What can I know? And what is the basis for what I know, what I think I know, or what I hope to know and understand? One major question about the essence and meaning of human knowledge stands out from the myriad questions that arise as we pursue our quest for meaning. Consciousness queries the nature of the known even as it apprehends the horizons of the unknown: death and what comes after death reveal, by a process of induction, our inability to understand its meaning and many ‘whys’, and our very limited understanding of so many ‘hows’. The ocean of what is unfathomable is disturbing; the mystical crisis of the rationalist, mathematical and scientific mind of Blaise Pascal comes at the precise point where the philosophicoreligious quest for meaning encounters the doubts of a reason that has realized that both infinities (the infinitely great and the infinitely small) are beyond its descriptive powers. ‘The eternal silence of these infinite spaces fills me with dread’. Here, ‘silence’ is another name for my lack of knowledge, and the ‘infinite spaces’ reveal the extent of my ignorance. It is truly dreadful.
Are there any self-evident truths that we can rely upon? Even before we raise the question of what we can know, it is probably helpful to determine which faculties allow us access to knowledge. The simple question of means (faculties), their existence and their capacities has, from the very beginning, been the source of disagreements, disputes and tensions within and between spiritual traditions, religions and schools of philosophy. My consciousness becomes conscious of the real, observes that my senses hear, feel, touch and so on, and that they are the first ‘means of knowledge’, or at least its first mediators. The empiricists regarded them as the essential source of all rational and complex knowledge: they thought that my mind cannot understand the principle of causality if my eye has not observed it. The second source of knowledge is, therefore, obviously my reason, which observes, makes connections and tries to understand the world: it seems to make some progress where the ‘hows’ are concerned, but breaks down when it comes to the ‘whys’ of the world and of life. Another, inner faculty reveals that: the heart that feels and experiences (in a different way from the senses) and that apprehends and understands (in a different way from the mind). The faculty of reason very quickly reveals, in the most intimate proximity, its limitations: it is quite unable to understand the realm of the heart, its knowledge, its truths and even its loves, and is quite bewildered by it. The senses, reason and the heart: are we destined to have three types of knowledge produced by three distinct faculties? Are they complementary or contradictory? Is it possible to overcome the inevitable tensions that exist between them, and to reconcile them? That is the question raised by the typology of the three brothers Karamazov in Dostoyevsky’s novel. They represent Pascal’s three realms, and there is both a tension and love between them. The similarities and differences between them lie at the heart of the human tragedy and human hope. Dimitri and the exuberance of the senses, Ivan and the critical tensions of reason and Alyosha and the transparency of the heart shed a moral light on the order of our faculties and knowledge. This brings us to the heart of the real debate. It is indeed a debate about knowledge and understanding, but it is primarily a matter of deciding what is good for us, for our society and for humanity. Knowledge and ethics converge, as do science and philosophy, science and religion, and philosophy and religion. Is this a question of reason, or a question of faith? Who can tell us how, and who can tell us why?
Reason, of course, relies upon the senses and observation, and then establishes relations of similarity, genre and causality. It determines categories, works deductively and inductively and tries to understand ‘how’ the elements are set in place, and ‘how’ Nature and its realm are determined. It accepts the existence of relative truths and hypotheses, which it will (or will not) verify, and is aware of its own limitations when it comes to mathematical conventions, which are (like langue’s signs, according to Saussure) sometimes completely arbitrary. The important thing is to observe the real, to describe it, understand it and, in the long term, master it. That is the object of science. No matter whether it is bound up with a spiritual tradition or with God, faith is concerned with a different realm: what matters is not observing ‘how’, but answering the question ‘why’. In that sense, faith is more concerned with the legitimacy of postulates, conventions and hypotheses than with the theoretical or technical explanations that derive from them. When described rationally (and therefore observed from outside), faith could be defined as a choice, a stance, that is based on postulates that reason cannot verify and on finalities of existence that it cannot grasp. Seen from the outside, faith would thus appear to be a more or less free choice of primary truths and ultimate ends. In his lectures on religious beliefs,Wittgenstein quite rightly demonstrates the non-pertinence of such ‘external’ descriptions: languages and meaning are only accessible from within, and a rationalist description of faith has already ceased to be faith.
