دَليلُ التَّوحيدِ The Proof of Allah’s Divine Unity

45ـ الإمامُ‏عليٌّ (عَلَيهِ الّسَلامُ) ـ فيوَصِيَّتِه لاِبنِه‏الحَسَنِ (عَلَيهِ الّسَلامُ) ـ: واعلَمْ يا بُنَيَّ أ نَّهُ لَو كانَ لِرَبِّكَ شَريكٌ لَأتَتكَ رُسُلُهُ ، ولَرَأيتَ آثارَ مُلكِهِ وسُلطانِهِ ، ولَعَرَفتَ‏أفعالَهُ وصِفاتِهِ، ولكِنَّهُ إلهٌ واحِدٌ كَما وَصَفَ نَفسَهُ ، لا يُضادُّهُ في مُلكِهِ أحَدٌ ، ولا يَزولُ أبَداً.

45– Imam Ali (AS) said in his will to his son, al-Hasan (AS), ‘And know my son that if your Lord were to have a partner, his messengers would surely have come to you, and you would have seen the signs of his dominion and his power, and you would know his acts and his attributes. He, however, is One God, just as He as described Himself. He is neither opposed by anyone in His kingdom, nor will He ever cease to be.’[Nahj al-Balagha, Letter 31]
 

46ـ الإمامُ الصّادقُ (عَلَيهِ الّسَلامُ) ـ مِن مُناظَرَتِهِ زِندِيقا ـ: إن قُلتَ: إنَّهُما اثنانِ لَم يَخْلُ مِن أن يَكونا مُتَّفِقَينِ مِن كُلِّ جِهَةٍ ، أو مُفتَرِقَينِ مِن كُلِّ جِهَةٍ ، فلَمّا رَأينا الخَلقَ مُنتَظِماً، والفَلَكَ جارِياً، واختلافَ اللَّيلِ‏والنَّهارِ، والشَّمسِ والقَمَرِ ، دَلَّ صِحَّةُ الأمرِ والتَّدبيرِ وائتِلافُ الأمرِ عَلى أنَّ المُدَبِّرَ واحِدٌ. ثُمّ يَلزَمُكَ إنِ ادَّعَيتَ اثنَينِ فلابُدَّ مِن فُرجَةٍ بَينَهُما حتّى يَكونا اثنَينِ ، فصارَتِ الفُرجَةُ ثالِثاً بَينَهُما قَديماً مَعَهُما فيَلزَمُكَ ثَلاثَةٌ، فإنِ ادَّعيتَ ثَلاثَةً لَزِمَكَ ما قُلنا في الاثنَينِ حتّى يَكونَ بَينَهُم فُرجَتانِ فيَكونَ خَمساً، ثُمّ يَتَناهى في العَدَدِ إلى ما لا نِهايَةَ في الكَثرَةِ.

46– Imam al-Sadiq (AS), when he was debating with an atheist, said, ‘If you say that there are two gods, then they are either in complete agreement on everything or completely separate in their spheres of influence. But when we look at this orderly creation, the continuous orbits, the alternation of night and day, and the sun and the moon, the soundness of the situation and the organisation and sound management of it indicates that the Director [of all creation] is One.’
Then if you still claim that there are two gods, then there must necessarily be some kind of difference between them for them to be two [and therefore distinct from each other], and this distinguishing characteristic between them is itself eternal like them, so you are forced to accept three such beings. And if you hold that there are indeed three, then you have to admit the same thing that we said for two such that they [the three] necessarily have two distinguishing characteristics between them [to differentiate them from each other] so then there are five [such eternal beings] altogether, and thus does the multiplication continue until infinity.’[al-Tawhid, p. 243, no. 1]
 

47ـ الإمامُ الصّادقُ (عَلَيهِ الّسَلامُ) ـ لَمّا سُئلَ عَنِ الدَّليلِ عَلى أنَّ اللّه‏َ واحِدٌ ـ: اتِّصالُ التَّدبيرِ، وتَمامُ الصُّنعِ ، كَما قالَ اللّه‏ُ عَزَّوجلَّ: «لَو كانَ فيهِما آلِهَةٌ إلّا اللّه‏ُ لَفَسَدَتا»

