Acle

Akl in the Quran

In the holy book of Muslims, the phrase “these are signs for those who understand” is often mentioned (literally translated “have reason ( akl )”). The following two verses can be cited as a typical example:

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Hadl in Hadith

The theme of intelligence and reason ( akl ) is often raised in the hadiths of the prophet Muhammad, and especially in the traditions of the twelve Shiite imams .

Thus, the hadith of Muhammad himself is known, which reads:

The famous books “ Nahj al-Balaga ” and “ Gurar al-hikam ” contain numerous sayings of Ali ibn Abu Talib , dedicated to the virtues of reason, mind, intellect. In particular, Imam Ali calls Akl the strongest foundation, protection against the reprehensible and the ruler of the approved, the corrector of any matter, the ladder to the highest heaven, the messenger of truth, the most sufficient wealth, the friend of the believer. In addition, books such as Tuhaf al-ukul , Al-Hisal , Al-Ihtisas and Al-Kafi cite the statements of Imams Muhammad al-Bakir and Jafar al-Sadik with similar meanings.

Reason and intellect are given such great importance, because, according to Islam , any act of worshiping Allah (and such is any action that is not even directly related to the sphere of religious worship ) must be meaningful and associated with a certain conscious intention. In the work "Tuhaf al-ukul" the advice of Imam Musa al-Qazim given to him by Hisham ibn al-Hakam is given :

In another instruction of Imam Musa al-Qazim, contained in the Al-Kafi Code and addressed to the same Hisham ibn al-Hakam, it is said:

In the hadiths of the prophet Muhammad, acl is considered not only as a means of understanding religion, but also as a way to salvation. In Majma al-bayan , the following tradition is given:

In a hadith from Imam Muhammad al-Bakir, akl is called the best of what Allah created. This legend is given in the main Shiite code of hadith “ Al-Kafi ”.

From the point of view of Shiites, akl is such an important part of Islamic creed that Shiite imams even characterized it as an “internal argument” ( al-hujah al-batiniyya ) along with an external argument ( al-hujah az-zahiriyya ) - Revelation.

This is evidenced by another hadith from Al-Kafi, transmitted from Imam Musa al-Qazim:

Many hadiths are also devoted to the essence of intelligence. In one of the sayings of the Prophet Muhammad, the concept of “acl” is conjugated with the substance of light:

In Shiism, intelligence is seen as a combination of knowledge and experience, and is linked to action. In this regard, one can quote the statements of Imam Ali ibn Abu Talib from the book “Gurar al-hikam”, explaining the meaning of the term “akl” as follows:

Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib devoted considerable attention to the role of experience in improving the mind. In "Nahj al-balaga" there is a saying defining through the prism of experience what akl is:

His other statement, contained in the book “Matalib al-saul”, reads:

Many hadiths are devoted to such a topic as signs of mind and stupidity. These Hadiths also list factors that contribute to the improvement of the mind or stupidity of a person.

In particular, according to the hadiths, an intelligent person kindly treats other people, puts every thing in its rightful place (in the broad sense of the word, of course), keeps secrets, does not make the same mistake twice, is aware of the peculiarities of place and time and takes them into account, is attentive, monitors his language, does not trust the one on whose side he fears betrayal, does not promise what he cannot fulfill, does not strive for an unattainable goal, does not pursue the short-term benefits of this world, is laconic and speaks only About, which brings benefit and wisdom in itself, is not a slave to momentary whims. Hadiths teach that the thought is perfected by the thoughtful and scrupulous study of the world and humility before Allah.

According to the sayings of Imam Ali ibn Abu Talib, recorded in the books “Gurar al-hikam” and “Nahj al-balaga”, his speech and his reservations, impulsive statements without prior deliberation speaks about a person’s mind. In addition, patience in difficult situations, the ability to control one’s carnal desires and direct them to the permissible sphere ( halal ), the ability to cope with the vile manifestations of one’s nature, suppress cowardice, anger, greed, envy and other vices associated with the mind attests to the mind lower soul ( nafs ).

In turn, the dominance of these unbridled vices over man, Imam Ali calls the cause of the weakening of the mind. He also refers to the signs of stupidity the desire for excessiveness. According to Imam Ali, a company of fools and a refusal to communicate with intellectually developed people, jokes, and pride also contribute to a decrease in human intelligence. He notes the following signs of stupidity: talkativeness, poor oratorical abilities, friendship with fools, excessive requests in life.

Finally, Imam Ali also speaks of the fruits of the mind, such as diligence on the path of Allah, sensitivity to truth, contempt for worldly goods and suppression of one’s own whims, generosity and modesty.

Akl is considered as one of the four fundamental sources of law in the Jafarite madhhab . To characterize this source, we note three main points:

1. The use of akla means the deductive derivation of Sharia norms from the sacred sources of Islam - the Koran and the Sunna. Unlike the Sunni fakihs, the Jafarites do not recognize kiyas (comparison by analogy) as an adequate and acceptable source of Islamic law. This rejection is based on the ban of kiyas by Shiite imams; in particular, a dialogue is known between the founder of the Hanafi madhhab, Abu Hanifa , who introduced kiyas and his teacher, Imam Jafar al-Sadik, who condemned this innovation and explained its inadequacy, since many of the sources in the norm of Islamic law contradict the principles of kiyas.

