A note by Muhammad Fanaei Eshkevari:

Islamization Can Act as the Injection of Wisdom Spirit into Sciences

Injection of the spirit of wisdom into the sciences can be a true meaning of Islamization. If  sciences are regarded as a subcategory of wisdom, it neither negates the experimental method nor means putting the technology aside or returning to the ancient time.

News ID: 446699

Date: 23 August 2019 - 20:14

The professor of philosophy and adaptive mysticism, Muhammad Fanaei Eshkevari, through a note, deals with dealt with the following question: what is wisdom? Is it the same as philosophy? Whether is every philosopher wise? Whether is wisdom the same as knowledge? How wisdom can be acquired? What is the impact of wisdom on the individual and societal personality and life of the man? What is the effect of wisdom on the human sciences and knowledge?

Wisdom (Hikma) is not the same as philosophy, philosophy is the theoretical reasoning. The philosophy of Aristotle and Kunt are two examples in this regard. Wisdom or being wise has the dimension of theoretical reasoning, yet, it has two other aspects: benefiting from the Heavenly Revelation and enjoyment of intuition. The reasoning of the wise man allows him to be informed of the restrictions of the ration and the need for having recourse to the right religion. In addition to the employment of the ration and following the path of truth-seeking, the wise man is illuminated by the rich source of prophecy and sits at the table of the Heavenly scriptures. The wise man who believes in the final Prophet devotes himself to the holy Quran and Tradition and catches gems in the vast ocean of the prophetic wisdom and Imamt’s sea.

He corrects and completes his ration with the teachings provided through the Heavenly revelation, and as a result, his wisdom is deepened and broadened. If he is studious and lucky, he won’t be confined to surface of the religion, yet instead, he purifies his self so that his intuition is awakened letting him see what is not visible; in this situation, he becomes truly wise and speaks tactfully. The wise is the one who employs all the intellectual sources of knowledge and follows the routes ending in such sources. In addition, the wise man is not confined to the acquisition of knowledge, yet, he steps towards the existential and true perfection through his conducts and behaviour. Principally, such wisdom is acquirable only through such a virtuous manner.

Knowledge and practice are two inseparable limbs letting the wise man fly. The true wise man (al-Hakim) is Heaven; if wisdom is associated with a creature, it is figurative and a simile to the Absolutely Wise (Lord). The wise man is linked to the source of the Heavenly wisdom. The knowledge of God, affection towards Him, obedience to Him, and doing the best for God in order to get close to Him are all that occupy the wise man. Whatever he does is honestly for Heaven. He has one Lord who is Heaven, moreover, he firmly believes in Tawhid. Similar to Ibrahim, the Prophet, he says,  “My prayer and my worship, and my life and my death, are devoted to God, the Lord of the Worlds. No associate has He. Thus I am commanded, and I am the first of those who submit. Say, “Am I to seek a Lord other than God”.” (al-Anaam Surah, Verses no. 162-164). It is the wisdom God bestowed upon Luqman. “We endowed Luqman with wisdom” (Luqman Surah, Verse no. 12). It is similar to Luqman’s wisdom, due to Luqman Surah, on which he recommended his son. The original teacher/bestower of wisdom is God who has taught it through Anbiaa Surah. “We have given the family of Abraham the Book and wisdom, and We have given them a great kingdom.” (an-Nisa Surah, Verse no. 54). Among the men, prophets are the first teachers who taught wisdom to people. “God has blessed the believers, as He raised up among them a messenger from among themselves, who recites to them His revelations, and purifies them, and teaches them the Scripture and wisdom; although before that they were in evident error.” (Al Imran Surah, Verse no. 164). Following the prophets, true scholars are their true heirs who teach wisdom.

Therefore, all teachers or experts in the fields of philosophy and seminary or academic sciences are not wise; wisdom is a Heavenly blessing bestowed upon the qualified people by Heaven. The Heavenly words refer to wisdom as the abundance of benefits (much good). “He gives wisdom to whom He wills, and whoever has been given wisdom has certainly been given much good. And none will remember except those of understanding.” (Baqara Surah, Verse no. 296) Wisdom is prominence, and the truly wise people are the outstanding ones who own wisdom and ration, moreover, the chief concerns of the wise ones are contemplation over the creation, remembering God, talking to Him and founding the life on the Heavenly wisdom. “Indeed, in the creation of the heavens and the earth and the alternation of the night and the day are signs for those of understanding. Who remember Allah while standing or sitting or [lying] on their sides and give thought to the creation of the heavens and the earth, [saying], "Our Lord, You did not create this aimlessly; exalted are You [above such a thing]; then protect us from the punishment of the Fire.” (Al Imran Surah, Verses no. 191-192)

Wisdom has also been described as the technique of living a virtuous life that is based on belief and faith, orientation and good deeds. The combination of knowledge and virtue produces the fruit of wisdom. It is fundamentally different from other related concepts. Some of these concepts are associated with the intellectual dimension; some are related to the orientation aspect and a group pertain to practical and behavioural dimension. Although knowledge requires a kind of orientation and practice or a knowledge-based orientation and needs an action originating from knowledge and tendency, in each concept a theoretical, attitudinal or practical load prevails. As an instance, concepts such as knowledge, affection, and justice each appertain to one of the mentioned three areas, however, the concept of wisdom encompasses them all and is the combination of them. The wise man understands issues both properly and accurately, both owns superior attitudes and performs virtuous deeds. And the absence of any of the mentioned data-x-items renders the man unwise.

