خرید و دانلود فایل پاورپوینت کامل To What Extent Can Allah Be Known?

How far can man understand Allah and get to know Him Sometimes it is said or written that, based on some ayahs and narratives, Allah can never be known at all, and that we are allowed only to use the attributes and the names, stated in the Qur”an for Allah, in our prayers and conversations, though we do not quite understand their concepts. We are allowed to say Allah is the Creator, the Sustainer, the Knowing, the Wise, etc., especially the terms related to the Attributes of Essence, such as: knowledge, power, life, etc. We are only allowed to use these words, but we do not know what Allah”s Knowledge , or Power, means.
On the other hand, there are sayings and writings in which it is said that even Allah”s Essence can be known, and they offer proofs too.

The Qur”an”s Standpoint Concerning Knowing Allah
In this respect what can we ascribe to the Qur”an Does it say that Allah can never be known, and that people are allowed to use words which they do not understand, or does it say something else If it does not say so, then to what extent does it say that man can know Allah A thorough study of the ayahs concerning Allah”s attributes and acts discloses that the Qur”an offers concepts understandable by the people. It speaks of things which it expects the people to comprehend and accept. It is not that Allah uses certain words about Himself and tells the people also to use them without having to understand their meanings. For example, when Allah says: “Does He not Know wha( He created And He is the Subtile, the Aware“. [Suratul-Mulk/14] He addresses the people”s conscience and reason: Is it possible that the One Who created the world does not know His creation Does He want by this to say that you should believe that Allah has “knowledge” according to the meaning which you commonly know for “knowledge”, or does He want to establish a word whose meaning we do not know Is that: must you say that Allah has knowledge, though you cannot understand its meaning
Undoubtedly, the attributes and the names ascribed by the Qur”an to Allah and offered to the people denote that we are to know Allah through these very attributes and names as we understand them. The Qur”an does not want to say: “these meaningless words concern Allah!”
There are, however, many ayahs in the Qur”an and narratives quoting the infallible and pure Imams (A.S.), to the effect that the meanings of the- Divine attributes and names are not understandable to the common people. It is in the Qur”an that: “Therefore do not give likenesses to Allah…[Suratun-Nahl/74]
He enjoins the people not to say Allah is like this or that, because it would be a similitude, a comparison between two things. This is because it is impossible to describe Allah.Another ayah says:..; Glory be to Allah above what they describe!” [Suratul-Mu”minun/91]
That is, whatever description you give for Allah, in the meanings which you understand, Allah is above that, as the attributes and the meanings you say have no connection to Allah. He is above all these descriptions.
The late `Allameh A1-Fayd, in his book “A1-Mahajjatul-Bayda””, quotes the Imam al-Baqir (A.S.) to have said: “Whomever you describe with your fancies and strictest definitions is but a creature like you and belongs to you “.On the basis of such ayahs and narratives some people thought that none of the attributes we give to Allah is true to Him, and that He cannot be described. Allah alone can describe Himself.

Mistaking the Concept for the Evidence
It seems that those who say that Allah”s attributes cannot be understood have mistaken the concept for the evidence. One of the fallacies that occurs to man by way of proving something to somebody is caused through mistaking the concept for the evidence, i.e. the question that belongs to the evidence is ascribed to the concept, of the precept that concerns the concept is ascribed to the evidence.
A concept is the general meaning which we mentally understand, such as the “concepts” of man, light and heat. When we try to explain it we say, for example: man is a living being who has intellect (Rational Being). This meaning can be explained by other meanings. This is called concept.
The evidence is that to whom a given concept is applicable. The outer person, the man, is an evidence. When we explain the concept of fire, we may say that it is a hot substance, or it is a compound of flammable materials with oxygen. But, according to the common definition, we say that fire is a creation that has, by nature, a high temperature. When you imagine the picture of a fire in your mind (that is, something hot), does your mind feel hot Of course not, because the concept of heat does not burn. That which burns is the evidence ,not the concept. Such kinds of fallacies often occur in discussions and inferences. The versed people can easily recognize the errors of the inference processes. They can even tell why so-and-so philosopher had committed an error on the so-and-so occasion.
In logic there is a technique called “fallacy”. Fallacies had been classified so that a thinker may know their kinds and take care not to use them and not to be affected by them.
Nevertheless, those who claim that Allah cannot be known, and that these Attributes are but words which we are allowed to use in respect to Allah, have been afflicted by one of these fallacies. What can be understood from the ayahs and narratives is that the evidences of the Divine Attributes cannot be understood through mental concepts. This does not mean that when these concepts are used in respect of Allah they lose even their original meanings. When we say: “Allah exists”, what meaning do we intend Do we intend the same meaning which is opposite to “non-existence”, or some other meaning When we say: “Allah is Knowing”, do we mean that which is opposite to ignorant, or some other meaning Naturally, we mean their original common meanings. “Allah is Knowing” means the same thing which means not being ignorant. Thus, we do understand the concept of knowledge, but we cannot recognize its evidence.
Knowledge has many evidences. Of the evidences of knowledge we know only few and limited ones. When we ascribe some knowledge to
somebody we ascribe a knowledge similar to ours. But as to the unlimited knowledge, which is the very Essence of Allah, we cannot recognize such an evidence of knowledge. So, that which we cannot understand is the truth of the evidence. We can hear a sound if its wave in certain united frequencies. If it is shorter or longer we will not be able to hear it. Yet, we can imagine a shorter or longer wave. The light which we see must be of a particular wave-length. But if it is shorter or longer, like the ultra violet or the infra red waves, we cannot see them, yet we say that they are lights with shorter or longer wave-lengths. We understand their concept, though we cannot see or hear them. There we say: the wave, and here we say: the wave, too. Here we say: succession, and there we say: succession, too. There we use a mathematical figure, and here we use a mathematical figure, too. The concepts are known, but the evidences of these concepts are unknown to us, because our sight and our hearing are too weak to see such lights or hear such sounds, yet, the concept is the same.
Another example: We understand the concept of knowledge, but the evidences of this knowledge are limited to us, and they appear in particular conditions. Our knowledge is not absolute. Ways of achieving it are limited, too. Through the fingers of our hands we acquire knowledge, and through our eyes and ears, too. Now let us think of a knowledge which has no limits, and it is impossible to acquire, it is the very existence. What concepts can we apply here The concept of knowledge, the concept of the unattainable, the concept of the unlimited. We do understand these concepts, but we do not recognize their evidences.
Of the evidence of knowledge we recognize only the limited and finite ones. So, when we say: Allah is knowing, the concept in our minds is the same one which we use in respect to our own knowledge, although the evidence of Allah”s knowledge is intrinsic, Divine, unlimited, while the evidences of our knowledge are limited and acquired from outside. It is the evidences which differ from one another, not the concepts. In this way, however, these two points of view can be brought closer to one another.

Knowing the Essence of Allah
In the previous discussion I said that Allah”s Attributes are His very Essence. Therefore, since we cannot recognize the evidences of the Attributes, likewise we cannot understand the truth of Allah”s Essence. The mind has no way to know the One Who has these Attributes, which are Allah”s very Essence, as a narrative says: Allah had concealed Himself from the intellects as He concealed Himself from the sight”. This concealment concerns, of course, the Divine Essence, not the concepts of the Attributes.
As a matter of fact the function of the mind is to understand the concept. It is the mental faculty which understa