In the Tao, for example, faith or belief, which comes from within, is concerned with the order of the world because it is a way of establishing a correspondence between being and the cosmos. There is no question of answering the ‘why’ (which both precedes and follows the ‘how’). Taoism projects the meaning of that essential harmony on to the totality of knowledge: the ‘why’ in effect explains the ‘how’. Such an approach combines philosophy, science and poetry. This is also Siddhârta’s basic teaching: introspection, liberation from within and the escape from the ego prevent all forms of knowledge from being transformed into instruments of domination. There is no question of knowing in order to dominate. The point is that faith and our hearts allow us to understand the profound meaning of the Whole, to espouse its essence and to transcend individuation. This faith is a mystery, and this is what all the monotheisms express, from within and each in its own way. Grace, a call or a conversion: the heart seems to change its disposition, to be illuminated by a light that makes the world look different. The world makes sense. Seen from within, faith is therefore neither a postulate, a principle nor an end, but a light that is not the light of reason. A light of meaning. Faith is an inspiration, an impetus, a belief without reason (and/or with every reason in the world) that projects meaning everywhere and sacredness at all times: no faith, no sacred. Faith, like love (or precisely because it is love) is also belief: to love is to believe, without any shadow of a doubt. Faith takes many forms: some are associated with the immediacy of love, others with a disciplined self-liberation that gradually reveals the harmony of the whole, and still others with the essence of the purification of faith itself. In the course of his studies and peregrinations, Mircea Eliade concluded when he looked into the production of the sacred that it was ‘an element in the structure of consciousness’. There is therefore no avoiding the question of the relationship between reason and faith, as it concerns both our relationship with truth and the management of human affairs. At the point where metaphysics and the sciences meet, religion asks questions of practical and theoretical philosophy, and has questions asked of it.
We know there is a Universal Power above everything, above every logic, reason, human rationale, and beyond our human perception. And acknowledging the greatness and incalculable prowess and power of this majestic universal unknown in comparison to my minuteness & powerlessness, facing this bright Infinite, as we pursue our quest for meaning, gives us that awe-inspiring wonder to keep on exploring into infinity. My quest for why, how, for whom or for what, which started with deep roots in my consciousness and awareness of all my senses which see, hear, sense and feel everything in a heartbeat, captured as a photographic memory or touch the heart and mind, and reverberate as an echo, all converging into the observation and processing unit of reason, rationale, logic and science, which then outputs only one feverish result that “And if all the trees on earth were pens and the ocean (were ink), with seven oceans behind it to add to its (supply), yet would not the words of Allah be exhausted (in the writing): for Allah is Exalted in Power, full of Wisdom.” My shaken, scared, loving, romantic, hopeful, yearnful, logical, rational, scientific and explorative mind and heart wanted to find that one true Being that owned it all, that governed it all and is my true one and only Love. My Love, Creator, had to be unparalleled, unconquerable, biggest, brightest and mightiest of them all, to beat them all, had to be the Ace of all, had to be One. And My Love had to be grounded in intelligence, science and philosophy of life. I wanted to find Him, my universal power, my unity, my oneness, on my own, without any religious schooling, without any mindset to think in terms of established religions. And I found Him. The way Abraham found him. The way Muhammad found Him. The way Yusuf, Noah, Moses, Jesus and Muhammad experienced Him. The detailed experiences which we know are beyond the realm of normal human experience or rational. These open portals to a world beyond objectivity, beyond the binary, beyond the controlled, beyond the ordinary science, into a mind and heart linked or contained in a realm above the earthly experience. Every allegory mercifully shown, every senses mercifully alerted, every caution every presented, every shield provided, every connection to the happening world, every future revealed, every flight into His Worlds, is the testimony of a beautiful merciful caring wonderful love knocking on a mortals door. Manifestations in the form of swooshy airy hugs when in prayer…
And then I found Faith again, the path of which is organic just as Abrahams and Muhammads. I found Home. I found my reason for why you and me and the world are created. I found my one and only Love. Everything pales against this Love, this Contentment. I know I have Him, I have everything.
