TürkçeFAITH AND KNOWLEDGE: A Philosophical Analysis
Alparslan AÇIKGENÇ*
The explanation that best expresses the relationship between knowledge and belief can be as follows: ‘There is no belief without knowledge; there is no knowledge without faith.’ This explanation expresses the vicious cycle, which is a logical dilemma that we encounter frequently. If both things do not have one without the other, then which comes first? If there cannot be no belief without knowledge, there must be knowledge, but knowledge cannot be without belief; then neither knowledge nor belief will exist. Vicious cycles are valid in an abstract sense, that is, they are theoretically valid, but when we put them into practice, knowledge and belief exist. That is to say, there is no vicious cycle in the field of action, that is, in the environment of action. In fact, what is expressed here stems from an important difference between the absence of knowledge without belief and the absence of belief without knowledge. To illustrate the difference, let us first explain the notion that belief cannot appear without knowledge. Impossibility here indicates an absence / non-existence. In other words, it is impossible to have faith in a situation where knowledge does not exist. For example, if someone were to tell us, there is a city called Paris. For us to believe this, we need to learn a little about Paris. How can we believe without knowing? In this case, we try to obtain information about Paris; if we have never heard of it before and we do not know the city, we try to learn what a city is and how it is. Then we try to find out what Paris is, where it is and whether people actually live there, are there buildings and other structures that should be in cities. After gaining a certain amount of knowledge, we begin to believe whether a city called Paris really exists or not. This is true for any faith. A stock of knowledge leads us to acquire a belief as required by that knowledge.
As for the fixation "No knowledge without belief," we need to understand that this is something very different from the previous point. Because if I have knowledge, I can produce new knowledge as we have it. However, this is not always possible. No matter how much knowledge you have, especially on very complex and difficult subjects, you can get an idea after a while, but you cannot be sure whether it is correct or not. What can you do in this situation? The most logical way to do would be to "believe" in the correctness of your last idea. This is where faith comes into play. Faith is needed for knowledge to move forward. However, after a certain period of time, it may turn out that that belief is not true as an idea or as a scientific theory, in which case you have to give up that belief and continue on the road, by producing a new idea and believing it, and proceeding until you find the truth. If attention is paid in this case, the need of knowledge for belief does not arise from "absence". In other words, if there is no belief, it does not mean that there is no knowledge. On the other hand, the absence of belief without knowledge comes from absence; That is, if there is no knowledge, there is no belief. This issue undoubtedly carries knowledge to a more important position. However, we can gather belief in two different classes here: everyday beliefs and religious beliefs. Everyday beliefs are very diverse and a separate study is necessary to mediate on them, and it is even possible to consider scientific beliefs in this context. However, we can gather religious beliefs under the concept of "faith".
According to Taftazani, "faith is to confirm what the Messenger of Allah brought from Allah, to confirm with his whole heart the necessity of Allah's Messenger and the necessity that he brought from Allah the Almighty."(¹)
¹ Sa'düddin et-Taftazanî, Şerhu'l-Akaid, translation and explanation Talha Hakan Alp (Istanbul: Marmara University Faculty of Theology Foundation Publications, 2017), 266, Arabic original same work, p. 83.
According to the explanations given here, they state that the dictionary meaning of the word "faith" means "confirm." Accordingly, belief is essentially a confirmation. However, as far as it is understood, affirmation is only saying it with the tongue. In other words, it means "I have confirmed, I have accepted", in other words, "I have believed". But is faith merely speaking with tongue? A person may say that he believes, but may not accept it in his heart. In this case, it is necessary to confess with the heart, that is, to confirm the belief with a conscious mind. However, this also comes with knowledge. Having of this contact is necessary in a way. In the definition of belief, that is, belief, two more concepts are religiously important: Unfortunately, the concepts of "zarurat-ı diniyye" (religious believing creeds) and "mücmelen" (in summary, (concisely) used in the expression "to confirm the condition of religion with one's heart", unfortunately, may not be understood by our young people today because they were not brought up with Islamic education. First of all, "faith creeds," revealed through the revelation and obligatory in terms of belief and practice, is the basic principles such as belief in Oneness of God, Angels, the Last Day, Books and Prophets, and the Islamic practicing conditions such as prayer, fasting, pilgrimage, zakat, avoiding harams, not telling lies, etc. In Turkish, we can briefly call these "religious practicing obligations." On the other hand, the concept of "mücmelen" (concisely) is said to be sufficient for faith to have general knowledge on these issues. But of course, this kind of faith cannot be effective. The belief obtained with more detailed information is defined as "detailed faith". On the other hand, since belief does not have the feature of being more or less, they ruled that "belief does not increase or decrease in essence." As such, the only difference between ijmali (in summary, (concisely) and tafsili (detailed) faith is "knowledge". Because there is no difference between them in terms of density.
