#1039: Refuting People That Believe Islam Is A Din Of Mere Intellect

For those ppl that Say that Islam is a deen of intellect so anything in the deen that doesn’t follow intellect they don’t follow it.How can these set of ppl be countered with proofs from the Qur’an. Follow their intellect I mean

ANSWER:

Alhamdulillah.

It is known by the people possessed of Intellect that Intellects are of varrying depths and varying understandings. And mostly, there are no universally agreed-upon sets of Intellectual results and outputs that are referred to as true for all people, places and matters to which the Intellectuals of varrying degrees and perception return their intellectual musings for correction and alignment.

If you understand this point very immensely, you will understand why Din is not dependent upon Human Intellect and reasoning. Can’t you see that one intellectual may consider it abhorrent to have more than one wife and justify same with intellectual arguments to which his reasoning incline? While another might argue with strong proofs too that what is abhorrent is to have only a wife?

What this means is that the reasonings of people differ, one from another, and the perceptions of people vary, one from another. In the Din, what is sought after is a Universally Accepted Authority that all Intellects must submit to. This is what is Din. It is the Divine Decision on a matter regardless of the inclinations of the Intellects of individuals. Then, the people, no matter their intellectual variations, return to this Divine Narrative as judgment on matters about which their Intellects have differed…

This is a very cogent equation about which two bulls will not lock their horns. Were the Din be subject to the mere Intellects of men, then there would be no Din remaining but men would have worshipped the Intellects of themselves, and not be united in any of these intellectual inclinations.

For this reason, Abu Haamid Al-Ghazzali and others referred to Intellect as a Revelation that comes from the self, and the Revelation (Wah’y) as an Intellect that comes from the Almighty. What this means is that Revelation from Allah has come to regularise the Intellect and to provide a judgment on matters about which the Intellects of men have differed.

Of the matters of the Din are those that will agree with your human Intellect. And of them are those that will not. Your submission to them despite their disagreement with what your own Intellect dictates to you is your Imaan in Allah.

Your Intellect can never be a determinant of what is and what is not Din for the reasons we have preceded with. Rather, your Intellect is called upon to synthesize the Divine Narrative of the Qur’an and Hadith in accordance with the Decisive and Constants of the Din.

This is because, of the Din are the Constants and the Decisive matters which are not negotiable and not subject to change. And of them are those that are subject to change and are flexible to sought situations as they unfold…

For this reason, the most brilliant minds to have walked through our history have synthesized these texts and exerted their intellectual mights in the expounding of these matters to us…

Of the beautiful reads on this matter is the Muwaafaqaat of Abu Is’haaq Ash-Shaatibi rahimahullah

What then, the person to which you refer needs, is what we have preceded with of explaining to him, not necessarily verses and their Commentaries…

We ask Allah for Tawfiq and Sadaad.

Barakallahu Fikum.
Jazakumullahu Khayran.

Abū Asim

3rd Dhul Qadah, 1441AH

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