The Possibility of Talking About God in the Context of Discussions on the Essence of God in Maturidi's Theology

Abstract

The problem of God's essence is directly and indirectly related to many theological issues. Marifetullah, tawhid, the issue of adjectives, person-adjective relationship, reported Attributes, tashbih, tacsim, tanzih, immanence, unification, ru'yat Allah and similar issues are the subjects discussed in the context of this problem. This article is prepared specifically for the Maturidi tradition of theology, which concentrates mainly on the issue of whether the word essence can be attributed to Allah and in what way and to what extent the special essence of Allah can be subject to knowledge. In this context, the works of the respected Maturidi theologians were examined, and it has been revealed what does it mean the expressions used in both the texts and literature regarding the special essence of Allah. This effort aims to investigate the possibility of discussing God as discussed in the contemporary philosophy of religion today and contribute to the field by understanding Maturidi theology. Rethinking the possibility and limitations of talking about God presents itself as a necessity in an environment where metaphysical explanations are rejected in the name of science, and, therefore, atheist, agnostic, and sophist claims are on the agenda against theist arguments. According to the result achieved, the approaches of the Maturidi theologians to the issue are noteworthy in terms of current discussions because they consider it possible to establish a rational basis for the existence, mode of existence, and the negative and definite attributes of Allah, even though the nature of His essence is not a subject of complete and definite perception. Maturidi theologians considered the literal meanings of words in proof and evidence by the general approach of pre-Ghazali theology, and they did not attribute the word 'essence' to God because it meant asking about the genus in this context. In other words, according to them, the essence of God cannot be mentioned because God has no gender. However, saying that God has no essence does not, in this sense, mean denying her unique essence. The main question is whether God's unique essence and existence are identical. Since Maturidis reject the existence-essence distinction is possible and necessary existence, in other words, they do not accept a mental-conceptual essence beyond the existence of something; they claim that God's existence and His special person is the same thing Does accepting existence and essence as the same mean that the essence of something whose existence is known will also be known? According to Razi, it is necessary to answer this question positively to avoid contradiction. However, when we look at the explanations of the Maturidis, such a contradiction is not required. Because, according to them, for example, even if the essence of something that is not entirely noticeable in the dark cannot be known, its existence can be known with certainty. This result means that although the Maturidis did not make an ontological distinction between existence and essence, they necessarily made an epistemological distinction. According to them, it is possible to know God's existence, mode of existence, and negative and positive attributes. However, according to them, knowing these things does not give any knowledge of the essence. Because God's special essence is beyond human comprehension, it is noteworthy that the Maturidis, who do not make a distinction between existence and essence, and Razi, who defended this distinction, reached the same conclusion on the issue. This result shows us that the Maturidis did not merely attribute the word 'essence' to God in its literal sense. Still, on the contrary, they accepted the idea of 'essence' in the mind of a special entity beyond comprehension. Since Maturidis know that essence cannot be subject to knowledge in any way, they avoid addressing the issue within that framework; they explain in the context of knowable nouns, adjectives, and verbs. In order to talk about something or for something to be a matter of faith, that thing must be knowable in at least one aspect. For this reason, Maturidi theologians talk about God's attributes and actions based on the universe. As a result, according to Maturidi theological thought, it is possible to talk about God based on rational evidence. Even though God's essence is not subject to knowledge, theoretical certainty can be achieved in proving God's existence, attributes, and actions. This is the answer of theological thought to all sophist, agnostic, fideist, and atheist claims.