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Mind and Ignorance in the Qur’an and Sunnah – Muhammad al-Rayshahri
Third:
The first meaning is the power to perceive good and evil, to distinguish between them, and to know the causes of things and similar matters; this is the basis of moral responsibility.
The second is a state or disposition that prompts one to choose good and beneficial things and to avoid evil and harmful ones.
The third is intellect in the sense of knowledge; therefore it is opposed to ignorance, not to insanity. Most of the traditions in this chapter and others are interpreted according to the second and third meanings. And God knows best.
I say: Through careful examination of the contexts in which the word ‘aql (intellect) and its synonyms are used in Islamic texts, it becomes clear that this word is sometimes used to refer to the source of human perceptions, and at other times to the result produced by those perceptions. Each of these two meanings also has various applications, including:
A. The use of “intellect” in relation to the source of perceptions
1 – The source of all human knowledge
This meaning is indicated by traditions that interpret the reality of the intellect as “light,” or consider light to be the origin of the intellect, or view it as a divine gift and the essence of the human being.
From these traditions it can be inferred that the human being possesses within his very existence a luminous energy that is like life for the soul. If this energy is allowed to grow and be refined, the human being becomes capable—through it—of perceiving the realities of existence, distinguishing between sensory and unseen truths, discerning truth from falsehood, separating good from evil, and recognizing what is sound from what is corrupt.
If this luminous power and subtle awareness are strengthened, a person can acquire perceptions beyond ordinary imagination, to the point of probing the depths of the unseen with spiritual insight, so that the unseen becomes as if witnessed. This level of intellect is what Islamic texts refer to as the degree of certainty (yaqīn).
2 – The source of thinking
Another usage of intellect in Islamic texts is to regard it as the origin of thinking. In such contexts it is defined as the source of cleverness, understanding, and memory, and its location is considered to be the brain. The Qur’anic verses and traditions that urge reflection and reasoning, as well as those that mention experiential intellect and learned intellect alongside innate and gifted intellect, are examples of this usage.
3 – The moral conscience
This is a latent power deep within the human being that urges him toward moral virtues and restrains him from vices. In other words, it is an innate attraction toward virtue and a spontaneous aversion to vice.
If a person imagines himself isolated from all beliefs, traditions, and social or religious norms, and then considers concepts such as justice and injustice, good and evil, truthfulness and lying, and keeping or breaking promises, his innate nature judges justice, goodness, truthfulness, and fidelity as beautiful, while oppression, evil, lying, and betrayal are ugly.
According to the Qur’an, this inclination toward virtue and aversion to vice is a divine inspiration, as stated in the Qur’an:
“By the soul and He who proportioned it, and inspired it with its wickedness and its piety.”
This inspiration forms the cornerstone of the cognitive gift that God has granted to humanity. Islamic texts call its principle—that subtle inner awareness that implants a tendency toward moral values—intellect, and all other moral virtues are considered its soldiers, whereas vices are regarded as the soldiers of ignorance.
A noteworthy issue
In some philosophical books there is a narration attributed to Imam Ali concerning the definition of intellect that corresponds to one of the philosophical interpretations. The text reads:
A questioner said: “My master, what is intellect?”
He (peace be upon him) said:
“The intellect is a perceiving substance encompassing things from all their aspects, knowing a thing before it comes into being; it is the cause of existents and the ultimate goal.”
Despite extensive investigation to find a source for this narration in hadith literature, no original source has been identified.