In his argument for God’s existence, Shaykh Taqiuddin an-Nabhani says that things that we can perceive and comprehend are limited, hence dependent on other than themselves.
But why must limited things necessarily be dependent? And how do we know?
The answer lies in the precise choice and ordering of words by the Shaykh. He says:
“… the things which are comprehensible by the mind that is man, life, and the universe, are limited, and hence weak, imperfect, and in need of something other than themselves.”
This is how I trace the link from limits to dependence:
- Things are محدودة (something upon which a restraint/limit has been imposed which it cannot transgress).
- Because they can’t transgress certain imposed limits, they are عاجزة (incapable/weak).
- Incapability indicates they are ناقصة (incomplete in themselves; not self-sufficient).
- And hence they are محتاجة الى غيرها (in need of other other than themselves).
So once we can establish that things in the universe and the universe itself are limited, the rest follow rationally.
Limits are sensorially perceivable. For example, things in the universe are bound by certain laws they can’t transgress. At the very least, everything in the universe and the universe itself are time and space bound. These are sensorially perceivable limits. A more detailed discussion on limits and dependence can be found in Shaykh Taqi’s Islamic Shakhsiyya Vol. 1.
I was once asked if we know that limited things are dependent by inductive reasoning. That is, because we see A, B and C to be limited and dependent, we generalise that observation to everything in the universe and conclude that everything in the universe is limited and dependent. I don’t believe that to be the case. As mentioned above, we know of limits in the universe by sensorially perceiving the nature of existence within the universe (e.g. existence within certain laws, existence in time and space). Also, as discussed above, the link between limits and dependence is a rational necessity.
In this post, I only intended to briefly discuss the relation between limits and dependence, rather than elaborating on Shaykh Taqi’s entire proof of God’s existence. For a related discussion on Shaykh Taqi’s argument please refer to the following post:
Shaykh Taqi’s argument for the existence of God
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