IDEA 15
What Reason Needs to be Reasonable
… a faith that is grounded in what the mind can see and hold conceptually is a firmer faith, one that can take root in all the faculties of the human being instead of huddling, like potted plants, in the sectarian hothouses, shrines, and churches of our world. A strong frame for our faith is not only a good defence, a bulwark against the secular storms that assail all believers nowadays, but also reliable armour for the times when we advance into enemy territory. (IIQ, page 195)
There are plenty of reasons for claiming to not need faith. One common reason is that faith is often presented as not needing reason, that it is anti-reason. But this is a faulty framing of the matter.
Suppose you come to me with a well-prepared argument, one based on logic and a clear line of reasoning. But I am not prepared to accept it. To start with, I don’t like the way you are dressed, your demeanour, your accent, and where you say you’re from. Then I wonder about your motives. What’s in it for you? What do you want with me? Lastly, I don’t quite believe that you are who you say you are. What is your real name? You claim to be a messenger, but you’re not what I think a messenger should look or sound like. Perhaps (a fear that is increasingly prevalent today) you’re not even a real person. Are you a bot, a program, an artificial being of some sort? In short, I don’t trust you.
With such pre-judgements or prejudices, no amount of clear reasoning will sway me. On the contrary: the more convincing the argument, the more cunning and insidious it looks. To clear away all this rubbish from the ground of a mutually beneficial interaction, we need faith — trust that the other person is honest, well-meaning, and real.
When GOD mentions believers, He is referring to people who recognized that Someone trusted them enough to bring them into this world, and now is asking to be trusted back. What would the message of such a Person be like? Those first believers had a fairly good idea of what a divine message should contain — deep concern, plain language, and consistent principles. When the Qur’an was presented to them, it caught them immediately; it had the tone and the power of Heavenly Authority.
Yet it did not just order them; the Qur’an constantly appealed to their common sense. GOD was not asking them to simply shut their eyes and trust Him. ‘Listen to what I am saying. Look around. And above all — think!’ AL-LAH wants you to be engaged with Him in every way possible — physically (through daily rituals such as salat), emotionally, spiritually, and especially intellectually.
Yet it is faith, not reason, that tells you with a moment’s glance if this or that person is trustworthy or not. No database or AI chatbot can replace the instinct for the Real that Reality Himself planted in us as His QR code and original seal of approval. Starting with that first affirmation, from Him to us, and then from us to Him, reason can get to work.
Download the PDF version for free at Ideas Inspired by the Qur’ān – Mont Redmond complete version, or purchase a hard copy at Ideas Inspired by the Qur’an: Redmond, Mont: 9781738842506: Books – Amazon.ca.
