There is an important reason why this book is entitled "Allah is
Known Through Reason". The majority of people say that they know
Allah and believe in Him. In truth, however, they do not know and measure
Allah with His true measure. For this, one needs to have "reason
and wisdom."
The point that needs to be recalled here is that when it is said that
one needs "wisdom" in order to grasp Allah and know Him with
His true measure, this does not mean "intelligence". Wisdom
and intelligence are two entirely different concepts. Intelligence is
the brain capacity one possesses biologically. Intelligence neither increases,
nor decreases. Wisdom, however, is a trait peculiar to believers alone.
It is given as a great favour by Allah to believers who have taqwa (fear
of Allah). Wisdom is a standard to judge between right and wrong, which
Allah gives to His true servants. One's ability to judge, that is, his
wisdom, increases in direct proportion to his taqwa.
The most distinct characteristics of a wise person are his fear of Allah,
his listening to his conscience, his assessment of every event he experiences
in line with the Qur'an and his seeking Allah's good pleasure at all times.
Even if someone is the most intelligent, wise and knowledgeable person
in the world, he will still be "unwise" if he lacks these characteristics,
and lacking the faculty of comprehension, he will be unable to grasp many
facts.
We can clarify the difference between intelligence and wisdom with an
example: A scientist may have made lengthy and very detailed research
on the body's nervous system. He may be the most knowledgeable person
in the world on the extraordinary nerve transmissions taking place in
the body. If he lacks wisdom, however, he will go no further than being
someone who possesses a lot of information on the processes taking place
between nerve cells. In other words, he will not be able to grasp the
important reality lying behind this information. Someone with wisdom,
however, seeing the miraculous events taking place in the nervous system
and the perfect mechanisms in its details, understands that such a flawless
structure must have a Creator, a designer with supreme wisdom. He says:
"The power who has created the nervous system in such a flawless
way must certainly be the creator of all other living things. And He has
power to create the abode of the hereafter after death."
The main thrust of this book is to allow the reader to witness the existence
of Allah with his wisdom. Some people do not believe in the existence
of Allah, and others say that they do believe in His existence, yet not
with their wisdom and conscience, but because they were taught to do so.
Yet because they do not think and use their wisdom, they do not fulfill
the requirements that believing in Allah with certainty demands. Believers
with wisdom, however, see the details of Allah's existence and creation
with their mind and reason, and fear Allah, Who has eternal might.
After referring to the signs of creation in the Qur'an, Allah states
that these signs are only for those who are wise:
And among His Signs, He shows you the lightning, by way both of fear
and of hope, and He sends down rain from the sky and with it gives life
to the earth after it is dead: verily in that are Signs for those who
are wise. (Surat ar-Rum: 24)
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