Chapter Two God, His Essence and Attributes In the Mahdi's writings, we find scattered theological opinions concerning the existence of God, His essence, and attributes. His focus and elaboration were most concentrated on the reality of Tawhid (Oneness of God), which he adopted as a slogan for his call and made the foundation of all his views. We will attempt here to gather these views around two main axes: The Existence of God.

The discussion of God's existence branches into two fundamental issues: knowing God's existence and the proofs for it.

Knowing God's Existence: Knowing God's existence and believing in Him is a necessary obligation. This is a matter on which there was no disagreement among Muslims, as it lies at the heart of the distinction between disbelief and faith. However, disagreement arose regarding whether it is the first obligation incumbent upon a responsible person to undertake, or if it is preceded by another obligation that leads to it.

The summary of the disagreement on this issue is that Abu al-Hasan al-Ash'ari (may God have mercy on him) and some of his followers held that the first obligation incumbent upon a responsible person is to know God Almighty, as it is the origin of all religious knowledge and beliefs, and from it stems the obligation of every duty. The majority of the Mu'tazila went on to say that the first obligation is "the contemplation that leads to the knowledge of God Almighty," because God Almighty cannot be known by necessity or by direct observation. Therefore, one must know Him through reflection and contemplation. Abu Bakr al-Baqillani chose... (Al-Mawaqif, explained by al-Jurjani: 101) 159