Discover the meaning of the term Al-iḥdath (إحداث) in Islamic vocabulary.
Contents :
Updated on 11 April 2026 at 1:05 AM
📖 3 min readThe bringing into existence of a thing preceded by time.
The creation of a thing with a prior duration; it is therefore more specific than genesis (takwin) which is the creation of a thing with a prior matter, because that which is preceded by duration must necessarily be preceded by a matter through which its possibility subsists, unlike that which is preceded by matter, for it is not obligatory that it be preceded by a duration, nor by place by virtue of its being temporally ancient like the celestial spheres. Therefore, that which emanates from Allah the Most High is either preceded by matter and duration like the generated animal, or preceded by neither like the first intellect, for it has no matter since it is neither a body nor corporeal, nor duration either due to its pre-eternity. Or preceded by duration without matter, yet this category is not realized based on what you have known, namely that everything preceded by duration is preceded by matter so that its possibility subsists through it, and this is according to the view of the philosophers. As for the view of the theologians (mutakallimun), every thing is either preceded by matter and duration like corporeal entities, or preceded by duration without matter like spiritual entities. The origin of the disagreement is that possibility according to the philosophers is a real existential attribute, so it necessarily requires a substrate, whereas according to the theologians it is among conceptual matters, so it has no need for a substrate, and every direction has an orientation toward which it turns. Genesis (takwin) according to some theologians is an eternal attribute of Allah the Most High, and it is the meaning expressed by action, creation, bringing into being, instantiation, invention and the like, and it is explained by bringing forth the nonexistent from nonexistence into existence. The verifiers among them hold that it is among relations and mental considerations, and that what is established in the eternal is the principle of creation, providing sustenance, causing death and giving life, and the like, and that principle is none other than power and will, and the detail of this design is in the books of theology.
The bringing into existence of a thing after it had not been, whether it is an accident or a substance, and the instantiation of substance belongs to none other than Allah.