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God and His Attributes
Explains the monotheistic view of Islam in twenty-one lessons with brilliant clarity. Drawing heavily on the traditions of the Prophet as well as extensive quotes from the Qur'an, the author convincingly refutes the materialist point of view while presenting sound reasoning for the monotheistic world view.
206 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1989
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43 people want to read
About the author
Mujtaba Musavi Lari
38 books9 followersSayyed Mujtaba Musavi Lari was born in 1925 in the city of Lar where he completed his primary education and his preliminary Islamic studies. In 1953, he departed for Qum to continue his study of the Islamic sciences, studying under the professors and teachers of the religious institution, including the main authorities in jurisprudence (maraji’).
In 1962, he became a collaborator of Maktab Al-lslam, a religious and scientific journal, writing a series of articles on Islamic ethics. Thee articles were later collected into a book published under the title Ethical and Psychological Problems.
In 1978, he traveled to America at the invitation of an Islamic organization in that country. He then went to England and France and after returning to Iran began writing a series of articles on Islamic ideology for the magazine Soroush. These articles were later collected in a four volume book on the fundamental beliefs of Islam (tauhid, divine justice, prophethood, imamate, and resurrection) under the title The Foundations of Islamic Doctrine.
In 1962, he became a collaborator of Maktab Al-lslam, a religious and scientific journal, writing a series of articles on Islamic ethics. Thee articles were later collected into a book published under the title Ethical and Psychological Problems.
In 1978, he traveled to America at the invitation of an Islamic organization in that country. He then went to England and France and after returning to Iran began writing a series of articles on Islamic ideology for the magazine Soroush. These articles were later collected in a four volume book on the fundamental beliefs of Islam (tauhid, divine justice, prophethood, imamate, and resurrection) under the title The Foundations of Islamic Doctrine.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
June 11, 2018
I decided to read this book because I got confused after reading the first sermon from Imam Ali (A.S.) in Nahjul Balagha that talks about creation and the attributes of God – rather, how we cannot assign attributes to God because “every attribute is a proof that it is different from that to which it is attributed and everything to which something is attributed is different from the attribute.” Now I don’t know about you, but when I first read this, I was confused, because how can we know who/what God is if we have no means of understanding Him? We know other people by how they behave, their characteristics, etc... Also, there are 99 names of God in Islam, which are essentially 99 characteristics/attributes. So I didn't understand how there can’t be attributes attached to Him – what does this mean? My friend suggested I read this book, and so I have. And it’s helped. [Note: this is the first sermon of Imam Ali, how am I going to get through the others if I’m going to need to read a whole novel for each one??]
In the first portion of the book, the author argues for the existence of God, bringing forth atheistic, materialist, evolutionistic arguments and how they validate their points. He analyzes the logic of their arguments, tearing them apart piece by piece, and finally presenting the monotheistic reasoning for not only the necessity of the existence of God, but also the necessity for there being a single God with the impossibility multiple gods.
I think one of the most important aspects in regard to God is that we are relative beings who live in a relative world. We always need to quantify everything, relate it to something else and make comparisons in order to draw similarities and differences between objects. But we can’t take a meter-stick and measure the length of God, or put Him on a scale to see what His mass is. We can’t pin Him down to a single location because then He wouldn’t be in any other location. We cannot say He is only all just because then He would be incapable of being all merciful as well; He embodies the infinite absoluteness of justice and mercy (amongst other attributes) but shouldn’t be pinned down to a single one because that in itself would be a limitation.
We cannot define, see or feel abstract qualities that we all agree exist – we perceive the “symptoms”, those things that are affected by them, but not the abstract qualities themselves. We cannot actually see or feel thought, emotion, even forces like gravity. They’re not physical, materialistic. We can’t reproduce/mimic them, yet we know they exist. We know this from the evidence they leave behind, by how they affect what they act on, but we cannot actually see the force of gravity itself, or emotions (such as hate or love), or someone’s thoughts. Rowling creates a physical form of thought in HP5 through her use of the pensieve, but that’s her interpretation of what thought may look like, and it’s an interesting idea.
So the answer to my question: what does it mean to say we cannot describe God? Well, the reality is, that since God is the Creator, an infinite being who has no bounds, it’s pretty impossible for us to expect to be able to even describe Him in the material sense, in the relative sense, in our sense. Basically, we can’t compare Him with ourselves; the premise is that we are not the embodiment of our characteristics. For example, I am knowledgeable in biology – it is something that I learned over time. However, no one would say I am biology, I am the essence of biology. My knowledge of the subject matter and myself are not one and the same. The attributes of God would not be these “regular” attributes that we would possess; rather, His attributes would be termed “divine” attributes of which He is the embodiment, the essence. He is not separate from anything nor is He limited by anything. He is the source and nothing exists independent of Him. The author states, “Each attribute is infinite and coextensive with the infinitude of the essence. God is free of and exempt from finite attributes that might be distinct from each other and separate from the essence… God’s [absolute] being derives from Himself, it follows that an absolute being is infinite in all respects…all other realities are subordinate to it and knowable only by the means of it… an essence that is identical with existence must necessarily possess all these perfections [knowledge, power, non-origination, everlastingness, etc… ] to an infinite degree.”
Although written from an Islamic perspective, the author does not use religion to support his arguments for the existence of God. He uses ahadith to show how people throughout the times of the Prophet/Imams questioned them about the existence of God, and their responses to these questions, and he uses the Qur’an (not as his arguments) to show us what God tells His creation about Himself.
An excellent thought-provoking book, and one I recommend to anyone with questions about God who wants to understand from a not-only-faith-and-religion context, be the reader religious or non-religious.
In the first portion of the book, the author argues for the existence of God, bringing forth atheistic, materialist, evolutionistic arguments and how they validate their points. He analyzes the logic of their arguments, tearing them apart piece by piece, and finally presenting the monotheistic reasoning for not only the necessity of the existence of God, but also the necessity for there being a single God with the impossibility multiple gods.
I think one of the most important aspects in regard to God is that we are relative beings who live in a relative world. We always need to quantify everything, relate it to something else and make comparisons in order to draw similarities and differences between objects. But we can’t take a meter-stick and measure the length of God, or put Him on a scale to see what His mass is. We can’t pin Him down to a single location because then He wouldn’t be in any other location. We cannot say He is only all just because then He would be incapable of being all merciful as well; He embodies the infinite absoluteness of justice and mercy (amongst other attributes) but shouldn’t be pinned down to a single one because that in itself would be a limitation.
We cannot define, see or feel abstract qualities that we all agree exist – we perceive the “symptoms”, those things that are affected by them, but not the abstract qualities themselves. We cannot actually see or feel thought, emotion, even forces like gravity. They’re not physical, materialistic. We can’t reproduce/mimic them, yet we know they exist. We know this from the evidence they leave behind, by how they affect what they act on, but we cannot actually see the force of gravity itself, or emotions (such as hate or love), or someone’s thoughts. Rowling creates a physical form of thought in HP5 through her use of the pensieve, but that’s her interpretation of what thought may look like, and it’s an interesting idea.
So the answer to my question: what does it mean to say we cannot describe God? Well, the reality is, that since God is the Creator, an infinite being who has no bounds, it’s pretty impossible for us to expect to be able to even describe Him in the material sense, in the relative sense, in our sense. Basically, we can’t compare Him with ourselves; the premise is that we are not the embodiment of our characteristics. For example, I am knowledgeable in biology – it is something that I learned over time. However, no one would say I am biology, I am the essence of biology. My knowledge of the subject matter and myself are not one and the same. The attributes of God would not be these “regular” attributes that we would possess; rather, His attributes would be termed “divine” attributes of which He is the embodiment, the essence. He is not separate from anything nor is He limited by anything. He is the source and nothing exists independent of Him. The author states, “Each attribute is infinite and coextensive with the infinitude of the essence. God is free of and exempt from finite attributes that might be distinct from each other and separate from the essence… God’s [absolute] being derives from Himself, it follows that an absolute being is infinite in all respects…all other realities are subordinate to it and knowable only by the means of it… an essence that is identical with existence must necessarily possess all these perfections [knowledge, power, non-origination, everlastingness, etc… ] to an infinite degree.”
Although written from an Islamic perspective, the author does not use religion to support his arguments for the existence of God. He uses ahadith to show how people throughout the times of the Prophet/Imams questioned them about the existence of God, and their responses to these questions, and he uses the Qur’an (not as his arguments) to show us what God tells His creation about Himself.
An excellent thought-provoking book, and one I recommend to anyone with questions about God who wants to understand from a not-only-faith-and-religion context, be the reader religious or non-religious.
July 3, 2024
One of the must-read books on Islamic religious doctrine, it goes beyond mere belief satisfaction or romanticized superficial aspects of the afterlife. It offers a logical and precise philosophical approach to questions about creation and the Creator. Each aspect is debated with a humane attitude, making it an essential read for those seeking profound insights into Islamic teachings.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews