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We hear many times that Islam is a reasonable, logical, and rational religion and that Allahﷻ has encouraged us to think and reflect. For example, Allahﷻ said: A’fa-la tadhakkaroon (don’t you think/remember). A’fa-la tatafakkaroon (don’t you reflect), A’fa-la tubsiroon (don’t you see) and so on. Allahﷻ addressed us by terms such as Ya Ulil-albaab (O people of intelligence). Ya Ulil-absaar (O people who can see) and so on. So, the Qur’an encourages rational thought. All well until this time. However, some people take this to mean that we are free to take any Ayah of the Qur’an and any Hadith of Rasoolullahﷺ and come to our own conclusions about it and legislate according to those conclusions, without any reference to, and indeed even denying, denigrating, and discounting the 14 centuries of scholarship that is behind the interpretation of the Qur’an and the laws of our Sharia. The proponents of this irrational, illogical, and dangerous philosophy are the ones that I want to address here. Let us begin with defining logic and rationality because that is the foundation of the argument.
If an argument is valid, then every argument with the same form is also valid. If an argument is invalid, then every argument with the same form is also invalid. So, the first thing to ask is, ‘What is the basis of my logic?’
Fundamental Laws of Logic (Aristotle)
1. Law of Identity – If something is identified as one thing, that is what it is. TheLaw of Identity basically states that anything that has been determined to be true must be identical to itself and different from other things. E.g., if a snake is venomous, then it is not non-venomous. And someone who knows the difference between the two but is afraid of all snakes is irrational.
2. Law of Non-Contradiction – If something is one thing, it can’t be its opposite at the same time. The Law of Non-Contradiction states that if something is true it cannot NOT be true at the same time. E.g., is to look at two opposing religious beliefs and use the Law of Non-Contradiction to evaluate them. One belief is that there is a Heaven that people go to when they die. The other belief is that there is no Heaven at all. Each belief seems legitimate on their own, but when compared to each other, one of them MUST be false. If Heaven is real for one person, it MUST be real for everyone.
3. Law of Excluded Middle – Everything is one or the other and not something in the middle of those two things. A way to think about this law is regarding death. A being is either alive or dead. There isn’t another state that a living being can be in. An unconscious person is still alive. Allahﷻ challenged the disbelievers with respect to their belief in the Creator.
قُل لِّمَنِ ٱلْأَرْضُ وَمَن فِيهَآ إِن كُنتُمْ تَعْلَمُونَ
سَيَقُولُونَ لِلَّهِ قُلْ أَفَلَا تَذَكَّرُونَ
قُلْ مَن رَّبُّ ٱلسَّمَـٰوَٰتِ ٱلسَّبْعِ وَرَبُّ ٱلْعَرْشِ ٱلْعَظِيمِ
سَيَقُولُونَ لِلَّهِ قُلْ أَفَلَا تَتَّقُونَ
قُلْ مَنۢ بِيَدِهِۦ مَلَكُوتُ كُلِّ شَىْءٍ وَهُوَ يُجِيرُ وَلَا يُجَارُ عَلَيْهِ إِن كُنتُمْ تَعْلَمُونَ
سَيَقُولُونَ لِلَّهِ قُلْ فَأَنَّىٰ تُسْحَرُونَ
Muminoon 23: 84-89 Ask ˹them, O Prophet˺, “To whom belong the earth and all those on it, if you ˹really˺ know?” They will reply, “To Allah!” Say, “Why are you not then mindful?” ˹And˺ ask ˹them˺, “Who is the Rabb of the seven heavens and the Rabb of the Mighty Throne?” They will reply, “Allah.” Say, “Will you not then fear ˹Him˺?” Ask ˹them also,˺ “In Whose Hands is the authority over all things, protecting ˹all˺ while none can protect against Him, if you ˹really˺ know?” They will reply, “Allah.” Say, “How are you then so deluded?”
وَلَئِن سَأَلْتَهُم مَّنْ خَلَقَ ٱلسَّمَـٰوَٰتِ وَٱلْأَرْضَ وَسَخَّرَ ٱلشَّمْسَ وَٱلْقَمَرَ لَيَقُولُنَّ ٱللَّهُ فَأَنَّىٰ يُؤْفَكُونَ
Ankabut 29: 61 If you ask them ˹O Prophet˺ who created the heavens and the earth and subjected the sun and the moon ˹for your benefit˺, they will certainly say, “Allah!” How can they then be deluded ˹from the truth˺?
