Intelligent Faith The Role of Reason and Intellect in Islam

You think about his miracles. And you come to the logical, the intellectual conclusion that this man is indeed a Prophet of God. And Ibn Hazm, one of the famous scholars, in fact, probably the most famous scholar of Spain, of Muslim Andalus.

Ibn Hazm has a beautiful statement. I loved it when I read this statement. He said, if the Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم had but one miracle, that of his life, his seerah, it would be sufficient for mankind to know he's a Prophet of God.

No other miracle was needed except for his own lifestyle. His seerah is one of the greatest miracles that Allah has given us. So this is what Allah is telling us in this verse.

Stand up and think about this man's message, this man's life, his biography, and you will come to the logical, and intellectual, and rational conclusion that this man is indeed a Prophet of God. And other verses as well, I direct you to Surah Yunus, verse 16. And other verses, again as I said, there are dozens of verses under each one of these categories.

Category 3: Muslims Studying Creation

The third category of verses that command a certain group of people to think, this command to think occurs for Muslims. What does Allah tell us to think about? He says, as in one example, Surah Ali'Imran, verse 191. Allah describes the believers, that they pray, and they fast, and they believe, and they do this and that, of the characteristics:

"They are those who think, who remember Allah, who do dhikr, when they are standing and sitting, and lying down. 24x7 they remember Allah. And they think. They think about the creation of the heavens and earth. Science, nature, the disciplines that we study in university. They think and you ponder, you research and you contemplate. Our Lord, you have not done all of this in vain. Therefore save me from the fire of hell, cause me to enter jannah."

This is a part of our iman, which unfortunately many of us do not really understand and think about. It is a part of our iman to study what we call the secular sciences, biology, chemistry, physics, astronomy. It is a part of our iman, Allah tells us.

They think about the creation of the heavens and earth. But what happens when you think about this? What is the purpose of this thinking? Allah, you have not done all of this in vain. The beauty, the perfection of biology, of chemistry, of organic chemistry, of the human immunology, every single facet of secular knowledge that we study.

Wallahi our iman should soar to the skies. The perfection of Allah's creation is astounding to the mind. Any single topic that we study, the harmony of everything around us, the interlocking of every single bit, minuscule particle of nature around us.

This perfection of Allah's creation, it increases our iman. Our iman soars up and so we submit to Allah. We increase our khushu and taqwa and we pray to Allah, Oh Allah, you have not done all of this in vain.

Therefore save me from the fire of hell, cause me to enter jannah. Intellect increases our iman. Aql tells us that there is a perfect all-powerful God and only He is worthy of worship.

This is the purpose of intellect. For the Muslim, one of their purposes, is his iman goes up. How many of us when we study our sciences, are conscious of this one facet.

That when we read these books, now the people who have written these books, they've tried to take God out of everything. And so they say nature has decreed, or they put it in the neutral, you will find this or it has been found in this way. As for us, we just substitute, make it into the first or the third person.

Allah has decreed, Allah has willed, Allah has created. Every such phrase we come across, we should just mentally substitute. And that will automatically increase our iman, automatically make us humble in front of Allah.

And so our aql will be used to increase our belief in Allah. This is a fundamental purpose of our intellect. And that is why Allah has given it to us.

That is why Allah has given us a aql, to increase our belief and iman and taqwa in Allah. And again there are many verses under this category as well.

Category 4: Understanding the Quran and Sunnah

The fourth category, and the last of the categories. And again as I said, this is my humble interpretation and categorization. And I'm sure that another person who goes through the entire Quran and compiles all of these verses will be able to find a different way of devising them. And this is what Allah has led me to.

If it is correct, then it is from Allah. If it is incorrect, then it is from myself and from shaytan. The last category of those whom Allah asks to think and challenge and ponder, is so that we as Muslims can understand Allah's religion.

Understand and not challenge. Understand the Quran and sunnah. Understand the life of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم. As Allah says in Surah Yusuf verse 2:

"We have revealed this Quran in Arabic to you. Why? So that you can think and ponder."

Likewise Allah says in many verses:

"We have made the Quran easy to ponder and contemplate. But who is there that is thinking about it? Who is there that is taking admonition and guidance from it?"

Many verses once again, where Allah asks the believers what? What does He ask us? To read the Quran and understand it.

Unfortunately Muslims, this is very sad. We are pretty much the only civilization on earth that teaches its kids how to read a script without understanding a single word of what we're reading. Have you ever heard of a Frenchman teaching his kid how to read French without understanding? A German, Spanish, Italian, any language.

Even when the Roman Catholics teach Latin to those who are studying their scriptures, they teach the understanding of Latin as well. Not just how to read it properly. We are the only major civilization on the planet that has devised a system of how to teach our children to read the Quran without understanding a single letter of what they read.

And Allah has told us, we have made the Quran in simple Arabic so that you can think and ponder over this. So the reason of aql is to think and ponder over the Quran. Now, these are the four primary categories that I have come across.

The Meaning of Aql (Intellect)

What exactly does aql mean? What exactly does the root aql mean? Which is the primary word for intellect in the Quran. Aql comes from the root aqala. And aqala is the same word that is used for the harness of a horse, iqal.

It is used for the reins that you use to guide a camel or a horse. And aqala actually means, the verb aqala means to hold back and stop. To hold back and stop.

Now, what is the relationship of intellect with the rein of a camel or a horse? This is the essence of what an intellect does. It holds you back from that which will cause you harm and guides you to your destination and journey. Just like the harness, just like what holds back the horse.

