Ideas Inspired by the Qur'an

There is No God but You … or He? (Part 2)

He said, “My Master, truly I have wronged myself, so pardon me,” and He forgave him. Truly He is The Forgiving, The Compassionate. (Q28:16)

In the preceding post, I quoted and summarized passages from the opinion of Fakhrud-Dinir-Razi in his 'The Great Exegesis,' which is that saying la ilaha illa Huwa (There is no god but He) is more excellent than saying la ilaha illa Anta (There is no god but You). His basic reason for making this assertion is that referring to "Him" is the servant's humble way of expressing his servility, unworthiness, and remoteness, and thereby magnifying the incomparability and incomprehensibility of One for Whom we cannot find any adequate word besides that dull pronoun.

Regarding 'There is no god but You,' Ar-Razi says that "it is proper for the servant to utter this on the condition that he is present, not absent." For Ar-Razi, the dichotomy between presence and absence is so drastically important that it should affect how we address AL-LAH. When we say "You," we are implicitly pretending that we are present with Him, which is arrogant boastfulness. If we say "He" instead, we are not accusing GOD of being absent (since He is never absent from anything) but rather confessing our own 'absence' -- a spiritual state rather than an objective reality that would apply to both GOD and ourselves.

If Ar-Razi had confined his opinion to a matter of preference or limited his reasons to the technicalities of that one sentence of 'There is no god but ...' I would be glad to let it pass. But by expanding his argument in the way he has, he deserves a serious rebuke. This opinion of his affects our relationship with AL-LAH -- the most important relationship we will ever have here, now, and in the Everafter.

1. The Qur'an does not support Ar-Razi's overwrought invention. All the prophets, and many others who never thought of themselves as "the elite" (Al-Ghazzali's term), pleaded to AL-LAH directly. Adam and Hawa admitted their guilt (Q7:23) and called out to Our Lord. So did Musa (peace be upon him, and quoted above), who had just murdered a man and begged forgiveness, which was granted after his request. Their state did not change from absent to present by their choice of words.
2. We are repeatedly told to seek GOD's pardon, which can only be done directly, to a present "You" rather than a distant "Him," regardless of who is to be deemed absent. I answer to the call of the suppliant when he calls on Me. (Q2:186) There is no reason why making the statement of faith -- 'There is no god but ...' should be considered an exception.
3. If, out of debased self-loathing, you insist on deeming yourself absent, you automatically distance the other, be that intentional or not. 
4. When you say "I" or "We" before anyone, you cannot 'centre' yourself in that other person and disregard your role as speaker without reducing yourself to robotic mindlessness and psychological collapse. A mystic might think himself capable of doing so, but there are no such characters in the Qur'an. In that Book, those who say "I" mean "I," and in saying "You" they likewise mean a very real and present "You."
5. Saying "You" to GOD is not just a report on how things are or should be; it is a dynamic strategy of communication and an act of worship. You change the situation by which pronoun you choose to use.
6. In other words, by saying "You" to GOD you immediately affirm that both parties are present to each other. GOD was always present, waiting for you to say "You" to Him, and recognizes your use of "You" without all the abstruse scruples of philosophers and theologians with too much leisure time on their hands.
7. If you want to be present in your own mind vis-a-vis GOD, then start using "You" and watch how words create states rather than just reflect them. Do not be overly shy or formal; as AL-LAH Himself says, I am near. (Q2:186) He means what He says, and that forthrightness is what He expects from us as well.
8. The first chapter of the Qur'an is called Al-Fatihah -- The Opening. It declares the channel between Master and Servant to be open ... permanently, without fuss, conditions, or complex reasoning. By reciting it at least 17 times a day, as Muslims ought to do, we are plainly repudiating the complicated and potentially toxic opinion of Ar-Razi. We mention AL-LAH, describe Him by His Names, and then address Him directly: Only You we serve and only You we ask for help. (Q1:5) After that clear expression of direct, person-to-Person communication, we speak to Him again in the following verse and use a verb in Q1:7 that can only be used in the second person singular, namely an'amta.

Christians like to think that they are closer to God the Father because they have a divine go-between, namely the Son, Jesus. This is, of course, an invention of scholars and scribes who were aiming to adapt to a polytheistic environment and expand the common people's supposed need for priests, commentators, and various offices and ceremonies. Besides Christ, the Church eventually summoned up a host of saints, sacraments, rules, and doctrines to widen the division between the poor believing soul and its sole Creator.

Muslim theologians rightly regarded these interpositions as false and pernicious ... and then fabricated hurdles and formalities of their own. 

Our job is to clear all this away, and make AL-LAH as Near and Present as He says He is. In talking about Him, as the Qur'an often does, we may certainly use the third person singular. We see, moreover, hundreds of Qur'anic examples of humble mortals, all present as far as we can tell, addressing GOD as "You." And, finally, we may even, quietly, in our hearts, consider him our true First Person. But that is not up for discussion in this setting. That is a secret feeling best left untold.

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