The Relation Between the Negation of Divine Attributes and The Divine Action According to Abu Hashim al-Jubba’i, Ibn Sina, and Sadr al-Din al-Shirazi

Abstract

This paper investigates the relation between the negation of Divine attributes and the nature of Divine action as it is found among the Mutazilah, the Islamic Peripatetic philosophers, and the illuminationist’s philosophers. The paper will deal with three thinkers as representatives of these three schools of thought: Abu Hashim al-Jubba’i, Ibn Sina, and Sadr al-Din al-Shirazi respectively. The position of each thinker on the question of the negation of Divine attributes is to be examined first, followed by his perception of the nature of the Divine action. This examination will show us that despite the fact that the negation of Divine attributes is a common stand among these thinkers, the concept of this negation, and the interpretation of Divine attribute as we find it in Abu Hashim al- Jubba’i differ from that of Ibn Sina and Sadr al-Din al-Shirazi, and that their differences on these two questions is reflected on their understanding of the Divine action. While the former believes that although God, in principle, is free not to choose to create the world, His creation of the world is better than not to create it, the two latter think that God creates the world out of necessity.