Allama Talib Johri (d. 2020) was one of the great orators of the 20th century from Pakistan, and I really appreciate his teachings, writings and research. This post and the next are based upon one of his sermons of forty minutes (footnoted) on the topic of God’s Divine Oneness. He dives into the ocean of the divine and prophetic statements to bring back treasures for his audience, particularly here, expounding upon the entire philosophy of Islam.
I translated all of it myself from Urdu to English without the help of any tools. At times, to retain the authentic terminology used by him, I have left some and presented the corresponding meaning as well. Here:
God informs us in Aal Imran that “God bears witness that there is no god but Him, as do the angels and those who have knowledge. He upholds justice. There is no god but Him, the Almighty, the All Wise.” (3:18)
God has expressed his monotheism twice in this one verse. If we pay attention to the formation, we see that for the Kalimah al Tawhid (statement of divine unity), God decided to first reject the false gods entirely, and then to affirm the one true God.
Before entering discussion on whether God is one or multiple, we must discuss whether God is or is not at all. If He is, then we will determine whether He is one or multiple. Taking a look at the entire Quran, you will see that no proof is presented for His existence.
He says “Can there be any doubt about God, the Creator of the heavens and earth?” (14:10) A kind of surprise and disturbance is the dominant attitude toward those that deny the existence of God, (because it is such a pervasive reality with signs in everything and in every way.)
It is in man’s fitrat (innate disposition) and jibillat (nature/essence) to know that if a creation is presented before him and he is told that it has no creator, his nature will proclaim that to be a lie because everything has a creator.
If I have a tasbih (rosary) and I testify that there is no creator of it, will anyone accept me? No. It is ingrained into our natural disposition to know that if something is made, it must have a maker. It is the same way with the microphone, table, or any items in the world. When you know that there is a creator of the rosary, I challenge you to show me the creator in it. Rather, the creator is always outside of the creation, not in it. Our nature calls and proclaims this principle to be true.
For that same human nature to be made bedar (awakened/vigilant), God has brought our attention toward His signs. The Nafsiyate Insani (human psychology) was addressed when told about His signs.
*“And your Lord inspired the bee, saying, ‘Build yourselves houses in the mountains and trees and what people construct.
Then feed on all kinds of fruit and follow the ways made easy for you by your Lord.’ From their bellies comes a drink of different colours in which there is healing for people. There truly is a sign in this for those who think.”* (16:68-69)
The bee is told to take nectar from any plant, and it will transform into a shifa (healing). Our attention is being brought to the fact that the process within the bee’s stomach to make a poison into a remedy is by none other than Him, God.
As well, “He has made of benefit to you the many-coloured things He has multiplied on the earth. There truly are signs in this for those who take it to heart.” (16:13)
The earth is one, the color of the earth is one, the water that you shower in your farmlands and in your small gardens is the same color too, but when the crops and plants come out for you, they are of different colors. If you understand that there is someone that paints these with various colors, that great painter is none other than God. There are red, blue, pink flowers. God is the painter of all of the cosmos.
No other than God can make the following statement, “He creates you in your mothers’ wombs, in one stage after another, in threefold depths of darkness.” (39:6)
“It is He who shapes you all in the womb as He pleases.” (3:6)
“He formed you and made your forms good.” (64:3)
“He is God: the Creator, the Originator, the Shaper. The best names belong to Him.” (59:24)
He is the maker of suwar (pictures), the emphasis in the mentioned verses. This is where the existence of God is established. Paintings are put up in houses for dedication. When painting, there must be a place for it, and light, and a canvas, which are our conditions for the task. He is such a painter that makes unmatched pictures and forms in the darkness and in the narrowness of the mother’s womb. After the picture is made, he gives fikr (intellect) to the mind and jazba (passion) to the heart and ruh (soul) to the body. The Musawwir (God, the designer) is such that he uses fire, air, water and dirt as the paint to make the pictures. Do you understand the existence of God?
“Do they not see the birds made to fly through the air in the sky? Nothing holds them up except God. There truly are signs in this for those who believe.” (16:79)
God asks what has happened with people that they do not look toward the birds, the ways they do not drop to the ground. At that time, there was no theory of gravity. Some time ago, a scientist saw an apple fall to the ground, and wondered why it did not fly away instead, and realized there is kashishe thiql (gravity) in the earth that pulls things toward itself.
“And He hath constrained the night and the day and the sun and the moon to be of service unto you, and the stars are made subservient by His command. Lo! herein indeed are portents for people who have sense.” (16:12)
Our statements often have a single meaning, but not the Quran. It speaks on one thing and indicates toward another. There is not one dimension to any verse.
Ilm al Kalam (discursive theology) is full of evidence of God’s oneness. Tawhid means to make God one, in all ways. We too are individuals as people, as Talib Johri is one, but if you chop me up, you could make me into thousands of parts, which is what constitutes me.
If someone is made of ajza (parts) that are joined, he is muhtaj (dependent) on those parts such that he could not be without those parts. The one that is dependent could be a creation, but not God the creator. For this reason, God should not have parts, solely by rational thinking. God is the samad (independent) and be nayaz (independent).
The commonality between all of us is insaniyat (humanity), and our differences include height, looks, color, etc. So every person is made of two things, one being humanity which is mushtarak (commonality), and the other being height, looks, color, etc. which is mukhtalif (difference). So we are murakkab (composite).
If you suppose there to be four gods, they have commonality in something, which is their godhood, and difference in something, which is their individuality. The one that is composite cannot be God. This is a very complex concept, called the Dalil Mabihi Ishtirak wa Ma bihi Imtiyaz (The Proof of Commonality and Differentiation), which I have explained simply.
The other evidence is Dalil al Tamanu (The Proof of Mutual Hindrance/Exclusion), which is to assume that if there are two gods, they are either extending their godly power to the greatest extent, or they have divided the godly power between them. If they split it with fifty percent god power for you and fifty percent for me, you limit it. Such a person with limited power can be a tyrannical king, but not God.
Let’s say they don’t divide the godly power and both have ultimate power, then they will both say the same thing, or they will say something different. If they have different opinions, there would be fasad (chaos) in the cosmos, which there is not.
If they have the same opinions, then why are there two powers when one could do the job? If one man can speak at an event and you invite five others on stage as well, they are useless and not needed. If we think that there are two gods, was there the capacity in one to do the job by himself? If not, he is not God. If he could, he is not God. You will spin around from every side and reach the truth of the pure oneness God. Believe me, there have been thousands of pages written in the books of falsafa (philosophy) on such topics. Is God’s existence and oneness only for the educated? No. There must be such evidence that every person can internalize and understand at his own level no matter who he is.
Imam Ali said to Muhammad Hanafiyya his son, “Listen son, there have been 124,000 prophets sent with books, commandments and prohibitions. If there was someone other than God, he would also send his prophets and scriptures. Because that has not happened, that means there is no god other than Allah (God).”
References
Tawhid by Allama Talib Johri - Lecture
