5. ↑ Saʿīdī-Mihr, Āmūzish-i kalām-i Islāmī, 1388 Sh, vol. 2, p. 247.
  6. ↑ Saʿīdī-Mihr, Āmūzish-i kalām-i Islāmī, 1388 Sh, vol. 2, p. 247.
  7. ↑ Mufīd, Awāʾil al-maqālāt, 1413 AH, p. 53.
  8. ↑ Rabbānī Gulpāyigānī, ʿAqāʾid-i istidlālī, 1392 Sh, p. 132.
  9. ↑ Subḥānī, ʿAqāʾid-i Islāmī dar partaw-i Qurʾān, ḥadīth wa ʿaql, 1379 Sh, p. 217.
  10. ↑ Ṭabāṭabāʾī, Nihāyat al-ḥikma, pp. 362, 364; Ḥasan-Baygī, "Irāday-i Ilāhī", p. 107.
  11. ↑ Mufīd, Awāʾil al-maqālāt, 1413 AH, p. 53.
  12. ↑ Rabbānī Gulpāyigānī, ʿAqāʾid-i istidlālī, 1392 Sh, pp. 135-136.
  13. ↑ Ṣadūq, al-Tawḥīd, 1398 AH, p. 147.
  14. ↑ Ṣadūq, al-Tawḥīd, 1398 AH, p. 147.
  15. ↑ Ṣadūq, al-Tawḥīd, 1398 AH, p. 338.
  16. ↑ Ṭabāṭabāʾī, Nihāyat al-ḥikma, p. 371.
  17. ↑ Saʿīdī-Mihr, Āmūzish-i kalām-i Islāmī, 1388 Sh, vol. 2, p. 250.
  18. ↑ Ṭabāṭabāʾī, Nihāyat al-ḥikma, pp. 361-362; Rabbānī Gulpāyigānī, ʿAqāʾid-i istidlālī, 1392 Sh, p. 132.
  19. ↑ Ṭabāṭabāʾī, Nihāyat al-ḥikma, pp. 362-363.
  20. ↑ Rabbānī Gulpāyigānī, ʿAqāʾid-i istidlālī, 1392 Sh, p. 132.
  21. ↑ Ḥasan-Baygī, "Irāday-i Ilāhī", p. 107.
  22. ↑ Rabbānī Gulpāyigānī, ʿAqāʾid-i istidlālī, 1392 Sh, p. 132.
  23. ↑ Saʿīdī-Mihr, Āmūzish-i kalām-i Islāmī, 1388 Sh, vol. 2, p. 251.
  24. ↑ Rabbānī Gulpāyigānī, ʿAqāʾid-i istidlālī, 1392 Sh, p. 132.
  25. ↑ Makārim Shīrāzī, Payām-i Qurʾān, 1386 Sh, vol. 4, p. 156.
  26. ↑ Rabbānī Gulpāyigānī, ʿAqāʾid-i istidlālī, 1392 Sh, p. 131.
  27. ↑ Makārim Shīrāzī, Payām-i Qurʾān, 1386 Sh, vol. 4, pp. 164, 169.
  28. ↑ Kulaynī, al-Kāfī, 1362 Sh, vol. 1, p. 148.
  29. ↑ Makārim Shīrāzī, Payām-i Qurʾān, 1386 Sh, vol. 4, p. 156.
  30. ↑ Subḥānī, al-Ilāhiyyāt, 1412 AH, vol. 4, p. 126.
  31. ↑ Mishkīnī, Iṣṭilāḥāt al-uṣūl, 1371 Sh, p. 29.
  32. ↑ Subḥānī, al-Ilāhiyyāt, 1412 AH, vol. 4, p. 126.
  33. ↑ Mishkīnī, Iṣṭilāḥāt al-uṣūl, 1371 Sh, p. 29; Mūsawī Bujnūrdī, Muntahā al-uṣūl, 1380 Sh, vol. 1, p. 182.
  34. ↑ Markaz-i Iṭṭilāʿāt wa Manābiʿ-i Islāmī, Farhangnāmay-i uṣūl-i fiqh, 1389 Sh, p. 142.
  35. ↑ Mūsawī Bujnūrdī, Muntahā al-uṣūl, 1380 Sh, vol. 1, p. 183.
  36. ↑ Mishkīnī, Iṣṭilāḥāt al-uṣūl, 1371 Sh, p. 29; Mūsawī Bujnūrdī, Muntahā al-uṣūl, 1380 Sh, vol. 1, pp. 182-183.
  37. ↑ Mūsawī Bujnūrdī, Muntahā al-uṣūl, 1380 Sh, vol. 1, p. 183.
  38. ↑ Makārim Shīrāzī, Payām-i Qurʾān, 1386 Sh, vol. 4, pp. 153, 169.
  39. ↑ Makārim Shīrāzī, Āyāt-i wilāyat dar Qurʾān, 1386 Sh, p. 157.
  40. ↑ Subḥānī, al-Ilāhiyyāt, 1412 AH, vol. 4, p. 126; Makārim Shīrāzī, Tafsīr-i nimūna, 1371 Sh, vol. 17, pp. 292, 303.
  41. ↑ Subḥānī, al-Ilāhiyyāt, 1412 AH, vol. 4, p. 128.
  42. ↑ Subḥānī, al-Ilāhiyyāt, 1412 AH, vol. 4, p. 128.
  43. ↑ Subḥānī, al-Ilāhiyyāt, 1412 AH, vol. 4, p. 128.
  44. ↑ Makārim Shīrāzī, Payām-i Qurʾān, 1386 Sh, vol. 4, p. 161.
  45. ↑ Makārim Shīrāzī, Payām-i Qurʾān, 1386 Sh, vol. 4, pp. 161, 162; Subḥānī, al-Ilāhiyyāt, 1412 AH, vol. 4, p. 126.
  46. ↑ Makārim Shīrāzī, Tafsīr-i nimūna, 1371 Sh, vol. 7, p. 101.

