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Asalamu 'alaykum,

Hayraan wrote:
Although following the “vocation of an intellectual school with roots in the most ancient philosophical traditions” and even “Plato, an initiate in the Orphic esoterism…” may sound mightily impressive in certain circles, for Muslims the greatest source of pride and happiness is being blessed with faith in the Revealed Din of Islam, which - contrary to the “tahqiq” of Schuon and the Perennialists- is the only Din which Allah Azza wa Jall has Himself protected to this day in the form it was first revealed and therefore cannot be equated with any other religion. His peremptory tropes aside Hayraan does raise the important question about the role and nature of intellectual exercises and disciplines in Islam. Does our religion demand only faith or does it also demand our intelligence? William Chittick, himself a Muslim and a product of a traditional education, has this to say on the subject:

It is important to stress that no religion can survive, much less flourish, without a living intellectual tradition. This becomes clear as soon as we ask ourselves the questions: What was the intellectual tradition for? What function did it play in society? What was its goal? In other words: Why should people think? Why shouldn't they just blindly accept whatever they're told? The basic Muslim answer is that people should think because they must think, because they are thinking beings. They have no choice but to think, because God has given them minds and intelligence. Not only that, but in numerous Qur'anic verses God has commanded them to think and to employ their intelligence. To think properly a person must actually think, which is to say that conclusions must be reached by one's own intellectual struggle, not by someone else's. Any experienced teacher knows this perfectly well. (Science of the Cosmos, Science of the Soul, p. 5) I would add that the intellectual tradition does not only serve the need of apologetics but also serves as a framework for those of an intellective disposition to arrive at a sapiential realization of the haqiqah contained in La illaha illa 'Llah.


Shuayb