The question to ask those who claim to believe in Allahﷻ as the Creator is, “Why do you believe this?” Because Atheists have an answer to all the above questions which is that it is all accidental and does not point to a Creator. If you say that you believe that there is a Creator it means that by the Fundamental Laws of Logic, you can’t at the same time believe that there is NO CREATOR. So, what is your belief? Is there a Creator or not? And if there is a Creator, is it Allahﷻ. If you say, ‘Yes’, to both those questions, then the next question is, “Why do you believe this?” What is YOUR LOGIC?
The ONLY POSSIBLE answer can be, “Because Rasoolullahﷺ told us.”
Question: Why do you believe what he told you?
Answer: Because we believe IN him (that he was the Messenger of Allahﷻ) and we believe him, that he never lied and always spoke the truth.
Question: If that is your logic – that we believe what Rasoolullahﷺ told us with respect to Allahﷻ then that applies to the entire Qur’an. It applies to everything in the Qur’an. Not only to Creation.
If you agree, then what is the LOGIC about saying, “We believe in what Rasoolullahﷺ told us about the Creation, but when it comes to the Laws of the Shari’ah, which he also told us about and commanded us to follow, we will do whatever makes sense to us (appeals to our rationality/logic)?
That is the most irrational and illogical statement you can make.
That is why Allahﷻ called this behavior ‘Shirk’ and worship (Ibaadah) of Hawa (desires).
أَرَءَيْتَ مَنِ ٱتَّخَذَ إِلَـٰهَهُۥ هَوَىٰهُ أَفَأَنتَ تَكُونُ عَلَيْهِ وَكِيلًا
Furqan 25: 43 Have you seen ˹O Prophet˺ the one who have taken their own desires as their god? Will you then be a keeper (advocate) over them?
Please note that according to the Fundamental Laws of Logic, you can either believe that the Qur’an is Divine Revelation and that Muhammadﷺ is the Messengerﷺ of Allahﷻ and is Divinely inspired and received Revelation and so we believe everything he told us, not because we necessarily understand it all, but because we believe in him, trust him, and believe him.
Or the opposite i.e., we will only believe what makes sense to our reason (which is subject to the individual’s knowledge base). Then we must ask why they believe in MRIs, mobile phone technology, curvature of space, quarks, sub-atomic particles, genetic code and a million other things which we take for granted as being true, though we have no clue and can’t even describe them? The answer can only be, “Because we know that someone somewhere (though we don’t even know their names) knows about them. We believe them because we believe that someone who knows them, spoke the truth.”
In that case, the last question, “What is your real belief about Rasoolullahﷺ?”
I remind myself about what Allahﷻ said about those who pick and choose what they want to believe and obey and what they don’t. Allahﷻ said:
أَفَتُؤْمِنُونَ بِبَعْضِ ٱلْكِتَـٰبِ وَتَكْفُرُونَ بِبَعْضٍ فَمَا جَزَآءُ مَن يَفْعَلُ ذَٰلِكَ مِنكُمْ إِلَّا خِزْىٌ فِى ٱلْحَيَوٰةِ ٱلدُّنْيَا وَيَوْمَ ٱلْقِيَـٰمَةِ يُرَدُّونَ إِلَىٰٓ أَشَدِّ ٱلْعَذَابِ وَمَا ٱللَّهُ بِغَـٰفِلٍ عَمَّا تَعْمَلُونَ
Baqara 2: 85 Do you believe in some of the Scripture and reject the rest? Is there any reward for those who do so among you other than disgrace in this worldly life and being subjected to the harshest punishment on the Day of Judgment? For Allah is never unaware of what you do.
Selective obedience is disobedience. Selective obedience is arrogance. That is why Allahﷻ warned of such a severe punishment in this life and the next.
For the believer, there is only one option after having believed. Allahﷻ said:
إِنَّمَا كَانَ قَوْلَ ٱلْمُؤْمِنِينَ إِذَا دُعُوٓا۟ إِلَى ٱللَّهِ وَرَسُولِهِۦ لِيَحْكُمَ بَيْنَهُمْ أَن يَقُولُوا۟ سَمِعْنَا وَأَطَعْنَا وَأُو۟لَـٰٓئِكَ هُمُ ٱلْمُفْلِحُونَ
Noor 24: 51 The only response of the ˹true˺ believers, when they are called to Allah and His Messenger so he may judge between them, is to say, “We hear and obey.” It is they who will ˹truly˺ succeed.
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