[frkksptn]

Knowledge is a familiarity with someone or something, which can include facts, information, descriptions, or skills acquired through experience or education. It can refer to the theoretical or practical understanding of a subject. It can be implicit (as with practical skill or expertise) or explicit (as with the theoretical understanding of a subject); and it can be more or less formal or systematic.[1] In philosophy, the study of knowledge is called epistemology, and the philosopher Plato famously defined knowledge as "justified true belief." However no single agreed upon definition of knowledge exists, and there are numerous theories to explain it. The following quote from Bertrand Russell's "Theory of Knowledge" illustrates the difficulty in defining knowledge. "The question how knowledge should be defined is perhaps the most important and difficult of the three with which we shall deal. This may seem surprising: at first sight it might be thought that knowledge might be defined as belief which is in agreement with the facts. The trouble is that no one knows what a belief is, no one knows what a fact is, and no one knows what sort of agreement between them would make a belief true. Let us begin with belief."

Knowledge acquisition involves complex cognitive processes: perception, communication, association and reasoning; while knowledge is also said to be related to the capacity of acknowledgment in human beings.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knowledge

Another question is how do we gain knowledge, what faculties do we have which make knowledge possible. Do we need to examine our assumptions?

[SNUfR8uI]

Bro, enough of this philosophy garbage. Please please please.

[GVsdJZ2H]

This is a good thread to have but I don't think SF is the place for it.

Here is something I wrote about epistemology and Islam: http://muslimology.wordpress.com/201...tanding-islam/

[LesLattis]

Bismillah
Br. Dawud Israel,
Jazakallah for the link. It is a nice articulation of a concept that most of us are thinking but never express it.
Skhuran.

[Saad Khan]

Bro, enough of this philosophy garbage. Please please please.

I am surprised at your words, why do you think it is garbage? We Muslims always talk about gaining knowledge I thought an exploration of this would be useful knowledge. If people do not want to discuss it they can ignore the thread. I doubt if many people will respond anyway. It will die of its own accord.

[toopyimport]

there is also hilm

imam ghazalli said there is such knowledge neither in books nor scholars which is revealed to those undergoing or undergone extreme haalaats
the heart and mind of a simple worshipper is opened to such treasures,others seek, but do not find as it is a special gift from allah


Haji Imdadullah Muhajir Makki didn’t study Bukhari and the other books of Sihah Sitta, but Allah Ta’ala blessed Haji Imdadullah Muhajir Makki (Rahmatullahi Alayhi) with Ilm Ladunni. One is that knowledge that a person acquires. He studies different subjects and books. Another form of knowledge is from Allah Ta’ala without studying.

When Haji Imdadullah Muhajir Makki (Rahmatullahi Alayhi) would talk to the Ulama, he would resolve such intricate issues with the insight that Allah Ta’ala had given him. However, he would not use the Istilaahi language (academic terminologies). This is Ilm La Dunni.

[TypeTeasiaDer]

There were approximately 500 or more Ulama who have taken bayat upon the hands of Haji Imdadullah Sahib (Rahmatullahi Alayhi). Not one Alim, 10 Alims or 100 but 500 Ulama. When we look at the lives of the Akaabir we don’t find so many Ulama who have taken bayat upon somebody who outwardly and apparently has very little traditional knowledge.

http://ahmed2004uk.blogspot.co.uk/20...lah-makki.html

[JonatonM]

So Knowledge can be gained through ruhani means and intuitively but most of us only emphasise the logical, rational and academic disciplines, probably because this ruhani and intuitive knowledge cannot be demonstrated to anyone. It is just a case of spending time with masters and having the knowledge transmitted to one.

[irridgita]

So Knowledge can be gained through ruhani means and intuitively but most of us only emphasise the logical, rational and academic disciplines, probably because this ruhani and intuitive knowledge cannot be demonstrated to anyone. It is just a case of spending time with masters and having the knowledge transmitted to one.

`

[onlineslotetes]

the top mutakallim of our age, sh. Sa'id Fawdah has given a beautiful overview of the subject in four parts here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DnKrt61na8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cA5luMLdyt0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16y1bbVSpac

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rz7qiYwZCUA

they're in arabic, yes. if enough interest is generated, i might be spurred on to translate the series over the holidays, in sha' Allah. no promises though.

for now, here's a hint: http://quran.com/16/78

[usacomm]

So Knowledge can be gained through ruhani means and intuitively but most of us only emphasise the logical, rational and academic disciplines, probably because this ruhani and intuitive knowledge cannot be demonstrated to anyone. It is just a case of spending time with masters and having the knowledge transmitted to one.

