Early Writings — Page 10
IO THE the other hand, if someone says that it is because someone else has proposed them for him, then I would like to congratulate you, for this proves the existence of the Creator of souls and bodies. Quod erat demonstrandum. The third argument is based on reductio ad absurdum. To elab- orate, reductio ad absurdum is the kind of argument in which the credibility of a conclusion is proved by showing that the contra- dictory would be impossible. In the study of logic, this kind of argument is called absurdum because the term ‘absurdum' implies a meaning of‘falsity. ' Hence, under this method of argumentation, if the proposition that is put forth as being valid is not accepted to be true, then the conclusion will necessitate falsity. Here is an example of this kind of argument. Refer to Surah aṭ-Ṭür, part 27: آمْ خُلِقَوْا مِنْ غَيْرِ شَيْءٍ أَمْ هُمُ الْخَلِقُونَ أَمْ خَلَقُوا السَّمَوتِ وَالْأَرْضَ بَلْ لَّا يُوقِنُونَ أمْ عِنْدَهُمْ خَزَ ابنُ رَبِّكَ أَمْ هُمُ الْمُصَّيْطِرُونَ Meaning, Have these people, who do not believe that God is their the Creator, come into being without anyone having created them, or are they their own creators, or are they the cause of all causes who created the heavens and earth, or are they in possession of infinite treasures of knowledge and wisdom by which they have come to know that they are eternally existent, or are they free and not subject to anyone's control so that it should be held that when there is no one who stands above them as dominant and powerful, then how can there be a Being who might have created them? This verse puts forth profound argumentation whereby each 1. Surah at-Tür, 52:36-38