Wisdom refers to the premier comprehensiveness and solidarity of the personality. In addition, wisdom also has an aesthetic aspect, as beauty isn’t separate from the truth and beneficence of God. For wisdom is associated with the right, it encompasses the true beneficence and beauty together. The wise man seeks, observes and creates beauties, and it is the essence of the Heavenly art. When art is mingled with wisdom, it stands against debauchery and becomes rightly pure.

The true wisdom has some different levels/degrees, thereby, the wisdom guarantees the supreme element of the faith. The faith is the belief, approval and adherence to the right religion. Wisdom without faith is not complete and it is not’ indeed wisdom. At this level, wisdom guarantees living a faithful life. Prophecy and guardianship are the zenith of human beings’ wisdom. However, the absolutely wise one is God, the Sublime. As wisdom has been interpreted as philosophy, knowledge, understanding, mysticism, tact, stable working, knowledge together with practice, advice, justice, moderation, interpretation, Quran, prophecy and etc., some have considered “wisdom” as a single term having different meaning; however, it isn’t so! In fact, wisdom is an umbrella term covering all these levels and meaning. Wisdom requires the appropriate thought, words, intention, decision and the right and stable practice.

Wisdom covers all the individual and societal dimensions of man’s life, it modifies them and requires the man to live a wise life; and if the wise men rule the state, the government will become wise; however, in this regard, the thoroughgoing meaning of the wisdom should be distinguished from its secular sene. The wise policy is based on ration, foresight, virtue, faith, benevolence and affection. The concern of the wise government is the establishment of social justice and preparation of the ground for people to attain perfection and felicity. The wisdom, which is composed of rationalism and religious belief, is comprehensive encompassing the morality, faith and mysticism. A life devoid of wisdom is base, a city empty of wisdom isn’t utopia, and an unwise ruler is unqualified for the position of heading the society.

When knowledge is mingled with wisdom, the aforesaid end will be met; however, when there is a gap between these two items, the former will be like a corpse without spirit. The material and secular knowledge is devoid of wisdom. The correction and promotion of sciences depend on the injection of wisdom to them. The superior science/knowledge is the one into which the spirit of wisdom is injected. In rational and spiritual terms, material sciences/knowledge is deficient and incomplete. For the materialists and seculars, science is lowered to the level of a tool employed for the life and the satisfaction of passions and desires, though man needs some devices provided by the sciences. But what becomes troublesome here is lowering sciences to the said level. According to the wise science, the science is illumination that lightens the path ending in perfection and felicity, and the capabilities/abilities driven from sciences provide the devices and tools the man needs for his life.

Injection of the spirit of wisdom into the body of sciences can be a properly reliable meaning of Islamisation. Determining sciences as a subcategory fulling under wisdom doesn’t negate experimental sciences or put technology aside in order to return the man to the ancient time, moreover, it is not to extract all sciences from religious resources or derive them from philosophy. Rendering sciences wise requires the employment of all routes and sources of knowledge, strategic and systematic integration of sciences and knowledge and application of them for meeting good purposes and attaining the true felicity of the man. Such sciences, preserving their reliable method, are linked to the Heavenly metaphysical dimension and the Heavenly revelation, they resolve the problems the man faces in his individual and societal lives. When wisdom is injected to the body of natural and human sciences and to the scholars, such sciences are mingled with illumination and fall under the umbrella of wisdom.

A wise science values experiment in its own place, however, it negates the monopolism of experiments. Ration, sense, experiment, revelation and intuition together cooperate in the foundation of man’s knowledge structure on wisdom, and some different rational, narrative, experimental and intuitive materials are properly used in this regard. The whole structure, design and form of man’s knowledge are rationalistic. As the eventual aim of wisdom is to help man reach perfection and attain felicity, and as it directs the knowledge and practice of the man into the said aims [and not towards the wrong mundane desires and ambitions], within the system of wisdom and whatever is originated from it or appertaining to it, such as technology, production, consumption, services and management, they all are rationally organised in order to fulfil the Heavenly determined aim and attain felicity for the man, and as a result, the individual and society will earn an abundance of profits.

The End

Persian Source: Mehr News Agency

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