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| Aql: The Place of Intellect
in Islam Irshaad Hussain March 1993 Bismillah al-Rahman al-Rahim "The first thing created by God was the Intellect" (hadith) In the following discussion on the place of
intellect in Islam, the analogy of a computer may help clarify some of the
points made. This is an analogy used only to provoke some thought and is
not meant to be carried too far. There is, after all, no such thing as a
perfect analogy. A perfect analogy would, in fact, BE the thing described. Imagine the screen and all activity on the
screen to represent the world of material existence. The screen is
considered as the horizontal dimension of the computer. A program is
running that simulates a small universe complete with simulated beings
(with senses that let them interact with other objects on the screen) and
simulated laws (much like some computer games) - the attempts of the
beings to understand the environment (on the screen) represents science
and all its branches (physics, chemistry etc.). This science can give
these fictional beings an understanding and control over this HORIZONTAL
(screen) dimension of their simulated universe. Now in order to create this onscreen world,
complex processes are occurring within the computer. The images on the
screen are generated by rays tracing pixel by pixel across the screen.
There is a program (or perhaps many interacting programs) running in the
RAM. At another level there are patterns of electricity (of information)
flowing and tracing complex paths through the chips on the motherboard.
There is the static storage of the uninitialized program stored on a disk.
All these represent levels of realities (the Universe on the screen exists
on all these levels). The projection on the screen is the visual
(material) manifestation of these other levels of existence. These other
levels of existence are the foundation, or the substratum of the universe
on the screen. They represent the VERTICAL dimension of the simulated
universe. A creature in the simulated universe
relying upon the senses given to it by the program could achieve a good
understanding of the simulated universe, but it would not necessarily be
even aware of the huge edifice which exists as a support to its very
existence (the program itself, the patterns of electricity flowing through
chips, the RAM, the actual hardware which supports the software, etc.). It
would be restricted to understanding the horizontal world - the world on
the screen. All the other planes of its existence would be invisible to
it. Using this analogy only as a starting
point, let us briefly examine the concept of intellect in Islam. Science is a horizontal undertaking since
it expands our knowledge outwards. It broadens our understanding but does
not necessarily deepen it. Science is unstable from a theoretical
viewpoint - it is based on hypotheses and experiment not on self-evident
principles. Science can provide a model of the world as
it is (albeit an ever changing model), it describes the world for us but
it cannot tell us anything about the foundations or the underpinnings of
the world and of the purposes behind it. It describes our horizontal
existence but is incapable (at least in its current form) of telling us
anything about our vertical existence. Science and reason have width and length
but lack depth. They are missing this third dimension so that those who
see the world only through the glass of science are like a one-eyed man.
He perceives the world, but it is a flat dimensionless world having extent
and width, but no depth, no firm solidity. If humanity is shaped by science alone, the
result is a humankind with vast horizontal knowledge, a large body of
knowledge about the workings of the physical universe but little
comprehension of what the purpose(s) of it is - the 'why' of existence. It
is like understanding exactly how a car works, how all the parts mesh
together, how to drive it in an efficient manner, But having no place, no
destination to drive to. Science can shape a humanity "with capacity,
but no attainment". (Mutahhari, Fundamentals of Islamic Thought,
Mizan Press). It can give man an instrumental power and ability, a power
that is dependent on man's will and command. Man has an end in view when he uses these
instruments. "Man is animal by nature and human by acquisition."
(Mutahhari, Fundamentals). He must strive to realize his 'human'
potential, otherwise by nature "...he moves towards his natural,
animal, individual, material, self-interested ends...." (Mutahhari,
Fundamentals) and uses the instruments given to him by science to achieve
these ends. Through science he can subjugate the horizontal world. But he
only attains his humanity when he becomes aware of the vertical aspect of
existence. A complete understanding is only attained when one's knowledge
encompasses both the horizontal and vertical dimensions of knowledge.
(Faith, without the light of reason and science, degenerates into mere
superstition.) There is a tendency to attach the word
Islamic to existing secular ideologies. For example, there is talk of
Islamic democracy or Islamic sociology etc. The adoption of these secular
ideologies or methodologies is justified by making cosmetic Islamic
changes to them. This is done in order to demonstrate Islam's relevance to
modern times and to make Islam seem up-to-date and appealing to the 'west'
and westernized Muslims. What actually happens is that Islam is reduced to
the status of an adjective modifying a noun (i.e. democracy, rationalism).
