I was wondering how you all consolidate the apparent logical contradiction that Ismailism (viz. Islam) is a faith of intellect while having a source of divine wisdom and knowledge (i.e. the Imam). It seems to me that the use of intellect is rendered moot since the word of the Imam is the highest source for knowledge and truth.
In addition, if faced with mutually exclusive ideas from your own intellect and the word of the Imam which would you co-opt?
Faith of Intellect?
Intellect [reason] and ignorance
Intellect [reason] and ignorance
1. Imam Ali (p): Jibrael (p) (Gabriel) descended to meet Prophet Adam (p) and said, “O Adam, I have been ordered to offer you the choice of one out of three things. Therefore, choose one of them and leave the other two.”
Adam (p): And what are those three things, O Jibrael?
Jibrael (p): Intelligence, Modesty and Religion.
Adam (p): I choose Intelligence.
Jibrael (p) then asked Modesty and Religion to leave Adam. But they said, “O Jibrael, we have been ordered to remain with Intelligence wherever it may be.”
Jibrael (p): Lo! That is your choice.
Jibrael (p) then ascended to his heavenly abode.
Translator’s note: This tradition clearly asserts that reason is an integral part of religion and modesty. Also, religion is based on reason and sound logical deductions. All commandments, rulings and forms of worship are based on sound reasoning. There is nothing irrational in religion. Similarly, norms of modesty emanate from sound reasoning.(B1,T2)
2. On request Imam Jafar as-Sadiq (p) defined ‘intelligence’ as that by which God is worshipped and Paradise earned.
He (p) was then asked: What did Muawiyah posses?
Imam Jafar as-Sadiq (p): That was craftiness, a satanic trait which appears like intelligence but is not.(B1,T3)
3. Imam Ali ar-Reza (p): The best friend of a person is his intelligence and his worst enemy his ignorance.(B1,T4)
4. Imam Jafar as-Sadiq (p): One who has intelligence is blessed with religion and one who is blessed with religion will enter Paradise.(B1,T6)
5. Imam Muhammad al-Baqir (p): Surely, God will subject his servants to close scrutiny on the Day of Judgment according to the degree of intelligence bestowed on them in their worldly life. (B1, T7)
6. Imam Muhammad al-Baqir (p): God created the faculty of intelligence and bestowed upon it the power of speech. God then said, “Come forward.” It came forward. He then ordered, “Go back.” It went back. He then proclaimed, “By My Power and Majesty, I have not created anything dearer to Me than you and I have not made you perfect except in those I love. Lo! Verily to you alone will I issue My commandments, to you alone will I issue My prohibitions, you alone will I punish and you alone will I reward.”
Translator’s note: The brilliance and sublimity of the priceless gem of wisdom quoted above deserves further elaboration. This is a symbolic parable, which beautifully illustrates the exact definition of the faculty of reasoning. A person endowed with reason recognizes, realizes, understands, appreciates and obeys the orders of his superior unquestioningly and without hesitation provided the Superior is Perfect, All-Knowing, Wise, Just and Matchless. Therefore when Intellect was asked to come forward, it did so and when it was ordered to go back, it went back. On the second order Ignorance could have instigated it to protest, “O Glorious One, You ordered me to come forward and now You ask me to go back! Why did You order me to come forward at all if I had to go back?” But Intellect did not protest, did not argue but complied, because it knew that God is All-Wise, All-Knowing, Just and Almighty and the secrets of Divine Commandments cannot be gauged by created intelligence. ‘My’ only duty which in reality is God obedience willingly with the firm conviction that every Divine Commandment has a reason beyond the comprehension of any created intelligence.
In the beginning of our note to this tradition, we have said that this tradition is a symbolic parable. The use of this term requires an explanation (we have used this expression to illustrate the beauty of this tradition). A ‘parable’ is a story, especially in the Bible and other Holy Scriptures, told to illustrate a moral or spiritual truth. But our use of this term is figurative. In ancient literature, religious or ethical, parables have been the best vehicles for conveying and disseminating knowledge and wisdom and even today they are being used for the same purpose (in educational institutes) and some of them are so illuminating that not only youngsters but adults also can draw inspiration from them. These parables are generally miniatures of fiction designed to teach morals on spiritual truths. The tradition under discussion can, under these circumstances, be termed as a parable but as it has been narrated by an Imam (p), it cannot be a parable merely in the generally accepted sense of the word. It is a parable as well as a true story. Common sense does not come in our way in accepting this story exactly as it has been narrated. This is the underlying beauty of this tradition. Some skeptics, however, may protest that this story is just symbolic. This goes in our favour. We have already termed it – figuratively of course – to be a symbolic parable. Symbols are used in modern education, art, science and literature. However, if they say it is symbolic, we have no objection provided that it is a factual symbol and not a symbolic symbol. A brilliant example of unhesitating obedience to the commandments of God is a significant event in the life of Prophet Ibraheem (p) (Abraham), which is narrated in the Noble Quran. He saw in a dream that he was slaughtering his son Prophet Ismaeel (p) (Ishmael). Prophet Ibraheem (p) had correctly interpreted that the dream was the commandment of God to slaughter his son. When the boy began to move about with him, Ibraheem said to him, “Son, I have seen in my dream that I am slaughtering you. So consider what you think of it.” The boy replied, “Father, do as you are commanded. You will find me steadfast if God so wills” (Q, 37:102, 103). Both father and son were prophets and were endowed with prophetic wisdom by God. On the face of it this order did not appear to be in keeping with the Justice of God. A person of ordinary intelligence could protest as to why a young innocent boy was ordered to be slaughtered for no mistake of his. Prophet Ibraheem (p) said nothing to the effect, and both father and son were ready to submit to God’s Will. Prophet Ibraheem (p) laid his son on the ground. He blindfolded himself not to witness his son’s slaughter. Then, as commanded, he took the knife and enacted exactly what he had seen in his dream and thus carried out the command of his Lord. God called to him: O Ibraheem, you have indeed fulfilled the dream. Thus, do We reward those who do their duty to the utmost. That was surely a manifest trail, and We ransomed the boy with a noble sacrifice (Q, 37:104-107). The explanation of the verse is that Prophet Ismaeel (p) was saved by God and a lamb was substituted in his place. Both father and son accepted this withdrawal of the Divine Commandment without the slightest protest to the effect that if after all Prophet Ismaeel (p) was not to be slaughtered, why did God order Prophet Ibraheem (p) to do so? Such questions could come up in the mind of an ordinary human being. But the case of a super-intellectual mind is different. Prophet Ibraheem (p) knew that the Wisdom of God is Infinite and All-Pervading and there is definitely some significance in the commandment and its subsequent withdrawal. Reason obeyed the order to go back. Prophet Ibraheem (p) also did likewise because he was a Prophet and his reasoning was Infallible. (B1,T1)
7. Muhammad ibn Suleiman al-Dailami spoke about the devotion, religious acts and piety of a certain individual to Imam Jafar as-Sadiq (p).
Imam Jafar as-Sadiq (p): What about his common sense?
Muhammad: I have no idea.
The Imam (p): Reward depends on the degree of his common sense.
The Imam (p) explained his statement with a story.
A person belonging to the tribe of Israel used to worship God on an island, verdant, full of greenery and blossoming trees and an abundant supply of pure and fresh water. One of the angels happened to pass that way and was impressed with the sincerity and the devotion of the worshipper.
Angel: O my Lord! Show me the reward destined for this servant of Yours. God, the Elevated One, showed him that (reward). The angel thought that the reward was less than what the worshipper deserved. God, the Elevated One, then inspired the angel to befriend him and the angel approached the worshipper in a human form.
Worshipper: Who are you?
Angel: I am also a devoted worshipper. I have been told about your worship and this place. Therefore, I have come to you to worship God in your company.
That day the angel remained with the worshipper. A conversation took place between them the following morning.
Angel: Your place is exhilarating and most suitable for worship.
Worshipper: There is, however, one drawback in this place.
Angel: And what is that?
Worshipper: Our Lord does not have any grazing animals. If He had a donkey, I would have let it graze in this place because all this grass is just being wasted.
Angel: So, doesn’t your Lord possess a donkey?
Worshipper: If He had a donkey, the grass would not have been wasted.
God then revealed to the angel that He rewards (His servants) according to their intelligence.(B1,T8)
8. Prophet Muhammad (p): Whenever you hear about the absorbing devotion of a person in worship, pay attention to the degree of his intelligence. He will be rewarded according to his intelligence.(B1,T9)
9. Prophet Muhammad (p): God has not given to His servants anything better than the intelligence. The slumber of an intelligent person is better than the wakefulness of an ignorant one and the staying of a wise person at one place is better than the journeying of an ignorant one. God has not raised any Prophet or Apostle without perfecting his intelligence so that it is higher than that of all the members of his community. The wisdom which is found in the repository of a Prophet is far superior to the effort of the scholars (and those who strive for knowledge). No servant of God can discharge the duties assigned to him by God unless he comprehends their significance. No ordinary worshipper can reach the height of excellence in his devotion to God as an intelligent wise person can. And it is the intelligent men who are men of understanding about whom God has said: … And none takes heed save those gifted with understanding (Q, 3:8).(B1,T11)
10. Imam Musa al-Kazim (p) advised Hisham ibn Hakam: O Hisham! God, the Glorious, the Elevated One, has given good tidings to the people of reason and understanding in His Book: … So you convey the glad tidings to My servants that those who hearken unto the word and follow the best of it are the ones whom God has guided and they are the people with intellect (Q, 39:17, 18).
