Signs from Allah: History, Science and Faith in Islam
198. Khudi of Allama Iqbal - 3
By Professor Nazeer Ahmed
Concord, CA

 

The Origin, Nature, Methods and Limits of Knowledge (The Epistemology of Knowledge)

The Origin of Knowledge

Read! In the Name of you Rabb, Who created,

Created the human from that which clings.

Read! By your Rabb, the most bountiful,    

Who taught by the Pen,

Taught humankind what it knew not.

No! The human does indeed transgress,

When he looks upon himself as autonomous.  ( The Qur’an 96:1-5)

Knowledge is a treasure. It has its origin in the Spirit which is the source of life. This basic truth, obvious as it is, is overlooked by modern man.  Whether one is a saint or a scientist one must concede that with birth come life, knowledge and power. A dead man has no life, no power and no knowledge.  It stands to reason that knowledge is a Divine gift that accompanies the Spirit which is infused into a person between conception and birth. It is the Spirit that is the life source. Without the Spirit, there is no life and no knowledge.

 

Ilm ul Ibara and Ilm ul Ishara

The Qur’an uses parables and similes to convey transcendent ideas that are difficult or impossible to communicate through discursive language. Transcendental ideas such as love, grace, beauty, wisdom and peace are best felt, not expressed.  Accordingly, knowledge can be divided into two categories: ilm ul ishara (knowledge that is allusory and cannot be expressed through language), and ilm ul ibara (knowledge that is descriptive and can be expressed through language). Ilm ul Ibara can be measured and taught in a school. Ilm ul Ishara cannot; it is a Divine gift, a moment of Grace.

Consider, for instance, love which animates creation. Love is the cement that binds the world of man. Human love is but a simile to Divine Love that sustains all creation, like the light of an oil lamp is a simile to the light of the sun. The difference is that while the sun and its light are finite, Divine Love is infinite, boundless, beyond description.  Such is the language of love, the language of the heart, the language of allusion.

The word Ibara has its roots in the trilateral Arabic word A-B-R (a-ba-ra) which means to wade, as wading a river from one shore to the other. In prose, it means a line or a description. Accordingly, any thought or idea that can be described through prose, poetry or mathematical symbols can be classified as ilm-ul-ibara.  Such is the language of the body and the mind.

The Nafs or the Self straddles ilm ul ibara and ilm ul ishara. It receives its inputs from the senses, mind and heart. It is molded and transformed by these inputs. Like the senses, the Nafs measures in time-space. Like the mind it extrapolates. Like the heart it perceives. But it has its own unique characteristic which is not shared with other parts, and that is its free will.

We illustrate in the diagram below our classification of knowledge.

 

A Classification of Knowledge in Accordance with the Qur’an

“Soon shall We show them Our Signs on the horizon and within themselves until it is clear to them that it is the Truth)”- (The Qur’an 41:53)

Knowledge (A Treasure that is a Divine Gift)

• Ilm ul Ishara (Knowledge that is Beyond Perception and Cannot be Taught)
• Signs that are perceived by the heart
• Knowledge accessible to the Sadr
• Knowledge accessible to the Qalb
• Knowledge accessible to Fuad
• Knowledge accessible to Birr
• Signs that are Perceived by the Nafs
• Nafs e Ammara
• Nafs e Mulhama
• Nafs e Lawwama
• Nafs e Mutmaenna

• Ilm ul Ibara (Knowledge that is Perceived and Can be Taught)
• Signs that are Perceived by the Mind (Deductive Sciences)

• Philosophy
• Numbers
• Mathematics
• Geometry
• Signs that are Perceived by the Senses (the Inductive Sciences)
• Science
• History
• Sociology
• The Languages
• Civics and Government
• Rituals

An A’lim is one who is knowledgeable in both Ilm ul Ibara and Ilm ul Ishara.

 

Empirical Knowledge as a Sign

The created world becomes but a simile before the grandeur and majesty of God. This simple truth provides a basis for the integration of the physical and the spiritual. The physical becomes “a Sign” and points the way to Divine presence. So does history. So do the Signs in the heart.

The approach of the Qur’an is inductive.  It builds the awareness of Divine omnipresence through Signs in nature and in history. The quest for the Divine is through the struggle of man on earth; the path lies through science and history. It is a limitless, unceasing effort until man meets God. By contrast, the philosophical approach is deductive. It starts with axioms and theses and deduces inferences from it. If the axiom is flawed, so is the deduction.  In addition, reasoning and the process of deduction itself have inherent limits.

God reveals His majesty and His bounty every moment through nature and through history. Nature is a great teacher. It offers an infinite variety of vistas. Humans try to understand nature and use it for their benefit. The question is: how can the physical and the natural be integrated into a holistic picture which includes not just the inputs from the body and the mind but also the perceptions of the heart?

(The author is Director, World Organization for Resource Development and Education, Washington, DC; Director, American Institute of Islamic History and Culture, CA; Member, State Knowledge Commission, Bangalore; and Chairman, Delixus Group)