Shaykh Sa'id actually criticizes this position quite rigorously...

[DoniandaCoado]

Shaykh Sa'id actually criticizes this position quite rigorously...

What does he say?

[intorkercet]

Shaykh Sa'id actually criticizes this position quite rigorously...

hmm so he disagrees with hazrat imam ghazalli r.a.
molana rumi r.a.

[soprofaxelbis]

hmm so he disagrees with hazrat imam ghazalli r.a.
molana rumi r.a.

It's ironic how some fitrah-sufi guys (no offense, i'm a murid in sha' Allah) are quick to label other understandings as black and white yet their own lack of nuance seemingly always fails to register on their radars!

If you're interested, Shaykh Sa'id has written a commentary on al-Ghazali's Munqidh, available here: http://ia600503.us.archive.org/19/it...al-ghazali.pdf

I don't blame anyone for peddling the immature mutakallimun vs. sufiyyah dichotomy - there is a dearth of information in the English language without a doubt. Make dua that Allah grants us tawfiq to do something about this.

Keep me in your duas, and forgive me if I offended any of you.

[Antelpebabe]

Lets see what Hazrat Maulana Shah Ismail Shaheed sahab has to say in this regard..
in his book Abaqat (being an exposition of Hazrat Shah Waliullah Muhaddith Dehlvi 's Sat’aat and Lam’aat).
Translated by Prof. G.N Jalbani of Sindh university. Provides an interesting info on this subject. Shall type out a few pages.

Pg. 7-9

Preface

Abaqat (diffusions of Perfume) is the nearest source towards the understanding of the philosophy of Hazrat Shah waliullah Muhaddith dehlvi(rah). The author has attempted successfully at explaining clearly some of the mystical and philosophical points which had been summarily mentioned by Hazrat Shah sahib (rah) whom he considers as the “best of investigators ( Afdhal –ul- Muhaqqiqin)”.

He was deeply impressed by his two famous treatises ‘Lamahaat’ and ‘Sat’aat’ which cover two third of his field of philosophy.

In consequence, he prepared his ‘Abaqat’ which more or less is an elucidation of their substance. On the strength of these two works in particular, He has given preference to him over Shaikh Akbar Ibn ul Arabi (rah) and Hazrat Imam Rabbani (rah).

Though Shah Shaheed (rah) was not a mystic but at times, the mystical revelations were made to him. His discussions on the esoteric science in his book are an indication to the vast knowledge he possessed about mysticism, philosophy and the traditional literature. He had written this book in the form of a text with an intention to follow it with a commentary but he did not live to do so. This is the reason why it is difficult to understand certain points without elaboration.

The translator had before him two urdu translations of the ‘Abaqat’, the printed one by Hazrat Maulana Manazir Ahsan Geelani sahab (rah) and the other in the shape of a manuscript once dictated by the late Maulana Ubaidullah sindhi sahab (rah) in Mecca when he was in exile.

If these translations had not been there, it would have been impossible for him to undertake such a hard task. Though this English rendering may not be claimed as completely free from defects, but inspite of that it will be found interesting and instructive particularly for those persons inclined towards mysticism and philosophy.

G.N Jalbani
contd..

[Zmniubqr]

contd..Pg 7 - 9.

Foreword
Some months back, Professor G.N Jalbani wrote to me a touching letter, asking me to see the book in hand through Press, should he not live long enough to do so. The letter brought back the memories of the great kindness and interest with which professor Jalbani taught Arabic to me and others like me in dire need of help inside the college, and later on at his residence.

The deep reverence and respect that he inspired in his students did not abate with the passage of time. I recall in late 40’s when I was a student of Professor Jalbani, he was working on his first book on life and thought of Hazrat Shah Waliullah Muhaddith Dehlvi (rah) .

Patiently and persistently he continued to work in this field and the present book is a befitting crowning glory of almost 35 years hard labour. Professor Jalbani is a humble and humane being.

He has never blown his own trumpet. And Iam sure he never will. He follows the footsteps of the great savants and sages of Islam who taught more by their example than by words.
Iam quite sure all the students of professor Jalbani share my sentiments and I fell privileged to be writing a foreword to this eminently scholarly work of my teacher being whose student has always been a matter of pride for me.

Abaqat is not an easy book to read, and is even harder to translate. It belongs to primarily to the field of Epistemology, but from a strict Muslim Sufistic point of View.

