Is the Universe Created by Allah Yet Beginningless?

Answered by Ustadh Sufyan Qufi

Question

Some argue that an Eternal Universe is possible if God creates everything of the Universe (beginninglessly). I know the arguments against an Eternal Universe, so I said that if we had an Eternal Universe, there would be no today because the past would be infinite. But what if someone says, “Okay, it’s not possible without God, but what if God did it and made each moment independent, and He can do it?”

Is it permissible to say, “The question is not whether God can do it, but whether God did it, and we see that an endless past is not possible, thus we may claim that God did not do it?”

Would saying this be Haram or Shirk/Kufr according to the Maturidiyya aqida?

Answer

In the name of Allah, Most Compassionate, Most Merciful,

Believing that the universe, or any part of it, is beginningless and was always in existence is disbelief. [Ghazali, Tahafut al-Falasifa]

The universe is understood as being anything besides Allah, Most High. [Bajuri, Tuhfat al-Murid]

Allah, Most High, says: “Indeed, in the creation of the heavens and the earth; the alternation of the day and the night; the ships that sail the sea for the benefit of humanity; the rain sent down by Allah from the skies, reviving the earth after its death; the scattering of all kinds of creatures throughout; the shifting of the winds; and the clouds drifting between the heavens and the earth—˹in all of this˺ are surely signs for people of understanding.” [Quran, 2:164]

In explaining this verse, Imam al-Razi (May Allah be pleased with him) explains that to create something is to make this go from nothingness to existence. [Razi, al-Tafsir al-Kabir]

This is why Imam al-Ghazali (May Allah be pleased with him) deemed the belief of the beginningless of the universe to not be acceptable in any way and that believing such a thing is denying the truthfulness of the Prophets (blessings and peace be upon them). [Ghazali, Tahafut al-Falasifa]

The Messenger of Allah (Blessings and peace be upon him) has said: “Allah was in existence, and nothing else was in existence along with Him.” [Bukhari]

The correct belief, reflecting the positions of both the Ash‘ari and Maturidi schools, regarding this issue is that the universe has been created by Allah, Most High, from two perspectives:

1. The existence of the universe was preceded by its non-existence;
2. The universe is in need of Allah, Most High, to remain in existence.

The belief that the universe is in need of Allah, Most High, to remain in existence but that the existence of the universe is beginningless is the belief of the falasifa (the philosophers), a group of people who would put the teachings of Plato and Aristotle above the Quran and the Sunna and are deemed unbelievers. They have been thoroughly refuted in many books of Islamic theology. [Bajuri, Hashiyat al-Bajuri ‘ala Sharh al-‘Aqa’id al-Nasafiyya]

Rational Proofs

The rational proofs for the above are many, but it is important to note first that to believe that the universe is beginningless, even while affirming that it is created by Allah, is going against the Quran and the Sunna and thus is not acceptable.

I will try to give one piece of proof below:

The universe, as we experience it right now, is in existence. To reach the present time, this universe must have gone through all the past events preceding the present. If we were to suppose that the universe is beginningless, then this would entail that the universe must have gone through an infinite series of events to reach the present time, as a beginningless universe is necessarily the locus of an infinite series of events running through the past without any “first” event. Thus, in order to reach the present time, it is a condition for an infinite series of events to end, as the present cannot occur before all the preceding events leading to the present end.

This is a rational absurdity. It is rationally absurd for an infinite series of events to end. This is entailed by the mere definition of infinity: something which is infinite is something that has no end.

Thus a beginningless universe is a rational absurdity and does not belong to the realm of the rationally possible. [Ghazali, Ihya ‘Ulum al-Din]

The existence of anything conceivable is either rationally necessary (i.e., it is not rationally possible for this thing to not exist), rationally possible (i.e., it is conceivable for this thing to exist or to not exist), or absurd (i.e., it is rationally impossible for this thing to exist). There is no other possibility. [Sanusi, Umm al-Barahin]

Allah’s attribute of power is an attribute through which Allah, Most High, creates any rationally possible thing that He has chosen to create. [Bajuri, Tuhfat al-Murid]

Thus, given the fact that a beginningless universe does not belong to the realm of the rationally possible, it is rationally impossible (i.e., absurd) for Allah, Most High, to create such a rational absurdity, and we know with certainty that the universe has a beginning and its existence was preceded by non-existence.

It does not mean that Allah, Most High, is weak and powerless in this regard. It simply means that Allah, Most High, has granted human beings a reliable tool to distinguish between which things are rationally possible, which things are rationally impossible, and which things are rationally necessary, and thus a way for human beings to know Allah, Most High, through His creation.

This tool is called “reason” or “intellect.” This is what distinguishes human beings from other animals.

Note:

The proof above is simply an introduction of the real proof for the necessary fact that the universe has a beginning. The details of this proof can be found in more advanced books of Islamic theology. The detailed proof clarifies the nature of time and matter and does not contradict modern science and, most importantly, logic.

And Allah knows best.
Wassalam
[Ustadh] Sufyan Qufi
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani