 أعوذ بالله من الشيطان الرجيم بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم والصلاة والسلام على أشرف العنبياء والمرسلين نبينا وسيدنا أبل قاسم محمد وعلى أهل بيته الطيبين الطاهرين المابلومين المعصومين ولعنة الله على داحم أجمعين من الآن إلى قيام يوم الدين آمين يا رب الآلمين يجب أن نفكر أسئلة أكثر مثل ما هو my relationship to the universe ما هو the nature of man and is man good or by definition evil or maybe a bit of both ما هو the nature of God, what is my relationship with God and what is my future في حيث أن نتحدث and even contemplate all these questions there are several things I would need one of the things I would need certainly is the existence of a language أولاً ما يجب أن يجب أن نفهم and engage with that language is my intellect وقد أخبرت في أسئلة أسئلة أسئلة أسئلة أسئلة أسئلة أسئلة أسئلة أسئلة أسئلة أسئلة أسئلة أسئلة سنستطيع أن نستطيع أن نتحدث in such discussions بشكل كبير أن هذه الأسئلة ستصدر بشكل كبير Yesterday I struck the analogy one which I believe that many of us living in the capital cities of the western world can relate to The analogy in which we come across a homeless, drug abusive or either entirely drunk on alcohol type individual who comes out and maybe life has not placed him in the best of circumstances but he comes out to us and he says to us that reality is all an illusion that everybody has got it wrong but it's all a giant conspiracy that nobody really knows the truth and we can't trust our senses other than this man who has come to understand the truth He presents an image of a matrix like existence in which we can't really trust anything around us How do we engage with such an individual? What would be our reaction to his claim? I have proposed that such an individual could never be taken seriously because the only way we're able to interpret what he's telling us is through a very intellect we've been given The only way for us to even understand this conversation occurring is that we can trust our minds and as soon as someone tells you that you cannot trust your mind then you should know that that worldview is not a very sustainable or sufficient worldview I ended last night's show by quoting an argument which I myself have been quite profoundly influenced by which was designed by a Christian philosopher of the 20th century and popular writer, a professor at I believe it was Oxford or Cambridge University which university it was slips my mind at the moment, C.S. Lewis He calls this the argument against naturalism of course being the main worldview of the naturalistic materialistic atheists today and he states that he could never believe in naturalism or atheism because of one thing It undermines the very ability to trust scientific conclusions and to trust our very minds His argument goes as far as this is cited from his book Miracles Thus a strict materialism refutes itself for the reason given long ago by professor Haldane who states if my mental processes are determined wholly by the emotions of atoms in my brain I have no reason to suppose that my beliefs are true and hence I have no reason for supporting my brain to be composed of atoms Essentially his argument is as thus if materialistic naturalistic atheism is true then our brains are merely a composite of matter and atoms which move about and cause our thought processes they're entirely accidental they're not rationally driven rather they're driven physically by the movement of motions in our brains and if our brains are merely physical matter in motion with no real thought process going on because what is the concept of a thought in an entirely materialistic world then the thoughts or the intellectual conclusion that atheism is true must be wrong because if it is true then even reaching that conclusion as a mental process and as an intellectual decision would be impossible because at the end of the day you're not really choosing to make that choice so it's more like a can of soda just fizzing over and that's the conclusion of it there's no thought process involved rather there's only a physical process the point I'm trying to make here and the point which was made by this professor C.S. Lewis is that he can never trust atheism because it entirely undermines the intellect likewise we have several other quotes from numerous profound atheists which undermine the ability to reason allow me to quote a professor of the philosophy of science Patricia Churchland who states the following about the consequences of her belief in Darwinian evolution she states well down to essentials a nervous system enables the organism to succeed in the 4 Fs forgive me dear viewers she named them the 4 Fs I did not name them as such but they are feeding, fleeing, fighting and reproducing the principal chore of nervous systems is to get the body parts where they should be in order that the organism may survive improvements in sensory motor control for an evolutionary advantage a fancier style of representing is advantageous so long as it is geared to the organism's way of life and enhances the organism's chances of survival she states however truth whatever that is definitely takes the hindmost so her argument is as fast because we have evolved from a lower species evolution is concerned with survival of a fittest and yet according to her the fittest would be concerned with only 4 Fs fighting, feeding, fleeing and reproduction anything beyond these 4 Fs such as rational deduction discovering truth is not for concern of the evolutionary cycle and therefore because our mind has been crafted by the evolutionary cycle and is concerned only with the evolutionary cycle she believes that truth is not a concern or something that the human mind is directed towards and of course this heavily undermines our ability to trust our reasoning processes likewise