How do we reconcile the concept of God's eternality and His having no beginning, with what is understood in mathematics from the number line that reaching zero from negative infinity is impossible?
Abstract numbers exist only in the mind, and what mathematicians mention about them is a hypothetical mental construct. The observable world has a specific beginning: Allah created the Throne and the Pen, then the heavens and the earth. He is the First, before whom there was nothing, and He was not idle from creation. It is therefore possible for there to have been worlds prior to ours, extending infinitely into the past. This is known as the issue of the infinite regress of events. Ibn al-Qayyim said: "The Lord, glorified be He, is perfect in His attributes, names, and actions; thus, the effects thereof must manifest in the world." Sheikh Muhammad Bakhit al-Muti'i mentioned that there is no evidence to prove the impossibility of an infinite regress in externally existing effects, and that the necessity of events without a beginning does not harm one's creed. Rather, all are agreed that everything other than Allah Almighty is contingent, meaning it came into existence after non-existence.
Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026
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