And so Knowledge and ethics converge, as do science and philosophy, science and religion, and philosophy and religion. While exploring these intersections and validations of each disciplione, we may encounter variants, variables and dynamics that still leads to the convergence of these disciplines. The human eye, heart and mind just needs to see it. However, to a scientific explorer in these realms that seeks to restrict, I would ask “should explorations end when new elements of motion encountered, because the explorations now are still within the tracks of divine. For this attitude is indeed limiting. And what gives one prerogative now vs then? Why not just inhibit the explorations now, for the world will still continue to turn” This sort of limitations of the infinite are rather upsetting and should be avoided, once triaged, based on the concrete understanding of our purpose of creation and the bonds established within our relationship with the Divine. I own my understandings, I own my bonds, I own my love of the Universal, of the Divine.
And thus Faith was again born from the depth of questioned, explored, confirmed and unshakeable belief, bolstered by reason and scientific knowledge. It is a privilege to have been blessed to be able to discover this Love, this faith, in such a luxurious fashion known to Abraham and Muhammad. It is indeed a privilege to not have drowned in the cacophony of daily life…but to have romanced and courted faith, through a roller coaster of ups and downs, understood faith, to truly fall in love with faith. I pray “Our Lord, Give us in this world that which is good and in the Hereafter that which is good, and save us from the torment of the Fire!” lest He forgets me, lest He gets angry with me, lest he makes me go astray.
It is best to ask and trust the Wind with what it wants, what is it’s direction, what does it take along it’s trail…but ask not or hear not the wind chimes which say nothing or know nothing about the wind that breezed past but make their own noise. The wind does not answer to every chimes encountered…but it drives the mills to generate power, to make a positive impact…ask the wind for what it wants and where it is and where it goes.
Faith, in harmony with intellect and the science of universal existence, creates the gravity of harmony that pulls my universe and me into its center, absorbing my confusion, doubts, questions, yet exuding this light that the answers are there but they escape my grasp, thereby grounding me by drowning me in light of enlightenment of knowledge, awareness, purpose and peace. And that’s when Allah created Spheres and the concept of 360 degree approach. Thus, indeed, Faith is an inspiration, an impetus, a belief without reason (and/or with every reason in the world) that projects meaning everywhere and sacredness at all times: no faith, no sacred. Faith, like love (or precisely because it is love) is also belief: to love is to believe, without any shadow of a doubt.
And yes, we are free to choose Faith when our moments arrive. Who knows who the harbingers of tomorrow will be? But we must continue to seek higher ground of enlightenment and understanding through shared experiences of faith and life.
Being God-conscious (one can be aware of it or not, because it is really a humble state of being, living with acquiring right knowledge and working hard), as a believer fully actively practising Islam with complete presence of being/complete nature & life, means that the problem of having a so-called “psychosis” is just partial reality. Due to the God-conscious believer being present in The Reality of Allah, the reality of the world as how one perceives it plays a small role. One may be caught in the world of perceptions of others and be seen as “psychotic”. This is none of any others’ business to judge, impose and alter, if one functions optimally and reasonably with complete nature & life which is sacred…it is a unique truth.
Everyone has a unique psychological make-up, therefore the study of psychology, based on infinite observations, hypotheses and statistics, is not a reliable source of information for pure science, it is too arbitrary. Pure mathematics is pure knowledge, where solving problems is a God-gifted talent. It is pursuit of true happiness because one discovers absolute truths in life’s realities. Being complete in nature & life is an absolute must in order to achieve this state of happiness bridging reason and the heart. The heart is not only bewildered by it, because pursuit of right knowledge brings us closer to The One, The Happy One.
If each knowledge claim is a puzzle piece in a sea of light, let all the pieces come together harmoniously by bridges of logic, communication and understanding, such that when a whole picture is formed, there exist satisfactory conclusions/results. Let there be awareness of The Light shining through the borders between the puzzle pieces supplying:
A Life, Love And Happiness to the one who has enriched his/her knowledge.
May one be open and critical to know more.
And may the one who is a mind- “patient” not be a door-mat for the “doctor” to rub his/her shoes on to gain knowledge.
