[Quran 67:10] And they shall say: Had we but listened or pondered, we should not have been among the inmates of the burning fire.
[Quran 8:22] Surely the vilest of animals, in Allah's sight, are the deaf, the dumb, who do not rationalize.
The aforementioned verses show how much Islam emphasizes on thinking and pondering. It is such an important feature in Islam. This is one of the things that make Islam unique and different from all other religions and ideologies in the World.
The Quran encourages and calls upon people to think, ponder, and rationalize and to draw to conclusions the proper way. From the Islamic point of view “worship” is not confined to the physical worship like prayer and fasting. Worship in Islam is also not confined to the financial worship. In Islam there is another kind of worship as well; it is the worship which consists of thinking, pondering, and reflecting. If this mental worship of thinking and pondering leads to the awakening of man, then it is far superior to many years of physical worship.
Think about this and ask yourself the following questions:
Whatever religion you follow, ask yourself how you have arrived at the conclusion that what you believe in is right.
Ask yourself how is it atheists arrive at the conclusion that God doesn’t exist.
How did they conclude with that?
How have Muslims, Christians, Jews or Hindus concluded that they are on the right path? How have they arrived at that conclusion?
How is it that some people arrive at the conclusion that they will be able to see God in the hereafter?
If we come to see, we realize that these different beliefs and ideologies that are mentioned above are just different conclusions people arrive at or draw. Some of the conclusions are right and some of them are wrong.
The reason why people arrive at wrong conclusions is because it is the outcome of incorrect thinking. In other words incorrect thinking or wrong thinking automatically makes man arrive at wrong conclusions.
In Islam it is not enough for Muslims to acknowledge its doctrinal tenets unquestioningly or as a family tradition. A Muslim that says “there is no god but Allah and Prophet Mohammed (p.b.u.h) is the messenger of Allah” has indeed arrived at the right conclusion, “outwardly speaking”! But has he arrived at the right conclusion “inwardly”? In Islam if a Muslim’s conclusion of “there is no god but Allah and Prophet Mohammed (p.b.u.h) is the messenger of Allah” was the outcome of wrong thinking then his inward conclusion is wrong. If conclusion of “There is no god but Allah and…” was the outcome of wrong thinking, then although he may be arriving at the right conclusion outwardly (with the composition of the words and what he/she utters/from the exterior), but inwardly he has not really arrived at the right conclusion because he in reality is not saying “there is no god but Allah and Prophet Mohammed (p.b.u.h) is the messenger of Allah”.
Because wrong thinking causes man to arrive at wrong conclusions, the Holy Quran has pointed out the factors that cause wrong thinking and has explained to man what to do to avoid error and deviation.
The factors that cause wrong thinking in light of the Holy Quran
1. Reliance on conjecture instead of sure knowledge
[Quran 6:116] Most people are such that if you follow them they will lead you away from the right path, because they rely on conjecture only.
People must have certainty about something. They should make sure that their knowledge is correct. People should do independent research and should not rely on mere guesswork. Why? To be certain that the tools they use (info/facts/knowledge) in order to draw conclusions are correct.
The Holy Quran strictly forbids following a conjecture. Allah says…
[Quran 17:36] And follow not that of which you have not the knowledge; surely the hearing and the sight and the heart, all of these, shall be questioned about that.
The interesting thing is that philosophers agree that dubious knowledge is the main cause of mistakes. In fact many centuries after the Quran was revealed Descartes the famous philosopher declared this to be the first principle of Logic. He said "I do not consider anything to be a reality unless it becomes obvious to me. I avoid haste, association of ideas and predisposition; and accept only that which is so clear and distinct that there can be no doubt about it"
2. Biasness influencing decision making
If man wants to judge rightly, he should fully maintain his impartiality. In other words he should seek truth only, and accept without hesitation what evidence proves. He should behave exactly like a judge in a court of justice, who while studying a case ought to be neutral to the claims of both the parties. If he is biased towards one party, the arguments in favor of that party will unconsciously attract his attention and the arguments against it will automatically be missed by him. That is what will mislead the judge.
If man is not neutral and his thinking is lop-sided, the pointer of his thinking will unconsciously be inclined towards his personal liking and personal desire. That is why the Holy Quran regards the base desires as much a source of error as reliance on a guess and conjecture. It says:
[Quran 53:23] They follow but conjecture and that which themselves desire.
3. Haste (Hastily believing or Hastily denying something)
Firstly it is important to understand that since mankind’s knowledge is not enough, we should be careful when drawing conclusions because we might not have enough knowledge for us to properly conclude.
[Quran 17:85] You have been given but little knowledge.
Imaam Jafer Sadiq (a.s) (one of the leaders in islam and one of the greatest thinkers in the World) said: "In the two verses of the Holy Qur'an Allah has warned men against two things:
(i) He has said that they must not believe a thing unless they have sure knowledge about it (Warning against hasty believing).
(ii) He has said that they must not deny a thing unless they have sure knowledge about it (Warning against hasty denial).”
The two verses are below.
[Quran 7:169] Were they not asked in the Book to give an undertaking that they would speak nothing concerning Allah except the truth?
