Our Creed
organs, some of which exceed our
own. They, too, acquire knowledge
through the senses. Hence, from this
perspective, we are no better than
them and perhaps, less gifted in many
ways.
Despite their immense benefit, the
senses are severely limited. For
example, the senses perceive only
what is present and direct. You can
see what is in the room with you, but
what about another room or the other
side of the planet? More importantly
the five unimpaired senses, even at
their best, cannot provide knowledge
of unmeasurable concepts. The
senses alone cannot process the data
they receive. They may observe
the cosmos in all its splendor or
the intricacies of the human body
but cannot deduce their origin or
purpose. Thus, while the senses are
valuable, we are prompted to search
for further sources. Allah says, “In the
succession of night and day, and in
what Allah created in the heavens and
earth, there truly are signs for those
who are aware of Him” (10:6).
The Sound Intellect
“It is Allah who brought you out
of your mothers’ wombs knowing
nothing, and gave you hearing and
sight and minds, so that you might be
thankful” (16:78).
In the above ayah, after the senses,
Allah speaks of the sound intellect,
which is the second source of
knowledge. The word ‘sound’ is to
indicate the intellect that is free of
deficiencies orillnesses and a powerful
tool that allows us to rationalize
and determine things we cannot
immediately perceive with the senses.
Furthermore, it allows us to make
sense of and draw conclusions from
what we perceive. In other words, it
takes over where the senses leave off.
The knowledge obtained from the
intellect can be accurateand will lead
to conclusions that are true and must
be acted upon.
Two types of knowledge are acquired
by the intellect, the immediate
(badihi) and the deduced (istidlali).
1. Immediate knowledge is a
statement understood at first
glance without any need for
thought. Logically and by
definition, the immediate
knowledge must be true and
is not open to question. For
example, statements such as an
object is greater than its parts,
one plus one equals two, or the
knowledge of one’s existence
must necessarily be true and
self-evident. Such knowledge is
immediately apparent, binding,
and needs no sensory input.
2. Deduced statements require
reflecting on proofs whether by
deduction from cause to effect
(e.g., where there is fire, there is
smoke) or from effect to cause
(e.g., where there is smoke,
there is fire) (al-Taftazani). With
the right conditions, it can give
certainty in knowledge but
requires processing information
from the five senses, information
provided by individuals, and
rational ideas (al-Sa`di).
The second type of knowledge is of
greater interest to us because we rely
on it in most situations. Whether
in our day to day affairs or in the
many physical or Islamic sciences,
we are constantly contemplating
amassed information in the form of
premises and formulated inferences
by deduction. If the premises are
true, the inference must necessarily
be true. For example, if all men are
mortal (premise 1) and Zayd is a
man (premise 2), then Zayd must
be mortal (inference). Similarly,
if a mu`jiza (miracle) can only be
performed by a prophet and Ibrahim
e performed a mu`jiza, he must be a
prophet. The intellect is immensely
valuable and makes up for much of
the limitations of the senses. It assists
us with an important concept stated
in the last article of this series and to
be discussed further in a subsequent
article: It is impermissible for Allah to
remain unknown to a person gifted
with the intellect.
However, like the five senses, the
intellect is also bound by many
limitations. The list is long, but I
will suffice you with two important
examples: an objective purpose (Why
are we here?) and morality (What
should we do here?). Despite these
two being of utmost importance to
our humanity, no amount of thinking
or philosophizing has given us clear
answers. Instead, some intellects have
gone to the extreme of justifying
ethnic cleansing and infanticide,
while others have proposed
purposelessness and amorality. For an
objective viewpoint, we are in need of
another source. We cannot imagine
Allah leaving us in the dark with
only the inadequate sources of our
senses and the intellect to rely on. He
says, “Does man think he will be left
alone?” (75:36).
The True Narration – Mass
Transmission
The third and final source of human
knowledge is the true narration. The
term ‘true’ is to exclude information
that is false even if its narrator is
honest or because the narrator is a
continued on page 17
8 January - February 2020 | AL-MADINAH