Reliance on Conjecture Instead of Sure Knowledge The Holy Qur'an says...

Reliance on Conjecture Instead of Sure Knowledge The Holy Qur'an says: "Most people are such that if you follow them they will lead you away from the right path, because they rely on conjecture only." (Surah al-An'am, 6:116) The Holy Qur'an strictly forbids following a conjecture. It says: "Do not follow that of which you have no knowledge.

Indeed the ear, the eye, and the heart each will be questioned." (Surah Bani Isra'il, 17:36) The philosophers admit that dubious knowledge is the main cause of mistakes. Many centuries after the revelation of the Holy Qur'an, Descartes declared this to be the first principle of his logic. He said: "I do not consider anything to be a reality unless it becomes obvious to me.

I avoid haste, association of ideas and predisposition; and accept only that which is so clear and distinct that there can be no doubt about it" II. Bias and Base Desires If man wants to judge rightly, he should fully maintain his impartiality. In other words he should seek truth only, and accept without hesitation what evidence proves. He should behave exactly like a judge in a court of justice, who while studying a case ought to be neutral to the claims of both the parties.

If he is biased towards one party, the arguments in favour of that party will unconsciously attract his attention and the arguments against it will automatically be missed by him. That is what will mislead the judge. If man is not neutral and his thinking is lop-sided, the pointer of his thinking will unconsciously be inclined towards his personal liking and personal desire. That is why the Holy Qur'an regards the base desires as much a source of error as reliance on a guess and conjecture.

It says: "They follow but conjecture and that which themselves desire." (Surah an-Najm, 53:23) III. Haste To be able to express an opinion about a question one should have adequate evidence before him. Unless there is enough evidence, any hasty expression of an opinion is likely to lead to an error. The Holy Qur'an repeatedly refers to the insufficiency of human knowledge for pronouncing an opinion in respect of many important questions.

For example it says: "You have been given but little knowledge." (Surah Bani Isra'il, 17:85) Imam Sadiq has said: "In the two verses of the Holy Qur'an Allah has warned men against two things: (i) He has said that they must not believe a thing unless they have sure knowledge about it (Warning against hasty believing).