'Aql

Arabic term for intellect thumb|A visual rendition of the Islamic model of the soul showing the position of aql relative to other concepts based on a consensus of 18 surveyed academic and religious experts. Rothman Coyle 2018 1733, 1735, 1742 Aql (ar عَقْل ʿaql intellect) is an Arabic term used in Islamic philosophy and theology for the intellect or the rational faculty of the soul that connects humans to God. According to Islamic beliefs, aql is what guides humans towards the right path (sirat al-mustaqim) and prevents them from deviating. In jurisprudence, it is associated with using reason as a source for sharia and has been translated as 'dialectical reasoning'.Esposito John John Esposito 2004 The Oxford Dictionary of Islam Oxford paperback reference Oxford, UK Oxford University Press 22 0-19-512559-2Moezzi Mohammad Ali Amir 1994 The Divine Guide in Early Shiʻism: The Sources of Esotericism in Islam Albany State University of New York Press 6 0-7914-2121-X Kitab al-KafiAnthony Campbell The Assassins of Alamut 2004 84 Etymology The term "al-'aql" in Arabic is derived from the root word "ql," which means to bind. In Islamic thought, it is used to describe the faculty that connects individuals to God. Hardaker Sabki 2018 46 It is usually translated in English as intellect, intelligence, reason or rational faculty. Murata Chittick Weiming 2020 56 In the Quran The Quran doesn't use the word "aql" explicitly, but its verbal forms such as yaʿqelūn appear 49 times. Intellect is important because it allows humans to understand God's signs in nature (2:164, 13:4, 16:12, 23:80) and in the Quran or other scriptures (2:44, 3:65, 3:118, 10:16, 11:51). Intellect prevents humans from committing actions that would lead them to punishment in hell (67:10). Moreover, it allows individuals to comprehend that the afterlife is better than this world (6:32, 7:161, 12:109, 28:60). Those who lack intellect are seen as the worst creatures in God's sight ("Surely the worst of beasts in God's eyes are those who are deaf and dumb and do not use their intellect") (8:22). Chittick 1986 195–98 Murata Chittick Weiming 2020 56 Elsewhere, the Quran says: "Have they not traveled in the earth that they might have hearts with which to intellect and ears with which to hear? Surely the eyes are not blind, but blind are the hearts within the breasts". (22:46). Murata Chittick Weiming 2020 56 In the perspective of Islam it is precisely ‘aql which keeps man on the straight path (the sirat al-mustaqim) and prevents him from going astray. That is why so many verses of the Quran equate those who go astray with those who cannot use their intellect (as in the verses wa la ya‘qilun, ‘they do not understand’ or literally ‘use their intellect’—the verb ya‘qilun deriving from the root ‘aqala which is related to ‘aql; or the verse la yafqahun, ‘they understand not’, the verb yafqahun being related to the root faqiha which again means comprehension or knowledge.)Nasr 1972 54 Seyyed Hossein Nasr Sufi Essays, 1972 Moreover, the term ūlu’l-albāb (possessors of intellect) is mentioned 16 times in the Quran, and commentators often associate their "lobb" with intellect. The Quran (39:9) poses a rhetorical question, asking whether those who possess knowledge and those who do not are equal. The answer, according to the Quran, is that only the ūlu’l-albāb (the possessors of intellects) are the ones who remember and understand the significance of God's signs. Chittick 1986 195–98 In Sunni and Shia sources While Sunni Hadiths acknowledge the value of intellect, Shia Hadith collections contain a larger number of traditions that praise it. The connection between intellect and sound religious faith and practice is emphasized in both Sunni and Shia traditions. According to Ḡazzālī, the Prophet said that intellect is the foundation of the believer, and it determines the extent of their worship. The Shiʿite sources, in particular, stress the idea that intellect is the foundation of all positive moral qualities. In that vein, Imam Jaʿfar al-Ṣādeq defines intellect as the means by which one worships the All-Merciful and attains Paradise. Chittick 1986 195–98 The term ‘aql was heavily elucidated by early Shī‘ah thinkers; it came to replace and expand the pre-Islamic concept of ḥilm (ar حلم) "serene justice and self-control, dignity" in opposition to the negative notions of ignorance (jahl) and stupidity (safah). The "possessor of ‘aql", or al-‘āqīl (plural al-‘uqqāl) realises a deep connection with God. Jaʿfar aṣ-Ṣādiq (d. 765, notably an Imām) described this connection as a realisation that God loves some, that God is truth and that only ‘ilm "sacred knowledge" and its development can help humanity fulfil its potential. His son, Imām Mūsà al-Kāżim (d. 799), expanded this exegesis by defining ‘aql as the "faculty for apprehending the divine, a faculty of metaphysical perception, a light in the heart, through which one can discern and recognize signs from God." He further noted that where the A'immah (Imāms) are the ḥujjatu ż-żāhira "External proof [of God]", ‘aql is the ḥujjatu l-Bāṭina "Secret proof". While in early Islam, ‘aql was opposed to jahl "ignorance", the expansion of the concept meant it was