Substance and Accident

جوہر و عرض

Jawhar (Substance) is a thing that exists in itself, not in a substrate. 'Arad (Accident) is a quality or property that exists only in a substance and cannot subsist independently. The classical Islamic philosophers, following the Aristotelian tradition adapted to Islamic theology, identify nine categories of accidents: quantity, quality, relation, place, time, position, possession, action, and passion.

Allah Most High is neither a substance nor an accident in the philosophers' technical sense — He transcends all categories. The discussion of substance and accident applies to the created world. Allah Most High is Wājib al-Wujūd — the Necessarily Existent — and falls under no category derived from the analysis of contingent things.