Rasa News Agency - Grand Ayatollah Ja’far Sobhani spoke to seminarians in the mosque of Madrassah al-Hujjatiyah in the Holy City of Qom. This lecture was the third in a series which His Eminence has been delivering during the holy month of Ramadhan. The subject matter is a discussion of the 39th chapter of the Holy Quran, az-Zumar (The Troops). In this lecture, he discussed the forth verse.
His Eminence explained that all of the verses of the chapter “az-Zumar” are related to each other. In the third verse of this chapter, God says that the polytheists are unbelievers and liars. In the forth verse, God says that those who ascribe a son to Him are liars:
“Had God intended to take a son, He could have chosen from those He has created whatever He wished. Immaculate is He! He is God, The One, the All-Paramount.” [39:4]
This means that the beliefs of the unbelievers are false and if God wanted to take a son, He would have chosen a son from among His creations. It is not possible that God would take for Himself a son, because He is above all that is ascribed to Him and He is not like Lat and Uzza, the gods of the pagan Arabs.
Ayatollah Sobhani explains that God is greater than to choose a son for Himself, saying “one of the proofs that God did not choose a son for Himself is that God is ‘one’ and not composed of matter. This verse explains this matter.”
His Eminence explained the meaning of the word “wahid” or “one” used in verse, saying: “God is one, but not by number, because a number can have a plurality and multiplicity, unlike God who is unique and unlike any of His creations; His essence is completely ‘one.’”
Ayatollah Sobhani explained that all of God’s prophets were sent to teach the divine message of monotheism: “God in the Quran has said that no prophet was sent except with the message of monotheism. God is a pure ‘existent being’ and is not capable of plurality and multiplicity.”
“Specific unity” is also impossible in relation to God. Human beings are a form of “specific unity” and this concept is impossible in relation to God because “specific unity” is a universal concept and God is not, as He is not divisible or made up of numerous parts, like a human being.
Ayatollah Sobhani in reference to the words of Imam Ali (A) about unity, said: “God is ‘one’ meaning He is unique and has no parts, and such a being cannot choose children for themselves.”
“Two accusations have been made against God, one is from the Christians who say that God is capable of having actual children, such as Jesus Christ. The other accusation is from the pagan Arabs who used to say that that God chooses sons and that the idols that they created themselves are the sons of God,” the great exegist of the Holy Quran explained.
In response to these accusations, Ayatollah Sobhani explained: “Why would someone choose a child who will become an old man and will carry a cane in his hand? God is described as ‘All-Paramount’ in this verse of the Holy Quran, which means that He is dominant and victorious and He is not in need of a son who could not have these qualities. In response to the claims of the Christians, this verse shows that God is one, does not have parts, and is incomparable. Thus, He cannot have children.”
His Eminence explained that this verse can be used to defeat the erroneous claims of the Christian and pagan Arabs who accepted false beliefs in regards to God. The approach of this verse shows that in the refutation of the claims of these people God in this verse uses the words ‘take a son to Himself’ and if He was to refer to the Christians, He would have said: ‘create a son for Himself.’ God, in this verse used the world ‘choose,’ which refers to the Arabs as it was they who believed God chose sons. Therefore, this verse is in refutation of only the claims of the Arab pagans from the ‘time of ignorance.’”
Ayatollah Sobhani concluded by saying that the chapter “az-Zumar” was revealed in Makkah and Christians did not live in Makkah, and so God only refutes the claims of the Arab pagans in this verse.
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