DAUR - TASALSUL — Infinite Regression

Seremonia

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Jun 8, 2024

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How the Quran Helps Us Reason Through the Polemic of "Daur - Tasalsul".

✅ This is a classic argument from one of the treasures of Islam, the book Kifayatul Awam by Muhammad Al Fudholi.

🔰 This is an effort to understand the argument of daur tasalsul from kifayatul awam (classic argument of) infinite regress from the perspective of metaphilosophy.

• Please try to understand it from any perspective, but the foundation remains the concept of daur tasalsul from "kifayatul awam".

If you have difficulty understanding the meta perspective, then study more about infinite regress, and hopefully, you will understand better.

• 👉 Google the keyword "daur tasalsul"
• 〰 Or learn this writing (use translation in English) "daur tasalsul"

♦️♦️♦️ TASALSUL ♦️♦️♦️

Let's first discuss tasalsul (an infinite chain of cause and effect).

There is Cause & Effect

Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala says:

"Corruption has appeared throughout the land and sea by [reason of] what the hands of people have earned so He may let them taste part of [the consequence of] what they have done that perhaps they will return [to righteousness]."
(QS. Ar-Rum 30: Ayat 41)

"And it is Allah who sends the winds, and they stir the clouds and We drive them to a dead land and revive thereby the earth after its death. Thus is the resurrection."
(QS. Fatir 35: Ayat 9)

"And of His signs is that He sends the winds as bringers of good tidings and to let you taste His mercy and so the ships may sail at His command and so you may seek of His bounty, and perhaps you will be grateful."
(QS. Ar-Rum 30: Ayat 46)

📌 These and many other verses show the existence of cause and effect (wind moves ships, wind moves clouds & consequences of human actions).

Relative Cause

However, all these causes are relative. Why?

Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala says:

"If He wills, He can still the wind, and they would remain motionless on its surface. Indeed in that are signs for everyone patient and grateful."
(QS. Asy-Syura 42: Ayat 33)

📌 Because the wind, which causes ships and clouds to move, is itself caused by Him (since the wind is sent and can be stopped by Him), the wind as a cause is actually an effect of His power.

• 〰 This confirms that what is considered a cause is actually an effect of a prior cause (Allah).
• 〰 Therefore, the cause is relative, making it essentially an effect. It is relative because it impacts other things (cause), but is relative (can be considered effect) because it is caused by something else (the cause being an effect of a prior cause).

From here the Quran reveals ...

1. There is a law of causality - cause & effect.
2. All creations are relative causes, which are actually effects of previous causes.

♦️ It was previously affirmed that there is an "effect," then a "cause," which turns out to be a "relative cause."

⭕️ The question is, if all causes are actually relative causes, meaning they are also effects, then is there only an effect without any cause at all?

• 〰 Whereas if there is an effect, it affirms the existence of a "cause," but all causes turn out to be effects themselves. This forms an infinite regression - an infinite backward sequence. Does this make sense? Or where does it not make sense?

📌 If every effect has a cause, but every cause is an effect, this is a contradiction.

1. Effect Has a Cause = Effect Is Not a Cause.
2. The Cause Turns Out to Be an Effect = Cause Is an Effect.

👉 THIS IS A CONTRADICTION.

🔰 How to overcome this contradiction?

• 〰 The cause is a relative cause. Relative to its impact, it is called a cause, and relative to a previous cause, it means it is an effect of a prior cause.

But this creates another absurdity:

⭕️ Because cause precedes effect, there can never be an effect since everything turns out to be an effect without a cause.

📌 Because an effect means it is caused. And if there is no cause at all that causes, then how can there be anything caused?

1. That Which Is Caused by a Cause That Causes.
2. That Which Is Caused Without a Cause That Causes.

👉 ANOTHER CONTRADICTION.

Cause Precedes Effect

Before there is an effect, there must be a cause. If there is no effect at all (because all causes are relative causes), then no effect ever occurs.

⭕️ Before there is a cause, there is no effect. However, an effect occurs before the existence of a cause because all causes are actually effects (relative causes) ❌

The absolute question is:

Was there ever a cause that was not an effect, or is there no cause that is not caused?

1. If there was never a cause that was not an effect, then why is there an effect?
2. If there was ever a cause that was not an effect (a cause that was not caused), then there is a point where it is no longer a cause that was not caused, which means it still confirms the impossibility of an effect without a cause ❌

🔰 How to overcome this contradiction?

Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala says:

"Or were they created by nothing...?"
(QS. At-Tur 52: Ayat 35)

📌 That which is caused without a cause that causes it?