At a point in history, when (till quite recently), the very definition of truth implied scientific verifiability, when validity of all religious statements was suspect because these statements by nature were not verifiable facts in the field of Physics and Chemistry,
When faith in God was almost identified with second rate intellectual abilities,
making available to an English reading audience the powerful and seminal work of Sayyid ismail Shaheed (rah), is indeed an act of courage.


Till quite recently the semantic-oriented Philosophical writings of Wittgenstein and Bertrand Russell dominated the European and English speaking worlds of philosophy.
However, it is only recently that the intellectual spell of a theistically oriented empiricism is breaking, and works of philosophers like Stanley L. Jafii, Richard Swimborne, P. Tillich and whitehead have turned the secular empiricist’s arguments against them.
The contemporary new debates are about the ‘Incoherence of disbelief’.

It can be asserted with full confidence that in a philosopohical mileu, wherein theism is being affirmed with a new sense of confidence, and the limits set be secular and materialistic empiricism are being disregarded, works like Abaqat have a double utility.

contd..

[Triiooman]

On one hand the author provides the reader an admirable insight into the Muslim-Sufistic approach to epistemology , on the other he does not speak as a mere theoretician but as a practical guide in the Sufistic path.

It should be recalled that Hazrat Shah Waliullah Muhaddith Dehlvi (rah) the acknowledged guide and mentor of Sayyid Ismail Shaheed (rah) had in his time tried to find a common ground for a new synthesis of the Wahdat al Wujud of Shaikh Ibn e Arabi (rah), and the wahdat-al-Shuhood of Shaikh Ahmed Sirhindi (rah).

Abaqat is an exercise to proceed along the path lighted by Shah Waliullah Muhaddith Dehlvi (rah) in his works Lamahat and Sata’at (both already translated by Professor Jalbani).

For an audience lost in the empiricism of the logical-positivists, and sexism of Freud and Freud inspired psychologists, Abaqat will be a great eye opener about what is ‘soul’ and what transpires within, about and above it.

Abaqat guides a person to identify the innumerable channels through which one who created and creates the universe which encompasses every individual, guides the human soul.
Abaqat is a door to a new dimension of knowledge and therefore of existence.

Time is ripe when the works of great but less well known Muslim philosophers be brought forth before a developing international audience.
In Pakistan Professor Jalbani has performed a great service in regard to the family of Hazrat Shah Waliullah Muhaddith Dehlvi (rah) and its contribution in the field.

New studies of another great muslim Mulla Sadra have also been done in Iran and U.S.A.
The Firangi Mahal school in India stands in need of a new comprehensive introduction.
Such exercises are necessary to belie the oft-repeated charge of western teachers of Islamic philosophy that it had no genius of its own, and that it never went beyond a few commentaries on early Greeks.

Upto Thomas Acquinas the West was not ashamed of liberally borrowing from Muslim teachers of philosophy and admitting this fact. Political and military rise of western states rendered the acknowledgement of this debt superfluous.

It is now in late seventies that it has been acknowledged once again that scientific development in the west took place not on the basis of denial of all religious, but on the basis of acceptance of the twin ( Islamic Themes) of religionality and contingency of the universe (The Road of Science and the ways of God by Stanley L.Jaki).

Islam has a great deal to say to the people of Science. It is a pity that all those ‘Ayat’ (signs) around us, to which Allah (swt) repeatedly invites our attention; tell a great deal to the scientists but not to Muslim Scholars.
No people according to Qur’an can really prosper if they forget ‘part of what they were taught’. Because the scientific world like the legal universe fall along the path of human soul..its ascent towards the One and Only.

Khalid M. Ishaque
Advocate
contd..

wa assalam..

[zlopikanikanzax]

( I have omitted pages 10 – 13 which contained a short biography on Hazrat Maulana Shah Ismail shaheed Sahab )


Pages:14 – 15.

Glorification-Cum-Blessing

Glory be to Him who is veiled by the attribute of His appearance and is concealed by the curtain of his light. He is unique in respect of Being (wujud) and eternity. He originated the things from non-existence, created the heavens and the earths and administered all the worlds between them.

He put on the mantle of greatness and pride and enshrouded himself in the garment of power and exaltation. He made every existing thing to glorify him. The beauty of His Essence (wajh) shone out in the mirror of Being. By the perfection of His attributes, He is independent of the praises of the praisers, and by the dignity of His person (Dhat), is far above the description of the describers.

The deep thoughts are burnt by the Majesty of His Essence (wajh) and the hard speculations are vanished under the dominion of His Eminence. None is His co-partner in the attribute of Being and None is His co-sharer in the state of establishment (Thubut).