Charles Darwin the very person who became famous for expounding and teaching the doctrine or the belief the scientific theory of Darwinian evolution he states the following with me the horrid doubt always arises whether the convictions of man's mind which has been developed from the mind of lower animals are of any value or at all trustworthy would anyone trust in the conviction of a monkey's mind if there are any convictions in such a mind so Charles Darwin also specifically states that when it comes to the ability to trust the human reasoning process it's heavily undermined by his theory because at the end of the day if we're saying that we are merely evolved in a cycle from lower species and we are distant cousins of a monkey then we don't really place much stock in the intellectual reasoning capabilities of a monkey and therefore again this is another worldview which would undermine and completely destroy one's ability to reason it's like the child that sits in the lap of his father in order to be able to slap the father in order to do so you need to sit on your father's lap but then if you say that I don't believe my father exists this is exactly what you're doing so these very individuals they come up with a theory a theory which undermines the intellect but they want to convince you of that theory rationally what we're trying to say here is any theory any worldview which does not respect the intellect is one which must be rejected and this is entirely what we've been trying to reason over the past two episodes so what is the position of the Imam what is the position of the imams of the أهل البيت when it comes to the human ability to reason and whether or not we can trust our reasoning skills this is very important for our dialogue with those other schools of thought because it becomes a key point in whether or not we can take any other worldview other than the Imam she a worldview seriously Imam الصادق عليه الصلاة والسلام when asked to define the أقل he states about the أقل ما أبدا به الرحمن و أكتسب به الجنان that the intellect is that by which Allah is worshipped and that by which the gardens of paradise are acquired now of course when he said that the gardens of paradise are acquired what he means is that through this worship which of course the أقل facilitates we will of course be able to enter جنة so this is the important and high status given to the intellect by the sixth infallible Imam Imam الصادق furthermore it is also mean stated by the messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه و آله إذا رأيتم رجل كثير الصلاة كثير السيام فلا تباه به حتى تنور كيف أقله إذا رأيتم رجل who prays heavily who fasts often then don't don't be impressed with such an individual until you test the reasoning of his أقل so this is the status given to the أقل by the Holy Prophet صلى الله عليه و آله by the sixth Imam may Allah's peace and blessings be upon all the imams and the holy prophets in fact when you come to one of the most important books of the Shi'a course which is the book أصول الكافة of ثقة الإسلام محمد بن يعقوب الكلاني a very important work and a work which probably has the main status of being the most primary source of traditions for our mafhab and for our religion this particular work when you look at the chapters involved in the divisions of the chapters of Hadith which were compiled by the great محمد بن يعقوب الكلاني الرازي may Allah's pleasure be with him and may he be elevated in his status we see that some of the earliest chapters involved in the book are all to do with the creation of the intellect and its opposition to ignorance in الكافة it is narrated from محمد بن مسلم from أبي جعفر عليه السلام أبي جعفر of course is إمام الباقر عليه السلام وفيف he states when Allah created the intellect he gave it the ability to speak then he said to it draw near and so it drew near then he said to it turn back and so it turned back and then he said to it by my might and majesty I have not created a creature more beloved to me than you and I will not perfect you except in the one I love you do I command and you do I prohibit you do I punish and you do I reward so we see that Allah أزوجل states that the most beloved of his creation are endowed with the intellectual capability and are endowed with this intellect the intellect is therefore something which has given a very very high status according to our Imam إمام الرفا عليه السلام states that the friend of every man is his intellect and his enemy is his ignorance so Allah أزوجل and the Holy Imam who of course are the spoken emissaries of Allah on the face of the earth who conveyed to us the truths about reality science, religion and what have you have all stated very firmly that we are to indeed trust our intellects we have a very interesting narration in which one of the companion states to the Imam he states to him I said to أبي الحسن عليه السلام we have a group who love you and profess a love towards you and they do not have a firm resolve in this although they profess to show you the Imam says these are not those who were admonished by Allah when Allah said so give heed all possessors of insights so again the Imam is admonishing such individuals because they're not people that utilize they're intellects the Imam also states this is of course the Imam صادق عليه السلام as is related in رجال الكشي my companions are the people of discernment that is to say people who discern rationally again used for rationality and God consciousness whoever is not from the people of discernment and God consciousness then he is not from my companions so we see not only to the Imam's place a heavy stress on the refinement and purified stature of the intellect but they've also said that whoever does not use this intellect to discern between truth and falsehood then such a person