Could the Universe Possibly Have Two or More Gods?
We have confirmed, in our
previous discussion, with a variety of evident proofs and undeniable arguments,
the Existence of Allah (Glorious & Exalted), and that He is God, the
Creator of this universe and all creatures and beings therein. Indeed, He
(Noble & Sublime) is the Creator of everything, with His Absolute Power,
Comprehensive Knowledge and Complete Wisdom.
What many have produced—of those who have
traded and altered their basic good nature for corrupt beliefs about the
existence of other gods beside Allah (Mighty & Majestic), and their
association of them in worship—is nothing but vain desire and defective
reasoning, since good nature and sound mind deny any of that, as there is no
evidence for it, intuitively, rationally, or otherwise.
This corrupt belief—in gods other than
Allah—is nothing but slavish following of assumptions and conjectures, since it
bears no relation to the firm truth, in accordance with the Saying of Allah
Most High,
While
they have no knowledge thereof. They follow but a guess, and verily, guess is
no substitute for the truth.
[Al-Najm 53: 28]
Indeed, the undeniable
evidence is to the contrary. All testimony and proof confirms the Oneness of
Allah (Glorious & Exalted) and the impossibility that He has equals or
partners in His Divinity, His Supreme Attributes, or His Absolute Power.
Among the evidence bearing
witness to the Oneness of Allah (Glorious & Exalted):
1.
Intuitive Evidence
A.
By his pure, good nature, man
believes in His God Who created him, and that the One Who created him and all
things is One God, in accordance with the statement of Allah's Messenger
(pbuh),
Every baby is born with a pure, good nature,
then his parents turn him into a Jew, a Christian, or a Zoroastrian.
[Sahih al-Bukhari]
If something happens suddenly to a person, and it is dangerous to him,
or he experiences a tragedy, his tongue automatically says, "Oh God!"
or "Oh Lord!" This proves that instinctively, he knows that God, the
Creator, is One God, without partner, since he does not at that time pronounce
more than one name. This instinct proves the Existence of this Creator God and
His Oneness.
B.
When man wants to take refuge
in his Lord and seek shelter with Him, through prayer and asking, we find him
only praying to One God, not more than that.
We
find that he does not call upon any name, but that which can only refer to One
God. We find him praying and saying, "Oh Allah!" or "Or
Lord!" or something like that, in accord with the Saying of Allah Most
High,
Is not He (better than your gods) Who responds
to one in distress when he calls on Him, and Who removes the evil, and makes
you inheritors of the earth, generations after generations. Is there any god
beside Allah? High Exalted is Allah above all they associate as partners (with
Him)! * Is not He (better than your so-called gods) Who originates creation,
and shall thereafter repeat it, and Who provides for you from heaven and earth?
Is there any god with Allah? Say, "Bring forth your proof, if you are
truthful."
[Al-Naml 27: 63-64]
The Arab pagans used to
associate with Allah (Mighty & Majestic) many gods in the land, in the form
of statues and idols of stone and other materials, which they used to worship
alongside Him.
If the pagan were asked: How many gods do
you worship? He would answer that He is one god in the sky. Then he would list
however many he liked of statues and stones which he had taken as false idols
that he would worship in the land.
However, if he was asked about the god he
prayed to and made requests of?
He would say: The one in the sky.
This proves that man was created to
believe in the Oneness of Allah (Glorious & Exalted).
2.
The Call of the Prophets and
Messengers to the Oneness of Allah (Glorious & Exalted)
Allah (Glorious & Exalted) sent His
prophets and messengers to call the people to believe in Him and to confess to
His Oneness, and that He has no equal and no partner in this Divinity, so that
He Alone (Noble & Sublime) should be worshipped.
As
we pointed out, Allah (Glorious & Exalted) created man to have faith in Him
and His Oneness, so that there is no contradiction between what the messengers
called to and how people were created in terms of belief in Allah (Mighty &
Majestic) and His Oneness.
That
is because the God Who created man on faith in Him and His Oneness is Himself
the God Who sent His prophets and messengers to call the people to the nature
of their creation and to remind them of it, out of compassion and mercy from
Him (Blessed & Exalted). In doing so, He presented them with authoritative
proof, either for or against them, in His Wisdom and Justice (Noble &
Sublime).
Then
Allah (Glorious & Exalted) supported His prophets and messengers with
miracles and wonders which bear witness that they have the support of this
All-Powerful, Creator God, as shown previously, so that the people might
believe the truth they proclaimed—the Existence of Allah and His Oneness—and
the veracity of their call to faith and to belief in all they informed them of.
3.
The Rational Proof
A.
Mutually Contradictory Evidence
If it was confirmed to us through our senses that the universe is the
epitome of masterful workmanship and perfect order, that would prove that its
Creator is One, without partner, neither helper nor rival.
