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Published: 15 January 2026

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• Polytheism
• Unique God
• Theological polytheism

Polytheism

The One and Unique God is the creator of the world and all the beings that reside in it. He is deserving of our worship and adoration, and in fact embedded deep within the fabric of our spiritual being is the inclination to worship and obey Him. As demonstrated in the foregoing discussions, it is impossible that there should be deities other than the One God. The doctrine of Divine Unity is one that the mind readily comprehends. Polytheism- the belief that there are other deities on par with God is due to the level of belief and theology and that of practice.

Theological polytheism consists of three distinct-but often coinciding-strains: polytheism in creatorship, polytheism in lordship, and polytheism in worship. Polytheism in creatorship is the belief that there are multiple, independent creators such that none of them is in any way subject to the jurisdiction of the other. A prevalent form of polytheism in creatorship is the false belief that good and evil derive from two distinct creators. According to this dualistic conception, God is the creator of the good things in the world and Satan or a similar evil force-say. Ahriman-is the creator of all wicked and vile creatures.

Polytheism in lordship is the belief that there are multiple deities who exercise autonomous authority in governing the world. This strain of polytheism is prevalent in many ancient and even contemporary cultures. Those who subscribe to this belief take the stars, the sun, the moon, and occasionally even certain saints as partaking of autonomous authority in ruling over the world and the forces of nature. This is the type of polytheism that has led many religions astray, as they acknowledge God as the Creator but assume that there are lesser deities to whom He has given unrestricted and independent power and as a result they can manipulate phenomena without having to answer to God. This goes against the Islamic view of Divine Unity, which affirms that all powers and forces, even the greatest of God’s creatures (Prophet Muhammad and his sacred household), are subject to the all-encompassing power of God and thus are incapable of undertaking anything against His Will.

The last form of theological polytheism is polytheism as regards worship that something or someone other than God is possessed of such lofty merits as to deserve to be worshipped. In Islam, worship is the exclusive prerogative of God. Theological polytheism is technically referred to as explicit polytheism. Practical polytheism is called implicit polytheism. Implicit polytheism is much harder to detect, and so even many devout Muslims may be affected by it while assuming to be true monotheists. Practical or implicit polytheism designates the impurity of intention and the reliance on other than God that so often affect our actions. Obviously in point of belief, we are monotheists, as we believe that there is only one ultimate source of power, and that is God. But we often neglect this belief and strive to acquire worldly wealth, power, and fame or we rely on the assistance of fellow human beings when we should rely solely on God. This is symptomatic of the weakness of our faith. The stronger one’s faith is, the greater is one’s reliance on God and the less is one’s attention to worldly powers.

One of the forms in which one’s impurity of intention manifests itself is the vice that in Islamic literature is referred to as al-riya’, which can be translated as affected piety, pretension, hypocrisy, or disingenuity. Al-riya’ is to perform a religious devotion with the intention of displaying it to others to prove one’s piety rather than with the intention of pleasing God or gaining spiritual perfection. Any deed performed with this invalid intention lacks the most basic requirements of acceptability in the eyes of God and to repeat to act with this intention will entrench hypocrisy in one’s character.

Concerning implicit polytheism the Noble Prophet says, “Polytheism is harder to descry than the light footsteps of tiny ants on a hard rock in a pitch-dark night. The slightest degree of polytheism is to be happy with some injustice and to be unhappy with some justice. Is religion anything but love and hate for the sake of God? God says, ‘If you love God, so obey me [the Prophe] , and God will love you’ (Qur’an 3:31).” (Al-Jami’al-Saghir, vol. 2, p. 85)

A Misunderstanding of Polytheism

Although, polytheism is found in many forms, the definition is fairly straightforward to view someone or something as an independent power on par with God. This parity with God may pertain to the Divine Essence (in which case the polytheist believes in two autonomous sources of existence), to Divine Creatorship (in which case the polytheist believes in two distinct creators for the world), or Divine Activity (in which case the polytheist assumes the authority of multiple gods in the management and maintenance of the affairs of the world).

