Concept and Arguments for the Beginning of the World from the Viewpoint of Sheikh Mufid, Seyyed Murtaza and Karajaki

One of the wide issues discussed by the major philosophers of the ancient Greece is the eternity of the world. The religious tradition and, consequently, the Muslim theologians opposed it and tried to reject it. Sheikh Mufid is one of the first theologians to discuss the temporal occurrence (huduth) and limitedness of the world. Because of his opposition to the Mutazilites, he brings about a clear line between the type of Shiite and the Mutazilite beliefs and considers the Mutazilites to be in the line of philosophers for belief in the consistent entities (al-'Ayan al-thabetah). His student, Seyyed al-Mortaza, is also trying to explain the temporal limitedness of the world by offering the rational and mathematical reasons. The reasons for limitedness of the temporal past have been followed in the works of Syed al-Mortaza's disciple that is Abu al-Fath Karajaki that he even has written letters and changed ideas to Seyyed al-Mortaza in this regard. In the writings of the theologians, rejection of temporal occurence of the world is considered as polytheism and eternalism, but it seems that some of the mathematical reasons raised by them do not corresponds the modern mathematics, but one can offer them with an acceptable explanation.