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Islam is built on a sound thinking basis.

Islam is a unique ideology based upon a unique Aqeedah which serves as the foundation fora unique system of rules. The distinct nature of Islam would lead someone to ask whether ornot Islam came to also shape the thinking process, which is a process common to all human

beings.

The Aqeedah serves as the intellectual framework that defines the outlook towards life aswell as the reference and foundation upon which the person builds all other thoughts. Thus,the Aqeedah by its nature mandates a distinct way of thinking. And adopting the Islamic

Aqeedah in a correct intellectual manner (based upon sound intellectual thinking and notbased on imitation of ancestors, blind faith, instinctive emotions, or benefit) will undoubtedlychange the individual into an intellectual ideological person who thinks in a distinct methodwith a distinct style and inclination. And this distinct thinking will manifest in a distinct patternof behaviour.

"Verily! In the creation of the heavens and the earth, and in the alternation of night andday, there are indeed signs for men of understanding." [TMQ 3:190]

"Do they not then consider the Quran carefully? Had it been from other than Allah,they would surely have found within it many contradictions."[TMQ 4:82]

"Tell Me! The water that you drink is it you who causes it to come down from therain clouds, or are We the Cause for it to come down?"[TMQ 56:68-69]

"He is created from a fluid poured forth proceeding from between the back boneand the ribs."[TMQ 86:6-7]

"Do they not look at the camels, how they are created? And at the heaven, how it israised? And at the mountains, how they are rooted and fixed firm? And at the earth,

how it is spread out?"[TMQ 88:17-20]

In all of these ayahs, Allah directs the human being to think and analyse in order to build theAqeedah of Islam within him through a definite conviction.

Thus, the method that Islam encourages in pursuing knowledge is based upon the intellectand entails thinking, research, and analysis. It is not built upon blind faith, emotional belief, orsubmission without any discussion. Such methods will not produce a dynamic Iman and

cannot serve either as a foundation for a point of view of life or as a foundation to build otherthoughts upon. A person who adopts Islam through these methods will remain a hostage tothe concepts that he carried from his previous background. Although such a person may turnto Islam in a limited scope for such aspects as his ibadat, he will continue in his thinking torefer to other concepts. He will constantly shift between a superficial Iman that is not builtupon a correct thinking process and indulging in discussion without a specific frame of mind,which will lead him either to diverging or straying from Islam altogether. And he will notescape this spiral except by either compromising between what he adopted from Islam and

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whatever erroneous concepts he already possesses in order to bridge the gap, or byseparating Islam from his thinking by restricting Islam to his rituals and thinking in a secularor pragmatic manner, or by deciding not to think at all except in his livelihood in order to savehimself from diverting. All of these options are incorrect and, in reality, will not get the personout of this spiral. Eventually, this cycle will drain the persons power, particularly his

intellectual capacity, which is the most valuable possession of man in this life. Such anendless spiral results from an incorrect method of adopting Islam and acquiring knowledge.

The rational way of thinking is a process which involves the reality, a sound human mind,senses which transfer the reality to the mind as a sensation, and previous information whichthe mind links to the sensation to produce a thought. Thus, the rational method entailsthinking about the reality at hand or the issue as it is. Therefore we must use the rationalmethod of thinking to arrive at the Aqeedah of Islam. The Islamic Aqeedah will define aunified viewpoint in life which will push the Muslim to follow the halal and haram as a criteriafor his actions.

As Muslims once we have conviction in the existence of Allah (swt) and the fact that theQuran is the word of Allah (swt), the Islamic Aqeedah does not leave the Muslim free to thinkas he likes but rather guides him to believe in the those elements which are defined by the

Aqeedah. On all other matters the Islamic Aqeedah must be used as a basis for thought toensure that no concepts alien to Islam are allowed to affect the mind of the Muslim. Onceone accepts the lslamic Aqeedah then you must ensure that it is used as a basis for allthoughts and actions. Neglecting this fact and using ones own mind to justify the actions oneperforms would be a grave sin.

We cannot be pragmatic and take the solutions from the reality in which we find ourselves ortake those solutions which we feel are easy and leave those that we may find difficult,

because Islam has decreed them. As Muslims we must look to what Allah (swt) requires usto do and behave and think in the manner by which Allah (swt) will be pleased. Using onesown mind as a basis for solutions will lead to multiple solutions being advocated. Using theIslamic Aqeedah as a basis for solutions will lead to unity in the thought and will prove to beproductive because the solution is not one from mans own mind but rather a solutiondictated to us by Allah (swt).

Furthermore, Allah (swt) states that the unity of the Fikr (thought) that unifies the hearts isone of the greatest favours that Allah gave to the Muslims:

"And hold fast, all of you together, to the Rope of Allah (the Quran) and be not dividedamong yourselves. And remember Allahs Favour on you, for you were enemies to oneanother, but He joined your hearts together so that, by His Grace, you becamebrethren (in Islam), and you were on the brink of a pit of fire, and He saved you fromit."[TMQ 3:103]

In conclusion, we must realise that that we must use the Islamic Aqeedah as a basis for allour thoughts and solutions and not look to take the solutions from the reality. So for example,those who advocate peace with Israel must first refer to Islam and will find that it does not

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allow any peace with the Jews over the issue of Palestine. Therefore, we must not seek thedispleasure and anger of Allah (swt) when we put forward solutions through using our ownmind. We must ensure any thoughts that we advocate agree and are consistent with theIslamic Aqeedah.