Al `Aql wa al-Jahl fi al-Kitab wa al-Sunnah

(Reason and Ignorance in the Book and Sunnah)

Muhammad Muhammadi Rayshahri

With the collaboration of Ridha Berenjkar and Abdulhadi Mas`udi,

1st ed., 2000, 320 pages, Arabic

Dar al-Hadith, Qom, Iran

The present study is an attempt to dis­cuss the status of reason and tho­ught in Islam. The author has tried to offer new points in the field of know­ledge by studying the Quranic verses and hadiths. He maintains that rationality is the essence of rel­i­­gion and religiosity, for reason, is the inner prophet, and the objective of the appointment of the divine pro­phets is to blossom it. What have been handed down from the religi­ous leaders about reason and ration­ality underline the status of reason in life, method of its appli­cation, the sings of the wise, instru­ments of growth and nurturance of reason, and ways of prevention from falling into the whirlpool of ignor­ance. Attempts have been made in the present study to arrange and or­ganize the hadiths on an appro­priate, useful order for the utiliz­ation of the readers.

The present work is a part of Mawsu`ah Mizan al-Hikmah in wh­ich the subject of reason and ignor­ance from the viewpoint of the Quran and Hadith are discussed. Attempts have been to select the hadiths related to the main top­ics and subtopics from the old, comprehensive Sunni and Shi`­ite sources while avoiding repetitive hadiths. Moreover the had­iths are arranged on a chronological order from the time of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) of Islam to the Twelfth Imam (PBUH). Also attempts have been made to acknowledge the authenticity of the hadiths by checking the contents of the hadiths of each chapter with the rational and traditional proofs. The book has been organized into two parts:

Part I: Reason in the viewpoint of the Quran and Hadith. Part I has been divided into seven chapters:

 Chapter I discusses cognition of reason including the following sub­jects: truth of reason, creation of re­ason, status of reason, types of rea­son, and growth and decline of rea­son during the span of life. Chapter II discusses the value of reason.

 Chapter III discusses rationality. Chapter IV sheds light on the fac­tors contributing to the growth of reason. In Chapter V the signs and effects of reason are discussed. Chapter VI discusses the impediments of reason and Chapter VII discusses the du­ties of the wise people.

Part II discusses ignorance and contains such issues as the meaning of ignorance, avoidance of ignorance, types of the ign­orant, signs of ignorance and duties of the ignorant. In the con­cluding part of the chapter the Early and first (period) Igno­rance, the other igno­rance and the end of Ignorance which are such historical issues related to the era before the appointment of Prophet Mohammad (PBUH), After the Holy Pro­phet (PBUH), and the era of the reap­pearance of the Imam of Time are discussed.

The Persian translation of the work along with its Arabic version has been published with the following bibliographical data: Rationality in the Holy Quran and Hadith, tran. by Mahdi Mehrizi, Qom, Dar al-Hadith, 1st ed., 1999, 508 pages.

Also the Urdu version of the book along with its Arabic text has been published with the following bibliographical data: Aql Quan Owr Hadithi ki Rushni Min, tr. Scientific Board of the Institute of Imam Muntazar, Qom, Institute of Imam Muntazar, 1st ed., 2002, 433 pages.

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