The Infinite World: an Interpretive Reading of the Reasonableness of Ibn Taymiyyah's Theory of the Sequence of Events

Abstract

This research aims to reconstruct the theory of "the sequence of events" as proposed by Ibn Taymiyyah as a solution to the problem of "the relationship between the world and the divine," which manifested in the issue of "the eternal nature of the world and its creation," by clarifying its foundations, analyzing its central concepts, demonstrating its rationality, elucidating its ambiguities, and addressing its prominent issues as reflected in its texts, relying on the descriptive approach in my study, particularly on two branches of it:

The first: the historical-retrieval approach, which manifested in highlighting some of the historical context of this philosophical dilemma through the early philosophical articles and the related articles.

The second: the analytical and structural approach, which are complementary approaches that effectively contributed to the analytical reading of the rationality of the theory of the sequence of events.

One of the most significant findings of the research is the demonstration of the rationality of Ibn Taymiyyah's theory of "infinite sequence of events" through the analysis of its philosophical structure and the conceptualization of the stages of its construction.

Thus, my treatment of the topic—after the introduction—was organized into three chapters, with the first and second serving as necessary prerequisites for the third chapter, which is the purpose and goal of the research, structured as follows:

Chapter One: The infinites: their nature and problems.

Chapter Two: The finiteness of the world and the philosophical question in Ibn Taymiyyah's perspective.

Chapter Three: The theory of the infinite sequence of events.

The research concluded with a summary, where I succinctly encapsulated the idea of the research and its most important paths, leading to its proven result within the research.