Shadee Elmasry – Faith & Reason Very Brief Summary
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The importance of the first and third rational principle in Islam is highlighted, with the third being the chain of transmission and finding a way to eliminate a certain person's existence. The speakers discuss three approaches to proving the existence of the universe, starting with knowing the creator and finding a way to eliminate their need for knowledgeable and capable minders outside of the realm of cause effect and space. The importance of shaping one's life based on what is written in front of them is emphasized.
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Okay, the next question is really good. Is Islam logical or
rational? Okay. And this is a very good question a person might ask
is Islam What is the reason rat rationality behind being a Muslim?
And the answer is as follows. That
is of the of the three religions that exist. Islam approaches the
religion well Muslims are told, right and it approaches the
religions
Deen itself in requiring of us to have certain analytical, okay?
Perspectives, an analytical takes on all matters. Okay. And from
this the Quran when it's when it asks us. All right, if you hear a
claim that Jack confessor from B, B never in front of a, you know,
in surah Taha gerat, Allah says, if someone brings you news, make
sure it's correct, right. So the first thing that we are taught as
Muslims, the first rational principle is the concept and idea
of objective proofs and evidences, right, objective proofs and
evidences. And Emanuel has that he writes a book on the three
religions. And he says, Well, what and then he begins with the
question of why should a Muslim choose Islam over Judaism or
Christianity? And his answer is, quite simply that if we are only
to accept, we are going to believe in a religion, we first have to
believe that that religion actually existed, that that book
actually existed, that that Prophet actually existed, and that
that book that we have in front of us is as the Prophet said, it was
good.
He says that this requires some chain of transmission, and that
chain of transmission does not exist for Judaism or Christianity.
Right? You cannot be certain. Right? There is absolutely no
worldly evidence of the existence of those books. So you're
following myths? You're following speculations? Alright, how so?
Step number one is that to confirm and we do affirm, and this is
going to be related to another question about Hadith, that,
historically speaking, there is plenty of evidence that someone
named Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam existed, and that the
Quran, okay, existed and has transmitted to us after all these
centuries, right, with a degree of soundness that would eliminate
doubt. Okay, upon the book that's between this. So the rule number
one, the first
point of rationality and Islam is are we certain that it existed and
therefore, when you take this approach,
you immediately eliminate anything that is really more of a
mythology, right? Where you have no actual proof that such a such a
person claimed prophecy, and then gave us this instructions on how
to live. Okay, so that's rule number one. Or principle number
one, rational principle number one is the
objective and rational requirement of proof of existence. And we
prove that number one, there was a person named Muhammad Sallallahu
Sallam number two, the Quran that we have in front of us was the
book that he
received and taught to his companions afterwards. Okay. So
that's, that's the first thing. Now the second approach to
rationality, or the rationality of Islam,
is by cornering certain situations into three possible or to two
possible choices, either an absurdity, or the truthfulness of
the Prophet salallahu idea was, okay. So let's just take for
example, the Creator. How did the universe come into existence? And
we say this many times, but people have to know it right. The first
question is, how did the universe come into existence? Why should I
believe that?
Why should I believe that? All right, we got this guy here. Let's
just get this guy out here real quick.
All right.
All right.
Alright, the first, the first question is, sorry about that. We
had some trolls we got some trolls these days. I don't know why. But
we get some trolls. The question of how did the universe come into
existence, there's only three possibilities. Two of them are
rationally impossible.
And one of them is rationally required. So the two that
irrationally impossible is that it's always existed. The universe
has always existed. It's eternal. Which basically means that
your mother brought you into the world. Her mother brought her into
the world. Her mother brought her into the world all the way into
infinite number of mothers, right? There's no end to the moms Okay,
in the world. Just
As an example, right?
The Infinity of anything in a cause and effect system, which is
this universe is an absurdity, the pre existence that is never had a
beginning is an absurdity. Okay, so it's rationally rejected is
almost like saying a domino, you hit the first domino, and then the
dominoes keeps going back for infinity. Without beginning, it's
rationally impossible and unacceptable and what they call
philosophically absurd. Number two is that the world created itself
the universe created itself. For anything to create itself, it must
take an action in order to take an action it must exist. So when
someone asked the question, could the universe have created itself,
we say to them, at a certain moment in time, that universe must
have existed and not existed at the same time. And that's an
impossibility a thing cannot exist and not exist simultaneously.
