“Allâhu ta’âlâ sent prophets as a compassion and favour to all creatures. Allâhu ta’âlâ made known His existence and Attributes to us, His weak-minded, short-sighted creatures, through these great prophets of His. Through the agency of them, He declared the things He liked and what He disliked. Through their mediation, He separated the things that would be useful to men in this world and the next from the harmful ones. If these honourable prophets had not been sent, the human mind could not have realized that Allâhu te’âlâ exists and could not come to comprehend His greatness. In fact, the ancient Greek philosophers, who presumed themselves to be very intelligent, were not able to comprehend Allâhu ta’âlâ’s existence. They denied the Creator. Their limited
intellects supposed that time had been making everything. Everybody knows about the struggle between Nimrod, who was the king of the world, and Ibrâhîm (’alaihi ’s-salâm) which is narrated in the Qur’ân. Also the ominous Pharaoh said, ‘You do not have any other god besides me.’ In fact, this idiot tried to dishearten Műsâ (’alaihi ’s-salâm) by saying, ‘If you believe in any other god besides me, I will imprison you.’ So, men’s short intellects could not comprehend this greatest blessing [of realizing Allâhu ta’âlâ’s existence]. Unless the exalted prophets existed, they attain this endless bliss.
“When the Greek philosophers heard from prophets that the earth and the skies had one creator and thereby realized that they themselves had been in a wrong and evil way, they had to affirm
that Allâhu ta’âlâ existed. They said that all the things had one creator. A glitter of the lights which prophets spread illuminated their darkened hearts. Remnants from the open dining-tables of those great people became medication for these deadly ill people. Likewise, what prophets revealed, such as that Allâhu ta’âlâ has Superior Attributes, that He has sent prophets, that angels are innocent, that there will be Rising after death and that there are infinite blessings, favours in Paradise and torments in Hell and many other things which Islam declares, cannot be comprehended through reasoning. Unless these are heard from prophets, they cannot be explored with men’s short minds.
“Ancient Greek Philosophers said that reason never went wrong and it comprehended the truth of everthing and was without a limit. They tried to solve by reasoning what reason could not comprehend. On the contrary, reason goes wrong even in worldly knowledge. And it can never comprehend the knowledge pertaining to the next world. As reason can explore the things that cannot be comprehended through the senses, so the things which reason cannot comprehend will be understood through prophets’ revelation. As reason is above the sense organs, so prophethood is above the power of reason. The things which the power of reason cannot reach will be learned through prophets’ revelation. To believe that Allâhu ta’âlâ exists and is one only through the comprehension and
admission of reason and to say that it cannot be comprehended or believed in another way, will mean to deny in prophets, which is like denying the sun.
“Allâhu ta’âlâ is the One who has created men and sends every blessing which is necessary for their maintenance in existence. Everybody knows that he who does favours should be thanked. And again, prophets are necessary for knowing how to thank for His blessings. Thanks and respect which they have not revealed are not worthy of Him. Man cannot know how to thank Him and he may suppose something which is disrespect towards Him to be thanks and respect. While meaning to thank, he may be disrespectful. It can be understood how to thank Allâhu ta’âlâ only by prophets’ revelation. The information called ‘inspiration’, which occurs to the hearts of the Awliyâ’, happens only by following prophets. If inspiration happened through reasoning, the ancient Greek philosophers, who followed only their reason, would not have deviated from the right path. They would have
comprehended Allâhu ta’âlâ better than anybody did. However, in comprehending Allâhu ta’âlâ’s existence and Supperior Attributes, these philosophers have proved to be the most ignorant. A few of them mortified their flesh and endeavoured and shined their nafs by subduing it with methods that they had learned from prophets ‘alaihim-us-salawât-u-wa-t-taslîmât’ and from Muslim men of Tasawwuf, thereby attaining a few facts; they did not know, however, that purifying and shining the nefs, and anything attained in this manner, would be aberration. It is the heart that must be purified and shined. Purification of the nafs begins after the heart has become purified. The nűrs (spiritual lights) will make their entrance from the heart. Purifying the nafs before the
heart has been purified is like providing the enemy with a light to support its night attack. The enemy whom the nafs helps is the devil. Yes happiness and truth can be attained also by starvation, by denying physical desires, by subduing the nafs and by reasoning. But this may be possible only after having believed in prophets and what they have brought from Allâhu ta’âlâ. For, all the statements made by prophets were reported by unerring angels. The devil cannot meddle with these teachings. As for those who do not follow these great persons, they cannot escape the devil’s deceit. Plato, one of the great ones of philosophers, attained the honour of being contemporary with ’Îsâ (’alaihi ’s-salâm). Yet he was vulgarly ignorant and presumed that he did not need to learn anything from anybody. He deprived himself of the
divine blessing that he would have attained through that exalted prophet.
“It is surprising that philosophers, i.e., those who suppose that reason never errs, deny not only Allâhu ta’âlâ but also the Last Judgement. They say that matter never stops existing and that everything goes on as they have come.”
