‘DIMAAG
KI BATTI JALAO’
Significance
of Wisdom in Islam
It is indeed liberating
to read that the Quran exhorts all humans to use their faculty of reasoning and
rationality to assess knowledge. It is almost saying, ‘Akl Ka Istimal Karo’. There is emphasis on use of senses to see,
hear, feel the knowledge around and gain it for yourself and for the people
around you. All that is given in experience then is to be assessed based on the
power of reasoning. Use of basic intelligence and common sense is what the
Quran lays emphasis on.
Another important value
in Islam is compassion and kindness. All Muslims, living in any corner of the
world invoke God as merciful and beneficent before beginning to do any task. Bismillah irrahman nirrahim – beginning
in the name of God who is beneficent and merciful. Understanding and impacting
social reality with the use of wisdom and tempering wisdom with values of compassion,
kindness, equality and justice is what any responsible Muslim must believe in
and must behave accordingly.
Questions to be asked
by any wise Muslim man to himself: Am I being just and fair to the women in my
family, be it wife, mother, sister, daughter? Am I behaving wisely if I
unilaterally divorce my wife and throw her out of the house? Am I behaving like
an intelligent being if I force my wife to do halala in order to bring her
back? Next question to be asked is: Am I being compassionate when I throw away my
wife and children out of the house just because I want to marry another woman?
Is polygamy a just practice? Am I being compassionate when I don’t feed my
children? Am I intelligent if I force my wife to continue with multiple
pregnancies, endangering her life and the life of the children? Do I educate
myself about the rights of women in Islam? Or do I listen to only the
regressive voices around me which ask me to abandon my critical thinking? Do I
care enough to ask a few questions and look out for answers in places which put
premium on knowledge with compassion? Do I ask myself enough- is it right? Am I
troubling anyone? Am I being just and fair? Is there any self-talk which
reflects critical thinking and raising questions to find reasonable answers? I
am afraid the answer is No. We have become a community of zombies who have
abandoned our capacity to reason. We pride ourselves on being Muslims but do
nothing to deserve the universal values of Islam.
Let us see what the
Holy Quran has to say about use of reasoning and wisdom in guiding human
actions. These Quranic verses may be rooted in the contexts at times and at
times they appear to be normative, applicable to human beings for all times to
come. Nonetheless they are very good lessons in critical thinking.
USE
OF SENSES TO GAIN KNOWLEDGE
There is heavy emphasis on gaining knowledge and
taking decisions based on what you see and hear and understand. It is important
to evaluate the information that you receive through your hearing and seeing.
The senses are doors to knowledge. Do not support anything that does not appeal
to what your senses see and hear. Evaluate all that you see and hear and do not
follow like a herd. Do not follow anything and anyone blindly but use your
senses to evaluate.
· 17:36-Do not uphold what you have no knowledge of. For the
hearing, eyesight, and mind, all these are held responsible for that.
· 7:179- ........ they have hearts, yet they do not comprehend;
they have eyes yet they do not see; they have ears yet they do not hear. They
are like cattle; no, they are even more astray. These are the heedless ones.
IMPORTANCE OF
READING
Reading
is the door to knowledge. Only if one reads one would be exposed to knowledge
available in the outside domain. Reading, reading with reasoning, reading to
gain deeper knowledge
·
96:1 Read in the name of your Lord who has created.
·
96:3 Read, and your Lord is the Generous One.
·
96:4 The One who taught by the pen.
·
96:5 He taught the human being what he did not know.
·
55:3 He created the human being,
·
55:4 Taught him how to distinguish.
IMPORTANCE
OF KNOWLEDGE
The
Quran lays great emphasis on gaining knowledge. It is the most valuable thing
that a human can possess. It says do not do guess work but seek the truth as
much as possible. Conjectures are only half truths having the potential of
creating more harm than good. The majority is not always right especially if
they base their opinions on mere heresay and guess work. The question to be
asked always is: is it the truth? Have we seen it? Have we heard it? Does it
appeal to our reason and common sense? It is harmful to pass judgments and take
decisions based on conjectures.
·
29:43 Such are the examples We cite for the people, but none
reason except the knowledgeable.
·
29:49 In fact, it is a clear revelation in the chests of those
who have been given knowledge.
· 6:116 If you obey the majority of those on earth they will lead
you away from God's path; that is because they follow conjecture, and that is
because they only guess.
·
55:9 Observe the weight with equity, and do not fall short in
the balance.
· 53:28 While they had no knowledge about this; they only followed
conjecture. Conjecture is no substitute for the truth.
USE OF REASON TO EVALUATE KNOWLEDGE
The Quran clearly says that they worst of the lot
are those who do not reason. God is asking humans to use the faculty of
reasoning. Those who do not use this faculty suffer due to their own
unwillingness to see, hear and reason it out. It is important to be alert to
what is being said. Many things are going to be said but it is imperative that
we pick and choose what is the best. We always have a choice and the Quran
emphasises on choosing the best that is being offered. We need to listen to all
views and arguments and then follow what is the best that is being offered.
· 8:22-The worst creatures with God are the deaf and dumb who do
not reason.
· 10:100 - ........... He casts the affliction upon those who do
not reason.
· 12:111 In their stories is a lesson for the people of
intelligence. It is not a hadith that was invented, but an authentication of
what is already present, a detailing of all things, and a guidance and mercy to
a people who acknowledge.
· 39:18 The ones who listen to what is being said, and then follow
the best of it. These are the ones whom God has guided, and these are the ones
who possess intelligence.
God
has given us a mind and it is asking us to use it, that’s it. If we use it and
ask a few basic questions to ourselves before embarking on any task or
activity, we should be good. There is no going back on use of wisdom and
compassion for conducting ourselves in private and public life.
Dr. Noorjehan Safia Niaz
noorjehan.sn@gmail.com
