Divine Existence And The Refutation Of Materialism

ʿAlī ibn Ibrāhīm reported from his father, from al-Ḥasan ibn Ibrāhīm, from Yūnus ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, from ʿAlī ibn Manṣūr, who said:

Hisham ibn al-Hakam said to me:

There was in Egypt a zindīq (heretical skeptic) to whom reports about Ja'far al-Sadiq (peace be upon him) had reached. He set out to Madinah to debate him, but did not find him there. It was said to him that he had gone to Mecca, so he proceeded to Mecca.

We were with Abū ʿAbd Allāh (peace be upon him) during the circumambulation (ṭawāf), when the man encountered us. His name was ʿAbd al-Malik and his kunyah was Abū ʿAbd Allāh. He brushed shoulders with Abū ʿAbd Allāh (peace be upon him).

The Imam said to him: “What is your name?”
He replied: “ʿAbd al-Malik.”
He said: “What is your kunyah?”
He replied: “Abū ʿAbd Allāh.”

Abū ʿAbd Allāh (peace be upon him) said:
“Who is this ‘King’ (al-Malik) of whom you are a servant? Is he one of the kings of the earth or of the heavens? And regarding your son— is he a servant of the God of the heavens or the God of the earth? Say whatever you wish—you will be refuted.”

Hishām said: I said to the zindīq, “Will you not respond?” But he found my words offensive.

Then Abū ʿAbd Allāh (peace be upon him) said: “When I finish the circumambulation, come to us.”

When he had finished, the zindīq came and sat before him while we were gathered around him.

Abū ʿAbd Allāh (peace be upon him) said to the zindīq:
“Do you know that the earth has a beneath and an above?”
He said: “Yes.”
He said: “Have you entered beneath it?”
He replied: “No.”
He said: “Then how do you know what lies beneath it?”
He said: “I do not know, except that I suppose there is nothing beneath it.”

Abū ʿAbd Allāh (peace be upon him) said:
“Conjecture is impotence when one lacks certainty.”

Then he said:
“Have you ascended to the heavens?”
He replied: “No.”
He said: “Do you know what is in them?”
He replied: “No.”

He said:
“How astonishing! You have not reached the East nor the West, nor descended into the earth, nor ascended to the heavens, nor passed beyond them to know what lies behind them—yet you deny what is within them! Does a rational person deny what he does not know?”

The zindīq said: “No one has spoken to me in this manner except you.”

Abū ʿAbd Allāh (peace be upon him) said:
“So you are in doubt regarding that—perhaps it is so, and perhaps it is not.”

The zindīq said: “Perhaps that is so.”

Abū ʿAbd Allāh (peace be upon him) said:
“O man! One who does not know has no argument against one who knows, and the ignorant has no حجّة (proof).

O brother from Egypt, understand from me: we never doubt God.

Do you not see the sun, the moon, the night, and the day—how they enter into one another without confusion and return in succession? They are compelled; they have no place except their appointed place. If they had the power to depart, why do they return? And if they are not compelled, why does the night not become day and the day not become night?

By God, O brother from Egypt, they are compelled to their دوام (continuity), and the one who compels them is more precise and greater than they.”

The zindīq said: “You have spoken the truth.”

Then Abū ʿAbd Allāh (peace be upon him) said:
“O brother from Egypt, as for what you hold and suppose to be ‘Time’ (al-dahr): if time takes them away, why does it not restore them? And if it restores them, why does it not take them away?

The people are compelled.

O brother from Egypt, why is the heaven raised and the earth laid out? Why does the heaven not fall upon the earth? Why does the earth not collapse upon its layers, nor do they cling together, nor does what is upon them collapse?”

The zindīq said:
“God, their Lord and Master, holds them together.”

Thereupon, the zindīq accepted faith at the hands of Abū ʿAbd Allāh (peace be upon him).

Ḥumrān said to him: “May I be your ransom, if the heretics come to faith at your hands, then indeed the unbelievers came to faith at the hands of your father.”

The one who had believed said: “Make me among your students.”

Abū ʿAbd Allāh (peace be upon him) said:
“O Hishām ibn al-Ḥakam, take him and teach him.”

So Hishām taught him, and he became a teacher of faith for the people of Syria and the people of Egypt, and his doctrine became sound—until Abū ʿAbd Allāh (peace be upon him) was pleased with him.