Aql prevents a person from destruction in this world and the hereafter. Look at the beauty of the Arabic language. Wallahi, there is no language that is as eloquent as the Arabic language.

And one of the best ways we can appreciate and realize that is to go to the roots of the words in the Arabic language. The same word for intellect, actually it has nothing to do with the dimaag and the intellect. It has to do with holding back and restraining.

And so the aql prevents one from falling into disaster, falling into shame, falling into problems in this world and the hereafter. And that is why Allah has described those who reject the sunnah. And when I say the sunnah, I mean the prophetic way overall.

Those who reject the message of the sunnah, he has described them as being without aql. In some verses he describes them as fools. He describes sinners as fools.

Because the two in Islam have the same connotation and concept. Only a fool would disobey Allah. That's the point here.

And only an intelligent person obeys Allah. Only a fool would disobey Allah and reject the message of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم. Allah says in surah al-Ankabut verse 63:

"Say all praises due to Allah. Most of those who reject the message, they don't think, they're fools."

They're foolish people for not pondering and thinking about the message of Islam. In surah al-Mulk verse 10, Allah tells us that the people of the fire of hell are gonna say:

"They would say if we only heard and thought, we would not be of the denizens of the fire of hell."

Subhanallah, being wise saves you from the fire of hell. Using your aql leads you to accepting the sunnah of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم.

Potential Contradictions Between Aql and Sunnah

Now, before we conclude and open up the floor for questions, what are some of the dangers of giving precedence to what we perceive to be aql over the sunnah of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم?

Well, first and foremost, can such an instance occur? Can there be a direct and explicit contradiction between aql on the one hand, or call it nature, call it science, call it technology. Can there be a contradiction between science and common sense on the one hand, and our shari'ah and the sunnah of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم on the other? We as Muslims, as orthodox Muslims, there are other groups out there who believe otherwise.

But as orthodox Muslims, we believe firmly that it is not possible for there to be a direct clash, a direct conflict between common sense and science, and what? The sunnah and the shari'ah of Islam. There can be no contradiction between a scientific reality, between common sense and logic, and Islam, there cannot be. Why? Simple.

Both come from Allah. And to claim a contradiction implies that Allaha'udhu billah did something wrong. He gave us an aql, He sent down a shari'ah, we say there's a clash, who's the one who made a mistake? A'udhu billah, the claim therefore is that the mistake comes from the one who either sent the shari'ah or created the aql.

And so we as Muslims believe that such a case can never occur. Never can a scientific fact contradict a verse of the Quran. Darwin's theory for example can never be proven, it will always remain a theory.

It is a theory, it has its evidences, it will never be a fact, never. Because the Quran tells us something else. I'm not even gonna say, if they prove it, they will never be able to prove it.

Never. Give us a solid proof. They have proven the earth is round, this is a scientific proof, nobody can deny it.

They have proven that the earth orbits the sun, this is a scientific proof, nobody can deny it. We don't find verses that go against it. In the past, some people might have interpreted some verses to mean the earth is flat or this or that, this is an interpretation.

You look at the Quran and you find there is no contradiction between anything that has scientifically been proven, or logically or rationally proven, and the Quran. And this will never occur. Never.

This is a fundamental belief that we should have, as Muslims.

When We Perceive Contradictions

However, suppose we do find in our own daily lives this contradiction. We do find something that we think, well, that doesn't make sense, how can that be true? In this case, we have to understand that our aql, our intellect, does not have a precise limit or criterion of what is right and wrong.

Our intellect is a faculty that Allah has given us, just like hearing and seeing and smelling and taste, other faculties. And a faculty is not divine. It can be mistaken.

If I put a pen in water, you all know you're gonna see the pen crooked, you're seeing it. You're seeing it crooked, you know that it's not crooked. You see a mirage in the desert, you see that water, you know it's not true.

You hear somebody and you think it's somebody, you turn around, you find it's another person. You thought something, you heard something, but it turns out to be incorrect. Now you see when it comes to hearing and seeing and taste, we have other parameters, we have other people to correct us.

Who's gonna correct us if my intellect makes a mistake? If I say, my intellect tells me this is logically true, and you say, no, hold on a sec, my intellect tells me this is logically true. Well, where's the judge, who's

And let me conclude by quoting a very famous statement of Ali ibn Abi Talib (رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ). Ali ibn Abi Talib (رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ) said if the religion had been based upon pure intellect and rationality, then it would have made more sense to wipe the bottom of the socks when you're doing masah.

It would have made more sense to wipe the bottom of the socks rather than the top. You know what I'm talking about, when you're doing the masah over the socks, what do you do? You take your shoe out and you wipe the top of the sock on both side. Ali ibn Abi Talib said, if our religion was based purely upon rationality, it would have made more sense to wipe the bottom rather than the top.

But I saw the Prophet (صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ) wipe over the top of the socks. Meaning that once you understand Islam is a religion, you submit to the laws of Allah. And that really and truly is the essence of Islam. Let us use our aql to come closer to the message of Islam.

And let us not use the aql to take the place of the message of Islam. May Allah really and truly grant us the iman, the istislam, the Islam to understand this very fundamental point.

Closing

Wa akhiru da'awana an alhamdulillahi rabbil alameen. Wa sallallahu wa sallam wa barakal abduhu wa rasoolihi Muhammadin wa alihi wa sahbihi ajma'in.