Epigraph:

And whoever turns his face in complete submission to God, and is compassionate and does good work, has indeed grasped the most trustworthy handhold. The outcome of every affair is with God. (Al Quran 31:22)

Written and collected by Zia H Shah MD, Chief Editor of the Muslim Times

Abu Hamid al-Ghazali (1058–1111) was a prominent Islamic theologian and philosopher and not a physicist. I know that Nobels are given only to living persons. It is merely a metaphorical title.

In 2022, the Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded jointly to Alain Aspect, John F. Clauser, and Anton Zeilinger for their groundbreaking experiments with entangled photons, which established the violation of Bell inequalities and advanced the field of quantum information science. nobelprize.org

Their work provided compelling evidence against the principle of local realism, a cornerstone of classical physics. Local realism posits that objects possess definite properties independent of observation (realism) and that information cannot travel faster than the speed of light, ensuring that an object is only directly influenced by its immediate surroundings (locality). The experiments conducted by Aspect, Clauser, and Zeilinger demonstrated that entangled particles exhibit correlations that cannot be explained by local hidden variables, thereby challenging the classical notion of a locally real universe. scientificamerican.com

These findings have profound implications for our understanding of reality. They suggest that the universe is inherently non-local, meaning that particles can be instantaneously connected across vast distances in ways that defy classical explanations. This non-locality is a fundamental feature of quantum mechanics and has been experimentally validated through violations of Bell inequalities. quantamagazine.org

The pioneering work of Aspect, Clauser, and Zeilinger not only deepens our comprehension of the quantum world but also paves the way for practical applications in quantum information science, including quantum computing and secure quantum communication. nobelprize.org

Al Ghazali is renowned for his advocacy of occasionalism—a doctrine asserting that God is the sole causal agent in the universe. According to this view, what we perceive as cause-and-effect relationships between created entities are not genuine; instead, God directly causes every event.

Critique of Philosophers

In his seminal work, The Incoherence of the Philosophers (Tahāfut al-Falāsifa), al-Ghazali challenges the prevailing philosophical views of his time, particularly those influenced by Aristotelian thought. He argues against the idea of necessary causal connections inherent in natural phenomena, positing that such a belief limits God’s omnipotence. Al-Ghazali contends that assuming inherent causal powers in created things undermines the concept of divine intervention and miracles. He emphasizes that events occur solely by God’s will, without any intrinsic power in the objects themselves. plato.stanford.edu

In Europe, occasionalism was developed primarily by Arnold Geulincx and Nicolas Malebranche, 17th-century Dutch and 17th–18th-century French philosophers, respectively, to solve a specific problem in Cartesian metaphysics.

According to Encyclopedia Britannica:

Occasionalism, version of Cartesian metaphysics that flourished in the last half of the 17th century, in which all interaction between mind and body is mediated by God. It is posited that unextended mind and extended body do not interact directly. The appearance of direct interaction is maintained by God, who moves the body on the occasion of the mind’s willing and who puts ideas in the mind on the occasion of the body’s encountering other material objects. For example, when a person actualizes his desire to pick up an apple, his mind does not act on his body directly, but his willing of the action is the occasion for God to make his arm reach out; and when his hand grasps the apple, the apple does not act on his mind directly, but the contact is the occasion for God to give him ideas of the apple’s coolness and softness.

Illustrative Example

To elucidate his point, al-Ghazali presents the example of fire and cotton. While it appears that fire causes cotton to burn, he argues that the combustion is not due to any inherent property of the fire. Instead, God directly causes the cotton to burn upon contact with fire. This perspective underscores his belief that natural laws are merely consistent patterns established by God’s habitual practice, not due to any causal power within the objects themselves. plato.stanford.edu

Theological Implications

Al-Ghazali’s occasionalism reinforces the concept of divine omnipotence and the possibility of miracles. By denying inherent causal powers in creation, he maintains that God is free to act in any manner, unbound by the so-called laws of nature. This viewpoint was instrumental in defending orthodox Islamic theology against philosophical interpretations that, in his view, constrained God’s absolute sovereignty.

plato.stanford.edu

Criticism and Legacy

Al-Ghazali’s occasionalism faced criticism from later philosophers, notably the 12th-century Andalusian philosopher Ibn Rushd, known in the West as Averroes, who argued that denying natural causation undermines the foundation of scientific inquiry and rational understanding of the world. Despite such critiques, al-Ghazali’s ideas significantly influenced Islamic thought and contributed to ongoing discussions about the relationship between faith and reason. plato.stanford.edu

Averroes was a prominent critic of al-Ghazali’s occasionalism. In his work The Incoherence of the Incoherence, Ibn Rushd argued against al-Ghazali’s rejection of causality. He contended that accepting occasionalism would lead to a world where “anything (within the limits of logic) is possible,” thereby negating the intelligible structure of the physical world. reddit.com

Modern Interpretations

Contemporary scholars have revisited al-Ghazali’s occasionalism in light of modern scientific paradigms. For instance, Karen Harding, in her 1993 paper “Causality Then and Now: Al Ghazali and Quantum Theory,” draws parallels between al-Ghazali’s occasionalism and the Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics. She notes that in both frameworks, “objects are viewed as having no inherent properties and no independent existence,” suggesting a conceptual resonance between medieval occasionalism and contemporary physics. en.wikipedia.org

Conclusion

In summary, al-Ghazali’s occasionalism has been a subject of extensive analysis and debate among philosophers and historians. While some have critiqued it for undermining natural causation, others have found in it intriguing parallels to modern scientific thought.

Al-Ghazali’s occasionalism posits that God is the only true cause, with all events in the universe resulting directly from divine will. This doctrine emphasizes God’s absolute power and challenges the notion of inherent causality within creation.

Both occasionalism and the results of the 2022 Nobel-winning experiments question traditional understandings of causality.

Quantum physics especially quantum entanglement uncovers inherent non-local connections between particles questioning the very local causality and opening up the universe for spooky action at a distance, a term coined by Einstein.

Occasionalism invokes divine intervention as the source of all causation. This would be consistent with His attribute that He is not only the Creator of the universe but also its Sustainer, an attribute of God mentioned in several verses of the Quran including the second verse of the opening chapter, Surah Fatihah:

الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ

All praise is due to God alone, the Sustainer of all the worlds. (Al Quran 1:2)