CHAPTER IV.
THE CREED OF ISLÁM.[[99]]
Faith is defined by Muslim theologians as: "Confession with the tongue and belief with the heart."[[100]] It is said to "stand midway between hope and fear." It is sub-divided into Imán-í-mujmal and Imán-í-mufassal. The former is an expression of the following faith: "I believe in God, His names and attributes, and accept all His commands."[[101]] The latter is the acceptance of the following dogmas: "I believe in God, Angels, Books, Prophets, the Last Day, the Predestination by the Most High God of good and evil and the Resurrection after death."[[102]] These form the articles of faith which every Muslim must believe, to which belief, in order to render it perfect, he must add the performance of the "acts of practice," viz.: (1) "The recital of the Kalima or creed:—'There is no deity but God, and Muhammad is the Apostle of God.' (2) Sulát. The five daily prayers. (3) Roza. The thirty days fast of Ramazán. (4) Zakát. The legal alms. (5) Hajj, or the pilgrimage to Mecca." This chapter will contain an account of the Imán—the dogmas of Islám. An account of the Dín—the practical duties, will be given in the next chapter.
1. God.—This article of the faith includes a belief in the existence of God, His unity and attributes, and has given rise to a large number of sects. Some acquaintance with the various controversies which have thus arisen is necessary to a correct knowledge of Islám. I commence the consideration of this subject by giving the substance of a Sunní, or orthodox treatise known as the Risála-i-Berkevi. The learned orientalist M. Garcin de Tassy, considered it to be of such authority that in his "L'Islamisme d'après le Coran" he has inserted a translation of the Risála.[[103]] Muhammad Al-Berkevi, speaking of the Divine attributes, says:—
(1). Life. (Hyát). God Most High is alone to be adored. He has neither associate nor equal. He is free from the imperfections of humanity. He is neither begotten nor does He beget. He is invisible. He is without figure, form, colour or parts. His existence has neither beginning nor end. He is immutable. If He so wills, He can annihilate the world in a moment of time and, if it seem good to Him, recreate it in an instant. Nothing is difficult to Him, whether it be the creation of a fly or that of the seven heavens. He receives neither profit nor loss from whatever may happen. If all the Infidels became Believers and all the irreligious pious, He would gain no advantage. On the other hand, if all Believers became Infidels, He would suffer no loss.
(2). Knowledge. ('Ilm). He has knowledge of all things hidden or manifest, whether in heaven or on earth. He knows the number of the leaves of the trees, of the grains of wheat and of sand. Events past and future are known to Him. He knows what enters into the heart of man and what he utters with his mouth. He alone, except those to whom He has revealed them, knows the invisible things. He is free from forgetfulness, negligence and error. His knowledge is eternal: it is not posterior to His essence.
(3). Power. (Qudrat). He is Almighty. If He wills, He can raise the dead, make stones talk, trees walk, annihilate the heavens and the earth and recreate of gold or of silver thousands similar to those destroyed. He can transport a man in a moment of time from the east to the west, or from the west to the east, or to the seventh heaven. His power is eternal à priori and à posteriori. It is not posterior to His essence.
(4). Will (Irádah). He can do what He wills, and whatever He wills comes to pass. He is not obliged to act. Everything, good or evil, in this world exists by His will. He wills the faith of the believer and the piety of the religious. If He were to change His will there would be neither a true believer nor a pious man. He willeth also the unbelief of the unbeliever and the irreligion of the wicked and, without that will, there would neither be unbelief nor irreligion. All we do we do by His will: what He willeth not does not come to pass. If one should ask why God does not will that all men should believe we answer: "We have no right to enquire about what God wills and does. He is perfectly free to will and to do what He pleases." In creating unbelievers, in willing that they should remain in that state; in making serpents, scorpions and pigs: in willing, in short, all that is evil God has wise ends in view which it is not necessary that we should know. We must acknowledge that the will of God is eternal and that it is not posterior to His essence.
(5). Hearing. (Sama'). He hears all sounds whether low or loud. He hears without an ear for His attributes are not like those of men.
(6). Seeing. (Basr). He sees all things, even the steps of a black ant on a black stone in a dark night; yet He has no eye as men have.
(7). Speech. (Kalám). He speaks, but not with a tongue as men do. He speaks to some of His servants without the intervention of another, even as He spoke to Moses, and to Muhammad on the night of the ascension to heaven. He speaks to others by the instrumentality of Gabriel, and this is the usual way in which He communicates His will to the prophets. It follows from this that the Qurán is the word of God, and is eternal and uncreated.
These are the "haft sifát," or seven attributes of God. There is unanimity of opinion as to the number of attributes, but not as regards their nature and the extent of the knowledge concerning them to which men can attain. Thus some say that the knowledge of God is the first thing to acquire; but Imám Sháfa'í and the Mutazilites say that a man must first attain to the idea of the knowledge of God. The meaning of the expression "Knowledge of God" is the ascertaining the truth of His existence, and of His positive and privative attributes, as far as the human understanding can enter into these matters. The unity is not a mere numerical unity but absolute, for the number one is the first of a series and implies a second, but God has not a
second. He is "singular without anything like Him, separate having no equal;" for, "had there been either in heaven or earth gods beside God, both surely had gone to ruin." (Súra xxi. 22). God is not a substance, for substance has accidents, but God has none: otherwise His nature would be that of "dependent existence." God is without parts, for otherwise he would not exist till all the parts were formed, and His existence would depend on the parts, that is, on something beside Himself.
The orthodox strictly prohibit the discussion of minute particulars, for say they, "just as the eye turning to the brightness of the sun finds darkness intervene to prevent all observation, so the understanding finds itself bewildered if it attempts to pry into the nature of God." The Prophet said: "We did not know the reality of the knowledge of Thee;" and to his followers he gave this advice: "Think of God's gifts, not of His nature: certainly you have no power for that." The Khalíf Akbar is reported to have said: "to be helpless in the search of knowledge is knowledge and to enquire into the nature of God is Shirk (infidelity)."[[104]] A moderate acquaintance with Muslim theology shows that neither the injunction of the Prophet nor the warning of the Khalíf has been heeded.
According to the early Muslims, the Companions and their followers, enquiries into the nature of God and His attributes were not lawful. The Prophet knowing what was good for men, had plainly revealed the way of salvation and had taught them:—