Ibn Taymiya's Rejection of Creatio Ex Nihilo

 

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

الصلاة والسلام عليك يا سيدي يا رسول الله

وعلى آلك واصحابك يا سيدي يا رسول الله

فداك ابي وامي يا رسول الله

In the Name of Allah, the Rahman, the Merciful

One of the doctrines of the modern-day Salafis in which they dissent from the creed of the orthodox Sunni Muslims is that Allah, Holy and Exalted is He, did not create anything from nothingness (creatio ex nihilo). Rather, in following the innovated belief of Ibn Taymiya, the Salafis affected by his thought insist that all creation is creatio ex materia, meaning created from some pre-existing matter. Ibn Taymiya said:

فقد أخبر أنه خلق السموات والأرض ‌في ‌مدة ‌ومن ‌مادة ولم يذكر القرآن خلق شيء من لا شيء

Translation: “He (Allah) informed us that He created the Heavens and the Earth in a period of time and from matter, and there is no mention in the Quran of creation of something from nothing.” (Majmu al-Fatawa; v.18 pp.235-236)

The implication of this doctrine is that Allah, Holy and Exalted is He, was never truly alone, but that the phenomenon of creation is eternal without beginning. However, such a notion directly contradicts what has been narrated from the Holy Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him:

كَانَ اللهُ وَلَمْ يَكُنْ شَىْءٌ غَيْرُهُ

Translation: “Allah was and there was nothing other than Him”

(Sahih al-Bukhari)

But Ibn Taymiya claimed the wording of this Hadith was not proven because there are other versions of the Hadith in Sahih al-Bukhari with two other wordings:

كان الله ولم يكن شيء قبله

Translation: “Allah was and there was nothing before Him”

كان الله ولم يكن شيء معه

Translation: “Allah was and there was nothing with Him”

Incidentally, the third version “Allah was and there was nothing with Him” that Ibn Taymiya claimed is also found in Sahih al-Bukhari is actually not there. Nonetheless, there are apparently two versions of the Hadith in Sahih al-Bukhari, and this is known as the Hadith of Imran bin Husain. Ibn Taymiya argued that logically only one version is correct because this incident occurred only once, and used that as justification to deny the other two versions of the Hadith:

واللفظان الآخران لم يثبت

Translation: “The two other wordings are not proven”

And Ibn Taymiya concluded that only the version of the Hadith “Allah was and there was nothing before Him” is correct because:

لم يكن في هذا اللفظ تعرض لابتداء الحوادث ولا لأول مخلوق

Translation: “This wording does not necessitate a beginning for events or a first creation.” (Majmu al-Fatawa; v.18 p.216)

Now it becomes clear that Ibn Taymiya had a preconceived notion, due to being influenced by the philosophy of his time, that creatio ex nihilo is incorrect and therefore based on that preconceived notion sat in judgment over the authentic Ahadith narrated in Sahih al-Bukhari, declaring the versions that fit his narrative true and those that don’t “unproven”.

But what does Islam actually teach? Allah, Holy and Exalted is He, says:

وَّقَدۡ خَلَقۡتُکَ مِنۡ قَبۡلُ وَلَمۡ تَکُ شَیۡئًا

Indeed, I created you before when you were nothing

(Surah 19 Ayah 9)

اِنَّمَا قَوۡلُنَا لِشَیۡءٍ اِذَاۤ اَرَدۡنٰہُ اَنۡ نَّقُوۡلَ لَہٗ کُنۡ فَیَکُوۡنُ

Our word to a thing, when We will it, is only that We say to it, ‘Be!’, and it is

(Surah 16 Ayah 40)

Ibn Taymiya is often attributed to the Hanabila, yet before he came along they had unanimity on the text of the Qadiri Creed, authorized by the Abbasid ruler Al-Qadir Billah:

‌كان ‌ربنا واحد لا شيء معه

Translation: “Our Lord was alone, there was nothing with Him” (Al-I’tiqad al-Qadiri)

Although it may be true that Allah, Holy and Exalted is He, created this universe from pre-existing matter, that does not negate that fundamentally the origin of all creation is that Allah created it out of nothing. The Verses of the Holy Quran cited by Ibn Taymiya, for instance that the Heaven was دخان (smoke or steam), to argue that the universe was created from pre-existing matter, are in fact only referring to the primordial form of the universe and not necessarily a reference to the material from which the universe was created. And we Sunni Muslims firmly believe that the origin of all creation is that Allah created it from absolute nothingness, and that prior to the act of creation Allah was alone, there was nothing else with Him.