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Another Fallacy

Another Fallacy

We have observed how the word knowledge has been limited to a narrow sense. This mistake has given rise to another fallacy.

 It is said that only experimental knowledge being reliable, a truth can be proved only through observation and experiment, and therefore anything which cannot be subject to observation and mathematical calculation has no reality. From this it has been deduced that a reality is only that which may be established by means of an experi­ment, the nonmaterial things which cannot be tested in a laboratory, obviously have no reality and are no more than an idea or a notion conceived by the mind. On this basis it has been further inferred that realism is a philosophy which regards only matter as a reality, whereas idealism is that approach to the world which believes in nonmaterial things also. As the logic of nature requires us to give preference to realism over idealism, materialistic approach to the world is preferable to the divine approach . . . . . . . . . . . . What a flight of clearly imaginative thinking! If we think over the above argument carefully, we can easily observe how unscientific it is. In fact it is no more than a fallacy. Should we take realism and idealism in the sense of realistic thinking and imaginative thinking respec­tively, there is no doubt that the former has a priority over the latter. But we must see what is the scope of reality and who can be called a realist?

 Objective reality is that which actually exists. It may be material or nonmaterial. It is not essential that a thing which exists must necessarily be material. Similarly it is also not essential that everything which is based on knowledge must be observable in a laboratory.

 Hence divine realism is the belief in realities, whether material or nonmaterial but not the belief in mere conceptual notions and imaginary ideas. Those who believe in divine approach to the world, maintain that they have reached the absolute truth through insight and knowledge. They have found it and not merely conceived it. This is an indisputable truth which unfortunately has been misrepresented and wrongly interpreted.

 Islam has its own general outlook on the world which should be correctly understood, for without knowing it, it is not possible to understand the Islamic teachings in many other fields of doctrine and practice.

 From the Islamic point of view the world is a collection of multifarious but interconnected realities which have and continue to come into existence through the will of Allah, the One, the Omnipotent and the Omniscient. The world is constantly changing and moving. It is a motion, based on goodness and blessing, in the direction of gradual perfection i.e. every being achieving the degree of perfection for which it is suited. Out of His infinite mercy Allah has willed that in its evolutionary march everything be pre­planned and based on a series of the laws laid down by Allah. The Qur'an has termed these laws as the "Divine Practice".

 From the point of view of Islam man is an outstanding phenomenon and a creative being who himself determines his future. For this purpose he has been endowed with two gifts: (1) Faculty of acquiring vast and ever increasing knowledge about himself and the universe, and (2) volition.

The Islamic outlook on the world can be summarised thus:

 a. Realism

b. Correct thinking

c. Monotheism

d. Future making with conscious effort

e. Gaining knowledge through reflection and experiment

f. Receiving knowledge through revelation

g. Acquiring utmost knowledge through the stable system of action and reaction including immediate, long term and even permanent reactions.

 Thus Islamic outlook consists of knowledge, freedom and responsibility. It is an outlook of hope, optimism and possession of a purpose.

 To elucidate these points further, we propose to deal with them at some length.

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