Al-Ṣafadiyyah - Ibn Taimiya - (2/71)

Al-ṢafadiyyahIbn Taimiya

He—most exalted—also says:

“And when He decrees a matter, His only word is, ‘Be!’—and it is.”
(Qur’an 2:117)

This verse makes it clear that whenever He wills a thing, His sole command concerning it is to say, “Be,” and it comes into existence. The phrase, “When He wills a thing,” is all-inclusive: He has never created anything unless He first willed it. It therefore follows that He has never brought anything into being without first saying to it, “Be.”

Now, if the very utterance “Be” were itself a created entity, then it too would have had to be created by yet another “Be,” and that second “Be” by a third, and so on without end. The consequence would be that nothing would ever be created, for He would not become the Creator of anything until He had produced another “Be,” and He could not produce that “Be” until He had produced yet another. This would entail an infinite regress in His very status as Creator—a regress at the root of causation and of an agent’s capacity to act, indeed a regress at the very foundation of creation, akin to positing an infinite regress in the being of the Creator Himself.

Were such a regress admitted, He could never be a Creator at all—just as one might absurdly claim, “He does not become all-powerful until He acquires the power to become powerful, and He cannot acquire the power to become powerful until He acquires the power to acquire that power,” or, “He does not create anything until He first makes Himself a Creator, and He cannot make Himself a Creator until He creates something.” These propositions are patently impossible.

This is altogether different from saying, “He does not create this particular thing until He creates that particular thing.” There is a vast difference between asserting, “He cannot create anything whatsoever until He creates this,” or, “He cannot create anything whatsoever until He creates that by which He would become a Creator,” and merely saying, “He does not create this until He creates that.” The former is unanimously impossible, whereas the latter is subject to debate. In truth, He must be a Creator in and of Himself; His being a Creator cannot hinge upon His already being a Creator, even though His creating this thing may depend on His having created that thing.

Since the Qur’an testifies that His word “Be” is the instrument by which every intended thing is brought forth, it is an integral part of the creative act itself. Consequently, it cannot be something created.

وقال: {وَإِذَا قَضَى أَمْراً فَإِنَّمَا يَقُولُ لَهُ كُنْ فَيَكُونُ} (سورة البقرة ١١٧) . فهذا يقتضي أنه إذا أراد شيئا فإنما أمره أن يقول له كن فيكون وقوله: {إِذَا أَرَادَ شَيْئاً} عام في ما يريده وهو لم يخلق شيئا إلا وقد أراده فاقتضى هذا انه لم يخلق شيئا إلا وقد قال له كن فلو كانت كن مخلوقة لكانت مخلوقة بكن أخرى وكذلك الثانية مخلوقة بكن أخرى وهلم جرا فيلزم ألا يخلق شيئا لأنه لا يصير خالقا لشيء حتى يخلق كن أخرى ولا يخلق كن حتى يخلق كن فلزم التسلسل في كونه خالقا وهو تسلسل في أصل التأثير وفي أصل كون المؤثر مؤثرا وهو تسلسل في أصل الخلق كالتسلسل في ذات الخالق. فإذا قدر ذلك لزم أن لا يصير خالقا بحال كما إذا قيل لا يصير قادرا حتى يقدر أن يصير قادرا ولا يقدر أن يصير قادرا حتى يقدر أن يقدر أن يصير قادرا أو قيل لا يخلق شيئا حتى يجعل نفسه خالقا ولا يجعل نفسه خالقا حتى يخلق شيئا فإن هذا ممتنع. وهذا بخلاف ما إذا قيل لا يخلق هذا حتى يخلق هذا ففرق بين أن يقال لا يخلق شيئا بحال حتى يخلق هذا أو لا يخلق شيئا بحال حتى يخلق ما به يصير خالقا وبين أن يقال لا يخلق هذا حتى يخلق هذا فالأول ممتنع بالاتفاق وأما الثاني ففيه نزاع بل يجب أن يكون خالقا بنفسه لا يتوقف كونه خالقا على كونه خالقا وإن توقف كونه خالقا لهذا على كونه خالقا لهذا فلما دل القرآن على أن قوله كن مما يخلق بها جميع المراد كانت من تمام الخلق فلم يجز أن تكون مخلوقة.