He (p) further said:
O Hisham, God, the Glorious and the Elevated One, perfected the proofs of His existence for men according to their capacity for reasoning. He helped His Messengers and Apostles by bestowing on them the gift of exposition and guided them to realize His overlordship through His portents and said in the Noble Quran: Your God is one God. There is no God but He, the Beneficent, the Merciful. Lo! in the creation of the heavens and the earth and in the alternation of night and day, and in the vessels that sail the seas carrying that which profits people, and in water that God sends down from the clouds and therewith activates the earth after its deathliness and scatters therein all kinds of beasts, and in the circulation of the winds, and in the conditioning of the clouds between the heaven and the earth, are indeed signs for the people who understand (Q, 2:163, 164).
O Hisham, God has presented the above truth as proof of His existence. These facts are related to His Will who has designed them saying: God has made the day and the night, the sun and the moon, and all the stars subservient to you by His command. In this there is evidence of the truth for people of understanding (Q, 16:12).
It is He, Who created you from clay, turning it into a living germ, then into a clot of blood, and then brings you forth as a child. He then made you grow into manhood and become old. He causes some of you to live for the appointed time and some of you to die before so that perhaps you may have understanding (Q, 40:67).
God further said:
And in the alternation of night and day, and what God sendeth down from heaven, of the provision and therewith revives the earth after its death, and the turning about the winds, there are signs for people who understand (Q, 45:5).
God revives the earth after its death; we have indeed made clear for you that haply you will understand (Q, 57:17).
… And garden of vines, and fields sown, and palms in pairs, and palms single, watered with one water; and some of them We prefer in produce above others. Surely in that are signs for a people who understand (Q, 13:4).
And of His signs He shows you lightning, for fear and hope, and that He sends down out of heaven water and he revives the earth after it is dead. Surely in that are signs for a people who understand (Q, 30:24).
Say: Come, I will recite what your Lord has forbidden you; that you associate not anything with Him, and to be good to your parents, and not to slay your children because of poverty; We will provide you and them; and that you approach not any indecency outward or inward, and that you slay not the soul God has forbidden, except by way of justice: thus does He command you, that you may understand (Q, 6:151).
…do you have, among that which your right hands own, associates in what We have provided for you so that you are equal in regard to it, you fearing them as you fear each other? So We distinguish the signs for a people who understand (Q, 30:28).
After dwelling on this sublime subject in detail, the Imam (p) addressed Hisham:
O Hisham! Then He has advised the intellectuals and has drawn their attention towards the Hereafter and has said in Noble Quran: And what is this worldly life but play and vain sport. Certainly the abode of the Hereafter is the best (and perpetual) for those who guard themselves against evil. Do you not then understand? (Q, 6:32)
The Imam (p) continued his sermon:
O Hisham, thereafter God has put the fear of His chastisement in the hearts of those who do not ponder. He says: Then We utterly annihilated the others. And verily, you pass by them (their ruins) in the morning and by night. Do not you then understand? (Q, 37:137, 138)
And God also said:
We are about to inflict upon the people of this city a chastisement from heaven because of their disobedience. We have left a clear sign thereof for a people who would understand (Q, 29:34, 35).
The Imam (p), then, said something worth remembering:
O Hisham! Intelligence is interlinked with knowledge. And God says: These are the parables that we set forth for people, but no one comprehends them except those who possess knowledge (Q, 29:43).
The Imam (p) continued this extraordinary sermon:
O Hisham! God has further censured those who do not put their reason to good use, saying: And when it is said to them, ‘Follow that which God has sent down’, they say, ‘Nay, but we shall only follow in the way of our fathers.’ But what if their fathers had no sense and did not follow the right path? The similitude of those who disbelieve is like that of one who calls out an animal which pays heed only to the sound of the voice without comprehending its meaning. Deaf, dumb and blind they are and, therefore, are not capable of understanding (Q, 2:170,171).
And God has said:
And some of them give ear to thee; what, wilt thou make the deaf to hear, though they understand not? (Q, 10:42)
Or deemest thou that most of them hear or understand? They are but as the cattle; nay, they are further astray from the way (Q, 25:44).
They will not fight against you all together except in fortified cities, or from behind walls. Their valour is great, amongst themselves; you think of them as a host; but their hearts are scattered; that is because they are a people who have no sense (Q, 59:14).
…And (you) forget yourselves while you recite the book? Do you not understand? (Q, 2:44)
O Hisham! The Almighty God has censured numerical superiority with the words: And if thou obeyest the most part of those on earth they will lead thee astray from the path of God … (Q, 6:116)
And if thou askest them: Who created the heavens and the earth? Certainly they will say: God. Say: All praise belongs to God. Nay, but most of them have no knowledge (Q, 31:25)
And if thou askest them: Who sends down out of heaven water, and therewith revives the earth after it is dead? Certainly (they) will say: God. Say: All praise belongs to God. Nay, but most of them have no understanding (Q, 29:63)
The Imam (p) further said:
O Hisham! Then God has praised the few in numbers with the words: A few of My bondmen are thankful (Q, 34:13)
And they are just a few (38:24)
Then said a man, believer from among the people of Pharaoh, who concealed his faith, “Will you slay a man simply because he says, ‘God is My Lord’” (Q, 40:28)
And those who believed, but believed not with him but a few (Q, 11:40).
But most of them have no knowledge (Q, 6:37).
But most of them lack wisdom (Q, 5:103).
But most of them are ungrateful (Q, 10:60).
The Imam (p) continued:
O Hisham! Then God has praised the men of reason in good words and has praised them with fine comments and said: He gives the wisdom to whosoever He wills and the one who is given wisdom, has been given much good and no one retains in his memory except men of understanding (Q, 2:269).
And those firmly rooted in knowledge say, “We have faith in it. It is all from our lord, yet none remembers, but men of reason” (Q, 3:7).
Surely in the creation of the heavens and the earth and in the alternation of night and day, there are signs for men of intellect (Q, 3:190).
Is he who knows what is sent down to you from your Lord is the truth, like him who is blind (to the signs)? Only intellectuals remember (Q, 13:19).
He who is prayerful during the hours of the night, prostrating in obedience and standing, he being sure of the world to come and hoping for the mercy of his Lord! Say, “Are they equal, those who know and those who know not?” Only those possessed with reason remember (Q, 39:9).
O Muhammad, We have sent a book down to you, blessed, that man possessed of reason may ponder over the signs in it and remember (Q, 38:29).
We also gave Musa (Moses) the guidance and We bequeathed upon the Children of Israel the book for guidance and for a reminder to men of intellect (Q, 40:53, 54).
And reminder without fail profits the believers (Q, 51:55).
The Imam (p) continuing his sermon; said
O Hisham, God in Noble Quran says: Therein is verily a reminder for him who has a comprehending heart* (Q, 50:37).
* In this verse the expression ‘heart’ signifies ‘reason and wisdom’; denotes the capacity for learning and understanding.
And indeed we endowed Luqman with wisdom (Q, 31:12).
The Imam (p) further continued his sermon:
O Hisham! Luqman advised his son: Submit to truth and you will be the wisest among men, and surely a wise person when confronted with truth, accepts it. O my son, this world is like a deep ocean in which many a creation has sunk. Let, therefore, the fear of God be your boat in this ocean and let your firm conviction be the main plank of your boat. Let your complete reliance on God be its sail, let your wisdom be its motive force, let your knowledge be its compass, and let your patience be its navigator.
O Hisham, for everything there is a pointer and the pointer towards wisdom is contemplation and the pointer towards contemplation is silence. Also, for everything there is a climax and the climax of wisdom is humility, and to do what is prohibited by God is sufficient proof of ignorance.
O Hisham, God has sent His Prophets and Apostles for His servants to realize the existence of God through reasoning. Those who respond most favorably are foremost in their God-consciousness and the well-versed with the commandments of God, are the wisest, and the most perfect in intelligence. These enjoy the highest rank in this world and the Hereafter.
O Hisham, God has provided His servants with two irrefutable proofs: the explicit and the implicit. The explicit ones are the Messengers and the Apostles and the implicit one is the faculty of reasoning. O Hisham, a man of reason does not neglect thanking God for his lawful acts and (in adversity) his patience is not overwhelmed by temptation for prohibited acts.
O Hisham, one who lets three specific drawbacks overcome three of his specific commendable qualities, undermines his wisdom. One who darkens the enlightenment of his reason by unwarranted ambitions and tarnishes his wisdom by unnecessary talks and extinguishes the light of his inhibition by his pleasure-seeking desires, verily, it is as if his desires had conspired in the impairment of his reason, and one whose reason is impaired, both his life and faith are destroyed.
O Hisham, how could your conduct be pure in the eyes of God when you have turned away your heart from God and His commandments and when you have followed your worldly desires that have got better of your reason?
Addressing Hisham, the Imam (p) further said:
Patience in solitude (with no one to support you) is a sign of the strength of reason. One who ponders on God becomes detached from the people of the world and from those who are obsessed with worldly pleasures and turns his attention towards God. God becomes his solace in his moments of depression, an escort in his solitude, a source of affluence in his adversity and prestige without any social support.