The constitutive element of polytheism is expressed by the term, independence.
The main factor that renders the adoration of other persons or things besides God is the ascription of independence to them. To practice polytheism is to hold someone or something as yielding divine power or authority without having to answer to the One God. Monotheistic belief, however, holds that all beings are created by the One God and are in need of Him to remain in existence, and their power, authority, and activity arc determined by the Divine Will, and whatever they do is dependent on His Power and Will. Where one phenomenon impacts or influences another, the ultimate source of this impact and influence is God. so that all causality hinges on Divine Power and Will. It is impossible that a being should exercise some form of activity without deriving the power and authority for it from God. It is this utter dependence on God that renders all beings His “creatures”.

Thus, to attribute power, authority, or causation to a being viewed as utterly dependent on God is true and wholly consistent with monotheism. Should a gardener watering plants view water as the independent cause in preserving the life of the plants, he harbors a polytheistic view. But if he holds that God has endowed water with the capacity to accomplish this end, he adheres to monotheistic belief. In the same vein, when someone who has fallen ill asks a person he considers to be more spiritually elevated than himself to pray for his health, he is not in fact diverging from true monotheism, for in his view God is the One who grants health and the person praying is only interceding on his behalf without possessing independent power or authority. However, should the ill person beseech another with the view- that the latter is truly and independently capable of granting health, he is practicing polytheism.

To visit the graves of deceased believers and to beseech them to intercede with God on one’s behalf is no different from going to live believers and asking them for a favor. When we visit the graves of the Ahlulbayt, for instance, and ask them to be our intercessors, we are only acknowledging that they are more spiritually elevated and thus more dear to God, and so God is more likely to grant our wish if they present it to Him. We do not view the intercessors as possessed of independent authority or such a position as to force God to accept their prayers. They are merely the vessel of God’s Grace.

Those who accuse Shias of polytheistic tendencies on account of upholding the concept of intercession are ignorant of the true meaning of polytheism and of intercession. They malign Shias without any legitimate grounds. As all of God’s creatures deserve respect, it is entirely inappropriate to level such accusations against fellow human beings. Why should a group of people consider themselves justified in so denigrating another people? Islam teaches us to show love and kindness to others, even if they are from a different religion. Thus, there should be no doubt that vilifying Shias with such false accusations and causing discord among fellow monotheists is a reprehensible wrong whether viewed from the perspective of reason or of religion.

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Published: 15 January 2026

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• Divine Lordship
• Types of Lordship
• Rabb
• Lord

Divine Lordship

The Arabic word for lord is rabb. Arabs use rabb to designate one who manages something in such a way that the managed entity progresses in an orderly fashion toward realizing its purpose.

When we say that God is the Lord of all creatures, we mean that He has established among His creatures a series of interdependencies whereby certain beings depend on other beings for their existence. The amazing order pervading the world is the result of these interdependencies initiated by God. It is thus that the entire world moves as a unified whole toward a collective end. As such, when lordship is ascribed to God it indicates that He is the Creator, the Designer and the Manager.

Creatures depend on God not only for their existence but also in every aspect of their existence. They are utterly dependent, lacking any degree of independence from God. God directs and manages His creatures as He wishes. And as He is wise, just, and benevolent, His management and direction are perfect, flawlessly securing the true interests of all creatures and guaranteeing their ultimate perfection.

Now, as God is the supreme and independent manager of the world, all other causes and agents deriving their effectuality from Him, one of the principal tenets of monotheistic faith is Divine Unity in lordship. Divine Unity in lordship is the belief that He is the sole agent who enjoys independence in agency, activity, and causation, everything else depending entirely on Him. As such, attributing any degree of independence in the management of worldly phenomena to other agents constitutes a violation of this doctrine and thus amounts to unfaith. The belief, for instance, that stars exercise independent influence over our fates is a polytheistic belief and similarly the belief that certain saints can determine our fate independently of God. 