is of course not of their companions أبي هشم الجافري narrates that we were with إمام الرفا عليه السلام when he began discussing intellect and moral virtue so he said Oh Abu Hashim intellect is a free gift from Allah while virtue is an effortful acquisition whoever strives to acquire virtue is able to possess it but whoever strives to acquire intellect he achieves not that except further ignorance so we see that the imams have clearly stated that the intellect is a gift therefore an understanding such we now understand that when the intellect guides towards something then this is what the truth is and our religion is one which respects the role of intellect it does not undermine it in any way and tell you that look you can't trust your intellect because at the end of the day the intellect is the very thing which every human being is born with and it's the only real means that every human being has in order to discern the truth think to yourselves of those hypothetical analogies that most theologians have come up with in which a man is born on a desert island and does not have access to revelation indeed with our particular understanding of Islam the true and original Islam of Al-Muhammad the intellect is something that we could say is one of the only guides because we we notice that our community is particularly lacking in bringing the message to others and therefore when we fail to do so when we fail to bring them the teachings of the Ahl al-Bayh how would we expect such individuals to be guided at the very least they need to have some form of guide that will testify against themselves and upon them on the day of judgment and of course that guide would be the intellect the intellect is something that Allah has given to every human being regardless of where they are born and that intellect is something that we have to hold on to very dearly if anyone is to tell you that we should not trust our intellect then we know that such a worldview is a deficient worldview and I want you all to bear that in mind over the next few nights because we will see the very process of what I call philosophically beheading your own self by arguing in favor of a religion only to therefore undermine the role of intellect and say that we can't trust this intellect whatsoever that is that is the first alarm bell and key explanation mark that we need to see in order to know that a particular worldview is one that has to be rejected so in light of this in light of the fact that we can all trust our intellect we see that with sheism in particular this heavy emphasis on the intellect is one that must be taken pride in and one which must be understood and distinctly admitted and kind of put forward to the discussion table so whenever anyone wants to reduce a discussion with you to a textual one reject this immediately because we're not blind textualists we're people that have been endowed with an intellect and our imams have approved the intellect as a distinct source of knowledge giving this primary seat of the intellect allows one to engage in any discussion with anyone because if you can trust this intellect which Allah has given us all then certainly we can trust our minds to be able to discern between truth and falsehoods but those who claim that they can't trust the intellect people like Patricia Churchlands people like Charles Darwin those who have stated that the intellect cannot be trusted what are the consequences of such a claim surely in claiming such they have basically undermined any ability to have any discussion whatsoever now as we shall see in the next few nights in shah al ta'ala it is not merely Charles Darwin it is not merely Patricia Churchlands who have undermined this ability there are certain schools in Islam where likewise they would have you believe but you cannot truly understand things of religion that you cannot trust your intellect to discern between truth and falsehood when it comes to religious doctrines note I'm stating clearly that there's a difference between doctrines and jurisprudence no one is claiming no one is claiming that we can trust our intellects for discerning jurisprudence but when it comes to doctrines we need to know whether or not we can trust our intellects for those of you that want to claim that no we don't trust our intellects we trust the Quran and the Sunnah what about those who were not born onto the Quran and the Sunnah what about those who were not born into a religion which follows your Qitaab and your Sunnah what about those who now have come to Islam and want to understand what is the real understanding of the Qitaab and the Sunnah are you going to tell them what my scholars say are you going to undermine the intellect of someone that has made this search made this journey and try to hijack that beautiful mind of theirs that intellect that Allah has given them and try to say that look I'm going to go with the Ijma of my scholars I'm going to go with the Ijma of my scholars and I don't respect your intellect because you are a limited human being why didn't you treat them that way when they were coming out of religion that they were following previously why didn't you tell them that you know what you don't need to trust your intellect because these are all key questions that we're going to be asking over the next few nights because it is of the most important topic that we understand all of this that we understand that the intellect has a very key role in everything to do with religion brothers and sisters I apologize for tediously talking about this same issue that Ijma Ijma Ijma Ijma Ijma but it's key for us to understand in order to understand this discussion may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon you all السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته