ভূমিকা

Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Revelation and Prophethood The Methods of Knowing (i) Is it possible to identify the truth? This is and has always been the first question in this respect. Many of the thinkers are of the opinion that it is impossible to identify the truth correctly. They maintain that it is the lot of man not to know exactly what really in this world is and what passes in it. They consider it impossible to gain an indisputably accurate knowledge conforming to reality.

However, the Holy Qur'an regards it possible to know the truth. It invites man to know Allah, the world, himself and history. In the story of Prophet Adam, which is really the story of man, it considers him to be fit to learn all the Divine names or the realities of the world.

The Holy Qur'an says that in certain cases human knowledge can comprehend some items of Divine knowledge: "They cannot comprehend anything out of what He knows save what He wills." (Surah al-Baqarah, 2:255) (ii) What are the Sources of Knowledge?

From the viewpoint of Islam the sources of knowledge are: the natural signs or the signs existing in the world, man himself, history or the social events and episodes of the nations and the communities, reason or the self-evident principles, heart, in the sense of the illuminating and purifying organ and the written record left by the past people.

In many verses the Holy Qur'an has asked people to ponder over the nature of the heavens and the earth: "Behold what is in the heavens and the earth."(Surah Yunus, 10:101) Similarly the Holy Qur'an has invited people to study the history of the past nations intelligently with a view to take lesson from it: "Have they not travelled in the land so that they may have hearts to understand and ears to hear!" (Surah al-Hajj, 22:46) The Holy Qur'an believes in the reliability of reason as well as of self-evident truths.

It bases its arguments on them and says: "Say: 'Had there been gods besides Allah, then surely both the heavens and the earth (i.e. the whole universe) would have been thrown into confusion'." (Surah al-Ambiya, 21:22) "Allah has not chosen any son, nor is there any god along with Him. Otherwise each god would have surely championed which he has created and some of them would surely have overcome others.

Glorified be Allah above all that they allege."(Surah al-Mu'minun, 23:91) Similarly the Holy Qur'an regards the heart as the centre of Divine inspirations and intuitions.