ical event may help us in the minting
process. Of all the creation, it is only
humans and jinn who have moral
agency. Iblees was put in a situation
which forced him to make a choice.
It was through his denial and refusal
to use his agency in obeying Allah
which stamped him as a kafir. This
is different than disobedience due
to negligence, weakness or laziness.
The Sunni position is that one does
not leave the fold of Islam by simply
disobeying, even if those acts are
considered “actions of kufr”. There is
a spectrum in place and the further
one travels in the wrong direction,
the closer they are to actual kufr. This
point can be further elucidated by the
Prophetic tradition which nearly all
the scholars of hadeeth narrate with
various wordings: “Verily, between a
person and kufr is the abandonment
of prayer.” Thus, the dark-side of the
coin is one of kufr and acts of kufr.
Shaytan used his ‘aql… right?
Many times, the narrative is put like
this. Shaytan was given a command,
but rather than obeying, he used his
‘aql (intellect) and “logic”. Although
this sounds convincing, it is far from
the truth. Shaytan was deluded by
his emotions and this leaked into his
reasoning. His ‘aql which had been
directing him to worship Allah up
until that point was overpowered
by his corrupted nafs (self) and its
own desire. His pride, which had
been fermenting within, blinded
him from using his ‘aql properly and
thus influenced his decision. Sound
intellect and logic would necessitate
obedience to our Creator and Master.
With premises of belief in Allah, His
wisdom and His ultimate authority,
the only logical conclusion is compliance.
Won’t you use your ‘aql?
We see from the above that there is
a strong link between will power, the
‘aql and the nafs. Some philosophers
have even equated will power with
the intellect. The connection is so
strong and significant that if our ‘aql
isn’t functioning correctly, then we
will not be mukallaf (responsible) for
our actions. The Messenger of Allah
said: “The Pen has been lifted from
three: from the child until he reaches
puberty, from the one sleeping until
he wakes up and from the insane until
he regains his sanity.” Ahmad Some
commentators mention the reason is
because all three lack the minimum
amount of ‘aql in order for them to be
held accountable.
‘Aql should restrict you
If we reflect on the numerous usages
of the word ‘aql and its derivatives
in the Qur’an, we will see that many
times it is tied to verses which point
out certain types of outrageous behavior
or clear acts of disobedience.
Other times it is tied to His Greatness,
Sovereignty and reasons why we
should revere and obey Him. Allah is
providing evidence and examples that
a sincere mind would accept and then
asks: “Wont you use ‘aql/reason?”.
This question is posed many times in
the Qur’an in various forms.
In the famous Arabic dictionary Lisan
al-‘Arab, it defines ‘aql with the two
words hijr and nuha which have the
root meanings of restriction, limiting
and prohibition. These are some of
the key features of the intellect. It is
there to keep your nafs under control.
Another interesting linguistic link is
‘iqal, the rope which is used to tie and
secure the camel and prevent it from
running away.
What was I thinking?
I’m sure we’ve all been there. You
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