What Is God, and What Relationship Does the Absolute Perfection We Love Have with Us?
You may have asked yourself the following questions: What is God? Or when did He come into existence? Where is God, and how does He manage the world? These questions may have occupied our minds since childhood, and if we were fortunate or met the right people along the way, we may have received answers appropriate for our level of understanding at different ages.
God is a concept that, while being the closest to us, we know less about than anything else, perhaps because we still do not have a proper understanding of ourselves and are unfamiliar with the concept of existence. We often hear that God is the most obvious truth in our lives. Despite this closeness, we are unable to comprehend this specific truth. We have been with this God for years, yet we do not have a clear definition of our partner and True Beloved.
We often look for God in areas other than where we should. As a result, we do not see Him and do not have a clear concept of who God is. Many of us see God as the Creator, a Being who entirely encompasses us and manages the world’s activities from the heavens. With this perspective, many of us see God as a collection of contradictory and conflicting issues, and it remains flawed and wrong even after years.
To know Allah and understand “What is God?” we must first grasp the concept of existence and its attributes. Throughout our lives, we seek one thing and work tirelessly to achieve it. An infinite desire draws us toward it, and we strive to achieve it, consciously or unconsciously. When we are dissatisfied with a given level of perfection and want something else or a higher level of perfection, we are actually looking for the Infinite Being from whom we have derived our existence. Our existence has never been distinct from God, and we are manifestations of a Being to whom we are inextricably linked and related. Every perfection that captivates our attention or fills us with admiration is an indication of Absolute Perfection that is the True Beloved of our human dimension. Allah is, in fact, the Existence, Absolute Perfection, and Infinite Being whose manifestations we see within ourselves and in the universe around us. In this lesson, we aim to provide an appropriate answer to the frequently asked question of “What is God?” To do this we will examine the characteristics of existence to reach a comprehensive understanding of our Creator and Lord, Allah.
What Is God, and What Are His Attributes?
Understanding “What is God?” requires preliminary requirements, which we have discussed in detail in the article “What Are the Attributes of Existence?” In fact, God is the Absolute and Infinite Existence that exists in everything. Therefore, by knowing the attributes of Existence, we come to understand God and His attributes. Different types of existence; sensate, imaginal, estimative, intellective, and supra-rational- are infinite, and since they show effects, they are real and exist as well. Among these existences, the supra-rational existence is connected to the Infinite Existence. But what is this Existence that we also refer to as Infinite? We know that existence is the opposite of non-existence and nothingness, it is boundless in essence, and there is no limitation in it.
-We consider existence to be infinite because the only concept that is opposite to existence and can limit it is the concept of non-existence. However, non-existence does not exist; in fact, if non-existence existed, it would become existence. Therefore, there is no limiting factor against existence, and existence is boundless and has no limits.
-This infinite existence is just one that has manifested itself in various forms. If there were more than one existence, there must be something that distinguishes them from each other. If this separator is non-existence, it logically does not exist. And if it is existence, then all of them are existence and have only manifested themselves in different forms.
-Existence has neither a beginning or origin nor it has an end. If there were to be non-existence before or after existence, we would face a contradiction. Since non-existence does not exist, something that does not exist cannot have an effect or bring something into existence. Furthermore, if existence were to exist before existence, we cannot consider a beginning for it according to the Principle of Sequence. On the other hand, we cannot completely negate or destroy something that exists. This means that existence cannot completely disappear; it simply transforms from one form to another. It means there is no end for existence.
-All perfections exist in the existence, and it is impossible for anything to go outside of existence. If something were to exit existence, it would either have to move to another existence or enter non-existence. However, since non-existence does not exist, it is impossible for anything to get outside of existence. Consequently, existence is absolutely self-sufficient, that is, there is nothing outside of existence that existence would depend on.
The understanding we have acquired about existence is called “Allah,” i.e., the existence which exists in everything. Allah is the Absolute Existence that is Infinite and just One, without a beginning and an end. He does not need anything, with no partner. In fact, we are in love with this Infinite Existence, which is initially called “Huwa.” After manifesting Himself through His names and attributes, He takes the name of Allah and becomes distinct and comprehensible. Thus, Allah is the Existence that encompasses and surrounds everything. He is within all things, but He is not mixed or blended with them., and at the same time, He is Outside of all things[1].
This may seem heavy to understand at first glance. We might wonder how it is possible for God to be both inside of all things and outside of them. However, the point is that our relationship with God is not like that of a container and content. The relationship between God and all of existence is similar to the relationship between the soul and the body; it is a type of attachment that means all of existence is a manifestation of Allah.
Of course, we do not possess an independent existence and our existence is dependent on Allah. That is, we constantly receive blessings from Him. We are constantly given existence. Just the way our own imagination depends on us— as long as we think about something, we give it life, and when we let go of that imagination, it becomes annihilated in us. In the same way, if God’s attention were to be withdrawn for a moment, we would cease to exist entirely. Therefore, everything is dependent on the will and grace of Allah, and He is even closer to us than we are to ourselves.
All Existence Is a Manifestation of Allah
In response to the question “What is God?” we stated that God is an Infinite Existence that has a consistent presence everywhere, but with different manifestations. All created beings are manifestations and faces of Allah. God’s manifestation is different from His essence. God can reflect an infinite number of His manifestations. In fact, each of the created beings can manifest God’s names and attributes depending on their capacity. That is, a stone reflects the names and attributes of God to the extent of its inanimate existence, while an angel, to the extent of his intellective existence. A plant can manifest the names and attributes that are in line with the vegetative existence. Similarly, an animal that reflects the names and attributes of God cannot transcend the limits of attributes related to its inanimate, vegetative, and animal existence. That means, it does not have the ability to extract scientific rules and formulas from the universe or exhibit attributes as far as infinity. In other words, we cannot expect a plant, even at its peak of delicacy and beauty, to manifest the attribute of loyalty or management. Likewise, we cannot extract God’s attribute of Most Beneficent from a stone or an inanimate object.
However, among all created beings, the human is the most comprehensive being and has the potential to manifest not only the names and attributes of inanimate, vegetative, animal, and intellective beings but also divine names and attributes to an infinite degree. This means that under suitable conditions and circumstances, humans can actualize these names and attributes within themselves and become similar to Allah, i.e., the Absolute and Infinite Perfection. Like the perfect human being who is similar to Allah in all existential perfections, names, and attributes, but his essence is dependent on Allah.
In this article, we addressed the question “What is God?” We stated that the answer to this question depends on our understanding of existence and its attributes. Existence in all its forms is infinite and just one. It has no beginning and no end. Its final attribute is that existence encompasses every perfection we can think of; therefore, it is absolutely self-sufficient. This existence is Allah, who possesses all the attributes of existence. Allah is the existence that exists in everything, and created beings are His manifestations. Our relationship with Allah is such that we constantly receive existence and blessings from Him. In other words, our existence is dependent on Allah.
Now that we have deeply and intuitively grasped the nature of God—knowing who He is, when He came into existence, where He resides, and what relationship He has with us—it is time to differentiate between God- the existence that exists in everything- and our previous conceptions, and seek God where we should.
[1]. Imam Ali, Nahjul Balagha, Sermon 184.