Truth depends on obedience to God and there is no salvation without obedience and obedience depends on knowledge, which is gained by learning which again is based on intellect. There is no knowledge except through divine religious scholars and the recognition of knowledge is through intelligence.
O Hisham, a little virtuous act of a learned man is acceptable to God at its multiplied value and the virtuous conduct of a greedy and ignorant person is totally rejected.
O Hisham, wise people avoid worldly affluence (and abundance of worldly material). How then can they indulge in sins? Avoiding vain worldly pleasures is excellence while avoiding sins is obligatory.
O Hisham, wise man looked at the world and its people and came to conclusion that its pleasures could not be gained without hard struggle. Then he considered the Hereafter and concluded that its joys also shall not be available without hard struggle, therefore he decided to strive for the everlasting (bliss of the Hereafter) …
O Hisham, people of intellect avoids the worldly things and look for the gains of the life Hereafter. They know that the worldly gains are needed and the gains of the life Hereafter are also needed. But whoever seeks the gains of the life Hereafter, the world will be after him presenting to him his livelihood and the one who is after the worldly gains, the Hereafter would not be after him. Finally the death will destroy his world and he will miss the gains in the life Hereafter.
O Hisham, One who is content without wealth and desires is comfortable. He is free from jealousy and security for his faith. He perfects his intellect beseeching God from the depth of his heart. One with intellect is satisfied with the basic needs. He is content and feels rich without any further wants. He does not need any thing more than what he has. Where as the one who is not satisfied with what is with him is never content.
O Hisham, God has stated the following in respect of the people of virtue: They say, "Lord, do not cause our hearts to deviate from Your guidance, and grant us mercy. You are the Most Awarding One” (Q, 3:8). They are aware of the fact that if hearts deviate, they will be led to destruction.
Those who do not understand God have no fear of Him and they never look for guidance and intellect from Him. Their hearts do not establish any firm gnosis about God with awareness in their hearts. Those who are not blessed with intellect always feel the awareness of God that could acknowledge the truth about God in their hearts. No one can be like this except those whose deeds conform to their words. Further their private and public activities agree with each other. This is because God the Almighty never guides the innate reason, except what comes out of it through deeds and words.
The Imam (p) continued his discourse:
Imam Ali (p) used to say: God was never worshipped better than on the basis of deductive reasoning and the reasoning faculty of a man cannot achieve perfection without certain characteristics in him: immunity from disbelief and evil, expectation of guidance and virtue, giving away in charity of everything in excess of the bare necessities of life, abstinence from vain gossip, availing worldly goods just sufficient for subsistence, insatiable craving for knowledge, preference for humiliation before God over vain glory before fellow beings, preference for the love of meekness over pride, considering ordinary favours of others as great and his own great favours to others as mere trifles, and also considering all others better than himself and thinking his own self as much inferior to others, and these are the last words on this subject.
O Hisham, a wise man never tells a lie in spite of extreme temptation.
O Hisham, he who has no courtesy has no religion and he who has no reason has no courtesy. The greatest man is he who never equates himself with the worldly life. Your bodies cannot be sold except in exchange for Paradise, therefore, do not sell yourself for anything less than Paradise.
The Imam (p) further continued:
Imam Ali (p) said that the sign of a wise man is that he has three characteristics:
a. he replies whenever he is queried,
b. speaks with confidence when all others are at a loss to say anything, and
c. tenders advice which is good for his people.
Anyone who does not posses these three characteristics is stupid. He said that one who does not possess all these three qualities or at least one of them should not occupy the president’s chair at a meeting and the one who does not have any of these qualifications yet sits in that chair, is stupid.
Then Imam Jafar as-Sadiq (p) quoted Imam al-Hasan (p): Whenever you want your needs to be fulfilled, ask them from those who are capable of the same.
He (p) was asked: O son of the Prophet Muhammad (p), who are the capable ones?
Imam al-Hasan (p) replied that those whom God has mentioned in Noble Quran and described them as: It is only those gifted with understanding who take heed (Q, 13:19) are the people who possess wisdom.
Then the Imam (p) quoted Imam Zainul Abideen (p): Company of the pious leads to reformation, and to draw inspiration from the etiquette of the learned men enhances wisdom, and to obey those who rule with justice is the height of power and prestige, and investment of wealth in virtuous deeds is the climax of generosity and guiding the seekers of advice properly is discharging obligations concerning the bounties of God and total abstinence from inflicting pains on others is the apex of wisdom. In this lies happiness, sooner or later.
O Hisham, if a wise man is afraid of being falsified by someone who does not speak in his presence and if he fears rejection by someone from whom he does not seek any favour and does not promise what he cannot fulfill and never aspire for anything for which he fears he will be reprimanded and never takes the initiative in a task if he is afraid of failure due to his disability.(B1,T12)
11. Imam Ali (p): Wisdom is a covering curtain and accomplishment is a glory, therefore, cover the flaws of your being with your accomplishments and eliminate your evil desires with your sound reasoning. This will earn popularity for you and make the love of people for you manifest.(B1,T13)
12. Imam Jafar as-Sadiq (p): The Prophet Muhammad (p) never talked to people on the basis of his own supreme intelligence. And he (p) used to say that the Prophets have been ordered to speak to the people at the level of their intelligence.(B1,T15)
13. Imam Ali (p): The hearts of the rustics are driven recklessly by lust, mortgaged by their cravings and entrapped by delusions.(B1,T16)
14. Some companions of Imam Ali ar-Reza were discussing the exact connotations of ‘reasoning’ and ‘cultural education’. The Imam (p) clarified the meaning of these two terms. He (p) said that ‘reasoning’ is a divine gift (bestowed on all men more or less) but cultural education is acquired by conscious efforts and one who struggles to acquire it is successful and the one who struggles in acquiring intellectual reasoning never gets anything except ignorance.(B1,T18)
15. A believer: I have a neighbour who says his prayers regularly, doles out charity nervously, goes for Hajj pilgrimage very frequently and there is nothing wrong in his character.
Imam Jafar as-Sadiq (p) asked him about his reasoning faculty.
Believer: He is devoid of it.
The Imam (p): Then his position will not be enhanced on account of his acts of worship.(B1,T19)
16. Hassan as-Sikkeet, a prominent scholar of his time, asked Imam Ali an-Naqi (p) the reason why God sent Prophet Musa (p) (Moses) with the miraculous staff and the luminous hand and the devices to dispel magic and why Prophet Esa (p) (Jesus) was sent with miraculous medicines and why Prophet Muhammed (p) and his Holy Descendants (p) were sent with the gift of oratory and polemics.
Imam Ali an-Naqi (p): It was because in the days of Prophet Musa (p) magic had its sway over people. So Prophet Musa (p) was given by God such Divine Powers as the people of those days did not possess and that power made the magic of the people completely ineffective. This Divine Power proved the authenticity of the Prophethood of Musa (p) and God sent Prophet Esa (p) at a time when people were suffering from chronic diseases and were in dire need of good physicians. So God provided Prophet Esa (p) with medicines which people did not possess. By the Will of God Prophet Esa (p) brought the dead back to life, restored sight to people born blind, cured the lepers and thus established his authenticity as a Prophet of God. God sent Prophet Muhammed (p) at a time when people were under the sway of the excellence of their speech (and language) and oratory (Translator’s note: The narrator here expresses his belief that the Imam (p) used the word ‘poetry’ also with the word ‘speech’). Under these circumstances God sent Prophet Muhammed (p) with such sermons, warnings (and eloquent discourses) that their pride (regarding the excellence of their oratory, language and poetry) became null and void and the Prophethood of Prophet Muhammed (p) was firmly established.
Ibne Sikkeet: By God, I have never seen any intellectual like you. Now, what is the undeniable proof (of the existence of God) for the people in these days?
The Imam (p): It is the reasoning faculty through which the claims of a truthful man about God are established and the claims a pretenders of God are falsified.
Ibne Sikkeet: This, by God is the correct answer.(B1,T20)
17. Imam Muhammad al-Baqir (p): When our Qaim (atfs) (the living divinely ordained Imam, the twelfth religious leader al-Mahdi) will reappear, God will put his hand on the heads of the people of that time through which the faculty of reasoning of those people will be restored and their expectations will be accomplished.(B1,T21)
18. Imam Jafar as-Sadiq (p): The Prophet is the proof of the existence of God for His subjects and the proof which exists between God and His subjects is sound reasoning.(B1,T22)
19. Imam Jafar as-Sadiq (p): Wisdom is the guiding light for the believer.(B1,T24)
20. Prophet Muhammad (p): Ignorance is the extreme form of poverty and no asset is more profitable than intelligence.(B1,T25)
21. Prophet Muhammad (p): If you find a man deeply engrossed in prayers and fasting, do not extol his piety unless you find out the level of his intelligence.(B1,T28)
22. Imam Jafar as-Sadiq (p) addressed to Mufazzal bin Umar:
O Mufazzal, one who does not use his intelligence will not succeed and one who does not use his knowledge will have no intellect. One who understands will attain nobility and excellence, and one who is tolerant will triumph. Knowledge is a shield (against evil), truth begets honour and ignorance disgrace, understanding is distinction, generosity is salvation and good manners command love and respect …(B1,T29)
23. Imam Ali (p): If I find someone credited at least with one virtue out of many virtues, I will admit him in my fold and I will forgive him his lack of other virtues but I shall never forgive the lack of intelligence and religion because lack of religion is lack of peace and security. Without doubt, life in fear is unpleasant and lack of intelligence is equivalent to absence of life, and a person devoid of intelligence cannot be counted except among the dead.(B1,T30)
24. Imam Ali (p): Self-conceit is proof of an unsound mind.(B1,T31)
25. Some companions of Imam Ali ar-Reza (p) discussed intelligence in his presence.
Imam Ali ar-Reza (p): The people who are devoid of intelligence are of no consequence among the believers.
