We learned at Al-Azhar that proving the existence of Allah Almighty requires rational, analogical and deductive reasoning, and not on traditional evidence. So, reason is the criteria for knowing Allah, and the basis on which the Qur’an draws when addressing people and giving them legal ordinances, whether in worship acts or in transactions. This is why the terms “reason” and “knowledge” recur, through their different derivatives around 865 times in the Qur’an in a unique manner. Yet, this Qur’anic reference to reasoning our way to belief in Allah does not mean abandoning the role of pure instinct, which is a sweeping predilection that drives humans to acknowledge the existence of the Lord, the Creator and Sustainer of the cosmos.  This feeling has been common among all humans since the creation of Adam and until the end of the world, including both the young and the old, the lettered and the unlettered, the savage and the civilized, and the fool and the wise. Allah says, “So be steadfast in faith in all uprightness - the natural Way of Allah which He has instilled in (all) people.” (Qur’an 30: 30)

And though this instinct is the closest way to knowing the Lord, it has been subject to much moral ills and circumstantial distractions that corrupted and prevented it from playing such a critical role in human life. On top of these ills are devilish temptations, deviation or atheism of some parents, confusing mental and intellectual milieu, predominance of materialism, deification of man and human worship, and indulgence in mundane pleasures. The Prophet (pbuh) warned us against such distractions in the Qudusi (Divine) Hadith that reads, “I have created all of My servants inclined to worship Me, but devils come to them and turn them away from their faith. They outlaw what I have made lawful to them, and command them to associate partners with Me for which no authority has been revealed.” (Reported by Muslim among others).

That is why the Qur’anic discourse is grounded on reason in giving ordinances and stipulating rewards and punishments. We, scholars and researchers, are commanded to follow the example of the Prophet (pbuh) who was ordered by Allah Almighty to “(continue to) remind, for certainly reminders benefit the believers” (Qur’an 51: 55) and “So (always) remind - if the reminder is beneficial. Those in awe (of Allah) will be mindful.” (Qur’an 87: 9-10) I would thus recall that knowledge and reasoning on which Islam is primarily grounded, starting with the very first word revealed in the Qur’an, as the criteria for capacity to observe ordinances, have given way in our contemporary life to a medley of conjectures, illusions and fantasies, which almost dominate the minds and negatively affect our societies, breeding suspicion and doubts. They even disturb the stability and cohesion of peoples, which is the basic condition for the development and progress of countries.

It is woeful that such conjectures and whims now govern our criteria in distinguishing truth from falsehood and right from wrong, with the bitter fruit of these conjectures becoming prevalent. In this milieu, those who stick to rationality feel estranged due to the prevalence of logical fallacies, misconceptions and sweeping generalizations that are unsubstantiated by solid evidence. It is true that falsehood persists only when the truth is absent. Imam Al-Ghazzalī rightly noted in his Fayṣal ut-Tafriqati bayn Al-ˀIslāmi waz-Zandaqah that if “every person who lacks knowledge keeps silent, disagreement among people would diminish.” This fact is underscored in the Qur’an through instructing people to seek answers to subtle questions they have with the well-informed scholars: “If you do not know, then ask those who have knowledge” (Qur’an, 16: 43) In another occasion, the Qur’an forbids reference to ungrounded assumptions, “O believers, avoid many suspicions, for indeed, some suspicions are sinful” (Qur’an, 49: 12) and “They follow nothing but (inherited) ungrounded assumptions. And surely ungrounded assumptions can in no way replace the truth” (Qur’an, 53: 28)

The Prophet (pbuh) also warned his nation against adopting ungrounded assumptions as a criterion for acquiring knowledge and decisively judging things, ““Beware of suspicion, for suspicion amounts to the worst form of lying.” (Reported by Al-Bukhari and Muslim) So, whoever relies on ungrounded assumptions or suspicion is a dead liar and sinful fabricator, since this flawed approach results in the prevalence of animosity, hatred, and treachery. Such is a pernicious scourge that breeds grudges and bitter pains.