Intellect- A Tool for conceiving The Creator

THE USE OF AQ'L TO CONCEIVE GOD- THE STORY OF HA'YY BIN YAQZAN.

The use of Aq'l in Islam reached its peak with the advent of Muta'zila and their endorsement by many Abbasid kings. Their core doctrine revolved around their understanding that the Aq'l is infallible (but its usage, limit and understanding can differ from person to person). They used to deny the verses of Quran, The Sunnah and the Mutawatir Hadith if they oppose their "Aq'l" and went astray. (The Maturidi creed advocates rejection of an Ahad- Singularly narrated hadith outright if it goes against a verse of the Quran, the established Sunnah and the Aq'l which is acceptable and practiced my many Fuqaha of Ahlus Sunnah).

The Hanafi school of Jurisprudence are close to Muta'zila in the usage of the intellect (although the later was a school of theology) to understand Divine revelation and laws set by the Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) Himself. One of the famous example where the limit for using the intellect was given by the founder of the school himself. It was written by Mullah Ali Qari (d.1024) in his Sharah Fiqh Al Akbar that Imam Abu Hanifa said, "Intellect is also a tool to know and believe in Oneness of God". i.e Even if there was no Prophet sent towards a civilization, then too it was necessary for them to have At Tawhid using consciousness, observation, reflection and Intellect as a tool".[1] The Maturidi theologians closely follow Imam Abu Hanifa in this. 

➧Scan from Sharah Fiqh Al Akbar.

This article is written particularly to recount the story of Ha'yy bin Yaqzan which was originally written by a 5th Century AH Philosopher Ibn Tufayl (d.581H) in His Risala Ha'yy bin Yaqzan to construct a template for the people to use intellect as a source of knowledge. 


"It is actually a tale of two islands rather than the story of a child per se. One island is uninhabited, yet on this island a child appears spontaneously. The child is Hayy b. Yaqzan, Living son of the one who is awake.[2] He is suckled by a gazelle, and on the death of his mother is left to his own resources. Hayy grows up without human intervention in complete isolation, His innate intelligence develops gradually. Through seven successive stages, and over a period of seven years, he relives what is essentially the evolution of humankind: he discovers fire, develops tools, domesticates animals, contemplates the stars, and forms a notion of the universe through ceaseless observation (bah'th) and reflection (naz'ar). Then he enters the realm of metaphysics and proves for himself the existence of an all-powerful Creator. Ultimately, without either prophetic aid or revelation, he achieves the utmost fullness of knowledge and contentment in mystical union with God. 

At this stage of his development, while he is as yet unaware of the existence of another island or indeed, of the human race, he is amazed one day to discover, walking on his very own island, a creature shaped like himself. This man is named Absal, and he has just arrived from the neighboring island- an inhabited and civilized place where the king Salaman reigns, and where life is regulated by a system of rewards and punishments dictated by conventional religion. Absal represents the archetype of rationalist thought, and is dedicated to speculative theology- a mutakallim. Salaman is the archetype of a Maliki jurist (faqih). By contrast, Absal is much more anxious to delve into esoteric concerns (bat'in), to discover the mystical dimension of things (al-ma‘ani al-ruha'niya), and to fathom their allegorical interpretation (ta’wil). In short, he is naturally predisposed to constant cogitation (fikr), incessant reflection (ta’ammul ), and the search for the deeper meaning of things. He is prepared to bring the fruits of rational speculation (ma‘qul) to bear on matters already addressed by doctrines handed down on past authority (manqul). However, prior to his meeting with Hayy, he had constantly struggled with unresolved problems and difficulties.[3] Absal had reached a higher level of self-discipline than his compatriots, and believed that asceticism and solitude would help him to realise his highest spiritual ambitions. He had therefore renounced the world and had come to end his days on this little island, which he had thought to be uninhabited. 

Absal teaches Hayy conventional language and is astonished to discover that through direct intuitive experience, Hayy already knows everything that Absal had discovered to be true through his religion (shari‘a). As soon as Hayy learns about the condition of the people on the other island from Absal, he is moved with compassion and determines to seek them out and offer them the benefits of his knowledge. Accordingly,the two friends set out together, with Absal acting as an intermediary for his friend.[4] However, they fail in their pedagogic mission because Hayy’s exposition of the truth is far above the heads of his audience, who regard it with suspicion as a dangerous innovation. Salaman, the ruler of the island, along with his people, find Hayy’s teachings to be beyond their customary framework of expectations, it threatens their way of life. Enslaved by the hereditary chains of the five senses, their intelligence (‘aql) can only respond to concrete imagery (za'hir) while their moral nature is in most cases stimulated by nothing higher than the promise of rewards and the threat of punishments. Hayy soon sees enough to convince him that the life that this island’s people lead following Prophet Muhammad’s (Peace Be Upon Him) teachings, as expressed in the Qur’an, is the only effective method in their case. He respectfully apologises to them for his intrusions, and is content to see them remain faithful to the religion of their fathers. He then returns with his friend Absal to the uninhabited island.[5]. Throughout the tale Hayy’s quest is always on behalf of the truth: he is constantly willing to seek out the truth about things.

[1] Sharah Fiqh Al Akbar by Mullah Ali Qari (He Quoted it from Hakeem Al Shahid d.334H).

[2] Another version of the story tells that Hayy floats towards the island in a box which was sent out by his mother- a remote allusion to the fate of Moses in the Qur’an (Q. 20:38-40).On the history of different versions of the story of Hayy, see A-M. Goichon‚ Hayy b.Yakzan, EI ², III, p. 330-34.

[3]Ibn Tufayl, Risala Hayy bin Yaqzan, Pg 144. The edition used here is Risala Hayy bin Yaqzan, ed. Léon Gauthier, reprint of the Edition Beirut 1936 by Fuat Sezgin (Frankfurt: Ma‘had Tarikh al-‘Ulum al-‘Arabiyya wa’l-Islamiyya, 1999)

[4]Ibn Tufayl, Risala Hayy bin Yaqzan, Pg 144-146

[5]]Ibn Tufayl, Risala Hayy bin Yaqzan, Pg 147-155.

→Note: The above commentary of the story is taken from the Thesis, "The development of dialectic and argumentation theory in post-classical Islamic intellectual history by Mehmet Kadri Karabela.