The solution?

• 👉 That which is caused must have a cause. Therefore, not all causes can be relative causes, because that means they are essentially effects. There must be a cause that was never an effect.

🔰 THAT IS THE ABSOLUTE CAUSE THAT WAS NEVER CAUSED, THUS ITS CAUSE IS NEVER AN EFFECT.

Therefore, infinite regression is impossible, AND THE QURAN AFFIRMS THIS!

1. Isn’t everything supposed to have a cause?
2. If it regresses infinitely, then everything considered a cause is actually an effect.

Since point 1 is true, to have a cause, there must be a cause that stops at one point.

• If the cause never stops, then it is not a cause, only an effect.

♦️♦️♦️ DAUR (Circular Cause) ♦️♦️♦️

But wait. Even Allah invites us to reason through various possibilities to ensure completeness, leaving no doubt. An absolute certainty!

Here, there is a counterpoint hinted by Him.

Still in the same verse..., but in a different context...

Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala says:

"... or were they the creators of [themselves]?"
(QS. At-Tur 52: Ayat 35)

⭕️ It is confirmed that there is a cause that is not caused ✅, but if the "uncaused cause" is not to be considered Allah, then the uncaused cause is within the sequence of cause and effect itself ❌

• 〰 "a" comes from the relative cause "b," and to avoid "b" being an effect of "c" which is uncaused, "b" is considered the effect of "a" (circular cause).

⭕️ "a" is caused by "b," and "b" is caused by "a" ❌ Where is the impossibility?

1. There is an effect that is a cause ❌
   〰 "a" is both an effect and a cause that is not an effect.
2. Effect precedes cause ❌
   〰 "a" is an effect that precedes "b" its cause.
3. Effect is broader than cause ❌

Here Allah teaches us to reason absolutely...

Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala says:

"Or have they created the heavens and the earth? Rather, they are not certain."
(QS. At-Tur 52: Ayat 36)

📌 So the reasoning lesson we take from the Quran is: The effect is not broader than its cause ✅, making "the cause depends on its effect" ❌ impossible.

♦️♦️♦️ DIALECTICS ♦️♦️♦️

⭕️ Everything has a cause, so why must there be an uncaused cause?

This is a common objection to the prima causa argument.

• However, their objection based on "everything has a cause, so why is there an uncaused cause" is actually misguided.

They think they have found a counterargument, but it stems from their own lack of reasoning. For example:

God is infinitely omnipotent, then someone argues that God can do anything, even cease to be God. This can lead to contradictions, etc.

This is because when they use it as an objection, those who object are not critical enough, merely following what is being objected.

If they were critical, there would be no need to object and instead realize the ADDITION...

"ALLAH IS OMNIPOTENT OVER HIS CREATION."

• However, those who object only understand part of it: "God is omnipotent and can do anything," which means God can do the illogical ❌. So, the objection does not indicate their critical thinking but rather their confusion, though it seems critical.

Similarly, with the case of "everything has a cause, so why is there an uncaused cause." Those who object seem critical, but they are not critically understanding that "everything has a cause, so why is there an uncaused cause" is VERY LIMITED INFORMATION. There is more to it that the objectors do not know.

It’s like this...

• Person A: This bread is delicious.
• Person B: If it’s delicious, why do some people dislike bread?
• Person A: ❓❓❓

Here, person B (the objector) is not critical but as uncritical as the one being objected to.

If the objector were critical, they would ask, "Is that generally true or only in specific cases?"

So, even though the objector doesn't know the complete picture, at least their critical thinking is evident from understanding the direction of the context.

It will trap the objector if they do not critically understand the context and think their objection is valid, while it is far from being a critical objection (still revolving around the same place - not really objecting).

Narrow dialectics...

⭕️ "Everything has a cause, so why is there an uncaused cause?" So, there must be a caused cause (infinite regression) ❌

Correct dialectics?

🔰 "Everything has a relative cause, so there must be an uncaused cause (the absolute)." Thus, no infinite regression ✅

More clearly...

🔰 "Everything has a relative cause, so every relative cause is an effect itself. Therefore, there must be a cause that is not an effect, an uncaused cause (so that the cause remains a cause without changing position to become an effect, thus it is true that...

❇️ All effects & relative causes originate from the absolute cause.

• 〰 All effects (that come later) & relative causes (previous effects) originate from the absolute cause (which is not an effect).

🔰 This is how to understand "everything has a cause" comprehensively without causing contradictions due to being misinterpreted from LACK OF INFORMATION.