> On 01-Feb-2015, at 1:57 am, Platonist Guitar Cowboy > <[email protected]> wrote: > > > >> On Sat, