Mufaddal, a companion of Imam Ja’far al-Sadiq (peace be upon him), says:
One day, I was sitting in the Prophet’s Mosque (Masjid al-Nabi) during sunset, reflecting on the greatness of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) and the honor and virtue that Allah had granted him. I was pondering on this when suddenly, Ibn Abi al-Awjah (one of the heretics and deniers of God and the hereafter) entered and sat in a place where I could hear his words.
Soon after, one of his friends arrived and sat near him. They began to speak about the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family). Then, Ibn Abi al-Awjah said: “Leave aside the name of Muhammad, in which my mind is perplexed and my thoughts are confused, and speak of the core of what Muhammad has brought.”
At that moment, the discussion turned to the Creator of the universe, and they both denied the existence of God.
Mufaddal says: “When I heard the false words of that person, who had strayed from Allah’s mercy, I could not restrain my anger and said: ‘O enemy of Allah! You have disbelieved and denied your Creator, who has created you in the best form and brought you to this state! If you reflect upon yourself and use your intellect, you will find the signs of your Lord’s existence within you, and you will see the evidence of His existence, power, knowledge, and wisdom clearly manifest in you.’”
Ibn Abi al-Awjah replied: “O man, if you are one of the theologians and debaters, I will speak to you as they do. If you condemn us, we will follow you, but if you are not one of them, then speaking to you is of no benefit. However, if you are a follower of Ja’far ibn Muhammad al-Sadiq (peace be upon him), he himself does not speak to us in such a manner, nor does he debate us in this way. He has heard much more than you have from us, but he does not curse us, and in the debates between us and him, he never goes beyond the limits of propriety. He is calm, patient, and wise, and his anger never overtakes him. He listens to our words and arguments until we have said everything we have in our hearts, thinking we have won, then with the slightest of words, he invalidates our arguments and with the briefest of statements, he concludes the debate in such a way that we cannot respond. Now, if you are a follower of him, speak with us as he would.”
Mufaddal says: “I left the mosque, feeling sad and reflecting on the trial of Islam and the Muslims, and the denial of God and the doubts raised by these heretics. I then went to the presence of my master, Imam Ja’far al-Sadiq (peace be upon him). When the Imam saw that I was upset, he asked: ‘Mufaddal, what has happened?’”
I then relayed the words of those heretics to the Imam. The Imam said: “I will explain to you the wisdom of the Creator in the creation of the world, animals, beasts, insects, birds, humans, livestock, plants, fruit-bearing and non-fruit-bearing trees, edible and non-edible plants, in a way that those who reflect will take heed, the believers will gain more knowledge, and the disbelievers and heretics will remain in confusion.”
Following the Imam’s words, Mufaddal visited the Imam for four consecutive days. The Imam elaborated on the creation of human beings from the beginning of creation, the visible and hidden powers, and their innate qualities. He also discussed the creation of human limbs, the creation of various animals, the creation of the heavens and the earth, the philosophy of creation, and many other related topics[1]. Mufaddal wrote them down, and a book titled Tawhid al-Mufaddal was produced.[2]
The book Tawhid al-Mufaddal consists of four sections, each one describing a different aspect of the divine wisdom in the creation of the universe. The first section discusses the eternity of Allah, the signs of a wise Creator in the order of the world, and the wisdom in the creation of human beings and their limbs. The second section explains some of the secrets of the creation of terrestrial and aquatic animals. The third section addresses the secrets and wisdom of the cosmos, the creation of the heavens and the earth, and natural phenomena. The fourth section focuses on the wisdom behind hardships, sufferings, and death.
May we benefit from this valuable book, Tawhid al-Mufaddal, and its deep insights into divine knowledge, which has reached us through the words of the Imams (peace be upon them).
(Adapted from the book Seerah of the Imams by M. Pishvaei, with abridgments and additions)
Footnotes:
[1] The book Tawhid al-Mufaddal has been published independently several times and was translated into Persian by the late Allama Majlisi. He also included the full text of this narration in his book Bihar al-Anwar, Volume 3, pages 57 to 151.
[2] Mufaddal ibn Umar Kufi narrates this story in the introduction of the Tawhid al-Mufaddal (page 29).