Causation
Some controversies arise owing to differences in the understanding of concepts. The notion of "cause" is one of these. It is fundamental to all thinking in the conduct of one's life as well as in religion, philosophy and science. It is one of the main ingredients of Knowledge. It connects together phenomena in a regular, consistent and predictable manner that gives us some control over our affairs and allows us to live an intelligent life. It is based on the observation that an event "A", the cause, is always connected with an event "B", the effect. "B" in its turn may be a cause for some other effect. This gives a chain of cause and effects. The whole of existence can be regarded as a network of such chains. We ought to search for such connections because this gives us knowledge and power over nature.
The cause has been regarded as preceding the effect in time and effect has been regarded as following the cause "necessarily". That is, one implies the other. This can be called a Law of nature. We could then explain the world by a group of laws and there would be no need for the idea of God. But Muslim thinkers such as Ghazali have argued that there is no necessity about the connection. We merely observe the connection, not the necessity. This means that though we have seen a connection a number of times things may change and there need be no such connection. We cannot argue that because "A" and "B" have been connected so many times in the past they will, therefore, be connected in the future in the same way. We could say that the probability that they will be connected increases the greater the number of times we see the connection. But this too is not inevitable. It could be the other way round - the probability may decrease. The fact that the sun has risen every day for so many years, for instance, is leading us closer to a time when it will cease to exist. The connection between "A" and "B" must, therefore, be attributed to the Will of God and He can do as He wills.
But apart from this it can be objected:- (a) That whenever "A" and "B" are not connected then we do not observe this or ignore it, or we invent some other cause "C" to explain why this has not happened. (b) That "A" could be the cause of other effects "C", or "D" or "E" etc. (c) That "B" could be the result of other causes "C" or "D" or "E" etc. (d) That in a causal sequence A>B>C>D….etc. it is not clear whether we are connecting A with B or C or D etc. (e) That the causes and effects exist in conditions, context or environment where many things interact. It is possible that the effect "B" can be suppressed by other things or changed or that it may be the result of several causes. (f) It is assumed that nothing can come out of nothing. Everything that exists, say "A" must come out of something that existed before it, say "X", as well as have a cause, say "C".
But some people attribute events to "Chance" or randomness. But this simply means ignorance of causes or inability to calculate and predict. It cannot be a cause. It is based on the assumption that there are a number of individual entities that are moving about independently in complex ways and that their various combinations are the cause of the events. The notion of "Chance" arises in opposition to the notion of "Necessity" as an explanation why "Determinism" often fails. Both of these are unwarranted assumptions. Islam does not need this dichotomy.
It can, therefore, be asserted that:- (a) The observer (his intentions, ideas, thought processes and actions) must also be taken into consideration. (b) The conditions must be taken into consideration. It is better to state that a cause or set of causes "A" produces an effect or set of effects "C" under a set of conditions "B". Or A+B>C. E.g. The passage of electricity through a wire in a bulb produces light and heat. (c) The cause is not prior in time to the effect but coexists with it and the effect lasts as long as the cause remains.
Science can be said to be based on Newton's three Laws of Motion:- (a) Things continue in a state of uniform motion until a force acts to change this. (b) The change in motion is proportional to the force acting. (c) There is an equal and opposite reaction to each action.
It should be noted that (a) These laws can be modified to apply to all type of changes - they can all be thought of as motions. (b) It assumes that something exists before the change as well as a separate cause. It assumes the principle of conservation - that nothing comes out of nothing; that at the fundamental level nothing is created or destroyed; that present temporal existence implies eternal existence.(c) There is a circular argument here: How do you prove that there is a force that causes the change. Answer: We measure the change of motion. But this was already assumed. In fact, it is connected with how we think. It is a law of the mind. (d) The force is assumed to be other than the motion and it may exist outside or inside the system in which the motion in taking place. E.g. A stone can be thrown by an outside agent but an animal can move by forces within it. (e) If we consider the coming into existence of the whole of the Universe and the changes in it then we must assume a force other than the Universe, which may be external or internal to it or both. We call this God or Allah.
When there is uniformity or homogeneity then we are unaware, unconscious of it. When something "A" arises that produces a contrast with the background "X" then this opposition constitutes a problem and acts as a stimulus that makes us aware. It activates us and the purpose of the activity is to seek an explanation or solution by providing a reconciling factor "C" that will restore the original Unity. This activity is, therefore, a process that is the very opposite of the act of creation. It can be regarded as the purpose of the creation. It is an evolutional process, while creation is an involutional process. Each can be regarded as a reaction to the action of the other. The two together ensure the Conservation.