One of the companions: There are people in our community who in our eyes are not at any fault but they do not have intelligence and understanding of religion.
The Imam (p): Such people are not among those whom God addressed. When Almighty God created intelligence, He ordered it to come forward. It came forward. Then He ordered it to go back. It went back. God said, “By My power and Majesty, I have not created anything more handsome and dearer to Me. On thy basis I shall take people to task and on thy basis I shall grant them My awards.”(B1,T32)
26. Imam Jafar as-Sadiq (p): There is nothing between faith and disbelief except paucity of the intelligence.
He (p) was asked: And how is that?
Imam Jafar as-Sadiq (p): Man turns to others for the fulfillment of his desires. If he is sincere in his intention towards God, He will give him what he wants sooner than he expected.(B1,T33)
27. Imam Ali (p): Depths of wisdom are brought out and discovered by means of intelligence, the depths of intelligence are brought out and discovered by means of wisdom, and excellence of policy brings good conduct. Sound thinking is the life of the perceptive heart, like a man walking in darkness, with the light of immaculate sincerity and warding off dangers with minimum effort.(B1,T34)
1. Imam Ali (p): Jibrael (p) (Gabriel) descended to meet Prophet Adam (p) and said, “O Adam, I have been ordered to offer you the choice of one out of three things. Therefore, choose one of them and leave the other two.”
Adam (p): And what are those three things, O Jibrael?
Jibrael (p): Intelligence, Modesty and Religion.
Adam (p): I choose Intelligence.
Jibrael (p) then asked Modesty and Religion to leave Adam. But they said, “O Jibrael, we have been ordered to remain with Intelligence wherever it may be.”
Jibrael (p): Lo! That is your choice.
Jibrael (p) then ascended to his heavenly abode.
Translator’s note: This tradition clearly asserts that reason is an integral part of religion and modesty. Also, religion is based on reason and sound logical deductions. All commandments, rulings and forms of worship are based on sound reasoning. There is nothing irrational in religion. Similarly, norms of modesty emanate from sound reasoning.(B1,T2)
2. On request Imam Jafar as-Sadiq (p) defined ‘intelligence’ as that by which God is worshipped and Paradise earned.
He (p) was then asked: What did Muawiyah posses?
Imam Jafar as-Sadiq (p): That was craftiness, a satanic trait which appears like intelligence but is not.(B1,T3)
3. Imam Ali ar-Reza (p): The best friend of a person is his intelligence and his worst enemy his ignorance.(B1,T4)
4. Imam Jafar as-Sadiq (p): One who has intelligence is blessed with religion and one who is blessed with religion will enter Paradise.(B1,T6)
5. Imam Muhammad al-Baqir (p): Surely, God will subject his servants to close scrutiny on the Day of Judgment according to the degree of intelligence bestowed on them in their worldly life. (B1, T7)
6. Imam Muhammad al-Baqir (p): God created the faculty of intelligence and bestowed upon it the power of speech. God then said, “Come forward.” It came forward. He then ordered, “Go back.” It went back. He then proclaimed, “By My Power and Majesty, I have not created anything dearer to Me than you and I have not made you perfect except in those I love. Lo! Verily to you alone will I issue My commandments, to you alone will I issue My prohibitions, you alone will I punish and you alone will I reward.”
Translator’s note: The brilliance and sublimity of the priceless gem of wisdom quoted above deserves further elaboration. This is a symbolic parable, which beautifully illustrates the exact definition of the faculty of reasoning. A person endowed with reason recognizes, realizes, understands, appreciates and obeys the orders of his superior unquestioningly and without hesitation provided the Superior is Perfect, All-Knowing, Wise, Just and Matchless. Therefore when Intellect was asked to come forward, it did so and when it was ordered to go back, it went back. On the second order Ignorance could have instigated it to protest, “O Glorious One, You ordered me to come forward and now You ask me to go back! Why did You order me to come forward at all if I had to go back?” But Intellect did not protest, did not argue but complied, because it knew that God is All-Wise, All-Knowing, Just and Almighty and the secrets of Divine Commandments cannot be gauged by created intelligence. ‘My’ only duty which in reality is God obedience willingly with the firm conviction that every Divine Commandment has a reason beyond the comprehension of any created intelligence.
In the beginning of our note to this tradition, we have said that this tradition is a symbolic parable. The use of this term requires an explanation (we have used this expression to illustrate the beauty of this tradition). A ‘parable’ is a story, especially in the Bible and other Holy Scriptures, told to illustrate a moral or spiritual truth. But our use of this term is figurative. In ancient literature, religious or ethical, parables have been the best vehicles for conveying and disseminating knowledge and wisdom and even today they are being used for the same purpose (in educational institutes) and some of them are so illuminating that not only youngsters but adults also can draw inspiration from them. These parables are generally miniatures of fiction designed to teach morals on spiritual truths. The tradition under discussion can, under these circumstances, be termed as a parable but as it has been narrated by an Imam (p), it cannot be a parable merely in the generally accepted sense of the word. It is a parable as well as a true story. Common sense does not come in our way in accepting this story exactly as it has been narrated. This is the underlying beauty of this tradition. Some skeptics, however, may protest that this story is just symbolic. This goes in our favour. We have already termed it – figuratively of course – to be a symbolic parable. Symbols are used in modern education, art, science and literature. However, if they say it is symbolic, we have no objection provided that it is a factual symbol and not a symbolic symbol. A brilliant example of unhesitating obedience to the commandments of God is a significant event in the life of Prophet Ibraheem (p) (Abraham), which is narrated in the Noble Quran. He saw in a dream that he was slaughtering his son Prophet Ismaeel (p) (Ishmael). Prophet Ibraheem (p) had correctly interpreted that the dream was the commandment of God to slaughter his son. When the boy began to move about with him, Ibraheem said to him, “Son, I have seen in my dream that I am slaughtering you. So consider what you think of it.” The boy replied, “Father, do as you are commanded. You will find me steadfast if God so wills” (Q, 37:102, 103). Both father and son were prophets and were endowed with prophetic wisdom by God. On the face of it this order did not appear to be in keeping with the Justice of God. A person of ordinary intelligence could protest as to why a young innocent boy was ordered to be slaughtered for no mistake of his. Prophet Ibraheem (p) said nothing to the effect, and both father and son were ready to submit to God’s Will. Prophet Ibraheem (p) laid his son on the ground. He blindfolded himself not to witness his son’s slaughter. Then, as commanded, he took the knife and enacted exactly what he had seen in his dream and thus carried out the command of his Lord. God called to him: O Ibraheem, you have indeed fulfilled the dream. Thus, do We reward those who do their duty to the utmost. That was surely a manifest trail, and We ransomed the boy with a noble sacrifice (Q, 37:104-107). The explanation of the verse is that Prophet Ismaeel (p) was saved by God and a lamb was substituted in his place. Both father and son accepted this withdrawal of the Divine Commandment without the slightest protest to the effect that if after all Prophet Ismaeel (p) was not to be slaughtered, why did God order Prophet Ibraheem (p) to do so? Such questions could come up in the mind of an ordinary human being. But the case of a super-intellectual mind is different. Prophet Ibraheem (p) knew that the Wisdom of God is Infinite and All-Pervading and there is definitely some significance in the commandment and its subsequent withdrawal. Reason obeyed the order to go back. Prophet Ibraheem (p) also did likewise because he was a Prophet and his reasoning was Infallible. (B1,T1)
7. Muhammad ibn Suleiman al-Dailami spoke about the devotion, religious acts and piety of a certain individual to Imam Jafar as-Sadiq (p).
Imam Jafar as-Sadiq (p): What about his common sense?
Muhammad: I have no idea.
The Imam (p): Reward depends on the degree of his common sense.
The Imam (p) explained his statement with a story.
A person belonging to the tribe of Israel used to worship God on an island, verdant, full of greenery and blossoming trees and an abundant supply of pure and fresh water. One of the angels happened to pass that way and was impressed with the sincerity and the devotion of the worshipper.
Angel: O my Lord! Show me the reward destined for this servant of Yours. God, the Elevated One, showed him that (reward). The angel thought that the reward was less than what the worshipper deserved. God, the Elevated One, then inspired the angel to befriend him and the angel approached the worshipper in a human form.
Worshipper: Who are you?
Angel: I am also a devoted worshipper. I have been told about your worship and this place. Therefore, I have come to you to worship God in your company.
That day the angel remained with the worshipper. A conversation took place between them the following morning.
Angel: Your place is exhilarating and most suitable for worship.
Worshipper: There is, however, one drawback in this place.
Angel: And what is that?
Worshipper: Our Lord does not have any grazing animals. If He had a donkey, I would have let it graze in this place because all this grass is just being wasted.
Angel: So, doesn’t your Lord possess a donkey?
Worshipper: If He had a donkey, the grass would not have been wasted.