At the heart of these disagreements lay a fundamentally different understanding of the Islamic akida . Abu Hanifa, and after him the founders of other Sunni madhhabs , proceeded from the fact that the sources of the Sharia are not complete and there are no answers to many questions - and therefore it is necessary to use kiyas (a judgment by analogy). The Imams of Ahl al-Bayt proceeded from the fact that the Qur'an and the Sunnah laid the foundation for answering any legal questions at any time. Therefore, Shiite scholars have always rejected Ijtihad in the understanding of Sunni Fakihs , interpreted as personal opinion in the absence of Sharia rule in the Qur'an and Sunnah. But the usulites use ijtihad, understood as a deductive derivation of answers to new legal challenges and questions from sources in which all basic principles that allow such a conclusion have been voiced. Ayatollah Muhammad Bakir al-Sadr's work “The history of ilm al-usul ” is devoted to the topic of deductive Islamic conclusion using rational ( akli ) technologies.

1. Under akle as a source of law in the Jafarite madhhab, it is meant the use of rational methods in the process of deductive withdrawal of Islamic prescriptions from the Koran and Sunna.

Muhammad Bakir al-Sadr designated the combination of these methods using the term “al-idraq al-aqli”. By this he meant the intellectual comprehension of the subject on the basis of:

• empirical experience and experiment;
• self-evident truths;
• theoretical reflection. ^[7]

In his work, The History of Ilm Al-Usul, Muhammad Bakir al-Sadr listed some rational (akli) sources used in the Jafarit madhhab, namely:

• Islamic scholastic theology ( kalam );
• philosophy;
• the study of the historical context of the utterance of certain words recorded in the hadiths (and the meaning of these words in different eras was not the same) and the associated clear definition of all concepts used in hadiths and fiqh;
• intellectual reconstruction of the logic of one or another prescription, the need for which grew over time, during which many hadiths were lost;
• elements of original thinking of this or that mujtahid .

1. 3. Taking into account the circumstances of the place and time.

The hadith of Imam Jafar al-Sadik from the vault of Al-Kafi says:

In relation to fiqh, this means that a Mujtahid who makes fatwa must take into account the peculiarities of place and time, interpreting them in an intellectual way. This dimension of akl as a source of fiqh has two aspects:

• Despite the fact that the prescription itself cannot change in its essence, the realities of the place and time can leave an imprint on its specific content depending on the context. For example, the Qur'an and the Sunna commands women to wear hijab - clothes that cover the whole body, except for the face and hands. However, the style and color scheme of the hijab may vary depending on the region, folk traditions, mentality, understanding of modesty in clothing.

• Some commands and prohibitions had a certain semantic content in the era of Shiite imams, however, taking into account the realities of different eras, Shiite Mujahideen can, without encroaching on the prescription itself, rethink its specific content. An example is the fatwa on music and chess .

Despite the negative attitude towards chess and musical instruments expressed in hadiths, a number of mudhtahids (Imam Khomeini , Ayatollah Ali Khamenei , Ayatollah Makarem Shirazi , Ayatollah Ali Sistani ) decided that music is divided into permissible and forbidden, which is used at obscene parties. These Mujtahids associate their negative attitude to musical instruments with the fact that in the era of the Prophet Muhammad and the twelve imams, they were used at parties incompatible with the spirit of Islam. However, as these Mujtahids note, today historical realities have changed, and often musical instruments are used for other, not entertaining purposes.

The situation is the same with chess: if in that era they were considered a game of chance, then in our time they are classified as a sport. In this regard, the Kum Mujahtids declared them permitted, although Ayatollah Sistani continues to consider them unlawful.

All of the above is not regarded in the Jafarite madhhab as an encroachment on the Shariah norms themselves, because the Koran forbids gambling and Lyahv al-Hadith (idle talk, which is expressed in songs and music), but the specifics associated with the realities of the time and often vary from era to era.

It is with an intellectual ( akli ) analysis of the realities of place and time that the institution of margjiyat in Shiite Islam is connected: the Mujahtids of each era must formulate in a new way the invariable instructions of the Sharia, interpreting them in the spirit of a particular place and time.

Islamic philosophers could not ignore the topic of akl with their attention, since this concept, as we noted, is the cornerstone of the verses of the Qur'an and hadiths, especially Shiites. Alisher Navoi mentions the concept of Aқli Kull , which is translated as “ primary reason” or “universal mind”, meaning the limit or entelechy of reason as such ^[9] .

However, Muslim philosophers disagree on how much acl should be equated with a European understanding of rationality. In particular, they distinguish two types of akl - akl Istidl (practical reason, the standard of European rationality since the New Age ) and akl nuri (not related to the practical benefits of this world, coupled with the light of Revelation, insight leading to the comprehension of the hidden world and the knowledge of Allah )

• Kermani, Navid. Intellect (link unavailable) // Encyclopaedia of the Qurʾān .
• Ali-zade, A.A. Akl // Islamic Encyclopedic Dictionary . - M .: Ansar , 2007 .-- S. http://slovar-islam.ru/books/a.html#akl .
• M. Muhammadi Rayshahri, The Scale of Wisdom. Bilingual Edition, ICAS Press, 2009;
• Muhammad Bakir al-Sadr. The History of Ilm Al-Usul, Moscow, Istok, 2009.