Before the new born child becomes aware and obtains knowledge and before the Universe is created there is an Absolute Unity "X", a uniform homogeneity. We call it Allah. There is nothing outside it. Creation and change, therefore, arise from an inner cause, an Intention "W" we call the Will, Word or Command of Allah. At this level of Intention the cause, effect and purpose are one and the same thing. Knowledge only begins when there is differentiation and relativity. It begins with creation and vice versa. At the level of the Absolute they are one and the same things. Creation can be regarded as a progressive differentiation through stages. Evolution can be regarded as stages of progressive synthesis in being, consciousness and knowledge.
According to the Quran the Word of God, by which He created all things, is Truth. The essence of things can, therefore, be described as the Truth or Information or Order that they contain. The interaction between things can be regarded as consisting of the induction or transfer of Information. Causation, therefore, means that information "I" has been induced or transferred from one thing "A" to another "B". This may mean that both "A" and "B" have been changed. The cause is, therefore, not "A", though it is ordinarily so regarded. Two objects may interact causing changes in each, but the effects do not only depend on the nature of the two objects but also on the way they are related - e.g. their distances apart or whether there is any similarity, empathy or resonance between them. This can be included in the conditions "C".
Thus:- A1+B1+"C" > A2+B2. If "A" and "B" refer to a class or sets of things then A1 and A2 might be subsets or objects in "A" ; B1 and B2 might be subsets or objects in "B". And we could say "A"+"B"+"C" >"A"+"B". We can also regarded these changes as a special case of more general changes S1>S2, where S refers to a system which may have several ingredients A+B+C….etc.
This information "I" may be regarded as part or result of the transformation of "W". The Quran tells us:-
"Allah is He Who created seven heavens, and of the earth the like of them. The Commandment continues to descend among them slowly, that you may know that Allah has power over all things and that Allah indeed encompasses all things in knowledge." 65:12
The implication is that there are several levels of Reality. They can be represented as concentric circles, each succeeding one being contained in the previous one, or each having several smaller ones within them, composed of progressively more concentrated, organised and inert substance. The further implications are:-
(a) The causes of the phenomena at lower levels exist at the higher levels. E.g. the events on earth depend on causes in the Solar system. We could speak of 7 levels of causes deriving from "W" as W0, and W1 to W7 to W14.
(b) Ultimately everything depends on Allah, but not always directly. There are direct and levels of indirect causes and effects.
(c) Suppose a system "B" is seen as existing as part of a higher system "A" and consisting of many interacting subsystems "c1, c2, c3…etc.". Then an impulse from the higher system "A" that causes a disturbance in the equilibrium of "B" will have multiple effects, which involve the readjustment of the subsystems so as to find a new equilibrium.
(d) All the subsystems "c1, c2, c3…etc." will be reacting co-operatively without there being any need for a direct cause/effect process between them. These may appear as Coincidences or Cascade effects.
(e) There are vertical interactions (upwards and downwards between the levels - Quran 34:2) as well as horizontal interactions. The direct connection between entities at a given level could be seen as consisting of many feed back loops such that there is inter-dependence and reciprocal interactions that are not one way only.
(f) There are several levels of existence. An entity or organism whose behaviour is controlled by the causal forces at a higher level could have some control over the causal forces at a lower level. This gives it a "Degree of Freedom" from the lower level. At this lower level its behaviour will seem unpredictable. The degree of freedom, which could also be described as a Level of Intelligence, varies from complete inertia at the lowest level to complete freedom at the highest level. For instance, plants can do what minerals cannot and are relatively free of the determinism that controls inert matter. Similarly, animals have a greater degree of freedom than plants and man has a greater degree of freedom than animals. Human beings also vary among themselves in this respect and can increase it using suitable techniques. Ultimately, however, there can be no Absolute Free Will - i.e. a Will apart from that of Allah as Allah has power over all things. But there are levels of relative freedom.
(g) Changes can take place horizontally within a level or vertically, upwards or downwards. Evolution or the development can be regarded as a motion upward and involution as a motion downward.
The Quran also tells us:-
"..for everything with Him is measured (calculated or in proportion)."13:8
"He has created everything, and then given it its measure (proportions)." 25:2
"We did not create the heavens and the earth and what is between them two save with Truth and for an appointed term." 46:3
And see also 10:6, 39:5, 40:67, 41:10, 67:3, 71:14 etc.
These revealed verses indicate that there is order and proportionality in the Universe and that all things are measured. The implication is that the created Universe consists of basic units or Atoms of existence and constructed from order among these.
