Islamic Doctrine

Value of Human Knowledge

a. Results of Philosophy:

The eminent British philosopher Francis Bacon said: "A little of philosophy inclineth man's mind to atheism, but depth in philosophy bringeth man's mind to religion." Why?

It is better to let one of the most distinguished and productive representatives of `Logical positivism' (logical empiricism), Rudolf Carnap answers this question.

He said: "We may soon come to a degree of certainty sufficient for all practical purposes, but absolute certainty we can never attain."

In fact, it amounts to the question: Do we know anything at all? The answer may seem simple, but when examined, it would be one of the most difficult questions which ever con- fronted man, Professor Ayer (the chairman of the Humanist Association and Professor of logic at Oxford University) said: "I believe in science" but he went on, "though I believe in science, I do not believe that science is infallible."

He concluded, "Since we can never have a logical guarantee that any such theory will not be falsified, we are never in a position to claim that we are in possession of the final truth."

It seems that the best summary of the result of philosophy is that given by the eminent philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein.

He said: "My propositions are elucidatory in this way: he who understands me finally recognises them as senseless, when he has climbed l out through them, on them, over them. (He must so to speak throw the ladder, after he has climbed over it). He must surmount these propositions; then he sees the world rightly.

Whereof one can't speak, thereof one must be silent."

Bertrand Russel said: "One can't be certain of anything and if he is certain of anything then he is certainly wrong." He also said: "The job of the 'philosopher is to help people to fight their doubt." Even a great rationalist like Des- cartes started by saying that he was doubting the only thing that he did not doubt - his doubt itself.

His way of tackling the problem can be taken as follows. (Since I doubt, there- fore I am thinking. Since I think therefore I exist. Since I exist, therefore God exists for a thing cannot happen without a cause).

The weak points in his argument are the following:

i. He assumes that his doubt is absolutely true which is an arbitrary proposition.

ii. He assumes causality without offering a reason for such assumption.

To throw more light on the uncertainty question, the following points could be added:

a) The known means of knowledge that is our five senses and mind are all liable to doubt simply because they have cheated us many times and we cannot exclude any particular occasion from doubt.

b) Our reasoning can be reduced to the apriori propositions of logic. The truth of these propositions might be subjected to analysis and hence they are not considered as instinctively basic. For instance, some concepts were con- sidered as axioms at one time like the absolute- ness of time and the Eucledian geometry; then it was found that they were not absolute.

c) It seems that it is impossible to conceive a thing without affecting it as suggested- by, Kant. Hence we can never have an exact image of anything.

d) ~ It will be worse when uncertainty becomes dominant. Then doubt extends to the concept of uncertainty itself which leads to the Wittgenstein's declaration, "Whereof one can't speak, thereof one must be silent."

b. Islamic Theory of Knowledge:

A theory in epistimology which was worked out by the famous Muslim philosopher Abu Nasr al-Farabi (870-950 A.D.) classified human knowledge into two types:

i. Imaginative knowledge (at-Tasawwur): These are the mental images that are formed in our minds irrespective of external conditions. The basic premises like causality and the law of contradiction are within this category of knowledge. Imaginative knowledge is taken as absolutely certain for it is not susceptible to any confusion of doubt.

ii. Decisive knowledge (at-Tgdiq): This includes all our knowledge which comes as a result of a mental decision (i.e., all inferred knowledge).

This cannot be taken as absolutely certain because our senses have de- ceived us many times and mental inefficiency cannot be discarded.

It could be proposed that the best defini- tion of a certain proposition is that which the mind cannot but see. That includes the mental images in our brain. Hence the existence of these mental images is absolutely certain.

Doubt remains about their representation of external realities. The premises of human knowledge such as "causality" could be considered as properties and interaction characteristics of the mental images and hence they are absolutely true.

Doubt creeps in about the course of analysis, synthesis and deductions by the brain, because of its liability to errors and its imperfect nature. When we see something it is absolutely certain that there is a mental image in our brain for there is no excuse for doubt about the existence of the image, but it is not neces- sary that what we see has an external reality.

Our doubt about its external reality comes from our empirical experience. Hence we are in possession of certain facts, namely the prem- ises of knowledge which we have considered as characteristics of the mental images. An applica- tion of these' premises in a probability con- sideration may allow a logical decision in favour or against a proposition.

Hence rationally speaking a proposition is acceptable if it is more probable. I am in a position now to say that a doctrine is worth adhering to if it is logically favoured by higher probability considering its essence and conse- quences of adaptation. The following pages could then be considered as an attempt to explain the rational support of the Islamic doctrine.

It must be added that belief (iman) is a state of mind which God bestows on good Muslim (i.e., those who submit to His will). Prophet Muhammad (p.b.u.h.a.h.p.) was not a philosopher.. It is well known that he was illiterate. The Islamic message was inspired in him by revelation.

Islam encourages rationalism. Throughout the holy Qur'an man is encouraged to think and reason out, but rationalism alone (i.e., without the purity of the soul which results from acting according to the will of God) is not sufficient for belief (iman).

I am more concerned here with the rational support of the Islamic doctrine, bearing in mind that acting according to the will of God is a necessary requirement for a firm and lively belief.