But what is the reason, we may ask, for the doctrine of Divine Unity in lordship? Why must we believe that the world has only one supreme lord and king? The reason is that if there were multiple lords, we envisage these lords either as identical or as distinct. If we are envisaging them as one, ultimately what we believe is that there is only one lord, though we may have entangled ourselves in a confusion (like what Christians say concerning Trinity-that it is one and three at the same time). But if we envisage these multiple lords as distinct, they must be distinct in their essence and attributes. That in turn means that their activity and agency must be distinct as well, for distinct agents produce distinct effects. But if that were the case, we would have had a disorderly world made of a number of discordant systems. Yet, as that is not the case, the world we inhabit exhibiting a single orderly and integrated arrangement, we know that there must be only one lord governing it. Hence, the doctrine of Divine Unity in lordship.

Hisham ibn Hakam asked Imam al-Sadiq (as) concerning the proof for God’s oneness. Imam al-Sadiq (as) replied, “[The proof is] the uniformity of order [in the world] and the integrity of creation, and this is as God says, ‘Were there multiple deities in the heavens and the earth, they would have perished’ (Qur'an 21:22).” (Al-Tawhid, Shaykh al-Saduq, p. 250)

Different Types of Lordship

We may distinguish two general types of Divine Lordship in peculiar jurisdiction in relation to which Lordship is perceived. They are as follows:

• Existential Lordship: God’s Existential Lordship is His Management of the world and His Providence in directing and sustaining all creatures.
• Legislative Lordship: This category of Divine Lordship concerns only those creatures possessed of reason and free will. God’s Legislative Lordship consists in appointing prophets for the guidance of humankind and ordaining the necessary instructions and directions that can guarantee human felicity.

Thus, when we describe God as the Lord-in which case existential and legislative Lordship are both intended we mean that He is the Supreme King of the world. Among the creatures, some rely on others, yet the ultimate and absolutely independent cause in the world is God. It is ultimately He who provides for the needs of all creatures, nourishes them, and gives them sustenance. Furthermore, God has an additional grace for rational beings. He has endowed them with the necessary internal means of guidance (the intellect and other cognitive faculties) and has made guidance available to them through external sources as well (revelation and prophets), thereby instructing them as to precisely what they must do to proceed toward perfection.

A careful analysis of the two concepts of Creator and Lord will show that they are correlative. It is impossible that the Lord should be someone other than the Creator. It is only the Creator who knows the intricacies and the subtleties of all creatures and so only He can truly manage and direct them. In fact, reflecting on these two concepts from a metaphysical perspective, we reach the conclusion that Lordship is an extension of Creatorship. Lordship designates the dependence of the creature on the Creator.

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Published: 14 January 2026

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• wisdom
• Justice

The Relationship between Divine Justice and Wisdom

When speaking of Divine Wisdom, it was explained that one of the meanings of wisdom was refraining from performing evil and bad deeds. This sense of wisdom encompasses justice, for justice is good and injustice evil. In this light, the attribute of justice may be considered as one of the branches of the attribute of wisdom.

As such, we may reason for Divine Justice along the following lines. Innate human reason Judges that observing justice is good under all circumstances and perpetrating injustice is evil under any circumstance. As God is wise-and wisdom is to refrain from what is evil and bad-reason concludes that God is just and that he necessarily avoids all injustice.

The assumption of injustice on the pan of God involves at least one of these three absurd possibilities.