In other words, if a
disturbance in the equilibrium of the universe were to prove impossible through
observable data, and the precision and exactness of its construction could be
established through observable data, it would be impossible for it to have more
than One Creator.
Thus, to propose the
existence of more than One Maker, equal in attributes and actions: when their
wills diverged—if, for instance, one of them wanted to move an object and the
other wanted it to be still and not move—then the following would happen:
Either what both of them
wanted would happen, which would mean a combination of two contradictory
opposites, and that is obviously incorrect, or what both of them wanted would not
happen, and this is also invalid because that would be attributing weakness to
both of them.
Alternatively, one of them
would get what he wants at the expense of the other, in which case that one
would be the True Lord, and the other a weakling who does not deserve to be
worshipped. So, the order of the universe and the precision of its workmanship
proves that its Creator and Designer is One and that He has no partner. And
that is Allah Most High.[1]
We
would like to point out that this Noble Verse: {Had there been therein gods
besides Allah, then verily both would have been ruined.}[Al-Anbiyaa' 21: 22]
refers to the unity of divinity (tawhid al-uluhiyya), meaning the
singling out of Allah (Glorious & Exalted) Alone for worship. This requires
admission of the unity of lordship (tawhid al-rububiyya), meaning that
He (Noble & Sublime) Alone is the Creator.
The
proof of this meaning is that the Arab polytheists conceded the unity of
lordship—that the Creator is One God. Thus, the singling out of Allah (Glorious
& Exalted), exclusively, for worship—the unity of divinity—does not come
until after the unity of lordship—the belief and faith in the fact that He
(Glorious & Exalted) Alone is the Creator, without equal or partner.
Therefore, the meaning of the Holy Quran is the unity of divinity, which
contains the unity of lordship, but not the opposite. This is what the Verse
says, {Had there been therein gods besides Allah, then verily both would have
been ruined.}
Indeed, Shaykh ul-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him)
alluded to what we have stated.
B.
After confirming the Existence of Allah
(Glorious & Exalted) through various proof and testimony, and that He
(Noble & Sublime) is God, the Creator of this universe and all the
creatures and beings therein, then a sound mind can only accept that this
Creator God is One God, without partner or peer, and that, based on such, He
Alone must be singled out exclusively for worship. None other should be
worshipped—not statues, stones, false idols, lies, conjectures or assumptions.
Man's pure, good nature and sound mind do not accept anything other than
that the slave—the created being—should submit to the power and authority of
the One God, the Creator God, and that all worship should be for Him (Noble
& Sublime) Alone. It should not be directed toward anyone else. That is
because, if the universe had two Creator Deities, with all the creatures and
beings therein, or if it had more than two gods, then man, as a subject and
creation would be obliged to submit to their authority collectively. He would
have to obey them and follow all their orders.
Without a doubt, their orders and instructions—these false gods—would
necessarily differ, conflict, and clash with each other.
At
such time, the poor human being, as a subject and creation, would not know
which of these orders or instructions to follow, or which of these gods to
obey.
Then, if this slave creature were to follow
the orders and instructions of one of them—these 'gods'—he would subject
himself to the anger and punishment of the other, if that were the case.
So
what would be this slave creature's situation then? Would he be rewarded or
punished—or both?
Undoubtedly, this scenario is impossible, and no one of pure, good
nature would accept it, nor would any sound mind that Allah Most High created
us with to ascertain the real truth, not simply conjecture and hypothesis.
Indeed, anyone in possession of his pure, good nature and a sound mind
would not accept anything other than the fact that this Creator God is One,
Singular, without partner or peer, in accordance with the Saying of Allah Most
High,
Allah puts forth a similitude: a (slave) man
belonging to many partners (like those who worship others along with Allah)
disputing with one another, and a (slave) man belonging entirely to one master,
(like those who worship Allah Alone). Are those two equal in comparison? All
the praises and thanks be to Allah! But most of them know not.
[Al-Zumar 39: 29]
This means that this slave man
who is owned by competing partners who differ in their desires, goals, and
instructions, is not equal to the slave man who is only owned by one master,
and is exclusively his. This Quranic metaphor is like the situation of a
polytheist who worships other gods beside Allah Most High and the true believer
who worships none but Allah Almighty Alone, Who is without peer or partner. So,
where is this one compared to that one?
Additionally, what we have shown concurs
with the Saying of Allah Most High,
{Had there been therein (in
the heavens and the earth) gods besides Allah, then verily both would have been
ruined. Glorified be Allah, the Lord of the Throne, (High is He) above what
they attribute to Him!}
[Al-Anbiyaa'
21: 22]
In other words, if there were
other gods besides Allah, the heavens and the earth would be ruined, due to
their differences and competition, and subsequently their conflicting orders
and instructions, which would clash with and contradict each other, as we have
shown.