According to Bediuzzaman, "faith is a light that describes the essential religion conveyed by the Messenger of Allah, and is a light that results from concisely confirming the non-essentials.”(²)
² Bediuzzaman Said Nursi, İşarâtu'l-İ'câz fî Mazânni'l-Îcâz, translated by Abdulmecid Nursi (Ankara: Türkiye Religious Affairs (DİB) Publications, 2015), 156, the next reference is here too.
An important difference that comes to the fore here between icmali (concisely) and tafsili (detailed) is the practice of belief. This is so important that belief makes a person human and gives him his true personality, because the purpose for which he was created requires it. However, where action combines belief with knowledge, it requires knowing religious obligations "in detail", that is, in all their details. That's why Nursi clarified this a little more and pointed out as follows: In that case, faith is a light and a light bestowed on humanity by Allah, which completely illuminates the conscience of a person. “And in this way, a familiarity with the whole universe, a security emerges and creates an acquaintance with everything. And such a spiritual force arises in the heart of man that with that strength man can resist every calamity and every event. And it gives such a size and breadth that a person can swallow past and future times with that size. And likewise, faith is a light bestowed from the Eternal Shams, as well as a radiance from the eternal bliss. And with that radiance, the seeds of all his ambitions and talents in his conscience begin to grow like a genealogy, he moves towards his eternal homeland and goes away.”
A full understanding of the Islamic worldview, that is, the conception of the world, depends on knowledge. Faith, on the other hand, is undoubtedly related to this worldview if we express it with today's philosophical concept. In this respect, "science", an encompassing concept of the Qur'an, has a vital importance in the conception of the world. Maybe the network of conceptual networks can be expressed as science (knowledge)-belief-action. For this reason, the concept of science, which the Qur'an treats sensitively, has been included in the Islamic worldview as a basic doctrinal element. For the same reason, Muslims also focused on the concept of science, and a very rich teaching of knowledge was formed in the Islamic civilization and led to the emergence of a tremendous knowledge tradition in our civilization. Let us consider this in terms of the triad of knowledge, belief and action and the basic sources of Islam.
The basic meaning of the word science in the Qur'an is "knowledge", which is the general meaning in the dictionary, or "to know" if we take it as a verb. However, a more specific meaning based on this meaning is presented as a technical term in the Qur'an, in which "knowledge" means knowledge that comes only through revelation. Let's start with the dictionary meaning of "knowing" in the following verses:
“(O our Lord!) We have no knowledge other than what You teach” (2/Baqara, 32); "Allah increased his (Talut's) knowledge and power" (2/Baqara, 247); “Are those who know and those who do not know the same?” (39/Zumer, 9). On the other hand, our Prophet; It is commanded to pray, "My Lord, increase my knowledge" (20/Taha, 114); "(Qarun): He said, 'I have acquired this wealth with my own knowledge'" (28/ Kasas, 78). (See also these verses. 31/Lokman, 34; 38/Sad, 69; 41/Fussilet, 47; 43/Zuhruf, 20, 85; 44/Duhan, 32; 45/Casiye, 24; 53/Necm, 28, etc.)
However, in many other verses, we see that the word ‘knowledge’ is not used in a dictionary meaning: "I swear that after knowledge has been sent to you, if you follow their desires, Allah will not supply you a friend or a helper" (2/Baqara, 120). Since it is a revelation sent to the Prophet, the knowledge here must be a revelation as in the following verses:
Whoever struggles with you after knowledge has come, say to him... (3/Al-i Imran, 61)
We have sent down the Qur'an, full of wisdom, to you in Arabic, just as we have sent down our books to the previous Prophets in their own language. If you follow the desires of those who do not believe even though knowledge has been sent to you, you will have neither a friend nor a protector before Allah. (13/Ra'd, 37)
In these verses, the concept of ‘knowledge’ is used in the sense of revelation, so the knowledge is considered as 'absolute knowledge'. However, the usage in these verses is of particular importance; that is, as it is understood from the expression (mâ câeke min el-‘ilm), the Qur'an is not the whole of knowledge, since such expressions quite clearly say 'after being sent from knowledge'; to put it more clearly, the letter min (Words that do not make sense on their own, but add meaning when included in the noun) requires the meaning of 'after some knowledge has been sent'. This interpretation arouses the idea that science is used to point to the knowledge of Allah. As a matter of fact, verse 11/Hud, 14 supports this interpretation: "This Qur'an was revealed only with the knowledge of Allah." However, the usage in some other verses shows that the knowledge in the sense of Allah's knowledge and the knowledge sent to the Prophet by revelation from the knowledge of Allah are different from each other; (As in 27/An-Naml, 15: “Truly, We gave knowledge to David and Solomon.” Whether it is the information sent to the prophets by revelation or the absolute knowledge of Allah, which is in the presence of Allah by not being sent to the prophets, since these are all knowledge God has, we can deduce from all these verses that the Qur'an uses the concept of knowledge to a large extent in the sense of 'revealed knowledge'. However, an important point that we should pay attention to here is that the concept of knowledge is mentioned as el-'ilm, whenever it is used in this sense, by being described with the definite article. On the other hand, there are verses that clearly show that science and revealed knowledge are not used in the same sense:
Surely, we have brought them a book that we have explained with knowledge, as a guide and a source of mercy for a people who believe. (7/A'raf, 52).