Al-Ghazali seems to have felt that purely philosophical arguments on religious questions were rather a waste of time, yet he nevertheless deemed it necessary to respond to the arguments of the philosophers who sought to prove that religious notions were invalid. People of faith are perhaps often not used to thinking of their view of life and the world in philosophical terms, but maybe it is good for them to do so, since it can actually strengthen their faith, giving it a firmer foundation.
I understand that the Arabic word ‘aql, usually translated as reason, actually encompasses the exercise of not only rational thought but also intuitive thought and the heart. Knowledge is thus gained by an integral process of perception. The implication is that “knowledge” attained by means of any one of these means alone will be incomplete, partial at best. Even a basic Philosophy course will already demonstrate that logic alone is an unreliable tool for seeking knowledge: there are various text-book examples of logical arguments (of the “this-therefore-such-and-such-therefore such-and-such… variety) which end up with totally preposterous deductions.
Even sense-perception, the most basic data, is coloured by individual experience and wider knowledge; rational analysis will be even more so. As explained by Prof Tariq Ramadan above, a person of faith will “see” things differently from a person who does not believe in life beyond this earthly existence. As a Christian was once quoted as saying, “They say that seeing is believing, but sometimes you have to believe to see”.
The Qur’an, while obviously dealing with some subjects beyond worldly experience – God, and life after death, among others – and frequently exhorting its readers to believe in their existence although they can’t see them, nevertheless goes to great lengths to present rational arguments against all the postulations of those who oppose its concepts. In fact, it is due to this – the tireless effort to explain, logically and from every angle, every principle put forward – which makes the Qur’an a very long text. It is arguable that what is contained in the Qur’an, although not always comprehensible through the use of reason alone, is, however, never irrational. It thus neatly demonstrates that far from reason and faith being essentially opposite, they are mutually supportive.
When we spend time with God, with reason and belief, try to get to know Him, want to know everything about Him, it is very important to tell God, which I know God knows – I like sharing with you every detail of my experiences and to make you a part of our collective journey is exciting and brings me great joy, happiness and excitement and also seek your counsel. I cannot imagine a world otherwise – Isn’t this such a beautiful bond and relationship to have with God? We know that had there been no spiritual experiences or discoveries of phenomenal nature in religion leading to the journey ahead, we still would love and interact with God in some form because that’s what the instantaneous nature of our bond with the universal power is all about! Sure there would have been lots of cats to worship too, as the ancient Egyptians did, but this so much exciting and fulfilling to love faith! Doesn’t God know that when He asks, we answer without any hesitation? And regarding the usage of so many of our faculties, sometimes I wonder why does God needles us with such peculiar thoughts of usage of our faculties of seeing, hearing, sensing etc? Don’t we already have so many dramatic happenings in our religious aspects that we should add to the quandaries? Also, our various institutions have staunch resistance in denying individuals their rights to proper access, but still have the sheer peculiar festering of inquiring, announcing and gossiping about usage. To ask to move to another simple level was met with a thick wall, yet the bizarre question of usage.
When exploring faith, channels of faith and kinds of faith, we know that normal God Fearing individuals who fight for a fair, equal, dignified existence along with preparations and complimenting duas for being successful, now with this suddenly find themselves in a whole new terrain, with new duas of being effective and successful! Whatever that might be. And wherein the propensity of hate crimes inspired by jealousy, resentment or sheer hatred of both the paths unfolding to us, could be high. Jealousy, ego, resentment can drive regular beings into a rage of hate to inflict humiliation, damage, pain and suffering. We have seen teaser and major trailers in the past and now. Maybe some aspects are indeed a blessing. So we will have to extract penalties for this precarious positioning during assembly. I understand that this path in faith is an open collective experience and requires collective counsel of distinguished minds, but this shift in dynamics and information release with the amassing of so much noise, intrusions and risks, has introduced complications. People love to play God, love to judge, love to decide for others, people love to be dictatorial and let their ego rule by trying to subjugate or dominate others – imagine the frenzy and zeal of the mass & mob now with all this information of every experience, every dream? It’s a game changer. With new maneuvers, new strategies, new dialogues while keeping the vacuum cleaner on to take the crumbs out. So much that this intrusion of the presumptuous, judgemental, fate-deciding masses started to stress and deviate from the only Love, Loyalty and Devotion known and worked so hard for! To fight a mass or a mob one cannot dare to go against the Almighty. Nor is one running away. Jonah’s example is pretty solid for the whole mankind and there isn’t a Fish that can contain this personality )) So the only way is through Dua, ethics, integrity and commitment to God can help. Even if the world were to be presented as ransom, only His Will will prevail. And who knows what His Will will be? This should help us understand why one would yearn for the same solitude of devotion and love where people say “I wish it was just You and I”. However, one has to swiftly move and reorient with time while keeping the eye and focus on the goal. Stay close to Him, Keep Him close and continue sharing with Him our love, questions, concerns and delights, and cats too. This is Faith, and I deeply Love Faith, the loss of which would be a pretty hard hit.
