Creation From Nothing: A Response to Mufawwidha and Ghulat
A study on the origin of creation, the limits of divine action, and the status of Muhammad and the family of Muhammad, peace be upon them
Introduction
The question of existence is considered one of the deepest questions that has confronted the human mind:
How did the universe begin? And why was the human being brought into existence? And is creation a need or generosity?
However, the real problem does not lie in the question itself, but in the conceptual confusion that accompanies it, where the concepts of nonexistence and bringing into existence, manufacturing and creation, and divine power and created power become mixed.
And the more this confusion increases, the farther the human being moves away from pure monotheism, either toward atheism or toward extremism.
This study aims to dismantle this confusion and to build an integrated conception of the origin of existence, starting from reason, consistent with the Quran, and grounded in the deep doctrinal system of the School of Ahl al-Bayt, peace be upon them, but in a clear, calm, and understandable language for the non-specialist reader.
1. Nonexistence is not a substance
Among the most common expressions is the saying:
“Allah, the Exalted, created us from nonexistence.”
This expression, although correct in its meaning, needs philosophical precision.
For nonexistence:
• is not a thing
• is not a substance
• is not energy
• and is not a subject of action
Rather, it is only a state of the negation of existence. Accordingly, the precise formulation is:
We were nonexistence, then Allah, the Exalted, brought us into existence.
True creation is not interaction with nonexistence as a substance, but rather the bringing into existence of a thing after it was not. This understanding removes, from its roots, many atheistic problems that deal with nonexistence as if it were a “thing” capable of influence or formation.
2. Creation is not manufacturing
When a human being manufactures something:
• he needs raw material
• he needs tools
• he needs preexisting laws
The chair was nonexistence in terms of form, but it was made from existing wood.
And it is rationally impossible for a human being to manufacture something from nothing, because his act is based on disposing of what exists, not on bringing it into existence.
Therefore:
The act of the created being is transformation and shaping, not bringing into existence.
As for divine creation, it is not manufacturing nor shaping, but the effusion of existence.
Allah, the Exalted, said:
{His command, when He wills a thing, is only that He says to it: Be, and it is.}
This verse does not describe a word or a sound, but expresses an absolute existential law:
The mere attachment of the divine will to a thing is sufficient to bring it out from the stage of nonexistence to the stage of existence, without substance, without a prior cause, and without an intermediary.
3. The first determination in existence
Modern science speaks to us about the Big Bang as the beginning of time, space, and energy, but it acknowledges its inability to explain what was before that moment, or the source of the laws that exploded the universe.
As for the narrations transmitted from the Imams of Ahl al-Bayt, peace be upon them, they present a deeper dimension, and they say:
• That the first thing that issued from the divine will was a word
• And from this word the spirit was created
• And from the spirit the light was created
And this light is not physical light, but a supreme existential reality.
In the hadith of Jabir ibn Abd Allah al-Ansari, the Greatest Prophet, blessings be upon him and his family, said:
“Indeed, Allah created the light of your Prophet, O Jabir, and from it He created every good.”
And this text does not speak of a body or time, but of the first existential determination after the divine will, which is what is known as the Muhammadan light.
4. The cosmic rupture between science and doctrine
What science calls “the Big Bang” is a description of the mechanism of the expansion of the universe, not an explanation of its origin.
As for the doctrinal vision, it says:
That the universe ruptured existentially from a light that preceded it.
Thus:
• Science describes the event
• And doctrine explains the origin
And there is no contradiction between them, but rather complementarity between description and explanation.
5. Estimative creation and its limits
Among the decisive rational principles:
The created being does not create from nonexistence.
But the Quran affirms a type of creation for the created being, which is estimative creation, meaning transforming what exists into a new form by the permission of Allah.
Allah, the Exalted, said on the tongue of the Prophet Jesus son of Mary, peace be upon him:
“I create for you from clay the form of a bird, then I breathe into it and it becomes a bird by the permission of Allah.”
