Question No. 3322 30 October 2023 Official answer by Master Ali Saei (Abdullah Meshkat) verified Content level: Intermediate

What Is the Ruling on Comparing God to His Creation?

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Dear questioner, Master Ali Saei

Tracking code: #Q-3322

Supplementary question_3320

And...

Subject category: Theology and Creed آرشیو کهف سوال Academic فلسفی Theology and creed

The essence and first answer at a glance (60-word summary)

Comparing God to His creatures is an unmistakable affront to the Divine Essence and a false attribution that places a person among the polytheists. Injustice and ignorance are traits of dependent beings; to attribute them to the One without equal is the most brazen form of comparison. Comparing God to a mountain reduces the Divine Essence to the level of a mountain, and such talk is ignorant and base.

Answer by Master Ali Saei (Abdullah Meshkat)

Teacher and researcher in the intellectual tradition of wisdom and the Ahl al-Bayt | Soroush Bamdadān Cultural Center

من شبه الله تعالى بخلقه فهو مشرک و من نسب إلیه ما نهى عنه فهو کافر.

Some of the examples you mentioned are among the clearest instances of insult, slander and mockery directed at the Divine Majesty. Since injustice and heedlessness are attributes of a needy, ignorant being, ascribing them to the peerless Essence is among the most shameless forms of likening God to creation.

In comparing God to a mountain, the one making the comparison has reduced the Divine Essence to the level of a mountain. The words of a base person are not only disrespectful but profoundly ignorant.

O cleaver of seed and kernel, of all existence; O adornment of the Kaaba, set to a rapturous tune,

O ornament of existence, whose being is a pearl: فتبارک الله احسن الخالقین

May the most beautiful scene of birth, in the most beautiful abode of existence—the birth of our master, Amir al-Mu’minin—be blessed for all.

, [04.02.23 14:12]

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What Is the Ruling on Comparing God to His Creation?

The essence and first answer at a glance (60-word summary)

Answer by Master Ali Saei (Abdullah Meshkat)

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