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Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Al-ghazali’s Argument For the Eternity of the World and the Problem of Divine Immutability and Timelessness Argument for Finite Temporality of the Universe From here, al-Ghazali turned to his philosophical support for denying the eternity of the world. Craig outlines the argument as follows: 1- There are temporal phenomena in the world. 2- These are caused by other temporal phenomena. 3- The series of temporal phenomena cannot regress infinitely.

4- Therefore, the series must stop at the Eternal.[^34] The first point is obvious, in that it is based in necessity of reason, for humans have sensual experiences of things coming into being and passing away from existence. Craig makes note of the second premise based on secondary causation, an idea that al-Ghazali thoroughly rejects.[^35] This leads to al-Ghazali’s third premise, which was the crux of the argument.

Al-Ghazali argued, in three different places, that science and philosophy speak of a temporal beginning to the universe. Al-Ghazali began by noting the contradiction in saying that the revolutions of the planets are eternal, while at the same time one can determine the length of their rotations around the world.

“The world’s past eternity is impossible because it leads to affirming circular movements of the heavenly sphere whose number is infinite and whose individual units are innumerable, even though they [divide into] a sixth, a fourth, a half [and so on].”[^36] Next, al-Ghazali asked if one could determine whether the number of planet rotations would be odd or even? If one states that they are either: odd or even, neither odd nor even, or both odd and even, they are being irrational.

For, “if you were to say that the number is even, and the even becomes odd by [the addition of] one, then how can the infinite be in need of one?” Or how can the odd be made even in an infinite system? One is then forced to say that there is either odd or even, for the infinite is not like the finite, in that numeration is not equated.[^37] Al-Ghazali pointed to this concept in the philosopher’s doctrine of the soul.

Affirming that there are an infinite number of souls does not match with necessity of reason, in that there cannot be a numerated infinity. Some philosophers, according to al-Ghazali, have resorted to the Platonic theory of souls, that there was one primordial soul that was divided into each human, and all these separated souls will be reunited one day.