Abstract
Monotheism (tawḥīd) is the foundational principle of all Islamic teachings. This study examines how the principles of the primacy of existence (aṣālat al-wujūd) and the simplicity of existence (basāṭat al-wujūd) shape the understanding of Qur’anic monotheism in the thought of ʿAllāmah Ṭabāṭabāʾī. Using a descriptive–analytical method based on textual analysis, the research focuses on his Qur’anic exegesis, Tafsīr al-Mīzān.
ʿAllāmah Ṭabāṭabāʾī (1902–1981), a leading exegete and philosopher of the school of Transcendent Wisdom (al-ḥikmah al-mutaʿāliyah), interprets Qur’anic monotheism as the oneness of the Divine Essence (aḥadiyyat al-dhāt). This denotes absolute non-composition of God’s Essence—whether external, mental, or analytical—rather than mere numerical unity.
The study shows that Ṭabāṭabāʾī extensively employs metaphysical principles such as the primacy, simplicity, and absolute purity (ṣarāfah) of existence to explain divine unity, while viewing them as fully compatible with the Qur’an-by-Qur’an method of exegesis. It concludes that, within his intellectual framework, rational demonstration can deepen the understanding of revealed knowledge.
Keywords: Primacy of existence, Simple reality (basīṭ al-ḥaqīqah), Numerical unity, Oneness of the Divine Essence
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Introduction
In the field of hermeneutics, it is widely acknowledged that the interpreter's presuppositions and pre-understandings influence the interpretation of a text. At the beginning of Tafsīr al-Mīzān, ʿAllāmah Ṭabāṭabāʾī introduces his exegetical approach as the Qur’an-by-Qur’an method. Nevertheless, this research demonstrates that, in explicating Qur’anic monotheism, he draws upon the principles of Sadrian philosophy—particularly the primacy of existence and the simplicity of the reality of existence—without considering this practice to be in conflict with the Qur’an-by-Qur’an approach. The reason lies in ʿAllāmah’s intellectual framework, which recognizes reason and rational demonstration as authoritative. The aim of this research is to explain and analyze ʿAllāmah’s interpretation of Qur’anic monotheism with reference to the foundations of Transcendent Wisdom.
Method
This study has been conducted using a descriptive–analytical method based on textual analysis.
Results and Discussion
According to ʿAllāmah Ṭabāṭabāʾī, the use of the term aḥad in the verse “Say: He is Allah, the One” (Qur’an 112:1), employed affirmatively and without qualification, addition, or description, conveys the meaning that the existence of God absolutely negates the possibility of any likeness or equivalent. Aḥad denotes an existence that does not admit any form of multiplicity and, because it cannot be counted or enumerated, does not fall within the category of number. This contrasts with wāḥid (one), for which multiplicity may be conceived either externally, mentally, or hypothetically by secondary rational consideration.
The term aḥad is used positively and exclusively for God, who is free from any suspicion of composition—whether external, mental, or analytical. In analyzing this concept, God is presented as the Necessary Reality of existence, identical with the very reality of existence itself, from which all the effects of other levels of existence derive. In this sense, He is the remover of all need from the entirety of being and the invincible Lord and object of worship.
The idea that what is realized externally is existence itself, that existence is the source of all effects, and that existence is a graded reality whose highest level is Necessary Existence—one for whom non-existence is inconceivable—is among the well-known doctrines of Transcendent Wisdom (the primacy and gradation of existence). Another point ʿAllāmah employs in interpreting the oneness of the Divine Essence is that the attributes of perfection ascribed to God in the Qur’an are either exclusive or expressed in an exclusive context. He specifically refers to the attribute al-Wāḥid al-Qahhār (the One, the All-Dominant), explaining that an entity which has no limit or boundary cannot admit multiplicity, since the absence of limitation precludes differentiation. There is nothing outside such an existence that could strengthen it by addition or weaken it by removal. Such unity is conceivable only if the reality in question is infinite.
“Infinity,” understood as the absolute negation of all limits, is synonymous with complete purity and absolute simplicity, for limitation necessarily entails a composition of existence and non-existence and implies contingency. Embedded in the concept of infinity is the idea that nothing lies outside the encompassing scope of such an existence for a second to be supposed (the simplicity of the reality of existence). In this perspective, unity is an attribute of the Essence itself, and the Essence is such that it rejects all forms of multiplicity—whether arising from the Essence itself or from the relation between attributes.
In Mullā Ṣadrā’s formulation of the principle “The simple reality is all things and nothing is outside it,” the denial of simplicity in the Necessary Being entails accepting composition, which implies need, negates simplicity, and introduces limitation. The negation of limitation, by contrast, entails the affirmation of infinite existence. The very conception of infinity prevents the supposition of a second, even at the level of rational hypothesis. This is precisely the meaning of the oneness of the Divine Essence. Therefore, from ʿAllāmah’s perspective, understanding Qur’anic monotheism—understood as the oneness of God’s Essence—is impossible without grasping the simplicity and absolute purity of existence, which in turn is inconceivable without the principle of the primacy of existence. Only a simple existence can be infinite, rendering the supposition of a second intrinsically impossible, as ʿAllāmah explains in his commentary on the opening verse of Sūrat al-Tawḥīd.
ʿAllāmah Ṭabāṭabāʾī interprets God’s attribute of dominance (qahhāriyyah) as signifying total existential encompassment and, consequently, invincibility—once again grounded in the primacy and simplicity of the reality of existence.
Conclusion
The application of the principles of the primacy and simplicity of existence in interpreting the oneness of the Divine Essence in Tafsīr al-Mīzān demonstrates one form of interaction between reason and revelation in opening new epistemic horizons of revealed knowledge for the intellect. ʿAllāmah Ṭabāṭabāʾī holds that human beings, by employing sound demonstration—consisting of certain premises and correct logical form—can arrive at truths that correspond to reality and thereby uncover revealed knowledge. For this reason, he does not regard the use of the principles of Transcendent Wisdom as contradictory to the Qur’an-by-Qur’an exegetical method.
An exegete never engages in interpretation without presuppositions that have been critically examined at the epistemological level. According to ʿAllāmah’s intellectual system, in which reason is authoritative, certain rational knowledge and revealed knowledge will share common insights. Reliance on demonstrative knowledge can therefore lead to a deeper understanding of revealed knowledge.