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Rational basis for omniscience
In deducing the nature of God, we reasoned that God must be all-knowing because He created all matter, energy, space and time from nothing. As He is the First Cause, God must, therefore, know everything about them before He created them.
Should not He Who has created know? And He is the Most Kind and Courteous, All-Aware.[1]
The Qur’an confirms the rational basis for the omniscience of God.
The Arabic words used to denote omniscience in the following verses of the Qur’an are:
- ‘alim, which means “all-knowing” and “omniscient”
- ‘alim al-ghayb wa al-shahadah, which means “all-knowing of the unseen and the seen”
- ‘allam al-ghuyub, which means “supremely aware, thoroughly knowing or completely familiar of secrets, the unseen, the invisible, the hidden.”
‘Alim
He [God] it is Who created for you all that is on earth. Then He rose over towards the heaven and made them seven heavens and He is the All-Knower of everything.[2]
They [angels] said, “Glory is to You, we have no knowledge except what you have taught us. Verily it is You, the All-Knower, the All-Wise.”[3]
And to Allah [swt] belong the east and the west so wherever you turn there is the Face of Allah [swt]. Surely! Allah [swt] is All-Sufficient for His creatures’ needs, All-Knowing.[4]