Imam Ali’s View on Relation between God and Universe
This is according to Ayatollah Abolghasem Alidoost, a seminary scholar, who made the remarks in a Quran interpretation session. Here is an excerpt of his speech:
The word “khalaq” (meaning creation) and its derivatives have been used 250 times in the Holy Quran. Another term that has been mentioned dozens of times in the holy text is the word “aya” (sign). God says there are signs of Him in the world.
Imam Ali (AS) has pointed to the notion of the relation between God and creation. Part of the first sermon in Nahj al-Balagha reads: “He is a Being, but not through phenomenon of coming into being. He exists but not from non-existence. He is with everything but not in physical nearness. He is different from everything but not in physical separation.”
The remarks are a rejection of the belief that says God is in all elements of the world and that God and nature are the same.
The last part of the statement gives further elaboration on this. The relationship between God and creation is not like that between an architect and a building. In such a relation, the architect has no role in the stability of being of the building after the construction has ended. Even if the architect dies, the building will remain. Imam Ali also rejects this sort of relation between God and creation.
“Praise be to Allah who has displayed such effects of His authority and the glory of His sublimity through the wonders of His might that they dazzle the pupils of the eyes and prevent the minds from appreciating the reality of His attributes,” reads sermon 195 of Nahj al-Balagha.
