To understand this it is necessary that he understands his own being...

To understand this it is necessary that he understands his own being, knowing its beginning and its end, and then to understand the positive and negative relationships between different types of behavior, and their effects thereon. He should also be able to recognise the different miscellaneous levels of perfection.

Until he realises these prerequisites, which are basically the speculative knowledge (principles of worldview), he will not be able to grasp the practical rules of the intellect, which is the ideology. To conclude, we can claim that inquiring into a true religion, which is composed of a correct worldview and ideology is essential. Without such a belief man will never achieve perfection, because behavior based upon an incorrect worldview and ideology will lead him nowhere.

Those who persist in their arrogance, ill desires and unfaithfulness after recognising the truth are in reality no less than animals. They are content by satisfying that aspect of their nature and are described as such in the Qur’an: “They enjoy and eat, just like the cattle eat” (Muhammad:12). Since man has destroyed his potential to become perfect he will face the consequences of eternal chastisement: “Leave them to eat and enjoy and to be diverted by longings. Soon they will know”.

(al-Hijr:3) Questions: 1- What are the preliminaries for the second proof of investigating religion? 2- Explain man as a creature that pursues perfection. 3- What are the fundamental qualities of man? 4- How are the fundamental qualities related to true perfection? 5- In what way does ideology depend upon a worldview? 6- Explain the logical form of the second argument. Previous…