Misconception: Eternal Recurrence

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Eternal Recurrence[1]

Shaykh Muhammad bin Saaleh al-‘Uthaymeen [may Allaah have Mercy on him] expands:

Question: Was there ever a time where Allaah, the Glorified and the Exalted, never Did anything?

Some of the scholars affirmed this, they say that Allaah wasn’t doing anything and then created creation. Likewise they argue that if Allaah didn’t have the ability of acting before doing nothing, then it would mean that the creation was created in eternity and thus Qadeem (a false idea propagated by the Asharees). Therefore by affirming the idea that Allaah wasn’t doing anything and then acted and created, then this affirms the fact that Allaah does as He Pleases otherwise one would have to believe that Allaah Acted in eternity and that creation existed with Him in eternity (thus everything, the Creator and the creation having no beginning), and this is misguidance.

This question has created a difference of opinions, just like the question, “What will Allaah do after people enter Jannah and Jahannam?”

So they divided:

The Jahmiyyah

Some said that Allaah, the Most High, in the beginning doesn’t do anything, and after creation have entered their final abodes, does not do anything. As a result of this misguided concept, they held the belief that the both Jannah and Jahannam will come to an end and will not actually last forever. Meaning, they will eventually cease to exist in totality. 

There will be no earth, no heavens, no stars, no sun…nothing will remain except Allaah, the Glorified and the Exalted. This is the belief of the Jahmiyyah and coined the statement, “Whatever has a beginning must have an end.”

The Mu’tazillah

Others opined that creation will continue to exist for eternity and will not cease to exist, however their actions will cease. So they will exist but they won’t be able to move or do anything, thus becoming like stone and statues and will stay in such a position for eternity. 

This concept is clearly false and dumbfounded as Ibn al-Qayyim exposed in an-Nooniyyah (1/82). 

The Asharees

Others from the people of misguidance held the belief that eternal regression was the case in the beginning of creation and will continue at the end of creation. They argue that Allaah, the Most High, Created the creation in eternity and thus He existed with the creation together, both of them having no beginning likewise, both of them will have no end. The idea of eternal regression applies in the past and the future alike. 

As a result, the people of Jannah and Jahannam will remain in their places of final abode without ceasing in existence. 

Ahl as-Sunnah

They held the belief that the eternal regression in both past and future are a necessity. Meaning, the creation has a beginning and was created by a Creator and likewise in the future, they will continue to exist. The people of Jannah and Jahannam will always remain for eternity. 

Ahl as-Sunnah rightly point out that had the creation always existed in eternity and not having a beginning, this would be Shirk with Allaah, as Allaah is the Only One that befits such an Attribute. So they believe that Allaah, the Most High, existed and then Created the creation. 

There’s another view from Ahl as-Sunnah that is similar to the above; that the creation has a beginning and didn’t exist in eternity as Allaah is al-Awwal and has no beginning. The eternal regression continued to a single point of creation by the creation. The creation that was created in the past will then cease and then be brought back into existence again and this will last for an eternal regression in the future. 

NOTE: With all of this it is important to point out that Allaah, the Most High, is the Creator and has always been and will always be the Creator. This necessitates that belief that He has always Created and will always Create and this attribute will never cease. This includes creating things outside of our paradigm and what we can’t/haven’t perceived.

This is because the praying person says in his prayer:

ملء السماوات و ملء الأرض ما بينهما و ملء مل شئت من شيء بعد

Praises fill the heavens for You, praised fill the earth for You and whatever is in between them and praises fill whatever comes into existence after them[2].

This proves that there are creation before the heavens and the earths and creation after them. There is even creation before the ‘Ursh of Allaah however we cannot perceive any of this. This is because Allaah, the Most High, Acted and has not ceased in Acting. 

This doesn’t mean that the existence of a Creator means that the creation existed in eternity; rather the intellectuals are agreed that an object can only come into existence after the act of creating it. The outcome is an end result of that action, and it is impossible that the outcome came before the act of creating it. 

Based on this, if we stated that the creation existed with Allaah in eternity, then this is Shirk (like the Asharees), as Allaah existed before the creation and then created by doing the action of Creating and then the creation came into existence.

This was exposed even further by Shaykh al-Islaam Ibn Taymiyyah in Majmoo’ al-Fataawaa (16/444) where he dissected the arguments of the innovated beliefs mentioned above. 

[Sharh as-Safaareeniyyah 315-319]

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[1] This theory proposes the idea that the universe exists (and possibly will continue to exist) in eternity via a series of regressions or loops (similar to asking; what came first, the chicken or the egg? There is no answer according to some atheists as the series of loops continue without actually being created). This theory was initially promoted by the Greeks such as Aristotle and ancient Indian theorists to  promote ideas such as reincarnation.

[2] Reported by Muslim in his Saheeh (476)