Journal Of Islamic Denominations

Journal Of Islamic Denominations

From the Existential Intellection in Mulla Sadra's Philosophy to the Cosmic Accident in Hawking's Thought; A Comparative Reflection on the Issue of the Creation of the World

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors
Seyyed Mohammad Mehdi Hosseinpour 1
fatemeh akbarzadeh najjar 2
fatemeh Taherizadeh 3
Mohammad akbarzadeh najjar 4
1 Assistant Professor, Department of Islamic Denominations, University of Religions and Denominations, Qom, Iran
2 PhD Graduate, University of Religions and Denominations, and Level 3 Researcher, Al-Zahra Society, Department of Philosophy and Theology, Qom, Iran
3 Level 3 Researcher, Al-Zahra Society, Department of Theology, Qom, Iran
4 A graduate of the third level of the seminary of Qom. Level 3 Graduate, Qom Seminary, and Graduate, Imam Khomeini Educational and Research Institute, Department of Theology and Islamic Studies, Qom, Iran
10.22034/jid.2025.424658.2459
Abstract
The issue of the creation of the world has long been one of the most important ontological questions in philosophy and science. This fundamental research, using a descriptive-analytical method and a comparative approach, seeks to answer this question: How and by whom was the world created? Hawking, a Western physicist, relying on empirical principles and methods, views the created world as formed from nothingness and quantum vacuum. He believes that only the laws of physics describe the method of the self-formation of the material universe, and that these laws are the only means of knowing and creating the world. Ultimately, these thoughts lead to the Big Bang theory and the denial of an agent for the creation of the world. On the other hand, Mulla Sadra, by providing rational and textual (i.e. transmitted) evidence and referring to Qur'anic verses, considers the correct method of creation to be of two types: "from nothing (lā shay')" and "not from a thing (lā min shay')", with the latter expression in his interpretations corresponding to creation from the immutable entity (al-ʿayn al-thābita).  Ultimately, by proposing theories such as origination (hudūth) and eternity (qidam), cause and effect, the principle of similarity (al-sinkhīyyah), the rule of "the One" (al-wāhid), perpetual emanation (al-fayḍ alā al-dawām), and substantial motion (al-ḥarakaht al-jawhariyyah), he arrives at the ultimate purpose and the existence of an efficient cause for beings and the universe. Based on Mulla Sadra's philosophical approach and a critique of Hawking's theories regarding the non-existence of God, the creation of the world from nothing, the Big Bang hypothesis, and the self-creation of the universe, the present study concludes rationally that non-existence qua non-existence — i.e., pure non-existence — cannot become existence. Furthermore, based on a philosophical principle, this would necessitate a revolution in the essence [of a thing] and is an impossibility. Therefore, this research, while comparing these discussions from the perspectives of Mulla Sadra and Hawking, critiques the conflicting theories of these two thinkers and presents the correct theory with rational and textual transmitted evidence.
Keywords
God, creation of the world, Stephen Hawking, Mulla Sadra, the Qur'an
Subjects
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