Fundamentally, Reality can be thought of as an Infinite Uniform field such that nothing is distinguishable from anything else. It can be illustrated diagrammatically as a circle marked "A" for Absolute. In this we have a smaller circle marked "U" for the created Universe. The area in "A" outside "U" is marked "T" for transcendental. In "U" we have a still smaller circle marked "M" for man represented by a Messenger of God. Thus "A" has three areas - (a) The Transcendental or the Essence, (b) the Universal Spirit that carries the Word or Command of God, (c) the Spirit that is dormant in man but active in the Messenger. These are not distinctions in "A" but only in our thoughts- i.e. relative to Creation.
This applies also to the Attributes of God. The notions, for instance, of Compassion, Benevolence, Justice, Power etc. have meaning only with respect to something. They refer to a relationship between a subject and object. Though they all derive from a Unity they constitute different aspects because they affect the multiplicity and relativity of the created world. Creation implies that entities appear in it spontaneously that are distinct from one another. They have limitations and are finite in space, time and qualities. They constitute the World of Relativity. As they derive from a Unity they cannot destroy, they are related to each other and interact forming a self-consistent whole. The puzzles associated with Infinity such as those mentioned by Zeno do not apply to the created world. According to Zeno the world is an illusion because there cannot be an motion in the real world. This is because moving from one point to another would mean traversing an infinite number of points and there are an infinite number of points between any two distances no matter how large or small. This would make the small equal to the large. This contradiction arises from having concepts and mistaking them for realities. We must suppose that in Reality there are a finite number of points and motion consists of "leaps" between them. Change does not take place gradually in infinite steps but in "leaps". In so far as these are very small, motion appears smooth relative to our perceiving mind. A corollary of this is that what we experience is a relationship between the objective phenomena and the perceiving mind. There are levels of changing phenomena as well as of minds.
The Universe could be regarded as existing in the Mind of Allah (symbolically only as we do not know what the Absolute Substance is). Entities are fundamental Ideas and in so far as they are separate they offer resistance to each other and this is understood as inertia or materiality. However, things are not separate, but bound together by all kinds of causal forces. The Universe can be regarded as a Field that is a network of forces in which there are Fundamental Knots, points of convergence and divergence of these forces, that could perhaps be called Atomic Ideas or Phenomena of Level 1 (PL1). Combination of these produces structures that are Level 2 Phenomena (PL2). Combinations of these produce Level 3 Phenomena (PL3). And so on. All entities at a level, therefore, also contain phenomena of the previous levels and exist in an environment consisting of the previous levels.
No distinction is made between matter, life and consciousness - these are aspects of Phenomena that have various degrees. There is no Cartesian dichotomy between mind and matter in Islam. When there is an interaction between things any one of them can be regarded as the observer or subject having inner effects with respect to the others, which are the objects and external to it. There are only differences of Intelligence. Intelligence can be regarded as adaptability and refers to the adjustment of an entity within a system.
Ultimately our experiences are an interaction between our consciousness and that of God and intelligent behaviour refers ultimately to adjustment to God Three levels of interaction can be described. (a) At the fundamental level, in so far as the Spirit of God is also in us (Quran 32:9) experiences take place by spontaneous leaps of insight, inspiration or revelation. (b) Reason is secondary and refers to the experience of the created world of which we are part and with which we interact. We understand it and can deal with it because we have arisen in adaptation to it and the laws of creation (the order and regularity) and our minds are the same. (c) The particular phenomena we experience are a tertiary reality. But the accumulation of experiences in memory also conveys the order and pattern among them. But we may not be conscious of this. Human behaviour depends on much more than on their conscious minds.
The behaviour of all creatures including Human beings depends on the phenomena and events at all the levels of reality. There are many levels of causal forces and they all derive ultimately from the Will of God. The Spirit of God is in man. (Quran 32:9). But owing to sin, the Fall from Paradise, we have lost contact (awareness) with the Spirit - except for saints and Prophets through whom Allah works. That is, what we call "I", the "Conscious I" has fallen to a lower level. Surrender (Islam) is to work as an agent of Allah by His Spirit. That is why we have been sent the religious discipline so that we can regain contact with Allah.
"O you who believe! Respond unto Allah and His Messenger when He calls you to that which quickens you; and know that Allah comes in between a man and his own heart; and that He it is unto Whom you shall be gathered." 8:24
Ordinarily, we function through unconscious biological impulses, instincts, conditioned reflexes, social conditioning, habits, automatisms and, sometimes, reason. These are relatively lower level causes. But we do have the potentiality for conscious action (will) through the Spirit. This is obviously not independent of God either.
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