جلسات #مع_نفسي 14 ... أتفلسف أم أعقل؟ منطق ومغالطات منطقية وعلم كلام ... ماذا عن القرآن؟

Dr AbdulRahman: Welcome. The Host: Welcome back Dr. Dr AbdulRahman :There was homework, right? The Host: Yes, last session we agreed to look up verses

in the Qura’n that mention the word (عقل)“Reason” Dr AbdulRahman:Tracing the word (عقل)

“Reason” in the quran, The Host: Yes to trace them, and the first verse I found was

“Do you order righteousness of the people and forget yourselves, while you recite the Scripture? Then will you not reason? Al-Baqarah (44) This was the first one. Dr AbdulRahman:Did you notice something about this verse?

Regarding what it means to reason here? The Host: SubhanAllah,

it’s as if reasoning here counters how someone would do the opposite of what he orders of people,

unlike the traditional meaning of Reason that we know, we know that “to be reasonable” is just to understand Dr AbdulRahman: Exactly! Unfortunately the word has been

marketed to simply connote pure chemical pathway processes, that a person who understands math, chess,

calculus and integration is a reasonable man! According to the first verse you encountered in the Quran

and as you proceed, we could simply tell there is more to reasoning To Reason is to withhold yourself from bad behaviour,

to purify yourself…. to practice what you preach since you see what The Book asks of you

Therefore this is a great example to understand what (Reasoning) means in the Qur’an The first thing to note is that the word “Reason” in the Quran

always bears a positive meaning The Host: What is meant by positive? Dr AbdulRahman: Meaning those who reason are commended, and those who don't are not. Both in this world and in the hereafter.

Leading us to the next question: Is it possible that some people

would seem reasonable when in fact they aren’t? To be exact, it is possible they’re sane

and not unreasonable. Sane in the sense that they transcended

the level of beastiality and they possibly hold a degree, etc. But they don't “Reason” according to the Quran. This always reminds me of a verse from Surah Ar-Rum:

“ But most of the people do not know.”(6) But Dr. how do they not “know” if they built skyscrapers

and their streets are paved and cleaned? "They know what is apparent of the worldly life,

but they, of the Hereafter, are unaware.” Ar-Rum (7) and this debunks the faulty understanding of the Ayat

that they’re usually related to highschool and university graduates. "Are those who know equal to those who do not know?" Az-Zumar (9) Who are those that know? They’d say hardworking students... etc.

But that isn’t what the verses say! The verses provide introductions to creationism

and your relationship with Allah, and what He wants from you, Then He speaks about two types of people: “And when adversity touches man,

he calls upon his Lord, turning to Him [alone]; Then when He bestows on him a favor from Himself, he forgets Him whom he called upon before,

and he attributes to Allah equals to mislead [people] from His way. Say, "Enjoy your disbelief for a little;

indeed, you are of the companions of the Fire." (Az-Zumar, 8) This is the first type, and the second type: “Is one who is devoutly obedient during periods of the night,

prostrating and standing [in prayer], fearing the Hereafter and hoping for the mercy of his Lord,

[like one who does not]? Say, "Are those who know equal to those who do not know?"

(Az-Zumar, 9) So I don’t care what you’ve achieved in this world And within there is a clear message

for the preachers of Islamic reformation whom claim the religion will only rise

with an “international Islamic football team” and an “international Islamic swimming women team”,

“a Messi equivalent and Salah equivalent” etc... No, these people need a break to reflect upon themselves

The hereafter doesn’t require all these things. The hereafter requires people to know how to worship Allah,

and Him alone These are the people that will bring back the caliphate

as we knew it during the golden ages, as for competing in this dunya... I was asked a question “Dr. you always point out that the matter is not about skyscrapers. etc, Do you not like the Alhambra palace?”

I answered: “No I don’t like it” ‘What!? You don’t like Alhambra palace?!!”

Of course not, Alhambra palace was the beginning of the end And it was the beginning for the collapse of Al-Andalus,

engrossed in luxury and other things at the expense of other matters When the Companions arrived at Ash-sham (greater Syria) they cried.

