سورة المؤمنون

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): The heart, by means of these proofs, finds evidence of the existence of the Lord, and the heart understands that the Manager of all these things is that same One, the Mighty, the Wise, who has always been and always will be. If in the heavens and the earth there were deities [other than Him] along with Him, each of the gods would take his own creatures under his own management, and some of them would seek superiority over others [and the world of existence would be dragged into corruption] and they would destroy one another.

Imam Kazim (peace be upon him): There is no partner for You in the creation, and if there were a partner for You, matters would have been confused and hidden from us, and each of the gods would take his own creatures under his own management. You are far above these attributes and these qualities are remote from You. Your rank is above sharing with great partners, and Your station is above partnership and companionship with those who mix.

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): The refutation of the Thanawiyyah (dualists) from the Book of Allah is this word of Allah, who said: مَا اتَّخَذَ اللهُ مِنْ وَلَدٍ وَ ما کانَ مَعَهُ مِنْ إِلهٍ إِذاً لَذَهَبَ کُلُّ إِلهٍ بِما خَلَقَ وَ لَعَلا بَعْضُهُمْ عَلی بَعْضٍ سُبْحانَ اللهِ عَمَّا یَصِفُونَ [Never did Allah take to Himself a son, and never was there with him any (other) god — in that case would each god have certainly taken away what he created, and some of them would certainly have overpowered others; glory be to Allah above what they describe!]. Allah the Exalted [in this verse] informed that if there were gods along with Him, each god of them would attend to his own creation alone, and each of them would destroy the work of the other and would seek by cunning to attain his goal. And Allah the Exalted, [with proofs such as] mumana'ah (the conflict of the gods with one another) and other than it, invalidated the affirmation of two creator gods. If it were so, disagreement would arise and each god would seek to overpower the other. So when one of them wills to create a human and the other wills to create an animal, they would disagree with one another and in a single state would oppose each other, and this matter would inevitably drag them into opposition and disagreement and corruption — while none of these (opposition, disagreement and corruption) exist [in the world]. And when this supposition is invalidated, in the same way oneness is established, in this manner that the management is one and the creation is without disagreement and difference and the order [of the world] is coherent. And Allah made clear for the speakers of this statement and those who are close to them, this point, that creation is not set right except by a single Creator.

Ali ibn Ibrahim: Allah gives a response to the followers of the Thanawiyya (dualists), those who believe in the existence of two gods, and says: مَا اتَّخَذَ اللهُ مِنْ وَلَدٍ وَ ما کانَ مَعَهُ مِنْ إِلهٍ إِذاً لَذَهَبَ کُلُّ إِلهٍ بِما خَلَقَ وَ لَعَلا بَعْضُهُمْ عَلی بَعْضٍ [Never did Allah take to Himself a son, and never was there with Him any other god — in that case each god would certainly have taken away what he created, and some of them would certainly have overpowered others]. Allah says: if, as you suppose, there were two gods, they would certainly fall into disagreement — one would create and the other would not, one would will something and the other would not, and each one would try to overpower the other. If one willed to create a human and the other willed to create a four-legged animal, then a human and a four-legged animal would be created in a single form, and no such thing exists in the world of creation. So since such a supposition is impossible and false, we realise that the creation and governance of existence is by the hand of one single Allah, and the stability and subsistence of each of the pillars of existence by means of another pillar is the best proof for establishing the oneness of Allah. And this is the meaning of this saying of Allah the Exalted: مَا اتَّخَذَ اللهُ مِنْ وَلَدٍ ... [Never did Allah take to Himself a son ...]. Then, out of transcendence and distancing [Himself] from their speech, He said: سُبْحانَ اللهِ عَمَّا یَصِفُونَ [Glory be to Allah above what they describe].

Imam Kazim (peace be upon him): Fath ibn Yazid al-Jurjani says: "I said to His Holiness: '[Does] Allah know that which has not been — if it were to come into being, how it would be?' His Holiness said: 'Woe to you! Your question is a heavy question. Have you not heard that Allah says in the Quran: If, in the heavens and the earth, there had been other gods besides the One Allah, the order of the world would have been disrupted (Anbiya/22). And He has said: If there were multiple gods, some of them would gain superiority over others.' His Holiness said: 'Allah the Blessed and Exalted narrates the speech of the people of the Fire, who [in Hell] say: Return us [to the world] so that we may do righteous and pleasing deeds other than what we used to do (Fatir/34). And He said: And if they were returned, they would go back to what they were forbidden from (An'am/28). So Allah is the Knower of that which has not been, and of how it would be if it were.'"