Man in the World of Pre-Existence

Some Quranic verses have either directly or indirectly referred to man's acknowledging Divine Unity in "the world of pre-existence" or "Alast". Some narrations have mentioned this as well. However, there is no consensus among thinkers as to the existence of such a world; some have argued in support of this world and others have negated its existence. The author of this paper has reviewed relevant verses and narrations as well as the assenting and dissenting views of thinkers about such a world and votes in favor of the world of pre-existence and the existence of immaterial man in that world; the author also selects the theory of men's collective presence before God, Who is beyond all temporal or spatial confines, criticizes the competing justifications, and refutes man's acknowledging God's unity before his material existence. It is argued that accepting such a confession results in the acceptance of metempsychosis and renders maturation and religious obligation vain. The merit of the present paper, compared to previous writings on this subject, is that besides a new arrangement, it analyzes Quranic verses and narrations, reviews supporting and opposing views, supports the selected theory and reports it in simple language. This is a library research of a theoretical type, and relying on the views of scholars, it carries out a content analysis and explains the concept of man's existence in the world before creation.