God then revealed to the angel that He rewards (His servants) according to their intelligence.(B1,T8)
8. Prophet Muhammad (p): Whenever you hear about the absorbing devotion of a person in worship, pay attention to the degree of his intelligence. He will be rewarded according to his intelligence.(B1,T9)
9. Prophet Muhammad (p): God has not given to His servants anything better than the intelligence. The slumber of an intelligent person is better than the wakefulness of an ignorant one and the staying of a wise person at one place is better than the journeying of an ignorant one. God has not raised any Prophet or Apostle without perfecting his intelligence so that it is higher than that of all the members of his community. The wisdom which is found in the repository of a Prophet is far superior to the effort of the scholars (and those who strive for knowledge). No servant of God can discharge the duties assigned to him by God unless he comprehends their significance. No ordinary worshipper can reach the height of excellence in his devotion to God as an intelligent wise person can. And it is the intelligent men who are men of understanding about whom God has said: … And none takes heed save those gifted with understanding (Q, 3:8).(B1,T11)
10. Imam Musa al-Kazim (p) advised Hisham ibn Hakam: O Hisham! God, the Glorious, the Elevated One, has given good tidings to the people of reason and understanding in His Book: … So you convey the glad tidings to My servants that those who hearken unto the word and follow the best of it are the ones whom God has guided and they are the people with intellect (Q, 39:17, 18).
He (p) further said:
O Hisham, God, the Glorious and the Elevated One, perfected the proofs of His existence for men according to their capacity for reasoning. He helped His Messengers and Apostles by bestowing on them the gift of exposition and guided them to realize His overlordship through His portents and said in the Noble Quran: Your God is one God. There is no God but He, the Beneficent, the Merciful. Lo! in the creation of the heavens and the earth and in the alternation of night and day, and in the vessels that sail the seas carrying that which profits people, and in water that God sends down from the clouds and therewith activates the earth after its deathliness and scatters therein all kinds of beasts, and in the circulation of the winds, and in the conditioning of the clouds between the heaven and the earth, are indeed signs for the people who understand (Q, 2:163, 164).
O Hisham, God has presented the above truth as proof of His existence. These facts are related to His Will who has designed them saying: God has made the day and the night, the sun and the moon, and all the stars subservient to you by His command. In this there is evidence of the truth for people of understanding (Q, 16:12).
It is He, Who created you from clay, turning it into a living germ, then into a clot of blood, and then brings you forth as a child. He then made you grow into manhood and become old. He causes some of you to live for the appointed time and some of you to die before so that perhaps you may have understanding (Q, 40:67).
God further said:
And in the alternation of night and day, and what God sendeth down from heaven, of the provision and therewith revives the earth after its death, and the turning about the winds, there are signs for people who understand (Q, 45:5).
God revives the earth after its death; we have indeed made clear for you that haply you will understand (Q, 57:17).
… And garden of vines, and fields sown, and palms in pairs, and palms single, watered with one water; and some of them We prefer in produce above others. Surely in that are signs for a people who understand (Q, 13:4).
And of His signs He shows you lightning, for fear and hope, and that He sends down out of heaven water and he revives the earth after it is dead. Surely in that are signs for a people who understand (Q, 30:24).
Say: Come, I will recite what your Lord has forbidden you; that you associate not anything with Him, and to be good to your parents, and not to slay your children because of poverty; We will provide you and them; and that you approach not any indecency outward or inward, and that you slay not the soul God has forbidden, except by way of justice: thus does He command you, that you may understand (Q, 6:151).
…do you have, among that which your right hands own, associates in what We have provided for you so that you are equal in regard to it, you fearing them as you fear each other? So We distinguish the signs for a people who understand (Q, 30:28).
After dwelling on this sublime subject in detail, the Imam (p) addressed Hisham:
O Hisham! Then He has advised the intellectuals and has drawn their attention towards the Hereafter and has said in Noble Quran: And what is this worldly life but play and vain sport. Certainly the abode of the Hereafter is the best (and perpetual) for those who guard themselves against evil. Do you not then understand? (Q, 6:32)
The Imam (p) continued his sermon:
O Hisham, thereafter God has put the fear of His chastisement in the hearts of those who do not ponder. He says: Then We utterly annihilated the others. And verily, you pass by them (their ruins) in the morning and by night. Do not you then understand? (Q, 37:137, 138)
And God also said:
We are about to inflict upon the people of this city a chastisement from heaven because of their disobedience. We have left a clear sign thereof for a people who would understand (Q, 29:34, 35).
The Imam (p), then, said something worth remembering:
O Hisham! Intelligence is interlinked with knowledge. And God says: These are the parables that we set forth for people, but no one comprehends them except those who possess knowledge (Q, 29:43).
The Imam (p) continued this extraordinary sermon:
O Hisham! God has further censured those who do not put their reason to good use, saying: And when it is said to them, ‘Follow that which God has sent down’, they say, ‘Nay, but we shall only follow in the way of our fathers.’ But what if their fathers had no sense and did not follow the right path? The similitude of those who disbelieve is like that of one who calls out an animal which pays heed only to the sound of the voice without comprehending its meaning. Deaf, dumb and blind they are and, therefore, are not capable of understanding (Q, 2:170,171).
And God has said:
And some of them give ear to thee; what, wilt thou make the deaf to hear, though they understand not? (Q, 10:42)
Or deemest thou that most of them hear or understand? They are but as the cattle; nay, they are further astray from the way (Q, 25:44).
They will not fight against you all together except in fortified cities, or from behind walls. Their valour is great, amongst themselves; you think of them as a host; but their hearts are scattered; that is because they are a people who have no sense (Q, 59:14).
…And (you) forget yourselves while you recite the book? Do you not understand? (Q, 2:44)
O Hisham! The Almighty God has censured numerical superiority with the words: And if thou obeyest the most part of those on earth they will lead thee astray from the path of God … (Q, 6:116)
And if thou askest them: Who created the heavens and the earth? Certainly they will say: God. Say: All praise belongs to God. Nay, but most of them have no knowledge (Q, 31:25)
And if thou askest them: Who sends down out of heaven water, and therewith revives the earth after it is dead? Certainly (they) will say: God. Say: All praise belongs to God. Nay, but most of them have no understanding (Q, 29:63)
The Imam (p) further said:
O Hisham! Then God has praised the few in numbers with the words: A few of My bondmen are thankful (Q, 34:13)
And they are just a few (38:24)
Then said a man, believer from among the people of Pharaoh, who concealed his faith, “Will you slay a man simply because he says, ‘God is My Lord’” (Q, 40:28)
And those who believed, but believed not with him but a few (Q, 11:40).
But most of them have no knowledge (Q, 6:37).
But most of them lack wisdom (Q, 5:103).
But most of them are ungrateful (Q, 10:60).
The Imam (p) continued:
O Hisham! Then God has praised the men of reason in good words and has praised them with fine comments and said: He gives the wisdom to whosoever He wills and the one who is given wisdom, has been given much good and no one retains in his memory except men of understanding (Q, 2:269).
And those firmly rooted in knowledge say, “We have faith in it. It is all from our lord, yet none remembers, but men of reason” (Q, 3:7).
Surely in the creation of the heavens and the earth and in the alternation of night and day, there are signs for men of intellect (Q, 3:190).
Is he who knows what is sent down to you from your Lord is the truth, like him who is blind (to the signs)? Only intellectuals remember (Q, 13:19).
He who is prayerful during the hours of the night, prostrating in obedience and standing, he being sure of the world to come and hoping for the mercy of his Lord! Say, “Are they equal, those who know and those who know not?” Only those possessed with reason remember (Q, 39:9).
O Muhammad, We have sent a book down to you, blessed, that man possessed of reason may ponder over the signs in it and remember (Q, 38:29).
We also gave Musa (Moses) the guidance and We bequeathed upon the Children of Israel the book for guidance and for a reminder to men of intellect (Q, 40:53, 54).
And reminder without fail profits the believers (Q, 51:55).
The Imam (p) continuing his sermon; said
O Hisham, God in Noble Quran says: Therein is verily a reminder for him who has a comprehending heart* (Q, 50:37).
* In this verse the expression ‘heart’ signifies ‘reason and wisdom’; denotes the capacity for learning and understanding.
And indeed we endowed Luqman with wisdom (Q, 31:12).
The Imam (p) further continued his sermon:
O Hisham! Luqman advised his son: Submit to truth and you will be the wisest among men, and surely a wise person when confronted with truth, accepts it. O my son, this world is like a deep ocean in which many a creation has sunk. Let, therefore, the fear of God be your boat in this ocean and let your firm conviction be the main plank of your boat. Let your complete reliance on God be its sail, let your wisdom be its motive force, let your knowledge be its compass, and let your patience be its navigator.
O Hisham, for everything there is a pointer and the pointer towards wisdom is contemplation and the pointer towards contemplation is silence. Also, for everything there is a climax and the climax of wisdom is humility, and to do what is prohibited by God is sufficient proof of ignorance.
O Hisham, God has sent His Prophets and Apostles for His servants to realize the existence of God through reasoning. Those who respond most favorably are foremost in their God-consciousness and the well-versed with the commandments of God, are the wisest, and the most perfect in intelligence. These enjoy the highest rank in this world and the Hereafter.
O Hisham, God has provided His servants with two irrefutable proofs: the explicit and the implicit. The explicit ones are the Messengers and the Apostles and the implicit one is the faculty of reasoning. O Hisham, a man of reason does not neglect thanking God for his lawful acts and (in adversity) his patience is not overwhelmed by temptation for prohibited acts.