• God is unjust on account of His ignorance. Obviously, one of the main causes of injustice among humankind is ignorance. Yet, ignorance is necessarily negated of God-for it is an imperfection-and therefore, God cannot be unjust on account of ignorance. 
• God is unjust on account of His need. One of the other causes for the occurrence of injustice among humankind is need. A tyrant, for instance, needs to provide for an army and so he imposes unbearable taxes on people, which is an unjust behavior. Yet. God is absolutely self-sufficient and free of all need. As such. He cannot be unjust on account of being in need.
• God is unjust on account of an imperfection. Another principal cause of injustice consists of the imperfections inherent in created being. Moral defects, for instance, can compel one to act unjustly. Yet, it has already been demonstrated that God is absolutely perfect. And so He cannot be unjust on account of an imperfection. As all the causes resulting in injustice are absent in God, God is necessarily just.

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Published: 14 January 2026

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• Divine Justice
• ‘adl
• essence of justice

Divine Justice

Prophet Moses (as) once asked God to show him how Divine Justice is meted out. God told him to go near a certain wellspring and to wait there. Prophet Moses (as) did as he was instructed. Awhile later, a man on horseback approached the wellspring, to drink water. He descended the horse, advanced towards the fountain and set his pouch of gold and silver coins aside, while he drank the water. Once he was finished, he ascended his horse, rushed away and left his pouch of coins behind. 

Afterwards, a young boy came along and drank some water from the wellspring. Seeing the pouch laying there unattended; he picked it up and left with it. No sooner had the boy departed then an old man approached the wellspring. As he neared the wellspring to drink water, the man on horseback returned in haste, in search of his pouch. Since the old man was the only one in sight, the man on horseback blamed him for taking his pouch. The old man pleaded innocent, but to no avail.

Failing to find his pouch, the owner of the coins killed the old man and left the wellspring. Shocked and dumbfounded, Prophet Moses (as) beseeched God to tell him how this murder represented Divine Justice. God replied that the man on horseback had stolen money from the boy’s father, who had passed away a few years earlier. Therefore, the boy had reclaimed his father’s wealth since he was the legitimate owner of the coins. In his youth, the old man had killed the father of the man on horseback; so now he had inadvertently avenged his father’s murder. Unbeknownst to all the individuals, God had exercised His Justice. (Bihar al-’Anwar, vol. 61, p.117)

Defining Justice

Justice (‘adl ) may convey different meanings. The most prominent senses in which the term justice is used are as follows.

• Observing equality and avoiding prejudice. When we use the term justice we often intend treating others equally and without favoring some to the exclusion of others. We should bear in mind that equality is good only if the parties involved are actually equal. That is, if some partake of greater merit than the others, it would be unjust, in fact, to treat all similarly. Those who are truly more deserving of our respect or attention should be given their appropriate due, and blind equality in such cases would be unwise and unethical. By practicing equality in such cases, we are actually being unjust to those who are more meritorious. Suppose a teacher gave the same grade to all the students in the class despite their drastically varying performance on a test. Would that constitute justice or injustice? The bottom line is that justice and equality are not always equivalent.
• Respecting the rights of others. Another sense in which the term justice is sometimes used is respecting people’s legitimate rights and abstaining from infringing on their rights. 
• Giving everybody and everything their due. A more comprehensive meaning of justice is to place everything in its rightful place, to give everybody his due. The ground for this definition of justice is the metaphysical notion that in objective reality, as well as in the Divine Law, everything has a certain and delimited place, and justice is to respect the harmony and equilibrium present in objective reality. This is the broadest sense of justice, which encompasses the prior two definitions of justice.Based on the above examination of the definition of justice, we may describe Divine Justice as God’s treatment of things and persons in accordance with what is their due and what behooves them. That is, God allots to all things their legitimate place in the grand scheme of the world based on their existential capacity and, in the case of free agents such as human beings, their earned worth.

  Let us now enrich the discussion further by considering ‘Allāmah S.M.H.Tabātabā‘ī’s analysis of the concept of justice and the idea of Divine Justice:

  “The essence of justice consists in maintaining or restoring the harmony and equilibrium among things so that everything receives its due. Justice in this sense signifies that all things are equal and similar in that they should be placed in their rightful positions...”