References

  • Ḥasan-Baygī, ʿAlī. "Irāday-i Ilāhī". Kalām-i Islāmī. No. 50. 1383 Sh.
  • Kulaynī, Muḥammad b. Yaʿqūb al-. Al-Kāfī. Tehran: Islāmiyya Publications, 1362 Sh.
  • Makārim Shīrāzī, Nāṣir. Āyāt-i wilāyat dar Qurʾān. Qom: Madrasa-yi Imām ʿAlī b. Abī Ṭālib, 1386 Sh.
  • Makārim Shīrāzī, Nāṣir. Payām-i Qurʾān. Tehran: Dār al-Kutub al-Islāmiyya, 9th ed., 1386 Sh.
  • Makārim Shīrāzī, Nāṣir. Tafsīr-i nimūna. Tehran: Dār al-Kutub al-Islāmiyya, 1371 Sh.
  • Markaz-i Iṭṭilāʿāt wa Manābiʿ-i Islāmī. Farhangnāmay-i uṣūl-i fiqh. Qom: Daftar-i Tablīghāt-i Islāmī-yi Ḥawza-yi ʿIlmiyya-yi Qom, 1389 Sh.
  • Mishkīnī, ʿAlī. Iṣṭilāḥāt al-uṣūl. Qom: Daftar-i Nashr-i Hādī, 1371 Sh.
  • Mufīd, Muḥammad b. Muḥammad b. Nuʿmān al-. Awāʾil al-maqālāt fī l-madhāhib wa l-mukhtārāt. Qom: al-Muʾtamar al-ʿĀlamī lil-Shaykh al-Mufīd, 1st ed., 1413 AH.
  • Mūsawī Bujnūrdī, Ḥasan. Muntahā al-uṣūl. Tehran: Muʾassisa-yi ʿUrūj, 1380 Sh.
  • Rabbānī Gulpāyigānī, ʿAlī. ʿAqāʾid-i istidlālī. Qom: Markaz-i Nashr-i Hājar, 4th ed., 1392 Sh.

Research Institute for Islamic Culture and Thought. “Kitāb-i ʿilm wa irāday-i Ilāhī.” Posted: 8 August 2015. Accessed: 20 December 2020.* Ṣadūq, Muḥammad b. ʿAlī al-. Al-Tawḥīd. Edited by Hāshim Ḥusaynī. Qom: Jāmiʿa-yi Mudarrisīn, 1st ed., 1398 AH.

  • Saʿīdī-Mihr, Muḥammad. Āmūzish-i kalām-i Islāmī (Rāhnamā-shināsī - Maʿād-shināsī). Qom: Kitāb-i Ṭāhā, 6th ed., 1388 Sh.
  • Subḥānī, Jaʿfar. Al-Ilāhiyyāt ʿalā hudā l-kitāb wa l-sunna wa l-ʿaql. Qom: al-Markaz al-ʿĀlamī lil-Dirāsāt al-Islāmiyya, 3rd ed., 1412 AH.
  • Subḥānī, Jaʿfar. ʿAqāʾid-i Islāmī dar partaw-i Qurʾān, ḥadīth wa ʿaql. Qom: Muʾassisa-yi Būstān-i Kitāb, 2nd ed., 1386 Sh.
  • Ṭabāṭabāʾī, Sayyid Muḥammad Ḥusayn. Nihāyat al-ḥikma. Edited by ʿAbbās ʿAlī Zāriʿī Sabziwārī. Qom: Daftar-i Intishārāt-i Islāmī, n.d.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikishia.net/w/index.php?title=Draft:Divine_Will&oldid=198944"