An example of Hasty believing: Some Muslims believe that they will be able to see God on the Day of Judgment. Why do they believe in this absurdity? Because they are being told that Sahih Bukhari is right and in Sahih Bukhari it says that the believers will be able to see God:
Jarir bin 'Abdullah narrated: The Prophet said, "You will definitely see your Lord with your own eyes." - Sahih Bukhari, v9, Hadith #530
Jarir bin 'Abdullah narrated: Allah's Apostle came out to us on the night of the full moon and said, "You will see your Lord on the Day of Resurrection as you see this (full moon) and you will have no difficulty in seeing Him." - Sahih Bukhari, v9, Hadith #531
They also believe that God will be seen on the Day of Judgment because they are told that it says it in the Quran that faces on that Day (Day of Reckoning) shall be looking to their Lord.
[Quran 75:23] Looking to their Lord.
These people hastily believed in something. They did not look at all the arguments. For example, logic dictates that a finite being cannot see, grasp, comprehend an infinite being, because if that were the case then the infinite being would no longer be infinite. Even if people say that the human being’s physical laws on that Day shall be extended, that does not change God’s nature of being infinite.
Furthermore, these people do not se that in the Quran there is a verse that tells us how to understand the Quran.
[Quran 3:7] He it is Who has revealed the Book to you; some of its verses are decisive, they are the basis of the Book, and others are allegorical; then as for those in whose hearts there is perversity they follow the part of it which is allegorical, seeking to mislead and seeking to give it (their own) interpretation. but none knows its interpretation except Allah, and those who are firmly rooted in knowledge say: We believe in it, it is all from our Lord; and none do mind except those having understanding.
This verse tells us that the Holy Quran is made up of two kinds of verses, decisive verses and allegorical verses. For the allegorical verse, they have to be returned to the decisive verse because the decisive verses are “Ummul Quran” or Mother of the Quran. They are the verses in which the other verses have to be returned to. That is why a mother in Arabic is called “Umm”. The people who do not return the allegorical verses to the decisive verses, they have perversity in their hearts. For more information regarding this verse click on the link below.
http://www.almizan.org/Discourses/QD21.asp
The verse “Looking to their Lord 75:23 ” is an allegorical verse and must be referred to a decisive verse. The decisive verse in the Quran is
[Quran 6:103] Vision comprehends Him not, and He comprehends (all) vision; and He is the Knower of subtleties, the Aware.
………………………
[Quran 10:39] In fact they denied that of which they had not enough knowledge.
An example of Hasty denial: Some Atheists are what they are because they were indoctrinated with a false belief or religion. They realized that many of the religious practices and beliefs are absurd, irrational and just don’t make any sense. So these people get so frustrated that not only do they renounce their faith in that particular religion but condemn all religions and say all religions are absurd and illogical. They denied something they didn’t have knowledge about and so end up denying in haste.
4. Traditional thinking and looking at the past
Man has a natural tendency to readily accept an idea or a belief that was accepted by the past generations, without giving it any further thought. The Holy Qur'an reminds people that they should have independent thinking and should not accept anything without judging it carefully, simply because it was accepted by others in the past. The Holy Qur'an says:
[Quran 2:170] We follow the traditions of our forefathers. What! Even though their forefathers did not understand anything and had no guidance.
5. Cult of Personality
Another cause of wrong thinking is the cult of personality. Because of the great respect in which they are held, the celebrated historical and contemporary personalities influence the thinking and the will of others. In fact the famous personalities control the thinking of others, who think as they think and have the same opinions as they have. Other people do not dare differ from the great people and so lose their independence of thought and will.
The Holy Qur'an calls upon people to think independently and not to follow their elders and other influential personalities blindly, because to do that is likely to bring them bad luck.
The Holy Qur'an tells us that the misguided people will be saying on the Day of Judgment:
[Quran 33:67] Our Lord! We obeyed our chiefs and great men who misled us from the right path.
It is very important that Muslims should understand Islam and should believe in it with conviction and certainty. They should employ the methods of correct thinking instead of incorrect thinking. Incorrect thinking leads man to arrive at faulty conclusions. A Muslim that arrives at his or her conclusion by incorrect thinking has in reality not arrived at the right conclusion of “There is no god but Allah and Prophet Mohammed (p.b.u.h.)”
When a Muslim concludes correctly, he/she will realize what Islam really is:
“It is indeed a religion founded on truth.
It is such a fountain-head of learning that several streams of wisdomand knowledge flow from it.
It is such a lamp that several lamps will be lit from it.
It is a lofty beacon of light Illuminating the path of Allah.
It is such a set of principles and beliefs that will fully satisfy every seeker of truth and reality.
Know you all that Allah has made Islam, the most sublime path for the attainment of His supreme pleasure and the highest standard of his worship and obedience.He has favoured it with noble precepts, exalted principles, undoubtable arguements, unchallengable supremecy and undeniable wisdom.It is up to you to maintain the eminence and dignity granted to it by the Lord, to follow it sincerely, to do justice to its articles of faith and belief, to obey implicitly its tenets and orders, and to give it the proper place in your lives.”
-IMAAM ALI (a.s)
Revolutionary said...
salam alaykum bro.
great article! something everyone should be aware of regardless of what they follow. priceless content.