Reason, Faith & Authority: a Shiite Perspective

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Notes

[^1]: By “reason” we mean an instrument or a faculty of understanding of theoretical knowledge and practical knowledge. With the first, we can obtain some knowledge about existing things in the world, and with the second we can acquire some knowledge about what humans must or must not do. In other words, reason enables us to know what is there in the world and ability to know what one ought to do.  For example, see Muhammad Taghi Misbah Yasdi, Dorus-e Falsafe-ye Akhlagh, Ettela'at Publications, Tehran, 1994.

[^2]: Al-Ghazali, a renowned Sunni thinker from the Ash'arite tradition, divides theological issues into three categories: issues that can only be known through religious sources, issues that can only be known with the intellect, and issues that can be known in both ways. He mentions the visibility of God (according to the Ash'arites, God is visible, at least in the Hereafter) as an example for the first category and exclusiveness of creating movements to God for the second category.

With respect to cases in which both intellect and naql (transmitted knowledge) have judgement, al-Ghazali adds that whenever we receive something from religious sources, we have to see what the rational judgement is. If intellect allows us to do so we have to follow the religious sources. But if that thing is rationally impossible we have to interpret that text in another way, since there is no disharmony or contradiction between religion and intellect. Then, al-Ghazali adds that in cases in which intellect is silent again we have to accept and follow the demands of religious sources. He insists that rational permission for possibility of something is not required. What is really required is to be free from rational impossibility. “There is a [subtle] difference between these two, which unintelligent people sometimes fail to recognise.” [Al-Iqtisaad fi al-I'tiqaad, (Arabic), p. 133]

[^3]: Things which are understood through personal intuitions or mystical experiences are valid for the very person who has had these intuitions or experiences, and is certain about the truth and validity of them or beliefs which are based on them. However, these are not included in our discussion here, partly because this sort of knowledge cannot be communicated through discussion or argumentation to others. The only way to learn and accept these issues is to undergo the same experiences.

[^4]: Ussul al-Kaafi, Vol. 1, p.11.

[^5]: Ibid., p. 13.

[^6]: For example, we read in a divine saying (al-hadith al-qudsi) in Usul al-Kafi, the Book of Reason & Ignorance that “God rewards and punishes people in proportion to their reason”.

[^7]: Tabataba'i, Shi'ite Islam, Part II, “Outstanding Intellectual Figures of Shi'ism”.

[^8]: Richard, p. 61.

[^9]: M. R. Muzaffar in his commentary on reason says the following:

We believe that Allah has endowed us with the faculty of the intellect ('aql), and that He has ordered us to ponder over His Creation, noting with care the signs of His Power and His Glory throughout the entire universe as well as within ourselves. It is stated in the Qur'an:

“We shall show them Our signs on the horizons and in themselves, till it is clear to them that it is the Truth.” (41:53)

Allah has shown His disapproval of those who blindly follow the ways of those who were before them:

“They say: 'No, but we will follow such things as we found our fathers doing'. What! And if their fathers had no understanding of anything.” (2:170)

And He has shown His dislike for those who follow nothing but their own personal whims:

“They follow naught but an opinion.” (6:117)

Indeed, our intellect forces us to reflect upon Creation so as to know the Creator of the universe, just as it makes it necessary for us to examine the claims of someone to prophethood and to consider the truth of his miracles. It is not correct to accept the ideas of someone without criticism, even if that person has the gift of great knowledge or holds an esteemed position.

[^10]: Having verified the truth of the Prophet or the Qur'an, we come to know many things that we were unable to know by ourselves, because of our lack of access to certain realms of reality or certain evidence.

[^11]: In this regard, George Hourani says:

“It (Ash'arite view, or what he calls 'theistic subjectivism', or what others have called 'ethical voluntarism') is not peculiar to Islam, since it occurs in medieval Judaism and occasionally in western thought; but it was probably more prominent and widespread in Islam than in any other civilization.” (1985, p. 57)

[^12]: Despite some differences in positions of the Shi'a and the Mu'tazilites, they are both called ”ahl al-'adl” (the people of justice), because they both believe in independent moral values and in the existence of rational criteria for judging what is good and what is bad, and because a proper defence of the principle of divine justice depends on the belief in independent and rational good and evil.

[^13]: Anwār al-Malakut fi Sharh al-Yāqut, p. 104.

[^14]: Nahj al-Haqq wa Kashf al-Sidq, p. 82.

[^15]: Imam Ali, Nahj al- Balaghah, Sermons, no. 86.

[^16]: Qur'an, 2:285. This verse indicates that the believers are those who believe that Allah, His angels, His books and His apostles are true.

[^17]: Qur'an, 49:15. This verse indicates that the believers are only those who believe that Allah and His Apostle are true.

[^18]: Qur'an, 27:14.

[^19]: Imam Ali, Nahj al- Balaghah, Sayings, no. 227.

[^20]: According to the Glorious Qur'an, the objects of faith include: God (2:62) and His attributes (67:29); the day of Judgment (2:62); God's Apostles and His revelations to the apostles (2:285; 3:53); God's Angels (2:285) and the invisible world (2:3).

[^21]: Al-Kulayni, Usul al-Kafi,  the Book of Reason and Ignorance, no. 14.

[^22]: Ibid., no. 34.

[^23]: Ibid., the Book of Faith and Disbelief, “Bab al-hubb fi Allah wa ai-bughd fi Allah”, No. 6, p.126.

[^24]: Ibid, No. 5, p. 125.

[^25]: Al-Majlisi, 1983, Kitab al-iman wal-kufr, “Bab al-hubb fi Allah wa al-bughd fi Allah”, lxvi, p. 238.

[^26]: Qur'an, 2: 257.

[^27]: See also the verses: 8:29 & 20:123.

[^28]: Obedience here does not mean inferiority. Even the Prophets had to obey their parents.

[^29]: See also the verses: 5:55 and 59:7.

[^30]: For a comprehensive list of non-Shi'a sources of this hadith, see numerous volumes of  'Abaqaat al-Anwaar by Mir Haamid Husayn al-Hindi (d. 1306 A.H.) and Al- Ghadir by  'Abd al-Husayn al-Amini (d. 1390 A.H.).

[^31]: For more information about this verse and some debates that have arisen by the verse among Shi'a and Sunni scholars refer to: Sharafud-Din, Abdul Husayn, Al- Muraja'at, translated from Arabic to English by Yasin T al-Jibouri, World Ahlul-bayt Islamic League (WABIL), pp. 173-180.

[^32]: Ijtihad is a very demanding qualification and involves deep knowledge of several disciplines and mastering several skills. Nowadays it usually takes around twenty years or even more of hard study to become a well-established mujtahid. However, the time taken is somewhat dependant on one's talents. Thus, it becomes clear that in the Shi'i thought respect for and obedience to the faqih is respect for and obedience to knowledge and piety that qualify someone to have such a position and not to the person as such. The Shi'a follow the most knowledgeable and the most pious jurist, since he is the person who would be most likely to represent the views of the Prophet and the Imams.

[^33]: The methodology of understanding religious rulings from the sources is well studied in the science of the principles of jurisprudence (usul al-fiqh).

[^34]: We say most of the time because during this period it was not always possible to refer to the Imams (AS), especially when they were under house arrest, e.g. the 10th and 11th Imams (AS), and the Shi'a had no easy access to them. Or sometimes the Shi'a were living in some cities far away.

[^35]: Ayatollah Khomeini, Islam and Revolution, pp. 62-62.i