now opposed to safah "[deliberate] stupidity" and junūn "lack of sense, indulgence". Under the influence of Mu‘tazilī thought, ‘aql came to mean "dialectical reasoning". In Islamic jurisprudence In Shī‘ī jurisprudence, ‘aql is the process of using intellect or logic to deduce law. Legal scholars in both Sunni and Shī‘ī Islamic traditions share Quranic interpretation, the Sunnah, and Ijma‘ "consensus" as sources of Islamic law and judicial decisions (ḥukm). However, Twelvers of the Ja‘farī school of law utilize ‘aql whereas Sunnis use qiyas "analogical reasoning" as the fourth source of law. Among Twelvers, Akhbārīs (associated with exotericism and traditionalism and theological schools in Qom) and Usulis (associated with esotericism and rationalism and theological schools in Baghdad) were contending subschools: the former reject ijtihād outright; the latter advocate ijtihad and have been predominant for the last 300 years.Masud Muhammad Khalid Messick Binkley Morris Powers David Stephan 1996 Islamic Legal Interpretation: Muftis and Their Fatwas Harvard studies in Islamic law Cambridge, MA Harvard University Press 14 0-674-46870-8 In Shī‘ī Islam, "the gates of ijtihād" were never closed and with the use of ‘aql, Shī‘ī mujtahids "practitioner of ijtihād" and faqīhs "legal specialists" are able to respond as issues arise that were not explicitly dealt with in the Qur'an or Sunnah. In Traditionalist Jurisprudence and Hadith Criticism In traditionalist Ahl al-Hadith methodology and classical usul al-fiqh, the role of aql (reason) is explicitly subordinate to naql (transmitted textual authority, specifically the Quran and authentic hadith). Traditionalist scholars argued that human intellect is limited and prone to subjective error, whereas revelation represents infallible divine guidance. Consequently, classical hadith evaluation focused primarily on isnād (the biographical continuity and credibility of the chain of narrators) rather than matn (textual content analysis using personal reason). Brown Jonathan A. C. 2009 Hadith: Muhammad's Legacy in the Medieval and Modern World Oxford Oneworld Publications 67–74, 91–93 978-1-85168-663-6 Hallaq Wael B. 1997 A History of Islamic Legal Theories: An Introduction to Sunnī Uṣūl al-Fiqh Cambridge Cambridge University Press 36–42 978-0-521-59986-3 Prominent traditionalists maintained that when a prophetic tradition is authenticated through an unbroken, reliable chain of transmission, rational skepticism must yield to submission. Early jurists and theologians frequently cautioned against prioritizing rational opinion (aql or ra'y) over text. As the classical hadith scholar Ibn Khuzaymah (d. 924) famously stated: There is no conflict between a genuine sunnah of the Messenger of God and the intellect. If anyone perceives a contradiction between them, it is because their intellect is flawed, not because the sunnah is invalid. Ibn Khuzaymah Kitāb al-Tawḥīd Ibn Khuzaymah Abū Bakr Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq 1988 Kitāb al-Tawḥīd wa-Ithbāt Sifāt al-Rabb al-Shahwān ((Abd al-Azīz ibn Ibrāhīm)) Riyadh Maktabat al-Rushd 1 24 In Sunni jurisprudence, while rational tools such as qiyas (analogical reasoning) were adopted by legal schools like the Ḥanafīs and Shāfiʿīs, these tools were strictly governed by textual precedents. Scholars like Ibn Hazm (d. 1064) and the Zahiri school went further, rejecting both qiyas and subjective reasoning outright, asserting that laws must be derived exclusively from the explicit meaning (zāhir) of the text and verified narrations. Kamali Mohammad Hashim 2003 Principles of Islamic Jurisprudence 3rd Cambridge Islamic Texts Society 265–70, 311–15 978-0-946621-82-8 See also Fitra Rūḥ Qalb Nafs Mana (Mandaeism) Notes References Wehr Hans Cowan J. Milton 1994 A Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic: (Arabic-English) 4th Ithaca, NY Spoken Language Services 0-87950-003-4 ibn Abī Ṭālib ‘Alī Ali Nahj al-balāghah Sources Chittick William ʿAql Encyclopaedia Iranica 2 1986 195–98 https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/aql-intellect-intelligence-reason Hardaker G. Sabki A.A. Pedagogy in Islamic Education: The Madrasah Context Emerald Publishing Limited 2018 978-1-78754-532-8 https://books.google.com/books?id=Ro52DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA46 Nasr S.H. Sufi Essays State University of New York Press 1972 978-0-7914-1052-3 https://books.google.com/books?id=LWjYAAAAMAAJ Murata S. Chittick W.C. Weiming T. The Sage Learning of Liu Zhi: Islamic Thought in Confucian Terms Brill Harvard University Studies in East Asian Law 2020 978-1-68417-049-4 https://books.google.com/books?id=wfYFEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA56 Rothman Abdallah Coyle Adrian Toward a Framework for Islamic Psychology and Psychotherapy: An Islamic Model of the Soul Journal of Religion and Health Springer Science and Business Media LLC 57 5 2018 0022-4197 10.1007/s10943-018-0651-x 1731–44 29907906 6132620 External links A Philosophical Discourse by Dr Syedi Yusuf Najmuddin (Translation of Falsafato Faydhil Aql by Syedna Taher Saifuddin) Category:Islamic jurisprudence Category:Early Islamic philosophy Category:Islamic terminology