The Criterion in Matters of Faith: Reason or the Infinite?
«Reason is the criterion in matters of faith, and the Qur’an repeatedly appeals to it. It is not permissible to contemplate God’s infinite Essence, and to ascribe existence to anything other than God is sheer polytheism.»
Question:
The criterion in matters of belief is reason, to which the Qur’an has repeatedly directed us. By the standards of human reason, nothing beyond an infinite existence can be conceived. If we suppose that beyond such an existence there are further degrees of perfection that lie beyond rational understanding, then belief in them is not only not obligatory; it is not even permissible.
Answer:
It is not the case that beyond existence there is no thing, no reality, or even no-thing. Rather, there is nothing beyond Allah!
Allah is greater; it is not that existence is greater.
So Allah is greater—not that existence itself is greater!
النجم : 42 وَ أَنَّ إِلى رَبِّكَ الْمُنْتَهى
Just as
فَإِذَا انْتَهَى الْكَلَامُ إِلَى اللَّهِ فَأَمْسِكُوا.
Just as it is permissible to contemplate God’s greatness, if we regard God’s existence as falling under the category of His attributes, then contemplating it is permissible. That is, since neither greatness nor existence is God’s Essence, everyone may contemplate them.
But if we take God’s existence to be identical with His Essence, then contemplation is no longer permissible. In that case, applying this existence to anything other than God would be sheer shirk.