He is the Creator of every thing.

He is the Creator of every thing. There is no god besides Him. The whole creation and all affairs are under His reign. And whoever believes that Allah has a likeness is a polytheist. “Whoever ascribes to the Imamate Shī‘ah other than what has been said is a liar. And any hadīth which contains issues other than what has been recounted has to be rejected as a forged and false tradition.

And any hadīth which is contrary to the Holy Qur’an is a false tradition, even if it is found in Shī‘ah books.”[^3] It can be deduced from Shaykh Mufīd’s statement and the assertions of other people that Allah has no likeness and has all the attributes of perfection [ sifāt-i kamāl ]. Nothing more than this can be said with respect to Allah.

Some philosophers have said that the existence of possible or contingent beings with respect to the existence of Allah belongs to the category of analogical gradation; that is to say, our existence is a weaker level and the existence of Allah is a higher [or stronger] level. For instance, the light of a candle and the light of the sun are both lights, but they have different levels. Existence, just like light, has levels.

In my opinion, it is better for us to refrain from such kinds of discourses with respect to the Essence of Allah and make no judgments. At least, we have to be cautious [when we make assertions concerning the Divine Essence of Allah]. What has been explained are reflections about Allah’s effects; one can reflect as much as he can regarding the effects of Allah, but it is prohibited to meditate about His Divine Essence.

The goal of creation is monotheism and refutation of polytheism Concerning the goal of creation, Allah states: “I did not create the jinn and the humans except that they should worship Me.” [^4] Devotional service to Allah means submission to His Divine will and acknowledging His oneness in all aspects, whether in beliefs or acts of worship, and forsaking every kind of polytheism and idolatry.

It has been recounted in some hadīth s that the above quoted verse means that the goal of creation is acquisition of knowledge and knowing the One God. It is to be concluded that the jinn and humans have been created to attain monotheism, to know Allah, the One, and to submit to Him. Monotheism conforms to man’s primordial nature Contrary to polytheism, which is an inclination to defection and opposed to man’s primordial nature, monotheism is precisely in conformity with man’s innate disposition.