Two kinds of being: Everything that exists is either Wajib al-Wujud (the Necessary Being) or Mumkin al-Wujud (the contingent being). A contingent being is one that might exist or might not exist — it needs a cause to give it existence. The Necessary Being is one that must exist — it cannot not exist, and it needs no cause.
Allah is the Necessary Being: Allah is Wajib al-Wujud — pure unlimited Wujud, with no Mahiyya, no limit, no cause. From this single established fact, Falsafa derives all the divine attributes by pure reason. We do not accept the attributes by blind faith alone — each one follows necessarily from necessary existence.
Three kinds of attributes: The attributes fall into three groups. Al-Sifat al-Thubutiyya (positive attributes) are qualities Allah truly possesses — Life (Al-Hayat), Knowledge (Al-'Ilm), Power (Al-Qudra), and Will (Al-Irada). Al-Sifat al-Salbiyya (negative attributes) are qualities we deny of Allah — He is not composite, not material, not in space, not in time, not in need. Al-Sifat al-Fi'liyya (attributes of action) describe how Allah relates to creation — the Creator (Al-Khaliq), the Sustainer (Al-Razzaq), the Life-Giver (Al-Muhyi).
His attributes are His existence: Here is the key insight of Falsafa: in Allah, the positive attributes are NOT additions to His essence. His Knowledge IS His Wujud. His Power IS His Wujud. His Life IS His Wujud. They are all ONE reality — His unlimited Wujud — described from different angles. That is why Allah is absolutely simple (Al-Basatah): no parts, no composition of any kind.
Why there can be only One: Tawhid can also be proved by reason in four steps. First, if two Necessary Beings existed — A and B — they would need to be distinct from each other, or they would be one, not two. Second, being distinct requires a differentiating property: A has something B lacks. Third, a differentiating property limits the being — it says "I am THIS kind and not THAT kind" — and limitation means finite, and finite means contingent, not Necessary. Fourth, a Necessary Being cannot be limited. So two Necessary Beings is self-contradictory — Mumtani' (impossible).
How Allah knows all things: Allah's knowledge is 'Ilm Huduri (presential knowledge): the known thing itself is directly present to the knower, with no form or representation in between. Every created thing receives its existence from Allah at every moment — so a thing whose entire existence comes from the Giver is maximally present to the Giver. Creation is not "out there", hidden from Allah; it exists in and through Allah's creative act. So Allah's knowledge of creation is perfect, complete, and without any veil.
Example
Think of a novelist and her characters. The characters exist only because she keeps writing them; their whole existence comes from her. She does not need a photograph to know what they are doing — they are present to her because they live inside her own act of writing. In the same way, everything receives its existence from Allah at every moment — so nothing is hidden from Him.
Key Terms
- Wajib al-Wujud (واجب الوجود) — the Necessary Being; that which must exist and needs no cause
- Mumkin al-Wujud (ممکن الوجود) — the contingent being; that which might or might not exist, and needs a cause
- Al-Sifat al-Thubutiyya (الصفات الثبوتیہ) — positive attributes (Life, Knowledge, Power, Will), identical with Allah's Wujud
- Tawhid (التوحید) — divine unity; there can be only one Necessary Being
Quran or Hadith
Quran 112:1 — "Say: He is Allah — the One (Al-Ahad)." — to be checked. Al-Ahad means not just numerically one, but One in the sense of absolute simplicity — no internal or external multiplicity. The Quran's most philosophical statement, confirmed by pure logic.
Fresh diagram to be drawn: One bright sun at the centre labelled "Wajib al-Wujud — pure unlimited Wujud", with rays going out labelled "Life", "Knowledge", "Power", "Will" — and the caption "Not four things added on — one light, seen from four sides".
- Allah is Wajib al-Wujud — the Necessary Being; everything else is Mumkin, contingent, and needs a cause.
- Allah's positive attributes (Life, Knowledge, Power, Will) are not additions — they ARE His Wujud.
- Two Necessary Beings is impossible (Mumtani'), because being distinct would require a limit, and the Necessary cannot be limited.