We would like to point out that:
The Noble Verse does not say "if
there were two gods therein" because the implied supposition is the
existence of many gods being worshipped beside Allah, as was the case of the
Arab polytheists.
To summarize, it is an intuitive and
logical impossibility for the universe to have one or more gods.
Therefore, the Creator of this universe
and all the creatures and beings therein is Allah Alone (Glorious &
Exalted), the Creator of all things, Who has no peer or partner.
C.
The Saying of Allah Most High,
{No son (or offspring or children) did Allah
beget, nor is there any god along with Him; (if there had been many gods),
behold, each god would have taken away what he had created, and some would have
tried to overcome others!}
[Al-Mu'minoon 23: 91]
This
Noble Verse is proof against those who deny the Oneness of Allah Most High,
since it addresses man's reason proceeding in accordance with the good nature
with which his soul was created, without complicated mental processes.
This
Noble Verse negates the idea that Allah has a son, so that no one would try to
draw near to Him through such a son. In this there is the negation of
divinization of intermediaries between Allah (Glorious & Exalted) and His
slaves.
Furthermore, this Noble Verse negates the idea of there being other gods
to be worshipped in partnership with Allah Most High, for if there were those
who deserved to be worshipped with Him, there could only be two possibilities:
1)
The first possibility: Either
each 'god' would be All-Powerful and thus entitled to the first hypothesis, as
Allah Almighty says, {behold, each god would have taken away what he had
created}, and it is known that this has not happened, and since it has not
happened, this proves that the Creator is One God.
2)
The second possibility: Or one
of them is All-Powerful and the other is not. In other words, one of them is
Able and the other is unable. This would prove correct the second hypothesis in
Allah's Saying, {and some would have tried to overcome others}, and it is known
that this has not happened. This proves the impossibility of the existence of
One Able God and one unable 'god.'
This
means that there exists none other than One God, with Absolute Ability.
Were
the existence of One Able God and one unable 'god' to be supposed, the Able One
would be the God to the exclusion of the other 'gods,' but the supposition of
other gods beside Allah (Glorious & Exalted) is impossible.
So, Allah
(Glorious & Exalted) is the One & Only God, Who is without partner or
peer.
D.
The Saying of Allah, {"He begets not, nor
is He begotten."}[Al-Ikhlas 112: 3]
This Noble Verse, with its
succinct phrasing, indicates the Eternalness of Allah (Glorious & Exalted),
and His Exaltation above taking a son. Just as He (Glorious & Exalted) was
not born of anything before, He (Noble & Sublime) has not sired anything,
since He has no need of such.
Thus, Allah (Glorious &
Exalted) is the First—the Alpha—and there is nothing before Him; Allah existed
when there was nothing other than Him. He does not beget, nor is He begotten,
for nothing is born but to die, and that attribute is impossible for Allah
(Noble & Sublime).
Therefore, let us contemplate the two possible explanations for the
existence of gods beside Allah Almighty:
-
Who brought them all into existence (for they
must have had a progenitor)?
-
Did they come from nowhere? From nothing?
Impossible, for verily, nothingness does not bring forth something, because it
is a void.
Therefore: There must necessarily have been a progenitor for
them—another god—whose abilities supersede all of theirs.
Therefore: Who then created
this god who created the other gods?
Were we to say: The god who
created the aforementioned god is another god who commands even higher
abilities, then we would have to continue asking this question, and this would
lead us into an interminable chain of similar questions with comparable
answers.[2]
This is impossible for man's
pure, good nature or sound mind to accept.
Additionally, such
hypothetical 'gods' would be created, and thus bound to obey and worship the
One Who created them…and so on.
Therefore: There must
necessarily be Only One God, beside Whom no one has the Power to create, and
Who Alone possesses the Absolute Power to bring things into being from
nothingness. This Creator God must necessarily possess the Attribute of Eternal
and Infinite Life—that His Existence is Everlasting and Permanent, Ever-Living,
Self-Sustaining forever and ever. No slumber (inattention) overtakes Him, or
sleep. He was not born of anything. He exists sufficient unto Himself, not
dependent on anyone or anything other than Himself for His Existence. He
(Glorious & Exalted) is Ever-Existing, Permanent in Himself, for all times.
As we have indicated, the
answer to the question posed at the beginning of this chapter is: that it is
not possible for this universe to have two or more gods, and that Allah
(Glorious & Exalted) Alone is God, the Creator of the universe we see and
experience, with all its creatures and beings. He (Glorious & Exalted)
Alone is the Creator of all.
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