A Study on Sayyid Murtada’s Approach Concerning the Qur’anic Verses and Traditions Concerning the Visibility of God
One of the most important issues in theology is vision of God. Sayyid Murtada has dealt with the issue of vision of God in his works, including Al-Molakhkhas fi Osoul al-Ddin, Tanzih ol-Anbiya’ and Al-Amaali. From among numerous Qur’anic verses dealing with meeting, witnessing, seeing and vision, he has studied only two of them: “My Lord! Show me (Thy self), that I may gaze upon Thee”[۱] and “That day will faces be resplendent, Looking toward their Lord;”[۲] in addition, he has dealt with the tradition “You will see your Lord without any trouble as you see the full moon”.
Through a careful argumentation based on the literary, Qur’anic and tradition reasons, Sayyid Murtada absolutely rejects the idea of the visibility of God and refuses that these verses and traditions imply such an idea; however, despite rejecting the visibility through the eyes, he accepts that vision of god can imply the attainment of necessary knowledge toward God.
Keywords: vision of God, necessary knowledge, heart vision, Qazi ‘Abd ol-Jabbar, grace, obligation