Therefore, we can say that the concept of knowledge (ilm) is used in four senses in the Qur'an:
1. In the dictionary sense;
2. In the sense of Allah's knowledge;
3. In the sense of the knowledge brought by the revelation;
4. In the sense of a belief that a believer obtains with the help of revelation.
In addition to these, we can say that the Qur'an qualifies knowledge. If we do not understand or ignore how knowledge is characterized in terms of the Qur'an, we are in danger of losing the Qur'an's main goal. As a matter of fact, it is this characterization that connects knowledge with belief and transforms it into action because both the Qur'an and the hadith attach great importance to knowledge. However, the Qur'an elaborates that the important information should be characterized with a certain feature. By saying, "The ones who respect Allah most among His servants are the scholars" (35/Fatir, 28), the Qur'an not only emphasizes the importance of knowledge, but also determines the highest level that must be reached for scholars. Demonstrating the value of knowledge as knowledge most clearly; “Are those who know and those who do not know the same?” (39/Zumer, 9) verse, in our opinion, indicates a kind of knowledge. On the other hand, our Prophet; It is commanded to pray, "My Lord, increase my knowledge" (20/Taha, 114). As in these verses, it is possible to indirectly point out the importance of knowledge from many other verses (for example, see 3/Al-i Imran, 18; 4/Nisa, 157; 6/En'am, 119, 140–144; 16/Nahl, 25; 31/Lokman, 20; etc.).
The hadiths emphasizing the importance of knowledge are also large in number. If we look at only a few of them, we will see that "the decrease in knowledge (ilm) and the increase in ignorance" are stated as a sign to the end of the world (ashrâtu's-sa'e) in Bukhari.(³). In addition, our Prophet says: "...When there is no scholar left, people choose ignorant people as their rulers (ru'esa). When they are asked about something, they answer even though they do not have knowledge; Thus, they both mislead themselves and people.(4).” Again, in many hadith books, it is reported that our Prophet said:
Angels open their wings to those who seek knowledge (ilm) because they are satisfied with what they are doing. Everything in the earth and sky, even the fish in the sea, pray for the scholar. The superiority of the scholar over a worshiper is like the superiority of the Moon over the other stars (with its light). Scholars are the heirs of the prophets. Because prophets inherit not money and property, but knowledge. Let him who wishes to attain it, pursue it with great satisfaction.(5).
(³) Buharî, “Kitabu’l-İlm”, 71, 72.
(4) Buharî, “Kitabu’l-İlm”, 86.
(5) Ebu Dâvud, “İlm”, 1; Tirmizî, “İlm”, 19; Neseî, “Tahâre”, 112; İbn Mâce, “Mukaddime”, 17; Ahmed İbn Hanbel, IV, 239, 241; V, 196.
Although there is no "Kitabu'l-Ilm" section in Ibn Majah's book Sunan, we come across a very important hadith on this subject: "The pursuit of knowledge is obligatory for every Muslim.(6)” The relationship between revelation and knowledge is also very strong in hadiths. For this reason, our early scholars often understood the knowledge of hadith when knowledge was mentioned. This fact is clearly demonstrated in the "Kitabu'l-Ilm" chapters of our hadith books. In fact, religion, which has the wider scope of revelation, has been brought to the attention of Muslims within the unity of knowledge-revelation in the following hadith: "Whoever Allah wishes good for, he makes him knowledgeable in religion (yufakihhu fi'd-din)."(7)”
(6) İbn Mâce, “Mukaddime”, 17, 224; I, 81 (Egypt, 1952) For other narrations, see Kenzu’l-Ümmâl, X, 131; 28651–28654.
(7) Buharî, “Kitabu’l-İlm”, 64.