[Scientists’ words that are not based on experimentation and calculation incite this aberration. When French chemist Lavoisier[1] saw that matter did not cease to exist in chemical reactions, he said with his short mind that matter would never cease to exist. Upon hearing this, the progressives, being unable to think that Allâhu ta’âlâ’s Infinite Power could go beyond the laws of physics and chemistry, readily took his word for granted;
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[1] Antoine Laurent Lavoisier (1743-94), French chemist and physician.
which did not conform with experiments or calculations. But when it was found out that matter ceased to exist and turned into energy in atomic fissions, in radioactive events and in nuclear reactions, those who believed Lavoisier were stupefied. It was understood that the progressives, who, being unable to comprehend that Lavoisier’s conclusion applied only to chemical reactions, said that nothing would cease to exist in nature, were wrong. It is a shame that thousands of imitators had been blindly tagging along behind this wrong belief until the truth revealed itself. Presuming Lavoisier’s words to be scientific, although they were merely expressions of a surmise mistaken for truth, they denied the the belief in Rising After Death, which caused them to die
without îmân and drag into endless disasters only after imbuing many other people with their harmful ideas. Those who trusted the Ahl as-Sunna scholars and held to ’ilm al-hâl books did not fall for progressives, thereby saving their belief.
The lessons taught in high school, university and the teachings pertaining to mathematics, matter and science are certainly useful. They protect intellect from erring in matters within its own limits. They help in discovering new things that provide people with a comfortable life and facilities in doing their work in the world. These branches of knowledge are utilized in worldly affairs and the things that can be discovered through intellect. By means of them, television, computer, radio, ultrasonic airplane, nuclear submarine, spy satellite, travel to moon and many other accomplishments can be achieved. These things are not against Islam; they are parallel to Islam and strengthen îmân. For, Islam conforms with science in all the branches of knowledge within
reason. Reason, because it is able to find out the truth in these branches of knowledge, is compatible with Islam. Muslims should learn and utilize these things.]
“It is a disgrace for men to utilize scientific findings in worldly affairs and, instead of utilizing them also in comprehending the teachings pertaining to Allâhu ta’âlâ and the Hereafter, to be complacent about these findings, to consign themselves to their sensuous indulgences and mental preferences, to try to solve the teachings pertaining to the Hereafter within their mental precincts, and to consequently deviate from the Islamic path. This case is like that of a person who prepares for war and goes into much labour and expense and who, when the time for war comes,
revolts and rises against his own legitimate government. Hence, all the scientific teachings are practicable in things which reason can comprehend. It is wrong to base something that will either bring eternal felicity or incur endless torment on these teachings, or to attempt to solve the matters pertaining to the next world within these teachings. These most important matters are beyond the limits of reason and scientific knowledge. Not to learn this most necessary knowledge from prophets and to try to solve it with worldly knowledge will mean to pass the time on trivial and even absurd things. For, worldly knowledge is not useful in matters which the reason cannot comprehend and which can be comprehended only through prophets’ revelation. Al-Imâm al-Ghazâlî
says in his Al-munqidh min ad-dalâl, ‘Ancient Greek philosophers stole medical and astronomical knowledge from the books of ancient prophets. And they learned moral and educational methods by seeing them in the men of Tasawwuf among ancient ummas.”
“Philosophers, whose religious talks are based on their personal reasoning, materialists and those who have deviated from the right course by trying to solve the knowledge pertaining to the next world with their own mind are regarded as scholars by many people. By attributing to them gilted, false titles such as reformer, mujtahid, advanced man of religion or martyr, they suggest their destructive words and books to the youngsters. In fact, they regard their corrupt and mendacious words superior to the teachings which the Ahl as-sunna scholars have derived from the Qur’ân and the Hadîth. May Allâhu ta’âlâ protect Muslims from their harms! It is a fatal mistake to look on religion reformers as religious scholars.
“Knowledge and science are procedures followed to learn the inner essence of things. Statements which spoil Islam and which cannot assess the value of Islamic knowledge cannot be said to be of knowledge and science. Something which causes the denial of prophets cannot be knowledge. The discoveries and the branches of knowledge and science in the twentieth century do not cause the denial of those Islamic teachings that are within mind’s grasp. They strengthen Islam. It is harmful to use knowledge and science against religious knowledge, which is beyond mind’s grasp. This subtlety should be comprehended well. The ignorant people, egoists and people hooked on their lusts and pleasures use
knowledge and science as a cloak under which to attack Islam. They disguise their heretical ideas as scientific knowledge. They attempt to blame the religious knowledge only because it does not conform with their heretical ideas. Or, by taking those religious teachings that are beyond mind’s grasp and by saying that they cannot be solved by means of science, they say that Islam consists of a medieval system of beliefs that are incompatible with reason and science and that therefore it is retrogression. Muslims should learn the knowledge and science well enough not be deceived by these mendacious, base people.”[1]
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