O Hisham, one who lets three specific drawbacks overcome three of his specific commendable qualities, undermines his wisdom. One who darkens the enlightenment of his reason by unwarranted ambitions and tarnishes his wisdom by unnecessary talks and extinguishes the light of his inhibition by his pleasure-seeking desires, verily, it is as if his desires had conspired in the impairment of his reason, and one whose reason is impaired, both his life and faith are destroyed.
O Hisham, how could your conduct be pure in the eyes of God when you have turned away your heart from God and His commandments and when you have followed your worldly desires that have got better of your reason?
Addressing Hisham, the Imam (p) further said:
Patience in solitude (with no one to support you) is a sign of the strength of reason. One who ponders on God becomes detached from the people of the world and from those who are obsessed with worldly pleasures and turns his attention towards God. God becomes his solace in his moments of depression, an escort in his solitude, a source of affluence in his adversity and prestige without any social support.
Truth depends on obedience to God and there is no salvation without obedience and obedience depends on knowledge, which is gained by learning which again is based on intellect. There is no knowledge except through divine religious scholars and the recognition of knowledge is through intelligence.
O Hisham, a little virtuous act of a learned man is acceptable to God at its multiplied value and the virtuous conduct of a greedy and ignorant person is totally rejected.
O Hisham, wise people avoid worldly affluence (and abundance of worldly material). How then can they indulge in sins? Avoiding vain worldly pleasures is excellence while avoiding sins is obligatory.
O Hisham, wise man looked at the world and its people and came to conclusion that its pleasures could not be gained without hard struggle. Then he considered the Hereafter and concluded that its joys also shall not be available without hard struggle, therefore he decided to strive for the everlasting (bliss of the Hereafter) …
O Hisham, people of intellect avoids the worldly things and look for the gains of the life Hereafter. They know that the worldly gains are needed and the gains of the life Hereafter are also needed. But whoever seeks the gains of the life Hereafter, the world will be after him presenting to him his livelihood and the one who is after the worldly gains, the Hereafter would not be after him. Finally the death will destroy his world and he will miss the gains in the life Hereafter.
O Hisham, One who is content without wealth and desires is comfortable. He is free from jealousy and security for his faith. He perfects his intellect beseeching God from the depth of his heart. One with intellect is satisfied with the basic needs. He is content and feels rich without any further wants. He does not need any thing more than what he has. Where as the one who is not satisfied with what is with him is never content.
O Hisham, God has stated the following in respect of the people of virtue: They say, "Lord, do not cause our hearts to deviate from Your guidance, and grant us mercy. You are the Most Awarding One” (Q, 3:8). They are aware of the fact that if hearts deviate, they will be led to destruction.
Those who do not understand God have no fear of Him and they never look for guidance and intellect from Him. Their hearts do not establish any firm gnosis about God with awareness in their hearts. Those who are not blessed with intellect always feel the awareness of God that could acknowledge the truth about God in their hearts. No one can be like this except those whose deeds conform to their words. Further their private and public activities agree with each other. This is because God the Almighty never guides the innate reason, except what comes out of it through deeds and words.
The Imam (p) continued his discourse:
Imam Ali (p) used to say: God was never worshipped better than on the basis of deductive reasoning and the reasoning faculty of a man cannot achieve perfection without certain characteristics in him: immunity from disbelief and evil, expectation of guidance and virtue, giving away in charity of everything in excess of the bare necessities of life, abstinence from vain gossip, availing worldly goods just sufficient for subsistence, insatiable craving for knowledge, preference for humiliation before God over vain glory before fellow beings, preference for the love of meekness over pride, considering ordinary favours of others as great and his own great favours to others as mere trifles, and also considering all others better than himself and thinking his own self as much inferior to others, and these are the last words on this subject.
O Hisham, a wise man never tells a lie in spite of extreme temptation.
O Hisham, he who has no courtesy has no religion and he who has no reason has no courtesy. The greatest man is he who never equates himself with the worldly life. Your bodies cannot be sold except in exchange for Paradise, therefore, do not sell yourself for anything less than Paradise.
The Imam (p) further continued:
Imam Ali (p) said that the sign of a wise man is that he has three characteristics:
a. he replies whenever he is queried,
b. speaks with confidence when all others are at a loss to say anything, and
c. tenders advice which is good for his people.
Anyone who does not posses these three characteristics is stupid. He said that one who does not possess all these three qualities or at least one of them should not occupy the president’s chair at a meeting and the one who does not have any of these qualifications yet sits in that chair, is stupid.
Then Imam Jafar as-Sadiq (p) quoted Imam al-Hasan (p): Whenever you want your needs to be fulfilled, ask them from those who are capable of the same.
He (p) was asked: O son of the Prophet Muhammad (p), who are the capable ones?
Imam al-Hasan (p) replied that those whom God has mentioned in Noble Quran and described them as: It is only those gifted with understanding who take heed (Q, 13:19) are the people who possess wisdom.
Then the Imam (p) quoted Imam Zainul Abideen (p): Company of the pious leads to reformation, and to draw inspiration from the etiquette of the learned men enhances wisdom, and to obey those who rule with justice is the height of power and prestige, and investment of wealth in virtuous deeds is the climax of generosity and guiding the seekers of advice properly is discharging obligations concerning the bounties of God and total abstinence from inflicting pains on others is the apex of wisdom. In this lies happiness, sooner or later.
O Hisham, if a wise man is afraid of being falsified by someone who does not speak in his presence and if he fears rejection by someone from whom he does not seek any favour and does not promise what he cannot fulfill and never aspire for anything for which he fears he will be reprimanded and never takes the initiative in a task if he is afraid of failure due to his disability.(B1,T12)
11. Imam Ali (p): Wisdom is a covering curtain and accomplishment is a glory, therefore, cover the flaws of your being with your accomplishments and eliminate your evil desires with your sound reasoning. This will earn popularity for you and make the love of people for you manifest.(B1,T13)
12. Imam Jafar as-Sadiq (p): The Prophet Muhammad (p) never talked to people on the basis of his own supreme intelligence. And he (p) used to say that the Prophets have been ordered to speak to the people at the level of their intelligence.(B1,T15)
13. Imam Ali (p): The hearts of the rustics are driven recklessly by lust, mortgaged by their cravings and entrapped by delusions.(B1,T16)
14. Some companions of Imam Ali ar-Reza were discussing the exact connotations of ‘reasoning’ and ‘cultural education’. The Imam (p) clarified the meaning of these two terms. He (p) said that ‘reasoning’ is a divine gift (bestowed on all men more or less) but cultural education is acquired by conscious efforts and one who struggles to acquire it is successful and the one who struggles in acquiring intellectual reasoning never gets anything except ignorance.(B1,T18)
15. A believer: I have a neighbour who says his prayers regularly, doles out charity nervously, goes for Hajj pilgrimage very frequently and there is nothing wrong in his character.
Imam Jafar as-Sadiq (p) asked him about his reasoning faculty.
Believer: He is devoid of it.
The Imam (p): Then his position will not be enhanced on account of his acts of worship.(B1,T19)
16. Hassan as-Sikkeet, a prominent scholar of his time, asked Imam Ali an-Naqi (p) the reason why God sent Prophet Musa (p) (Moses) with the miraculous staff and the luminous hand and the devices to dispel magic and why Prophet Esa (p) (Jesus) was sent with miraculous medicines and why Prophet Muhammed (p) and his Holy Descendants (p) were sent with the gift of oratory and polemics.
Imam Ali an-Naqi (p): It was because in the days of Prophet Musa (p) magic had its sway over people. So Prophet Musa (p) was given by God such Divine Powers as the people of those days did not possess and that power made the magic of the people completely ineffective. This Divine Power proved the authenticity of the Prophethood of Musa (p) and God sent Prophet Esa (p) at a time when people were suffering from chronic diseases and were in dire need of good physicians. So God provided Prophet Esa (p) with medicines which people did not possess. By the Will of God Prophet Esa (p) brought the dead back to life, restored sight to people born blind, cured the lepers and thus established his authenticity as a Prophet of God. God sent Prophet Muhammed (p) at a time when people were under the sway of the excellence of their speech (and language) and oratory (Translator’s note: The narrator here expresses his belief that the Imam (p) used the word ‘poetry’ also with the word ‘speech’). Under these circumstances God sent Prophet Muhammed (p) with such sermons, warnings (and eloquent discourses) that their pride (regarding the excellence of their oratory, language and poetry) became null and void and the Prophethood of Prophet Muhammed (p) was firmly established.
Ibne Sikkeet: By God, I have never seen any intellectual like you. Now, what is the undeniable proof (of the existence of God) for the people in these days?
The Imam (p): It is the reasoning faculty through which the claims of a truthful man about God are established and the claims a pretenders of God are falsified.
