وحدت حقه

In Islam, the principle of monotheism (Tawhid) has been introduced as the most fundamental principles of religion and its understanding as the most exalted form of knowledge. Although, in Islamic theology, knowing the divine essence is considered impossible for human beings, the window to knowing God in theology is not completely shut and attaining some levels of understanding of monotheism through the study of divine attributes is possible and recommended. Therefore, addressing God through these attributes and the explanation of their true meaning is abundant both in the verses of the Holy Quran and in the Sunnah (traditions and prayers). God has described Himself with four attributes; "the first (alaval), the last (alakhar) the apparent (alzaher) and the hidden (albaten)" at the beginning of Hadid Surah. The understanding of these attributes as a way to contemplate on the Day of Judgement is recommended in Islamic traditions. Considering the different narratives, intellectual and intuitive approaches in explaining the meaning of divine attributes, this article seeks to explain the meaning of these four attributes, considering the significant heritage of the intellectual and philosophical approaches in this respect. In this paper, ‘the first’ and ‘the last’ are not considered as temporal concepts rather they are considered essential characteristics and the philosophical framework that has been considered as the ultimate cause. In Mulla Sadra’s philosophy, these attributes signify absolute unity and include all divine attributes. ‘The apparent’ and ‘the hidden’ are interpreted through references to other divine attributes such as divine knowledge. ‘The apparent’ refers to the manifestation of divine attributes in worldly signs. In Mulla Sadra’s philosophy, these two attributes are compared with light which is apparent in nature and is a sign of something else which remains hidden because of its exalted status.

After the terminology of unity and monotheism and referring to the kinds of the unique, this article explains the viewpoints of Islamic philosophers and the content of religious texts about the unity of Divine Essence. All Islamic philosophers consider the instance of necessary being as unique, and believe that the other instance of necessary being is impossible. But they disagree in the hypothetical examples of necessary being. Previously they believed in numerical unity, but finally they arrived at the theory of the true and real unity of God. And thus they have approached the mystical personal unity.
In Islamic narrations, the numerical unity of God has been negated. The Holy Quran, by describing the unity of Allah Almighty with overwhelming (قهاریت), expresses the fact that the unity of Allah Almighty is such that it does not leave room for a presumption of the other.

The holy Quran has confirmed God's attributes and the Quranic verses which represent the referece for explaining how to ascribe attributes to the Essence of the Divine, what evidence can be given for the fact that they are ascribed to God and whether or not these attributes have reality and whether they are mere name's even though the Essence of the Divine does enjoy their effects. The article is intended to discuss the subject of the attributes of the Divine in a systematic and logical way from an ontological angle. This article, in fact, seeks to explore how God has perfect attributes and to examine whether or not they are finite on the basis of the rule " Necessary Being in Essence is Necessary Being in all aspects" and secondary items derived from this rule. The mistakes which are made in the way of ascribing attributes to the Essence of the Divine is also discussed.