Divine Emanation As Cosmic Origin: Ibn Sînâ and His Critics

Abstract

The question of cosmic beginning has always attracted considerable attention from serious thinkers past and present. Among many contesting theories that have emerged, that of emanation was appropriated by Muslim philosophers like Ibn Sînâ in order to reconcile the Aristotelian doctrine of the eternity of matter with the teaching of al-Qur'ân on the One Creator-God. According to this theory, the universe, which comprises a multitude of entities, is generated from a transcendent Being, the One, that is unitary, through the medium of a hierarchy of immaterial substances. While the ultimate source is undiminished, the beings which are emanated are progressively less perfect as they are further removed from the first principle. The process is conceived as being atemporal and often compared to the efflux of light from a luminous body, or to water flowing from a spring. This metaphysical theory has enabled Ibn Sînâ to solve the vexed problem: given an eternally existing world and one eternally existing God, how can the two necessarily co-exist without having the perfect, simple unity of God destroyed by contact with the multiplicity of material things? The following essay delineates and evaluates both Ibn Sînâ's arguments as well as the counter-arguments of his critics. Masalah permulaan kosmos selalu menarik perhatian para pemikir yang serius di masa lalu dan masa kini. Di antara berbagai teori yang muncul adalah teori emanasi yang telah dimodifikasi oleh filsuf Muslim seperti Ibn Sina untuk menyesuaikan doktrin Aristoteles tentang keabadian materi dengan ajaran al-Qur'an tentang Tuhan sebagai Pencipta Yang Esa. Menurut teori ini, alam, yang terdiri dari berbagai entitas, diturunkan dari Wujud yang transenden, Yang Satu,