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Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Man and His Destiny Part 13: High level of the Logic of Islam A scholar going deep into the study of the questions concerning monotheism, is filled with wonder when he finds that the special logic adopted in this respect by the Holy Qur’an and next to it by the sayings of the Prophet and the Imams, especially Imam Ali is so different and higher not only from the logic of that time but also from that of the later period when scholastic theology had developed and philosophy was flourishing.

What the Qur’an and the hadith say about destiny and the freedom or constraint of human will, is an example of that logic. This in itself proves that the Holy Qur’an has sprung from a source which does not belong to this world and that the Holy Prophet who received the Qur’an looked at the realities from quite a different angle. Similarly the knowledge of the logic of the Qur’an which the Holy Family had was different from what the others had.

Where the ideas were too high to be grasped ordinarily, the other people were bewildered, but the Imams described them very clearly and in a realistic manner. It is not surprising that even the Shi’ah theologians were unable to digest this information properly.

When one looks at the statements and comments of such eminent scholars such a Sheikh Mufid, Sayyid Murtadha, Allamah Hilli, Allamah Majlisi in their books of theology and their commentaries on hadith, one notices that they have not been free being influenced by the ideas of the Ash’arites and the Mu’tazilities. Their way of thinking is often close to that of either of them. That is why they have been compelled to explain away many Qur’anic verses and the hadiths.

Anyhow, this short-coming does not lower the position of these eminent scholars. None else in their position could do better, for the comprehension of the special logic of the Holy Qur’an is confined to the spiritual leaders trained in the school of this Holy Book. Others have been able to enter this circle gradually by going deep into the relevant questions and the constant study of the Qur’an and the sayings of the Prophet and the Imams, especially Imam Ali.

Some of our contemporary scholars have shown sufficient ability to analyze the social questions. But when they take up such problems as that of fate and destiny, they are as much bewildered as the scholastic theologians.