Ibne Sikkeet: This, by God is the correct answer.(B1,T20)
17. Imam Muhammad al-Baqir (p): When our Qaim (atfs) (the living divinely ordained Imam, the twelfth religious leader al-Mahdi) will reappear, God will put his hand on the heads of the people of that time through which the faculty of reasoning of those people will be restored and their expectations will be accomplished.(B1,T21)
18. Imam Jafar as-Sadiq (p): The Prophet is the proof of the existence of God for His subjects and the proof which exists between God and His subjects is sound reasoning.(B1,T22)
19. Imam Jafar as-Sadiq (p): Wisdom is the guiding light for the believer.(B1,T24)
20. Prophet Muhammad (p): Ignorance is the extreme form of poverty and no asset is more profitable than intelligence.(B1,T25)
21. Prophet Muhammad (p): If you find a man deeply engrossed in prayers and fasting, do not extol his piety unless you find out the level of his intelligence.(B1,T28)
22. Imam Jafar as-Sadiq (p) addressed to Mufazzal bin Umar:
O Mufazzal, one who does not use his intelligence will not succeed and one who does not use his knowledge will have no intellect. One who understands will attain nobility and excellence, and one who is tolerant will triumph. Knowledge is a shield (against evil), truth begets honour and ignorance disgrace, understanding is distinction, generosity is salvation and good manners command love and respect …(B1,T29)
23. Imam Ali (p): If I find someone credited at least with one virtue out of many virtues, I will admit him in my fold and I will forgive him his lack of other virtues but I shall never forgive the lack of intelligence and religion because lack of religion is lack of peace and security. Without doubt, life in fear is unpleasant and lack of intelligence is equivalent to absence of life, and a person devoid of intelligence cannot be counted except among the dead.(B1,T30)
24. Imam Ali (p): Self-conceit is proof of an unsound mind.(B1,T31)
25. Some companions of Imam Ali ar-Reza (p) discussed intelligence in his presence.
Imam Ali ar-Reza (p): The people who are devoid of intelligence are of no consequence among the believers.
One of the companions: There are people in our community who in our eyes are not at any fault but they do not have intelligence and understanding of religion.
The Imam (p): Such people are not among those whom God addressed. When Almighty God created intelligence, He ordered it to come forward. It came forward. Then He ordered it to go back. It went back. God said, “By My power and Majesty, I have not created anything more handsome and dearer to Me. On thy basis I shall take people to task and on thy basis I shall grant them My awards.”(B1,T32)
26. Imam Jafar as-Sadiq (p): There is nothing between faith and disbelief except paucity of the intelligence.
He (p) was asked: And how is that?
Imam Jafar as-Sadiq (p): Man turns to others for the fulfillment of his desires. If he is sincere in his intention towards God, He will give him what he wants sooner than he expected.(B1,T33)
27. Imam Ali (p): Depths of wisdom are brought out and discovered by means of intelligence, the depths of intelligence are brought out and discovered by means of wisdom, and excellence of policy brings good conduct. Sound thinking is the life of the perceptive heart, like a man walking in darkness, with the light of immaculate sincerity and warding off dangers with minimum effort.(B1,T34)
Re: Faith of Intellect?
In Ismaili tradition, the Imam is the mazhar (locus of manifestation) of the ‘Akl-i-kul' -Divine Intellect which transcends and informs the human intellect.qifar wrote: In addition, if faced with mutually exclusive ideas from your own intellect and the word of the Imam which would you co-opt?
The Imam’s intellect is perfect and complete whereas the ordinary human’s intellect is partial and incomplete. Hence our intellects need to be guided by the Imam’s intellect to attain the most efficient path towards perfection. An unguided intellect, often subjected to individual whims and desires on the other hand, can lead one astray.
If there is a conflict between an idea derived from the usage of personal intellect and the guidance of the Imam, the latter must prevail. We submit our intellects to the Imam's intellect and in that process our intellects are purified and elevated. If a momin applies his intellect within the ethics of our faith, then the chance of the conflict arising is minimal, i.e., his/her intelect will always allign with the intellect/wisdom of the Imam.
Re: Faith of Intellect?
You're question I think centers on the apparent dichotomy between the intellect (human mind) and divine wisdom (spiritual truth), where the latter transcends the former.qifar wrote:I was wondering how you all consolidate the apparent logical contradiction that Ismailism (viz. Islam) is a faith of intellect while having a source of divine wisdom and knowledge (i.e. the Imam). It seems to me that the use of intellect is rendered moot since the word of the Imam is the highest source for knowledge and truth.
My thought is that the intellect alone is insufficient, that without the illumination of spiritual revelation via faith and prayer, the intellect itself becomes a roadblack. The problem becomes how to integrate intellect and spirituality? I believe the answer is to sanctify the intellect by utilizing it in the service of love for yourself, others and God. If contextualized in that sense, they no longer conflict but rather reciprocally reinforce and clarify one another.
If you look at humanity's greatest leaders in the secular realm (in whatever field), many of them, in addition to having great faith, also had a tremendous grasp of the intellect to function and lead mankind forward. (Gandi, Lincoln, Newton, Martin Luther King, Descartes...)
Blessings
Re: Faith of Intellect?
Well said!prhedst wrote:I believe the answer is to sanctify the intellect by utilizing it in the service of love for yourself, others and God. If contextualized in that sense, they no longer conflict but rather reciprocally reinforce and clarify one another.
William McKenzie: John Calvin, we hardly knew ye
03:47 PM CDT on Monday, October 12, 2009
If you think Dick Cheney has suffered from bad PR, man, think about John Calvin's image.
The father of Calvinism had a heretic burned at the stake in 1553, and it's been downhill ever since. The burning is what many people remember about the Protestant reformer. Modern drawings of a dour-looking Calvin make Ebenezer Scrooge look like a fun guy.
Also Online
This year being the 500th anniversary of Calvin's birth and Reformation Sunday coming up later this month in some churches, maybe it's time we rethink his legacy. Our view of the theologian who, with Martin Luther, launched the Reformation could change.
For starters, there's the fact that Calvin had a radical view of education. He thought that, heavens, people should read for themselves, including Scripture.
For the 1500s, that was one counterintuitive idea. Priests were supposed to read Scripture for the average person. And the last thing any cleric – or ruler – wanted was for people to read and think for themselves.
Not Calvin. He believed in truth being revealed through the mind, as well as the heart. He particularly had a passion for children learning to read and going to school, not necessarily the way things were done then. He began a school for children that grew into a university in Geneva.
Even now, there remains a strong anti-intellectualism in some church circles. Philosophy, the sciences, the arts these are Satan's realms.
Calvin, instead, embraced the intellect, which he personified by writing his landmark "Institutes of the Christian Religion." (The late historian Will Durant termed them one of the world's 10 must influential works.)
Five centuries later, Calvin's musings on the essential doctrines of the faith remain must-read theological works. As Cynthia Rigby of Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary puts it, "Calvin is to theology what Freud is to psychology: Love him, hate him, you have to deal with him."
Next, there's the fact he got out of the ivory tower and dealt with the mud of life. Literally.
The Frenchman got a closed sewer system built for his adopted hometown of Geneva, Switzerland. Like the pride Lyndon Johnson took in delivering electricity to rural Central Texas, Calvin considered that sewer one of his great accomplishments.
In other ways, he involved himself deeply in Geneva's legal, political and economic affairs. Trained originally as a lawyer, he considered the roles of church and state as different. He didn't draw quite the lines we do today, but his thinking on their different roles gave rise to secular democracy. His views on church governance, which involved clergy and laity sharing power, certainly influenced our democratic form of government.
Similarly, his emphasis on the dignity of work is tied in the rise of capitalism. He didn't invent that economic system, but his challenging of the prevailing idea that work was drudgery reshaped the way people approached labor.
Now, about that burning of Michael Servetus. What can you say? Horrible decision. The two quarreled over theological issues, and, although Calvin opposed his beheading, he agreed to Servetus' death. Through our modern eyes, he looks like an Iranian mullah.
We could stop there, but we would misunderstand one of the few people who have distinctly shaped our world. Like with Marx's communism or Freud's views on the mind, the rest of the world spins around the influence of Calvin, whether we know it or not.
Actually, there's been a Calvin resurgence of late. The novelist Marilynne Robinson recently wrote essays about him. Time magazine made note of him earlier his year. And conferences have been held to commemorate the anniversary of his birth.
I wouldn't bet on that happening to Dick Cheney, but John Calvin deserves a new look.
William McKenzie is a Dallas Morning News editorial columnist and moderates Texas Faith and The Education Front blog. His e-mail address is [email protected].
03:47 PM CDT on Monday, October 12, 2009
If you think Dick Cheney has suffered from bad PR, man, think about John Calvin's image.
The father of Calvinism had a heretic burned at the stake in 1553, and it's been downhill ever since. The burning is what many people remember about the Protestant reformer. Modern drawings of a dour-looking Calvin make Ebenezer Scrooge look like a fun guy.
Also Online
This year being the 500th anniversary of Calvin's birth and Reformation Sunday coming up later this month in some churches, maybe it's time we rethink his legacy. Our view of the theologian who, with Martin Luther, launched the Reformation could change.
For starters, there's the fact that Calvin had a radical view of education. He thought that, heavens, people should read for themselves, including Scripture.
For the 1500s, that was one counterintuitive idea. Priests were supposed to read Scripture for the average person. And the last thing any cleric – or ruler – wanted was for people to read and think for themselves.
Not Calvin. He believed in truth being revealed through the mind, as well as the heart. He particularly had a passion for children learning to read and going to school, not necessarily the way things were done then. He began a school for children that grew into a university in Geneva.
Even now, there remains a strong anti-intellectualism in some church circles. Philosophy, the sciences, the arts these are Satan's realms.