The most eloquent failed to cover the fields of His attributes and the master grammarians went astray in traversing the extensive regions of His person.
By vastness of His person he transcends both space (Ihtat) and limitedness (Taqyid). He is more near to us than our jugular vein.
Exalted art Thou in Thy person and blest art Thou in Thy names and attributes.

Thou appeared on the Throne (Arsh) and the Tur Mountain and veiled Thyself in darkness and light. Thou art not disobeyed but by Thy knowledge and Thou art not obeyed but by Thy permission.

Thou art absolutely independent of the aid of assistants, and helpers in the origination of the creation and art not in need of any consultation of the ministers and associates in the execution of Thy orders.

I beg Thee to bless Thy great name, the perfect light and Thy most honored beloved, through whom the worlds brightened and the humanity gloried in, a means for travelers (salikin) and a rest for the seekers (Talibin) Muhammed and his family all of them.

And bless Thy other servants who are like the suns rising on the speheres of prophecy, Thy full moons shining on the horizons of wisdom. Thy stars spreading rays on the pivots of saint-ship and Thy lights flashing on the marks of guidance.

Also bless them who founded the right path by their lights and followed the footsteps of those of them who were happy (Ahl-i-sadaat) and those who had attained the state of certainty , right up to the Day of Judgement , By the mercy count us from them and bless with them. Oh ! art Thou most Merciful One !

(Ameen)

..shall continue tomorrow

duas..

wa assalam..

[CializCialiscsqw]

there is also hilm

imam ghazalli said there is such knowledge neither in books nor scholars which is revealed to those undergoing or undergone extreme haalaats
the heart and mind of a simple worshipper is opened to such treasures,others seek, but do not find as it is a special gift from allah


Haji Imdadullah Muhajir Makki didn’t study Bukhari and the other books of Sihah Sitta, but Allah Ta’ala blessed Haji Imdadullah Muhajir Makki (Rahmatullahi Alayhi) with Ilm Ladunni. One is that knowledge that a person acquires. He studies different subjects and books. Another form of knowledge is from Allah Ta’ala without studying.

When Haji Imdadullah Muhajir Makki (Rahmatullahi Alayhi) would talk to the Ulama, he would resolve such intricate issues with the insight that Allah Ta’ala had given him. However, he would not use the Istilaahi language (academic terminologies). This is Ilm La Dunni.

then there is also firaasat

foresight

[liontutuxx]

Pages:16-17


Cause of composition

Now after this, Muhammad Ismail (rah), hopeful of the mercy of God the great, says that the knowledge of God in summary, is the seed of trees of obedience to Him and is the water of the meadows of goodness; and in details, this knowledge is the fruit of gardens of worship and the summit of the orchards of good deeds.

A band of devotees has stirred up for the achievement of that knowledge and the champions among the people competed with each other in a race of it. And why not, when the people always throng around the sweetest fountain?

Among them Sufis proper, are the foremost and supreme. No champions have ever succeeded in reaching their goal, even though they availed of a variety of means and sought the help of many a thousand.

Thus, whosoever likes to listen to their news and desires to follow their footsteps, then let him do so, because they are such people that he who sits by them does not go wretched nor their ally entertains any fear from them, as they do not break their word nor are they ever stigmatised in their course of conduct He who holds his hands out for rain will find them filled with it. Man is certainly found in the company of him whom he likes.

The true guide (God) led me to the ways by means of which certainty and truth are acquired. In consequence, I succeeded in studying two small books Al-lamahat and Al-Sata’at and other smaller books like them which were composed by Al-Shaykh Waliullah, may God shower on us from his blessings.

He is undoubtedly the best of investigators (Afdal-ul-muhaqqiqin), the pride of those who probe deep, a protection for the philosophers, a leader of Gnostics and one who is more informed of god than them.

I came to learn from those two books, Al-Lamahat and Al-Sata’at what the people like us are entitled to, and came to understand what men like our type are fit for.
I have derived diverse profits and various kinds of benefits and such useful points which Al-Shaikh Al-Akbar, the chief of the mystics, their leader, their head and their scout failed to catch hold of.

He (shaikh) is, no doubt, the swollen sea of knowledge, the most learned scholar and the illustrious imam. Even Imam Rabbani, that unique Al-Shaikh Ahmad, the chief saint lost sight of those points in the course of his search after the realities.

However, I availed of the truth which God made him to reveal. He has raised him to perform the duty of directing and guiding the people to the right path. Through him He illuminated the hearts of the devotees and by him He renovated the community and Religion.

Contd..