47– Imam al-Sadiq (AS), when asked to give proof that Allah is One, said, ‘The continuous unity of management [in the cosmos] and the perfection of creation, as Allah, Mighty and Exalted, has said, “Had there been gods in them (i.e. the heavens and the earth) other than Allah, they would surely have fallen apart”[ Qur’an 21:22].’[al-Tawhid, p. 250, no. 2]
 

48ـ الإمامِ الرِّضا (عَلَيهِ الّسَلامُ) ـ لَمّا سألَهُ رَجُلٌ مِنَ الثَنَوِيَّةِ: إنّي أقولُ: إنّ صانِعَ العالَمِ اثنانِ ، فما الدَّليلُ عَلى أ نَّهُ واحِدٌ؟ ـ: قَولُكَ: إنَّهُ اثنانِ دَليلٌ عَلى أ نَّهُ واحِدٌ ؛ لِأنَّكَ لَم تَدَّعِ الثّانِيَ إلّا بَعدَ إثباتِكَ الواحِدَ ، فالواحِدُ مُجمَعٌ عَلَيهِ ، وأكثَرُ مِن واحِدٍ مُختَلَفٌ فيهِ.

48– Imam al-Rida (AS) was asked the following by a man believing in dualism, ‘I believe that the creator of the world are two, so what is the proof that He is One?’ Im?m replied, ‘Your belief that there are two is proof in itself that He is One, for verily you have only claimed the second after having affirmed the existence of the One. So the One is already a unanimous fact – it is more than one that is controversial [and remains to be proven].’[al-Tawhid, p. 270, no. 6]
 

49ـ تفسير القمّي: ثُمّ رَدَّ اللّه‏ُ عَلَى الثَّنَويَّةِ الّذينَ قالوا بِإلهَينِ فقالَ اللّه‏ُ تَعالى: «ما اتَّخَذَ اللّه‏ُ مِن وَلَدٍ وما كانَ مَعَهُ مِن إلهٍ ...» قالَ: لَو كانا إلهَينِ كَما زَعَمتُم لَكانا يَختِلفان ؛ فيَخلُقُ هذا ولا يَخلُقُ هذا، ويُريدُ هذا ولا يُريدُ هذا، ويَطلبُ كلُّ واحدٍ مِنهما الغَلَبَةَ، وإذا أرادَ أحدُهُما خَلْقَ إنسانٍ أرادَ الآخرُ خَلْقَ بَهيمَةٍ، فيكونُ إنساناً وبَهيمةً في حالَةٍ واحِدَةٍ ، وهذا غيرُ مَوجودٍ، فَلَمّا بَطُلَ هذا ثَبَتَ التَّدبيرُ والصِنعُ لِواحدٍ، ودَلَّ أيضا التَّدبيرُ وثباتُهُ وقِوامُ بَعضِهِ بِبَعضٍ على أنَّ الصّانِعَ واحدٌ وذلكَ قَولُهُ: «ما اتَّخَذَ اللّه‏ُ مِن وَلَدٍ»إلى قَولِهِ: «لَعَلا بَعْضُهُمْ عَلى بَعْضٍ».

49– It is written in Tafsir al-Qummi: ‘Then Allah, Mighty and Exalted, answered dualism and those who professed that there were two gods, saying: “Allah has not taken any offspring, neither is there any god besides Him, for then each god would take away what he created, and some of them would surely rise up against others. Clear is Allah of what they allege!” [Qur’an 23:91] If there were two gods, as you claim, each one of them would seek superiority, and if one of them desired to create a man, the other would desire to oppose him and create an animal, so their joint creation would have to be the product of both their desires, in spite of their differing wills, man and beast at the same time. And this is the most impossible thing that does not even exist. And if this argument is invalid and there is no difference between them, then the whole duality is invalid [with no distinction left between the two] and there is only one. Therefore, this order, unity of arrangement, subsistence of some things through other things, all indicate to One Maker, and this is the purport of Allah’s verse in the Qur’an: “Allah has not taken any offspring neither is there any god besides Him…” and “Had there been gods in them (i.e. the heavens and the earth) other than Allah, they would surely have fallen apart.”[ Nur al-Thaqalayn, v. 3, p. 550, no. 107]