In this case, we can interpret the Qur'an's putting knowledge and revelation in the same context as follows: Revelation permeates knowledge and illuminates it, thus making it a reality. This is how the dimension of faith that revelation brings to knowledge manifests itself. The attitude gained by the scholar in the relationship of revelation-faith-knowledge is very different from the attitude obtained in the name of impartiality and objectivity, which recommends being indifferent to knowledge. Because the attitude that emerges from the relationship between this person and the knowledge he has obtained is a very special situation that we can call "enlightened knowledge." In such a case, the information does not remain in the general sense, but is qualified. This qualified knowledge, which we can call "enlightened knowledge", is not only a mental state fused with the Absolute Knowledge of Allah that came with revelation, but also an experiential level of existence dependent on the practice reflected on behaviors and experiences. That is why a Muslim scholar cannot remain indifferent to his knowledge; On the contrary, it is his duty to act with his knowledge and to pursue the knowledge that is a necessity of his knowledge and that needs to be acted upon.
Enlightened knowledge is the knowledge that the revelation penetrates with faith, and in the Islamic framework, this is a level that all kinds of knowledge must reach. The opposite of this knowledge is ignorance; No matter how knowledgeable a person is, if he does not reach this knowledge level, his knowledge is synonymous with ignorance and is harmful to humanity:
Indeed, many, without their knowledge, follow their whims and lead people astray from the right path. (6/An'am, 119)
The ignorant people who kill their children foolishly, and those who slander Allah and make the food He has given them unlawful, are certainly in loss. (6/An'am, 140)
Who can be more unjust than the ignorant, who invent lies against Allah to mislead people? (6/An'am, 144).
Considering the moral context in these verses, what is meant by "without knowledge " (bi-gayri ilm) or "ignorant" is not that these people have no knowledge at all, but that their knowledge has not been enlightened by faith and revelation. Because it is understood that the people discussed in the context of the verses are very knowledgeable people. Then these are people who have not reached the level of enlightened knowledge. That is to say, in the Islamic framework, "ignorant" is not only someone who is ignorant, but also someone who has knowledge and cannot adopt revelation through faith. It is understood from this that enlightened knowledge can only be reached piecemeal and incompletely without revelation; This is not what Islam desires. Because revelation is not only an aspect that characterizes knowledge, but also a knowledge itself. In particular, many subjects such as the existence of Allah, His essence, the Hereafter, the nature of revelation, and human freedom, which the Qur'an calls "unseen", can only be understood through revelation. Then their knowledge is a revelation; This shows that revelation also contains knowledge.
It is understood from this that the characterization of science actually brings an ethical dimension. This dimension has been more elaborated in the sources, thus awakening an Islamic knowledge mentality in the minds of Muslims. For example, in a hadith dealing with this moral dimension, it is said: "Whoever teaches knowledge to an unworthy person, it is as if he puts a necklace made of precious stones, gold and emeralds on a pig.(8).” Apart from this, our Prophet said, "O Lord! It is reported that he prayed "I seek refuge in you from useless knowledge (9). That is, knowledge that has not been enlightened by revelation brings harm to humanity instead of benefit. Again, it is understood from this that if knowledge is indifferent to life and not qualified, it is not considered important in the Islamic framework. Let us reiterate, however, that all these useless warnings of knowledge should be drawn to the human side, since characterization is essentially a moral dimension because it is human beings who produce useless information. However, this feature cannot be found in the knowledge revealed by the revelation. Because the knowledge that comes in this way is enlightened in itself. We can also cite the following hadith emphasizing this moral aspect: "He who seeks knowledge for a worldly purpose goes to Hell. (10).” In that case, enlightened knowledge basically reveals an attitude that should be adopted in knowledge. These cornerstones of the Islamic tradition of knowledge put the knowledge-belief couple into practice, which we call ‘deed.’ In other words, the value of knowledge without faith is reserved for this temporary material realm, and it is clear that faith without action will not bring much benefit to man, it stands before us as the most basic understanding of the Islamic knowledge tradition.
(8) İbn Mâce, “Mukaddime”, 17, 224; I, 81 (Egypt, 1952) For other narrations, see Kenzu’l-Ümmâl, X, 131; 28651-28654.
(9) Muslim, "Kitabu'z-Zikr", 73; Abu Dawud, “Vitr”, 32; Tirmidhi, “Daavât”, 68; Nesai, "Istiaze", 13, 18, 21, 64; Ibn Mace, “Mukaddime”, 23; “Dua”, 2, 3; Ahmad Ibn Hanbal, II, 168, 198, 340, 365, 451; III, 192, 255, 283; IV, 371, 381.
(10) Kenzu’l-Ummâl, X, 196; 29034.
* Prof. Dr. Alparslan AÇIKGENÇ
Honorary Member of the Turkish Academy of Sciences
Üsküdar University (Retired Lecturer)
İbn Haldun Üniversitesi, Istanbul