It can no longer be seen as a total body of principles that provides its
own comprehensive and unique system. (Syyed Hossein Nasr, Living Sufism). Making reason or the scientific method the
sole means of attaining knowledge and the only criterion of truth and of
right and wrong is a tendency of the modernistic outlook. "This
outlook has its origins in Descartes’ philosophical formulations.... For
Descartes the ultimate criterion of reality is the human ego.... His
'cogito ergo sum' - I think therefore I am - places a limitation on human
knowledge by binding it to the level of individual reason and to the
consciousness of the individual ego." (Nasr, Living Sufism). The
modern rationalistic trend seeks to define all reality, but instead it
limits its understanding of reality. In Islam "...logic is an aspect of
truth and Truth (Al-Haqq) is a name of God." (Nasr, Living Sufism).
The use of logic is like the use of a rung in a ladder - properly used it
can help man move upward along the vertical axis of his being. Reason is
an innate ability within man which encompasses logic and which can propel
him rapidly upwards along the vertical dimension. But in order to do this
reason must be free of the taint of man's animal, material propensities.
Otherwise reason can be subverted to provide spurious justification for
man to attain his desires in whatever realm his desires may fall. Reason
and correct knowledge must go hand in hand. "....one who has no
reason secures no success. He who has no (correct) knowledge has no
(correct) reasoning....A person devoid of reason cannot be conceived of
except as a corpse." (Al-Kafi, The Book of Reason and Ignorance) Aql (Intellect) in Islam is something that
exists at two levels. There is the level of "reason and logic"
which is available as an instrument to all mankind, and there is the level
of the "universal intellect" to which only a few have reached.
Aql is that which connects man to the truth, not the evolving truths of
science but the truth that flows from God and provides the key to all
knowledge and all truth. So the intellect (Aql) is the highest plane
of man - it is the noblest part of man - it encompasses reason and logic
and it stands above the ego. The Qur'an equates those who go astray with
those who cannot (or will not) use their intellect - it uses the phrase 'wa
la ya'qilun' (they do not use their intellect) or the phrase 'la yafaqahun'
(they comprehend not). Those who do not use their intellect are those who
have denied themselves access to one of the highest aspects of their
humanity. Reason is an aspect or reflection of the
universal intellect on the psyche of the individual. Reason on the level
of individual consciousness is not, however, free of the passions or the
ego. It can be an instrument or means to attaining the universal intellect
or it can be a veil (when mixed with the passions) that hides one from the
divine truths. Revelation provides a guiding and
regulating framework within which reason and logic can find firm footholds
to convey man up to the plane of the universal intellect. The verses of
the Qur'an become doors to this intellect, and once this intellect is
accessed the knowledge of the "Mother of the Book" can be
achieved. The storehouses of this knowledge are opened in varying degrees.
The person who rises to this level has made the vertical journey and
attained to the level of the pure universal intellect and can then become
a guide to the people. This level of intellect is addressed in the
following hadith: "....God created Intellect out of His own
Light...and it was the first creation among the spirits. After its
creation Almighty God commanded it to go back (to this world) the
Intellect obeyed the order. Then God commanded it to come forward
(towards) Him. The Intellect did accordingly. Upon this, God addressed it
with the words, I have created you in all your glory and bestowed upon you
honour and preference over all My creatures." (Al-Kafi, The Book of
Reason and Ignorance). (Note: This hadith makes it clear that the
Universal intellect is not to be confused with God (as some have done) as
it is a creation of God, albeit his noblest creation.) The Qur'an states that God taught the names
(all of them) to Adam - that is the names or realities of all things. This
knowledge was placed within Adam and, by extension, within all human
beings. Those who practise 'irfan' speak of an inward journey through
which the mystic uncovers the knowledge of some of these names. Mulla Sadra speaks of this inward journey
as being one through which one can break through to the true 'outside'.
(Using the analogy of a computer, it is as if a being on the screen is
able to find a key parameter within its own subroutine that would give it
access to the governing program that controls and regulates the universe
on the computer screen - with all the attendant possibilities implicit in
that access. A complete understanding of the basis and workings of its own
subroutine, and its place and function within the overall program could
then be achieved). In order to have access to the true depth
of existence, in order to make the vertical journey (the "ascent of
Islam"), in order to achieve understanding of the realities of
existence (of all things) one goes inward and thus reaches a plane outside
of and above the material plane. (In the computer analogy, they become
aware of all the levels of processing which comprise their true existence
and which make possible their projected existence on the level of the
computer screen.) The human intellect is a microcosmic
reflection of the universal intellect. When man attains to proper use of
his own intellect he is able to move from the level of his own individual
intellect to swim in the ocean of the universal (macrocosmic) intellect.
Through going inward, He is conveyed upwards and outwards to dizzying
heights.
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