Comments on: Clearest Rational Argument for the Existence of a Creator

By: Saido

Saido — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 06:56:18 +0000

I think this whole argument can be summed up as “Nothing comes from Nothing.” Ex Nihilo Nihil Fit. But, there is something. Therefore, necessary being exists.

By: Yusuf Mullan

Yusuf Mullan — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 05:17:43 +0000

Like I said, it’s the topic of a whole other article. Please read the comments under the following blog post, starting from around a third of the way down, where user “Abu Adam” appears:

http://muslimmatters.org/2008/04/09/the-role-of-atomism-on-groups-of-kalam/

It is a lengthy read and should satisfy you on this issue. You will see both sides of the discussion. If you need further clarification, please re-post here. The general method being Qur’anic I believe has been illustrated quite sufficiently.

By: Scott

Scott — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 21:27:57 +0000

Yes I’d very much like it if you could continue with this. The reason I ask is very simple, at my local university there are two groups of Muslims, the neo-rationalists and those who are averse to any type of logical arguments. Anytime logic/kalam is mentioned they dismiss it as Aristotelian dialectics. This leaves someone like me fairly confused on what Muslims really believe and what they do not believe in.

Your elaboration on this topic would be much appreciated.

By: Yusuf Mullan

Yusuf Mullan — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 02:25:58 +0000

Not all matters of usool al-deen are identical. There are some of them which are indeed “rationally discernible” and we are encouraged to formulate proofs in order to establish them. Any properly formulated argument using “proof by contradiction” as its basis will be a Qur’anic argument though it might not be listed in the scriptures verbatim.

The matter we are concerned with here is the “existence” of a necessarily existent Being, as mentioned in the introduction of the argument:

…an Entity attributed with necessary existence (ithbat al-wajib) and attributes of perfection such as life, will, power and knowledge, and also free of all flaws, including resemblance to the creation in any way which would allow one to pose the question, “Who created him?”

We do not claim to “know” the Creator through this method. There is a difference between using reason and logic to establish the existence of an Entity whose reality we do not claim to know, and trying to determine for Him a reality based on reason and logic. It is the first of these which is the topic of the argument above.

As for the method being Qur’anic, it is probably the topic of another article. If you want me to continue with this, please indicate.

By: Scott

Scott — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 04:16:16 +0000

Just out of curiosity in matters of usool al-deen are Muslims allowed to use kalam or are you restricted to the the Qur`an and Sunnah only?

By: oldrepublic

oldrepublic — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 06:57:28 +0000

Thanks for the clarification and the following Sunniforum thread link: http://www.sunniforum.com/forum/showthread.php?61145-Clearest-rational-argument-for-the-existence-of-a-Creator-Yusuf-Mullan (I’ve decided to post it here so that others may benefit as well)

By: Yusuf Mullan

Yusuf Mullan — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 09:21:56 +0000

Actually, I’ve (now) omitted that phrase from the introduction, along with a couple of others. Its meaning was obvious, but it wasn’t essential, and I received reports of certain readers finding the phrase strange, causing them to dismiss the points made in the argument. The argument was not in need of such reinforcements.

I recently edited the whole article, introducing a couple of new angles and omitting some redundant sentences. What is found above can be considered version 2.0.

By: olrepublic

olrepublic — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 00:28:43 +0000

I think it would be great if Shaykh Mullan clarified what constitutes “doubt casters” at the out set, e.g. atheist, agnostic( strong, apathetic, and atheistic), and ignostics.