Thread by @bayhaqism

🖊 Takwin

A Maturidi Analysis

- A 🧵

Allah exists free of time since He is the Creator of time. First, the past, present, and future do not apply to him, as these are all from the bucket of time.

Then what do Maturidiyyah say when they talk about the deeds of Allah?

Saying that Allah created us ages ago is wrong because that again falls within the spectrum of time.

The proof of qidam (primeval eternity):

From a rational point of view, Allah must be eternal since time cannot be eternal as it changes and progresses.

When Allah changes and advances, there is no difference between Him and the universe in their nature. It cannot be said that Allah changes and progresses differently than the universe, since change and progress are themselves conceptual.

هُوَ ٱلۡأَوَّلُ وَٱلۡأٓخِرُ

The textual evidence is the ayah "He is the first [nothing was before him] and the last [nothing was after him]". This proves to us that Allah existed without time since He was the only one above all.

Let's take a simpler example to understand this:

Allah was All-Knowing even when none of the Ma'lumaat existed. But he knew and knows about it without it appearing.

Now that this can be understood, let's move on to the larger example. The Maturidiyyah believe in Sifah at-Takwin, which is the active quality…

that brings something of the Mumkinaat into the Maujudaat. The process of bringing from the mumkinaat to the maujudaat is therefore called takwin. Depending on what action is taken, the Sifah Takwin is named by that action. So when we say Allah creates we call it Takhliq…

when we say Allah forgives we call it Tarhim and so on. This attribute is the 8th essential attribute that exists with Allah's essence and is therefore pre-eternal across time and space just like the other 7 attributes. Note here that we as humans cannot grasp pre-eternity…

because it is a divine attribute. So if anyone says that this is infinite regression, then they are mistaken, since infinite regression is itself made up of beginnings and endings.

What is the difference between Allah using Qudrah to create and Takwin to create?

If Allah uses Qudrah to create, then the question is; What was the necessary that called it into existence (meaning the process itself)? We believe that Allah has qudrah and we believe that Allah has qudrah about things that are not created but are possible and he has…

qudrah about things that are created. But having power over these things does not mean that Allah has acted on these things. This process is known as takwin, so it is like a bridge between the divine attributes and the emergence of possibilities. Our view is that when…

Takwin does not exist, the arising of the Maujudaat occurs without the process of its arising. That is, something exists before it goes through the process of "coming" into being.

So in the example of creating, we are not saying that Allah created before our existence,

but that He created in eternity with his attribute takwin, called takhliq in this case. The act of creation happened free of time [which must not be understood as being in the past because we are referring back to time] and the genesis of that act, i. H. the maf'ul…

of this action happens in time. So the Fa'il and the Fi'l are both eternal while the Maf'ul is Muhdath. Note here again that qidam does not mean an action or process that takes place at all times or before something,

but rather is an attribute of Allah that we cannot understand because of its divinity.

So what about Allah saying he "heard the woman" or "talked to Musa"? We say that these words are in the past tense because they refer to a past story.

So the view is that from our perspective we have understood that the woman's statement appeared in the past and therefore can now also be described with the word 'heard' since it has now arisen in our view. And Musa started hearing Allah's Kalam with which he spoke to Allah…

from our perspective in the past. Second, since qidam (pre-eternity) is divine and not intelligible to us, we have no words in the Arabic language that can be put in an eternal tense. We only have past, present and future.

We also find in the Qur'an where Allah says:

وَكَانَ اللَّهُ سَمِيعًا بَصِيرًا

“Allah is the All-Hearing All-Seeing”

The word 'Kaana' is literally translated as 'was', but we are not saying that Allah only 'was' the All-Hearer, but He was, is, and always will be the All-Hearing.

There is another example

ln the Qur'an that passes;

لِّمَنِ الْمُلْكُ الْيَوْمَ ۖ

Who owns the dominion *today*?!

Although Allah will say "today", we are still aware that the Kingdom always belonged to Him. So what does that mean? Allah shows his pride on that day, just as he shows…

his pride by creating the 'Arsh [which is the opinion of the scholars]. However, that does not mean that he became the possessor of dominion that day, nor does it mean that Allah literally came over the throne that day, He was and always will be the possessor and beyond.

We can also look at the statement: "Allah was Al-Khaliq 'before' the creation." So Allah was already named as the Creator before he even created the creation. The view of the Maturidiyyah is that Allah is called Al-Khaliq in eternity, just as He bears all other names in eternity.

We are not saying that Allah's Names are Muhdath, and Imam Ahmad himself says: "Whoever says that Lafdh Al-Jalalah is Muhdath is a disbeliever since he has said that it is Makhluq."

We say that his names are eternal, just as his attributes are eternal. He performs actions through one of the eternal attributes known as takwin. So if he has the attribute takwin which is eternal and can be called takhliq when we speak in the context of creating, therefore…

he is the creator in eternity since his attribute takhliq is also eternal. The Asha'irah takes the position that Allah named the names because He has the ability to do anything He wants, such as create. So he is called the creator because he has qudrah to perform what it means…

to be a creator. And this is what Imam Tahawi pointed out in his Al-Aqeedah at-Tahawiyyah, saying:

ما زال بصفاته قديما قبل خلقه لم يزدد بكونهم شيئا لم يكن قبلهم لم صفته وكما كان بصفاته أزليا كذلك لا يزال عليها أبديا

He existed with His timeless attributes before His creation, adding nothing to His essence that was not already in His attributes. As His attributes were before creation, they will remain forever.

ليس منذ خلق الخلق استفاد اسم الخالق ولا بإحداثه البرية استفاد اسم الباري

He did not earn the name "The Creator" by creating creation, nor did He earn the name "The Creator" by creating it.

This is the attitude of the Hanafiyyah / Maturidiyyah.

- written by Ustadh Junaid al-Kiyani