Why did Abu-Ubaidah RA cry? When he found his bed slightly elevated from the floor,

He knew that this is not how the deen should be. Anyways, I don’t want to delve deep into this matter We could discuss this more during Creationism

under the issue of consumption, etc. The term (العقل) “To Reason” in the Quran,

is used as a pathway to grasp the concept of controlling your desires To abstain from ill manners, to align and compare concepts,

decision making, all this under the term “Reason”, which encompasses all the previous examples. The Host: Alright, after accomplishing these things,

How am I supposed to know that I am truly on the right path? Dr AbdulRahman: Before discussing whether or not

I am on the right path I need to know how to “Reason”? A brother used to say

“Observe the situation as a Judge who analyses the evidence” Observe all angles, and based on that you should know, A frequently used example... You cannot claim to reason, when you only read

material from your people, do you know what the other side says? For example: You are against Darwin’s Theory of Evolution,

and you only read anti-darwinism articles Have you ever read Darwin’s theory? Have you read Darwin's publications like (Origin of Species)? Have you read his book (The Descent of Man)?

No, I only read publications arguing against his theory. Or on the contrary, I only read publications affirming his theory

Have you ever ventured out of that? Unfortunately, young women and men come to my clinic

with religious doubts and atheistic inclinations, so I give them a book contrary to their beliefs

and I would meet up with them after a month and ask: Did you read the book?

No? I would tell them: “You did not “reason” nor do you plan to,

you only want it your way.” So first thing about “Reasoning” is gathering scattered information,

How could you “reason” if the information wasn’t organized before? Another thing, in order to “reason” you must realize

the mind’s limitations. Recall when we spoke about inputs deceiving your sensations?

And as long as your sensations are susceptible to deception, so is your mind?

This realization cultivates humility Realizing the shortcomings of your mind absolves any self-absorbed

and conceited perceptions when I read a book or two. Quite the opposite, Subhan Allah the more you learn

the more humble you become. I frequently talk about how our youth these days are highly

mesmerised by individuals who competently display their capabilities, but lack the ability to reason, who do I mean?: “Our Youth”

Because they admire someone that mentions a big word or two There is a scary hadith that says: “What I fear the most for this ummah

is every knowledgeable hypocrite with a smooth tongue.” “A knowledgeable hypocrite with a smooth tongue”

reminds me of Sophists in ancient Greece, who knew how to beautify words and deceive you with them,

but the words were illogical and unreasonable.... The Host: Speaking of Sophists, do I need to have a background in philosophy,

logic, logical fallacies and epistemology, in order to “Reason”? Dr AbdulRahman: You can reason without all this rhetoric,

because people were able to reason before all that appeared.. So it’s not like people didn't reason or were dumb

before Greek philosophy was found and made them reason. It just created a certain structure and I personally

-some people may agree and the majority wouldn’t- I see that if you master the language of the Quran, and understood

the Quran and the Principles of Islamic jurisprudence then you won’t need Greek Philosophy or Logic

and I will add: Nor ʿIlm al-Kalām, to rationalize faith. There is a man named Ibn Al Wazeer Al Sana’ni

who wrote a beautiful book titled “Weighing Quranic Methods over Greek Methods” He shows you Quranic verses and proves its sufficiency. Moreover, I see that learning Logical Fallacies,

and the insistence on its necessity -otherwise you will be fooled.. That’s untrue. If you were to trace the concepts:

“Deception”, “Neglect”, and “Denial” in the Quran you will learn all about it. But the problem is that we don’t read the Quran, you get surprised

that a lot of the youth, including Sharia students, don’t actually know what they’re supposed to know from the Quran. They believe that you can’t be a “thinker”

unless you read philosophy and logic. Alright. Am I against philosophy & logic?

I am all for reading it when needed. I will ask you a question: Have you ever read Shakesperian English? The Host: No. Dr AbdulRahman: Does this mean it’s not good to read it? The Host: No. Dr AbdulRahman: Reading it is beneficial in certain cases:

If you want to specialize in it, or if you have to converse with people

that can only speak this language.. You might be curious

and you crave to know what it’s about. But to assume that you won’t understand except through Philosophy! No. Philosophy may lead you astray!

and not give you what you want.. Al Ghazali has a beautiful sentence

in “The Saviour from Misguidance” he says: “I found Ilm Al-Kalam adequate for its intentions

but inadequate for mine” What does he mean? He means ”I’m looking for

self purification, and found that Kalam hardens the heart and doesn't give me what I want”. That's why I question those involved with this [sophistry].

