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Al-Tawhid (book): Difference between revisions
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===Method=== | ===Method=== | ||
Methodologically speaking, al-Saduq has adopted a particularly unique attitude in this book. He has documented certain narrations of some companions of the Prophet (s), that is, some narrations transmitted through: 'abd Allah b. Umar, Abu Hurayra and 'uthman b. 'affan exist in this book. His concern over the accuracy of the coherence between titles and their contents is so intense that not even a single repeated, unrelated narration is found in this book. However, in certain occasions, he immediately reconciles the seeming contradiction by a proper explanation. A quick comparison between this book and its like in Sunni Hadith circles, reveals al-Tawhid's incomparable level of rationality and coherence of logical structure. | |||
Distinction between the Attributes of Essence (Hearing, Seeing, Knowledge, Power etc.) and the Attributes of Action (Speech, Will, Creation etc.) is discussed in this book. There is an objective unity between the Divine Essence and its attributes, otherwise the problem of multiplicity of the Divine Essence or that of multiple eternals would arise; instead, the attributes of action are objectively distinct from the Divine Essence. According to the author, the Attributes of Essence denote negation-originated concepts (Divine Knowledge originally means: not being ignorant) and they are the only eternal attributes; however, the attributes of action have positive denotations but they are not eternal. | Distinction between the Attributes of Essence (Hearing, Seeing, Knowledge, Power etc.) and the Attributes of Action (Speech, Will, Creation etc.) is discussed in this book. There is an objective unity between the Divine Essence and its attributes, otherwise the problem of multiplicity of the Divine Essence or that of multiple eternals would arise; instead, the attributes of action are objectively distinct from the Divine Essence. According to the author, the Attributes of Essence denote negation-originated concepts (Divine Knowledge originally means: not being ignorant) and they are the only eternal attributes; however, the attributes of action have positive denotations but they are not eternal. | ||
In addition to this, al-Saduq relies on the narrations to explain certain verses that apparently suggest the corporeality of the Divine Essence; verses that apply certain types of limbs, like hand, face, leg, eyes and ears) or present some anthropomorphic conditions and descriptions for God, like: being beside, being on the Throne, deception, derision, coming, pleasure and wrath. In addition to reconciling the seeming contradiction between these verses and the accepted beliefs of Shi'a, al-Saduq makes use of other Qur'anic verses and expressions like: Subhan Allah and Allah Akbar to reinforce his points. He also proves the accordance of Tawhid to the innate human nature based on the verse: the origination (Fitra) of Allah according to which He originated mankind. XXX-30. In these chapters –which occupy a large proportionate of the book- plus presenting Tafsir narrations and the author's explanations, his viewpoints in Tafsir and even Ta'wil can be found. | In addition to this, al-Saduq relies on the narrations to explain certain verses that apparently suggest the corporeality of the Divine Essence; verses that apply certain types of limbs, like hand, face, leg, eyes and ears) or present some anthropomorphic conditions and descriptions for God, like: being beside, being on the Throne, deception, derision, coming, pleasure and wrath. In addition to reconciling the seeming contradiction between these verses and the accepted beliefs of Shi'a, al-Saduq makes use of other Qur'anic verses and expressions like: Subhan Allah and Allah Akbar to reinforce his points. He also proves the accordance of Tawhid to the innate human nature based on the verse: the origination ([[Fitra]]) of Allah according to which He originated mankind. XXX-30. In these chapters –which occupy a large proportionate of the book- plus presenting Tafsir narrations and the author's explanations, his viewpoints in Tafsir and even Ta'wil can be found. | ||
In terms of the Divine Justice and the great foundation of rational distinction between good and evil ( al-Husn wa al-Qubh al-'aqliyyan) al-Saduq firstly excludes them from the scope of emotions and natural desires and attributes them to the faculty of reason and then, describes rationality of a given action as having a rational reason according to which, human intellect adjudicates on its goodness. | In terms of the Divine Justice and the great foundation of rational distinction between good and evil ( al-Husn wa al-Qubh al-'aqliyyan) al-Saduq firstly excludes them from the scope of emotions and natural desires and attributes them to the faculty of reason and then, describes rationality of a given action as having a rational reason according to which, human intellect adjudicates on its goodness. | ||