Can Intellect Be Used in Religion?

Question

Can intellect be used in religion? Some people quote Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) saying: 'If religion were by intellect, then wiping under the foot would be more appropriate than wiping over it.'

Maulana Wahiduddin Khan · Accepted Answer

Maulana, agla sawal hai Umarabad se Maulana Fard Ahmed sahib ka. unhon ne likha hai: "Deen mein aql ka istemal kiya ja sakta hai ya nahi? Kuch log yeh kehte hain ke Hazrat Ali ne farmaya: agar deen aql se hota to paon ke neeche ka masah hota, ooper ka nahi." Is ke baray mein batayen. nahi, woh Hazrat Ali ke qoul ke alag alag mani mein hai. aql to Quran Majeed mein, yani bar bar istemal hua hai. yani, yani aql jo hai, Quran mein bar bar, yani is woh aadmi ko ubhara gaya hai ke woh apni aql ko istemal kare. aap Surah Aal-e-Imran mein parhiye mislan Inna fi khalqi samawati wal ardi wakhtilafi al-layli wal nahari la ayat-il-lil-albab lub mani aql ke Khuda ki takhleeq mein nishaniyan hain. Khuda ki takhleeq mein, yani woh sab kuch hai jo Allah taala ko matloob hai ke aap daryaft karen. magar lub walon ke liye, al-bab ke liye, woh to jagah jagah aisa hai. kahin kahin hajar ka lafz hai ke lub ka lafz hai ke aql ka lafz hai, kahin tadabbur kalafz hai. yeh sab isi liye hai ke aadmi apni aql ko istemal kare. jo log aisa kehte hain, woh to quran ke nafi hain. quran ke nafi hain ke islam mein aql ka dakhal nahi hai. yani quran to kitni sankron aayatein aisi hain jis mein ke kehti hain ke aql ko istemal karo. aql hi se ghaur o fikr hota hai aur ghaur o fikr hi se aadmi bari bari baaton ko daryaft karta hai. to yeh bilkul galat nazariya hai. maulana, agla sawal miss naghma siddiqui ka hai dilli se.