and self-subsistence entail oneness. Shared agency entails dependence on others, contingency in itself, and a lack of self-subsistence. Likewise, dependence, contingency, and a lack of self-subsistence entail shared agency.

These and similar considerations are proofs and signs of Allah’s oneness in lordship. They also demonstrate the contingency and dependence of observable created things and their being subject to a Lord. They are therefore proofs of the Maker’s existence, for the separateness, multiplicity, and shared agency found in created things entail their dependence and contingency. Whatever is contingent and dependent must have One who necessarily exists and is independent in Himself; otherwise, it would not exist. Even if an infinite regress of contingent, dependent beings were posited, they would still be contingent collectively. It is self-evident that whatever is contingent depends on another for its existence. Thus, whatever is known to be contingent and dependent is also known to depend on another for its existence. There must therefore be One who is independent in Himself and necessarily existent in Himself; otherwise, nothing dependent and contingent could exist at all.

These considerations establish Allah’s oneness in lordship and His exclusive right to worship—the complete and obligatory affirmation of His oneness brought by the Quran—for reasons we have discussed elsewhere.

For example, things in motion must depend upon volitional motion, and volition must have something willed for its own sake: that is the deity. A created being cannot be willed for its own sake, just as it cannot act independently. Thus, just as there cannot be two independently acting agents, there cannot be two objects each willed for its own sake.