Save us from the punishment of the Fire.

Save us from the punishment of the Fire.” [^9] The Intuitionists The intuitionists are of the opinion that the existence of God and metaphysical realities are knowable by the human being, but not through the agency of reason and the method of reflection ( tafakkur ) and intellection ( ta‘aqqul ); rather, through the agency of the heart and the method of illumination ( ishrāq ) and inner intuition or witnessing ( shuhūd-e durūnī ).

Some intuitionists have regarded reason as totally incapable of knowing God, but other intuitionists do not consider it sufficient although they have stressed its being essential and they have also acknowledged its ability to some extent. Muslim and non-Muslim mystics advocate the method of mystical intuition ( shuhūd-e ‘irfānī ) in knowing God. Some modern Western philosophers and religious psychologists and psychoanalysts have also opted for this method.

Assessment Although it is acceptable in knowing God and has an important function, this method still needs the rational method. Firstly, in intuitive perceptions, there is always the possibility of satanic tricks and insinuations, and to detect them would require rational principles and rules. Secondly, intuitive method is personal in nature and incapable of being proved to others, except through rational method and philosophical principles.

For this reason, great mystics and philosophers have highlighted the mystical method’s need for rational and philosophical method which has a higher and more perfect state. Regarding mysticism’s need for intellection ( ta‘aqqul ) and reasoning ( istidlāl ), Ḥakīm Lāhījī has said: “The human being has two ways to [know] God, the Exalted. One is the outward way and the other is inward.

The outward way is the path of reasoning ( istidlāl ) while the inward way is the path of spiritual wayfaring ( sulūk ).

The path of reasoning takes precedence over the path of spiritual wayfaring, for as long as one does not know what spiritual station ( manzil ) is, he will not be able to seek the way leading to the spiritual station.”[^10] Elsewhere, he has also said, “Prior to the stabilization of theosophy ( ḥikmah ) and scholastic theology ( ‘ilm al-kalām ), Sufi claims are [nothing but] demagoguery and fraud.”[^11] The Sensualists The sensualists are those who regard the way of knowing realities as limited to sensory observation and experiment.

Sensualism has a long precedence in the history of human thought.