ever wondered how come Mary had her composure to ask JAS (when she thought he was a strange man) in a calm and civilized way to leave her quarters? imagine being in her shoes – let out a high decibel shriek and scream, throw somethings at him and hide behind whatever is close by or run away haha )) or maybe faint in freight? lol an ordinary mortal dreads a meeting, if there will be. in dreams its pretty awesome! and who knows the audience, maybe we all are connected eh
So how shall we decipher this – some days back a beautiful lady dressed in shimmering white dress came in a dream and introduced herself as Maimuna…exuded a positive vibe and chit chatted, cant recall the details. maimuna is a wife of the Prophet Muhammad AS … so whats the visit about …
To Animah Ferrar,
‘…nevertheless goes to great lengths to present rational arguments against all the postulations of those who oppose its concepts.’ Can you give an example? I want to understand.
No-one believes in Zeus or Thor or many other deities anymore, yet they all at one time had faithful adherents.
How does one know that one’s religion is the right one?
They can’t all be right. And the penalty for getting it wrong ,eternal damnation, seems, to put it mildly,to be harsh.
Feelings of awe and transcendency are experienced universally by human beings, but only religious people ascribe these feelings, without evidence,to the existence of a supernatural being.
The world and our existence are indeed a great mystery.Advances in our understanding are being made every day by scientists, but maybe we are not in a position to comprehend it right now, maybe never.We are such 3 dimensional, relatively recently evolved creatures.
We may even self-destruct before then through over-population, pollution, or wars created by dictatorships, superpowers or quarrels between religious factions and ideology.
Does this sound gloomy? Not really.Let us stop relying on prayer (how far has that got us ?) and religion, which is hugely divisive, time-consuming and energy-wasting and work hard together to improve life on Earth.
there was once a green open field and a bearded robed man, laughing…perhaps the time when Moses as Intercepted Muhammad as that the despicable crazies on earth cannot handle even 5 prayers…which Moses as was right about…in the vision it was just this laughing plumpish bearded robed man…but did not see muhammad…wondered at the time why muhammad doesnt show himself…maybe because there were only two there…him and… wow. some aspects of life make so much more sense now. being identified as “strength of a man”…spiritually, mentally, emotionally and physically…it was a ridiculous notion then, a sexist statement by those who did not recognize the power and capability of women since women are just as strong and/or stronger than men in the mental, emotional and spiritual context…but now in view of the spirit that resides inside, so many things make sense now…so many habits, thought processes, emotional, mental, physical and spiritual make up…the tight hug in that real experience of a dream when the two souls, hearts and minds fused together…the dispositions of guy’s attitude…one of the guys…and then there is always that inner voice that always tried to have a conversation, always dominant inside, guiding, steering talking… there was another bearded robed plumpish gentleman (among so many that had gathered at the entrance of the huge gates to receive me after the cloudy wal on the silver cloudy pathway to them in clouds) who was so happy, loving, proud, and smiling to receive at the Gates … could it be Moses? Did Muhammad and Moses share a bond among the many in the whole group?
history repeats itself, even after centuries and centuries! amidst a bunch of people, along with a super senior person, one focused so much on building worthless rapport with irrelevance, that eclipsed the only one that mattered whose voice should have been heard, history engaged, new wisdom discovered, ideas and pleasantries exchanged! even after an outreach for connection was heard. but lo and behold the same mistake was repeated centuries again! blah.