Calvin, instead, embraced the intellect, which he personified by writing his landmark "Institutes of the Christian Religion." (The late historian Will Durant termed them one of the world's 10 must influential works.)
Five centuries later, Calvin's musings on the essential doctrines of the faith remain must-read theological works. As Cynthia Rigby of Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary puts it, "Calvin is to theology what Freud is to psychology: Love him, hate him, you have to deal with him."
Next, there's the fact he got out of the ivory tower and dealt with the mud of life. Literally.
The Frenchman got a closed sewer system built for his adopted hometown of Geneva, Switzerland. Like the pride Lyndon Johnson took in delivering electricity to rural Central Texas, Calvin considered that sewer one of his great accomplishments.
In other ways, he involved himself deeply in Geneva's legal, political and economic affairs. Trained originally as a lawyer, he considered the roles of church and state as different. He didn't draw quite the lines we do today, but his thinking on their different roles gave rise to secular democracy. His views on church governance, which involved clergy and laity sharing power, certainly influenced our democratic form of government.
Similarly, his emphasis on the dignity of work is tied in the rise of capitalism. He didn't invent that economic system, but his challenging of the prevailing idea that work was drudgery reshaped the way people approached labor.
Now, about that burning of Michael Servetus. What can you say? Horrible decision. The two quarreled over theological issues, and, although Calvin opposed his beheading, he agreed to Servetus' death. Through our modern eyes, he looks like an Iranian mullah.
We could stop there, but we would misunderstand one of the few people who have distinctly shaped our world. Like with Marx's communism or Freud's views on the mind, the rest of the world spins around the influence of Calvin, whether we know it or not.
Actually, there's been a Calvin resurgence of late. The novelist Marilynne Robinson recently wrote essays about him. Time magazine made note of him earlier his year. And conferences have been held to commemorate the anniversary of his birth.
I wouldn't bet on that happening to Dick Cheney, but John Calvin deserves a new look.
William McKenzie is a Dallas Morning News editorial columnist and moderates Texas Faith and The Education Front blog. His e-mail address is [email protected].
Man from the earliest times has felt the primary and urgent necessity for discovering incarnating and comprehending the truth and thus keeping at the highest level the ability of his mind to evolve and keep up with the ever changing needs and challenges of every time and place.
But if the true knowledge of Monotheism gives the researcher the spiritual sublime illuminations which uplift him to the stage of perfection, the scientific truth does not give him such understandings, but it plays decisive role in his material existence by being constantly face to face with the new developments in the world as a whole, because the immediate value of science is growing more and more in every aspect of life.
There is no reason for pessimism in that Because the essence of the intellectual brains, who got forward to build the structures of humanity on real concrete bases, in aiming to creation, initiation, and progress.
They have their sacred message in struggling against ignorance, fallacy, and wrong, for the sake of better explanation and comprehension, and for the sincerity in publishing and crystallizing the truth in spite of all the obstacles which may stand in their way, as the truth must be said always.
Spreading the clear truth, leads consequently to man's liberation from superstitions and legends, and guides him towards the absolute realism, as the real qualification of the right man of research, is to liberate himself from any prefixed idea, before starting his research about any subject.
Then he has to turn to himself, and his conscience to compare between right and wrong, in order to deduce by himself the real picture at which he is aiming.
But due to the well known points of weakness in the human community, every scholar who aims at revealing the absolute truth, by his hard and sincere research, and at struggling against ignorance, fallacy, and wrong, becomes a target for intolerable suspicions, and was and is still often described as a (Zindiq) and an unfaithful.
The Ismaili scholars, da'is, and philosophers, were victims of such bad accusations, when they appeared on the world Islamic stage, to render their important role in the spiritual and political history of Islam, and stood firmly and obstinately to face superstitions and legends which were infiltrated to the structure of religions and sects, spoiling their real heavenly messages.
They were exposed to the ignorance of some historians and writers, and their prejudice and jealousy, in a way that the slightest accusation directed at them was they were infidels.
Excerpt from the works of Shayk Hamawi
But if the true knowledge of Monotheism gives the researcher the spiritual sublime illuminations which uplift him to the stage of perfection, the scientific truth does not give him such understandings, but it plays decisive role in his material existence by being constantly face to face with the new developments in the world as a whole, because the immediate value of science is growing more and more in every aspect of life.
There is no reason for pessimism in that Because the essence of the intellectual brains, who got forward to build the structures of humanity on real concrete bases, in aiming to creation, initiation, and progress.
They have their sacred message in struggling against ignorance, fallacy, and wrong, for the sake of better explanation and comprehension, and for the sincerity in publishing and crystallizing the truth in spite of all the obstacles which may stand in their way, as the truth must be said always.
Spreading the clear truth, leads consequently to man's liberation from superstitions and legends, and guides him towards the absolute realism, as the real qualification of the right man of research, is to liberate himself from any prefixed idea, before starting his research about any subject.
Then he has to turn to himself, and his conscience to compare between right and wrong, in order to deduce by himself the real picture at which he is aiming.
But due to the well known points of weakness in the human community, every scholar who aims at revealing the absolute truth, by his hard and sincere research, and at struggling against ignorance, fallacy, and wrong, becomes a target for intolerable suspicions, and was and is still often described as a (Zindiq) and an unfaithful.
The Ismaili scholars, da'is, and philosophers, were victims of such bad accusations, when they appeared on the world Islamic stage, to render their important role in the spiritual and political history of Islam, and stood firmly and obstinately to face superstitions and legends which were infiltrated to the structure of religions and sects, spoiling their real heavenly messages.
They were exposed to the ignorance of some historians and writers, and their prejudice and jealousy, in a way that the slightest accusation directed at them was they were infidels.
Excerpt from the works of Shayk Hamawi
God, because of some reasons known to himself only through his act of volition created the universe by ordering it (universe ) to be .
Thus the second element in the hierarchy of Ismaili cosmogony is the word (Amr) , which means decree or order.
(Amr) flows out of God through his act of volition and embodies the whole universe. If He decreet a thing, He said unto it only: Be! and it is .
Next to (Amr) comes (Aql-il-Kulli) or universal mind (Intellect).
It represents the order and harmony of the universe. It is the laws or rational principles governing the universe preventing disharmony and chaos. Thus the universe is a cosmos, a beautiful well-ordered whole.
The third element next to (Aql-il-Kulli) is (Nafsi-il-Kulli), or universal soul, it is the principle of life or motion.
All life and movement have their sources in this element. It contains the germs of the seeds of life. It is related to the world as the human soul is related to the body
The differences between the human mind and (Akl-il-Kulli) universal reason, and between the human soul and (Nafsil-Kulliah), universal soul, is that the mind or intellect of man in general, i.e. the sum total of man's intellects is a fraction of (Aql-il-Kulli) And the human soul in general, is fraction of the universal soul or (Nafsil-Kulliah).
This hierarchy can be shown in this way:
God (who is an inexplicable being).
Amr (which means order or decree or will and embodies what whole universe).
Aql-i-Kulli (which is the universal reason).
Nafsil-kulliah (which is the universal soul or principles of Motion).
After (Nafsil-kulli) come several other elements mainly related to Ismaili cosmology but are out of the scope of this pamphlet.
It is important to note that, as I mentioned above, Ismailis look upon the universe as one unified entity.
There are no special or time differences among different parts of elements of Ismaili cosmogony.
They are not different entities existing and functioning separately from each other.
They are interrelated parts with no separate special and time existence, which formulate a connected, well-ordered world or rational cosmos, well-ordered world or rational cosmos, and they are complimentary to each other.
Excerpts - Shaykh Hamawi
Thus the second element in the hierarchy of Ismaili cosmogony is the word (Amr) , which means decree or order.
(Amr) flows out of God through his act of volition and embodies the whole universe. If He decreet a thing, He said unto it only: Be! and it is .
Next to (Amr) comes (Aql-il-Kulli) or universal mind (Intellect).
It represents the order and harmony of the universe. It is the laws or rational principles governing the universe preventing disharmony and chaos. Thus the universe is a cosmos, a beautiful well-ordered whole.
The third element next to (Aql-il-Kulli) is (Nafsi-il-Kulli), or universal soul, it is the principle of life or motion.
All life and movement have their sources in this element. It contains the germs of the seeds of life. It is related to the world as the human soul is related to the body
The differences between the human mind and (Akl-il-Kulli) universal reason, and between the human soul and (Nafsil-Kulliah), universal soul, is that the mind or intellect of man in general, i.e. the sum total of man's intellects is a fraction of (Aql-il-Kulli) And the human soul in general, is fraction of the universal soul or (Nafsil-Kulliah).
This hierarchy can be shown in this way:
God (who is an inexplicable being).
Amr (which means order or decree or will and embodies what whole universe).
Aql-i-Kulli (which is the universal reason).
Nafsil-kulliah (which is the universal soul or principles of Motion).
After (Nafsil-kulli) come several other elements mainly related to Ismaili cosmology but are out of the scope of this pamphlet.
It is important to note that, as I mentioned above, Ismailis look upon the universe as one unified entity.
There are no special or time differences among different parts of elements of Ismaili cosmogony.
They are not different entities existing and functioning separately from each other.
They are interrelated parts with no separate special and time existence, which formulate a connected, well-ordered world or rational cosmos, well-ordered world or rational cosmos, and they are complimentary to each other.
Excerpts - Shaykh Hamawi