The verse is extremely precise:
• Clay is an existing substance
• The act is transformation, not bringing into existence
• The decisive restriction: by the permission of Allah
Thus this creation:
• is not independent
• nor divine
• nor bringing into existence from nonexistence
Rather, it is estimative transformative creation.
6. The knowledge of the Book, the creational guardianship, and its limits
Imami doctrine distinguishes precisely between:
• the one who has knowledge from the Book
• and the one who has the knowledge of the Book in its entirety
Muhammad and the Family of Muhammad, peace be upon them, possess the knowledge of the Book in its entirety, meaning complete encompassing, by the permission of Allah, of the system of existence, its laws, and the paths of influence within it. This is what we express as creational guardianship.
But this guardianship:
• is not independence from Allah
• nor departure from monotheism
• nor delegation in existential creation
And as for the textual proof:
From Imam Hasan al-Askari, peace be upon him, regarding the doctrine of the Delegators, he said:
“They lied. Rather, our hearts are vessels for the will of Allah. So when He wills, we will. And Allah says: And you do not will except that Allah wills.”
Rather, it is:
An ability to act upon what exists, not to bring it into existence from nonexistence.
They are:
• manifestations of power
• not the source of power
• channels of the will
• not the origin of the will
7. The detailed rational and Quranic refutation of the Delegators
The Delegators said that Muhammad and the Family of Muhammad created the universe and provide sustenance.
This statement, even though it is intended to exalt the station, demolishes monotheism from its foundation and causes the station of the Ahl al-Bayt themselves to fall into rational contradiction.
A: Distinguishing between the two types of creation
It is first necessary to distinguish between:
• existential creation: bringing a thing into existence from nonexistence
• estimative creation: transforming one thing into another
Confusing these two types is the root of the deviation of the Delegators.
B: The Quranic proof
The Quran confines existential creation to Allah alone:
“Be, and it is.”
This act is:
• without substance
• without cause
• without intermediary
• without permission from anyone
C: The textual proof
From Imam Hasan al-Askari, peace be upon him, regarding the doctrine of the ghulat, he said:
“They lied. Rather, our hearts are vessels for the will of Allah. When He wills, we will. And Allah says: {And you do not will except that Allah wills.}”
So if this act were attributed to other than Allah, that would be explicit polytheism.
D: The rational proof (Necessary Existent and possible existent)
Allah, the Exalted, is the Necessary Existent:
• His existence is from His essence
• He needs none other than Him
• The attributes of creation and provision are attributes of His act
As for everything other than Allah, no matter how high its station, it is a possible existent:
• its existence is derived
• it subsists through Allah
• it is needy in its essence
So attributing the attributes of the Necessary Existent to a possible existent leads to:
An impossible rational contradiction.
And our master Imam Jaafar ibn Muhammad al-Sadiq, peace be upon them, said:
“There is nothing that comes from nothing except Allah.”
This text blocks every path to excess or delegation.
E: Excess is not exaltation
Exalting Muhammad and the Family of Muhammad is achieved:
• by preserving monotheism, not by violating it
• and by returning every power to Allah
And excess, regardless of its motive, ends in negating both reason and monotheism together.
8. Creation is not for need but for generosity
The question remains: Why did Allah create us?
The atheistic answer assumes that every act is caused by a need, and this is a human assumption, not a divine one.
Allah is:
• perfect
• absolutely self-sufficient
• not benefiting from creation
So creation is not to remedy a deficiency, but rather:
A pure act of generosity.
As the Mistress of the Women of the Worlds, Fatima al-Zahra, peace be upon her, said in the Sermon of Fadak:
“He originated things not from something that existed before them… without any need on His part for their creation…”
When this entire system becomes clear:
• nonexistence is a state, not a substance
• creation is bringing into existence, not manufacturing
• the origin is light
• the goal is generosity
• existential creation belongs to Allah alone
• and estimative creation belongs to the created by His permission
The intellect reaches one conclusion:
Allah did not create because He was in need,
but He brought into existence because He is generous,
and this Lord is none but the Most Generous of the generous.
And this is pure monotheism as taught by Muhammad and the Family of Muhammad, peace be upon them.
Written by: 17th EIE