I have been 'sitting on'
this post for a few months now, being a bit reticent to publish it; but recent
events have now compelled me to do so. I suspect that it will be a bit
controversial for a number of my readers, but I sincerely hope that those who
take the time to read it, will do so with as much objectivity as they can
muster. Here goes...
In the Bible we read:
"God is light, and in him is no darkness at all." (1 John 1:5b - ASV)
And from the Qur'an:
"God is the light of the heavens and the earth." (Surah 24:35a - Maulana Wahiduddin Khan)
This
attribution of the term "light"—in both the Bible and the Qur'an—to
the One, Supreme, True God, is a reference to His very being/essence. Note the
following scholarly references which support this important motif (I have selected only a few from a list of dozens):
"God
is light." John formulates short statements that describe God's nature. In
other places he says, "God is spirit" (John 4:24) and "God is
love" (1 John 4:16). Here, in verse 5, he reveals God's essence in a short
statement of three words: "God is light." (Simon J. Kistemaker, James
and I-III John, 1986, p. 242.)
The
very being of God is absolute light. (R.C.H. Lenski, The Interpretation of I
and II Epistles of Peter, the three Epistles of John and the Epistle of Jude, 1966,
p. 384.)
God
is light, i.e., God's nature is light = absolute holiness and truth (comp. iv.
8; Gospel of John iv. 24). (J.E. Huther, Meyer's Critical and Exegetical
Handbook to the General Epistles of James, Peter, John and Jude, 1980
reprint, pp. 480, 481.)
In
the inanimate world, light is the most common and the most theologically
important image of God. John virtually defines God when he says, "God is
light; in him there is no darkness at all" (1 John 1:5). (John M. Frame, The
Doctrine of God, 2002, p. 376.)
The
physical light is but a reflection of the true Light in the world of Reality,
and that true Light is Allah. (Abdullah Ysuf Ali, The Meaning of the Holy
Qur'an, 1993, p. 876.)
Al-Nur—Light—is the visible one by whom everything is made visible, for what is visible in itself and makes other things visible is called light'. In the measure that existence is opposed to non-existence, what is visible cannot but be linked to existence, for no darkness is darker than non-existence.
What is free from the darkness of non-existence, and even from the possibility of non-existence, who draws everything from the darkness of non-existence to the manifestation of existence, is worthy of being named light. Existence is a light streaming to all things from the light of His essence, for He is the light of the heavens and the earth. And as there is not an atom of the light of the sun which does not by itself lead one to the existence of the sun which illuminates it, so there is not a single atom from the existents of the heavens and the earth and what lies between them which does not lead one by the very possibility of its existence to the necessary existence who brings them into being. (Al-Ghazali, The
Ninety-Nine Beautiful Names of God, trans. David B. Burrell and Naih Daher,
1992, 1997, p. 145.)
"God
is the light of the Heavens and of the Earth . . ." (XXIV, 35). For, to
those who have understood the true meaning, light is being, and
darkness is non-being. The Light, which is God, therefore is the constitutive
being of the Heavens and of the Earth. (Seyyed Hossein Nasr, Hamid Dabashi,
Seyyed Vali Reza Nasr, Shi'ism - Doctrines, Thought, and Spirituality, 1988,
p, 197.)
Having established that
"the light" is a reference to the very being of God, I would now like
to explore the issue of etiology—i.e. causation, origination—more specifically,
the first causation by/from God.
In Christian thought, it
is God's Logos/Son/Wisdom/Word which was the 'first causation' from God. Before
time, God begets (i.e. causes) His Logos/Son/Wisdom/Word, from His
being/essence/Light (Proverbs 8:22-30; John 5:26; Rev. 3:14). God's
Logos/Son/Wisdom/Word is 'Light from Light'.
In Islamic thought, we
have a virtual parallel concept concerning the 'first causation' from God. Note
the following Hadith:
The
hadith that is related by Jābir in the Musannaf of al-Hāfiz Abū Bakr
‘Abd al-Razzāq b. Hammām al-San’ānī and considered sound by recent scholarship
indicates that the very first of God’s creation was the light of the Prophet.
According to the hadith, Jābir b, ‘Abd Allāh asked the Prophet, ‘What is the
first thing that God created?’ To this, the Prophet replied, ‘O Jābir! The
first thing God, the Sublime and Exalted, created was the light of your Prophet
from His light, and that light remained in the midst of His power for as long
as He wished, and there was not at that time a Tablet or a Pen or a Paradise or
a Fire or an angel or a heaven or an earth. (Hamza Yusaf, The Creed of Imam
al-Tahāwī, 2007, p. 117.)
Before
time (or anything else), God brings forth (i.e. causes/creates) "the light
of the Prophet...from His light". This concept is known as the 'Muhammadan
Light' (an-Nur al-Muhammadiyyah), also called the 'Muhammadan Reality' (al-haqiqah
al-Muhammadiyyah). Note the following from Cyril Glassé:
Much
emphasis is placed on this idea by the Shī'ites, who find this light eminently
manifest in their Imāms, but the term is also encountered, mainly in the
context of mysticism, among the Sunnīs, as a doctrine not unlike that of the
logos. (The Concise Encyclopedia of Islam, 1989, p. 304 -
bold emphasis mine.)
This
"Muhammadan Light", or Light of Muhammad, is mentioned in Qur'an:
People
of the Book! Our Messenger has come to make clear to you much of what you have
hidden of the Scriptures and to forgive you much. A light has now come to you
from God and a clear Book, whereby God guides to the ways of peace all who seek
His good pleasure, bringing them from darkness to the light, by His will, and
guiding them to a straight path. (Surah
5:15 - Maulana
Wahiduddin Khan)
For
more information on the "Muhammadan Light", or Light of Muhammad, see
the following online articles:
Now, I suspect that many
will notice that on the Christian side of the issue of God's 'first causation',
an emphasis is placed on begetting, while on the Muslim side, it is creating.
At first glance, it would appear that we have two different concepts being
presented; however, one must keep in mind that in the Bible and early Church,
the Hebrew and Greek terms used for beget and create were often
interchangeable. As such, one needs look beyond the verbal action
(causation)—both sides acknowledge this first cause—to the ontological aspects
of this action/cause. The ontology of God's first cause is this: the One,
Supreme, Uncaused God from His Essence/Light begets/creates another being, and
this, before the creation of anything else, including time.
Another difference is that
for Christians, it is Jesus Christ's pre-existent being/nature that is
presented, while for Muslims, it is Muhammad's. But, once again, the divide may
not be as wide as most would perceive it—especially from a Muslim perspective.
In the Qur'an we read:
The Messenger believes in
what has been sent down to him from his Lord, and [so do] believers. They all
believe in God and His angels, His scriptures, and His messengers. They say, We
do not differentiate between any of His messengers. We hear and obey. Grant us
Your forgiveness, Lord, to You we shall all return! (Surah 2.284 - Maulana Wahiduddin Khan)
It
sure seems to me that if one is going to be faithful to the above concept, one
needs to affirm that Muhammad's pre-existent 'light' is Jesus' pre-existent
'light'.
There
is much more to share on this topic, but I want to limit the size of this
opening post. With that said, I shall be looking forward to the contributions
of others...
Grace
and peace,
David
