[The rational arguments they set against scriptural evidence are unsound and contradictory. The eighteenth argument]

The rational arguments they set against scriptural evidence are unsound and contradictory.

The eighteenth argument

It may be said:

Elsewhere, we have demonstrated the unsoundness and inconsistency of the rational arguments they set against scriptural evidence concerning Allah’s oneness, prophethood, and resurrection. We have also shown that anyone who believes these arguments to be sound is among the most ignorant and misguided in matters of reason. We have explained how their denial of Allah’s attributes and actions ultimately rests on arguments concerning composition, resemblance, and particularity; how their rejection of divine decree ultimately rests on an alleged conflict between Allah’s command and His will; and how their arguments concerning the world’s coming into existence and resurrection ultimately rest on denying divine actions.

We have explained that the arguments they advance in support of negation consist of ambiguous, equivocal expressions encompassing both truth and falsehood. For example, they say:

“If the Lord, Exalted is He, possessed attributes such as knowledge, power, and others, and were distinct from created things, He would be composed of an essence and attributes. He would also share existence and other characteristics with others, while differing from them in the necessity of His existence and other characteristics. He would therefore be composed of that which He shares with others and that which distinguishes Him from them. He would have a reality other than mere existence, and would thus be composed of existence and quiddity. He would also be a body composed of indivisible atoms, or of matter and form. A composite depends on its constituent part, and whatever depends on its constituent part cannot be necessarily existent in itself.”

[The meaning of “composite”]

We have demonstrated the unsoundness of this argument in many ways that cannot be accommodated here. It hinges on ambiguous expressions. “Composite” can mean something assembled by another, or something whose previously separate components have been brought together—as with the components of garments, foods, and medicines such as sakanjabīn (a vinegar-and-honey preparation) and others. This is what “composite” means in the language of the Arabs and all other peoples.

“Composite” may also mean something whose parts can be separated from one another. It is well known that Allah, Exalted is He, is free of all these forms of composition.