You find them switching from one extreme to the other. They either have a hard heart, sophistry, logic, philosophy,

logical fallacies, etc.. or sufism or excessive sufism, why? The heart is hard so he wants to soften it,

so he jumps to extreme sufism. Why don’t we learn the Quran with the Prophet’s, the Companions',

and their earliest followers’ understanding, which existed before Greek Philosophy was introduced... In summary, if you are specializing

then go ahead. If you are talking to people that only understand this language,

then go ahead. But what I see is that we reached a point where

some of our religious youth read too much Logic & Philosophy to a point where they no longer master the language of the Quran,

the Quran’s language doesn't settle in their brains. Why? He can only understand the language of philosophy

and complicated rhetoric. and he has to end each word with an “-ism”.

Habibi, talk to me in the plain Quranic language These theatrics don't help. The Host: Dr. going back to the question we asked a while ago,

after using my reasoning tools, and being able to reason regarding things I assume are truth,

how do I actually know if it's actually so? Dr AbdulRahman:This automatically brings me to what is known as “Axioms” How do I know if 1+1 actually = 2?

This is the trend these days amongst the youth “How do you actually know if 1+1=2?”

Nice, you have reached this stage? How do I actually know that you are present in front of me? An atheist young man of 17 visited my clinic with his mom once,

(Let’s ignore the fact he’s 17 and an atheist!) He told me “In fact I don't believe I even exist”

So I remained silent, he said “Why aren't you answering”, I said nothing. Why? Didn't you say you don’t even exist?

How can I talk to you? He realised it then how stupid he sounds. How can you not exist, son? According to the opinion of one of the sheikhs: “If it reaches a point where he believes he does not exist,

slap him so he knows he exists” So the issue of “I don’t know if I exist,

I don’t know if 1+1=2..”No, there are concepts called (Axioms) Someone came up to me once saying “I don't have presuppositions”

So I asked, "Including what you just said?” He said: “What do you mean?” I said: “Was what you said presupposed?

That ‘you don’t have presuppositions’?” He stared and laughed at me

I said “Are you kidding me?” Your statement that you don't have any presuppositions

is a presupposition in itself!” Another person once told me: “All facts are relative”

I said: “Including your statement?” He said: “What do you mean?”

I told him: “Is what you said a fact or a relative statement?” He shut up, because if he said ‘No it’s a fact’ then it would be relative,

And if he said it’s relative then there is no point in the discussion.. There is this trend of nihilism,

that everything is subjective and I can’t be sure that there’s truth. No, there’s truth. But if we’ve reached a point of doubting the axioms

we will turn into lunatics. The Host: Alright Dr. can we say that things we regard with reasoning,

that if we examine them based on revelation, and if they align with it, then it’s correct,

otherwise it’s wrong? Dr AbdulRahman: In my opinion, Allah knows best,

reaching the truth requires three things.. I use the acronym ( عون ) “A’wn”=

(عقل) (Reason) , (وحي) (Revelation), (نظر) (Observation). (عقل) Reason = everything we discussed so far,

the reasoning mechanism, gathering causes, evidence, and axioms.. and I always remember when I sent my friend

a video clip of a reformation advocate After 10 minutes he said: “What is this idiocy?”

I said: “Wait man, how did you know?” He said: “When he said this he contradicted himself-etc,”

I said: Subhanallah there are PhD holders in Sharia And this guy managed to fool them,

because they don’t have the reasoning mechanism. Reasoning is important, revelation is what supports it. Because in the end reasoning might help you realize

the existence of a Creator, But what is His name? You need a revelation..

What does He want me to do? you need a revelation. Assume I don’t believe in revelation, no problem let's skip revelation

and move from reasoning to observing. That’s observation, experimentation, and strife “Travel through

the earth and observe how He originated creation” [20:29] Observe as in search, I propose that if you reasoned and observed well, you will come to revelation in spite of yourself. and you can find objective reasonable people easily saying:

“I need an external entity to guide me, I am lost by myself” The Host: Alright Dr. how is everything we talked about related to (Read) that.. Dr AbdulRahman: that we started with. The Host: that we started with. Dr AbdulRahman: I think this requires another session; how do we put this under the term (اقرأ) (Read)

Perhaps we will talk about this tomorrow in shA Allah. The Host: May Allah assist us in sha Allah. -Dr AbdulRahman: Welcome and from Allah we seek help.