Okay, so that's the first that's the first thing. So that's number
two. Number three, is the requirement of a knowledgeable and
powerful and capable and existent maker outside of the realm of
cause effect and time and space. Okay, we don't just by thinking
about it, we won't know the makers name, we won't know His will what
he wants from us, we won't know about our own selves soul, we
won't know that there's an afterlife, just Rationally
speaking, but we will know that there is a maker that he must
exist outside of time space, cause and effect and that he is capable,
knowledgeable sees and hears, okay, so we must know that, that
at least we know, that's the maker. Now let's go to the Prophet
sallallahu alayhi wa sallam because to prove everything else
is required. It's required for us to us to prove the province lies
and because everything else about Allah subhanaw taala is known only
from Revelation. Only these attributes, very few attributes
about the maker can be known by the intellect by aka and there are
only seven and
it was Imam Razi expanded that to 13 or 14 but they're all branches
of the seven in any event, now we go to the next question is what
about the Prophet peace be upon him? So again, how what is our
approach, our approach is to corner all the possibilities right
surrounding the province, I sell them and see how was this possible
for him to bring us this book? Right? And to do what he did?
Okay, was he a poet? Did it was in the Quran is was he a poet? Was he
insane? Was he contacting jinn? Did he authored the book from
himself? Okay, etc. And then you slowly eliminate these one at a
time leaving the fact that no he actually was a prophet, and
made prophecies that came true. So the prophecies when we see that
the prophecies of the prophets I send them come true. Then we have
to ask was he guessing did he have gin? Okay, did he was he just did
you copy them from somewhere and you slowly eliminate until you
come to one there's only one option left, which is that he was
actually was a prophet and received this news directly from
Allah subhanaw taala. And once the prophets of Allah Azza wa sallam
is established, okay, his truthfulness is established, then
the rest of the Sharia is established. Okay, the rest of the
show. So, let me just summarize this question of is Islam logical
and rational? The first principle, the first principle is the
requirement that Allah expects from us that Muslims expect from
us okay, or that Muslims are expected to observe and commanded
to observe and that any rational being would observe regardless,
right, is that in order to accept something we first must know and
be certain that it existed. And Islam is the only religion on the
earth, of the major religions that has any ability to prove its
historicity, the fact that it did exist, okay with certainty that
prophet the book, right, even the Companions, there is no doubt.
Whereas if you go to Biblical Studies, if you go to Taoism, if
you go into Shintoism, all the confusions all these things, the
level is the level of myth. Historically speaking, there is no
evidence and therefore why should you base your life on something
that you don't even know really existed? Okay, so that's one
thing. So That's principle number one. Principle number two, is that
the rationality regarding the unseen matters okay, is by asking
for explanations, how do you explain this phenomenon and
therefore, eliminate you will come to eliminate one after the other
after the other until you have one left that is only possible and
therefore it becomes required. Okay. And I gave the example A
About the Creator. And I gave the example very briefly very, very
briefly about the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam number
one, the book. And number two, His prophecies. Right? Why does the
Prophet make prophecies to prove that he's a prophet? Right? So he
proves his prophecy by he proves his prophecy by
us look at these prophecies then you ask? Well, there are like
1020 3040 prophecies that are they're documented in the books
printed
and then they manifest in front of all of us. Okay, after they've
been documented by scribes, by scholars. Okay. So what are you
going to say? Are you going to say that the scribes made them up?
Nope. Right? We have manuscripts they didn't make them up after the
fact this describe the manuscripts are there. Did all these the
scholars that hadith scholars make up these prophecies? It would be
really risky to make up a prophecy about your prophet. Right?
Right. Because if it fails, your whole religion is undermined. So
they didn't make them up. Well Did the Prophet just guess and he was
right 20 and 30 times right. So what is the you eliminate all
these possibilities? And then you come to the possibility the only
rational explanation left was is that yeah, there is prophecy
prophecy exists. Okay. So that is a simple answer. Let's see what
some of the people had set to say about this.
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