The Role of God's Names and Attributes in Semantic Degrees of Divine Promises and Threats
Journal Title: جستارهایی در فلسفه و کلام - Year 2010, Vol 42, Issue 84
Abstract
Among the ways of stating God's actions in the Qur'an is the causal inference (ta‘līl) of any one of them by Divine names and attributes. Promise and threat as God's actions is not an exception in this regard. According to the verses of the Qur'an, Divine names and attributes have a basic role in issuing promise and threat for human beings. Sometimes, it is done directly, that is to say, it is stated along with the promise and threat of a name or an attribute of God, and sometimes, the concept of Divine attributes is implied from the content of the verses of promise and threats in interpreters' statements. This research is intended to find an answer to the question as to whether the content of promise and threat through God's attributes contains different semantic degrees in human beings. The present article seeks to examine one or two proper names in different degrees of promise and threat in relation to human beings; for instance: the relation of the two names "The Forgiving, The Merciful" in various human degrees has a significant role in achieving perfection, since each one of them enjoys differently from these two names. Thus, other names of God, such as: The Creator, The Originator, The Sustainer, The Form-giver, etc. cannot substitute these two names, as the concept of expansion and perfection fully exists in the word Mercy. Therefore, the Prophets have a higher enjoyment of Divine Mercy than others (Q. 7: 23). On the next level (degree) are the believers and strivers (mujāhids) who are hopeful of Divine Mercy and Forgiveness, and God, in turn, forgives their probable blunders and submerge them in His Mercy and Forgiveness (Q. 2: 218). On another level, the sinners who have awakened and repented to God enjoy from his Mercy and Forgiveness according to their capacity (Q. 2: 86-89). Yet on another level, Divine Mercy toward the sinners who have persisted in their sinfulness is in such a way that they still have a chance remained for them to repent and not undergo the torments of desperation (Q. 18: 57 & 58).
Authors and Affiliations
A‘ẓAm Parcham, Sumayya ‘ImāDī AndāDī
Keywords
Related Articles
- EP ID EP202536
- DOI 10.22067/philosophy.v42i1.11238
- Views 114
- Downloads 0
Critique of Mu’ayyid al-Dīn Jandī’s Theory on Ibn ‘Arabī’s being the Seal of the Saints of Allah (Khātam al-Awliyā)
One of the significant discourses of theoretical mysticism in Islam is the discussion about khātam al-awliyā (seal of the Saints). Mystics believe whatever exists in the world of being is a locus of manifestation for the...
Similitude from the Viewpoint of Ghazālī and Avicenna
Relying on and refuting some viewpoints of the theosophists concerning God as being Creator, Ghazālī contravenes the similitude between the Exalted God and the creatures, since he believes that according to these argumen...
A Critical Review of Contraposition Argument
The contraposition (musāmita) argument is among the arguments for proving the finitude of dimensions that has received attention in discussing physics and has yielded some philosophical consequences. Contraposition argum...
A Study of ‘Allāma Ṭabāṭabā’ī’s Viewpoint on Knowledge
The late ‘Allāma viewed knowledge (‘ilm) as an existential entity and agreed with Ṣadr al-Muti’allihīn in this respect, saying that knowledge is the presence of an object for an object, i.e. achievement of knowledge for...
Criticizing the notion of human intellectual maturity in the philosophy of seal of prophethood and imamate
In analyzing and explaining seal of prophethood as a doctrine, almost all scholars who have dealt with this issue considerhuman intellectual maturityas the main criterion and the secret of the emergent finality.The prese...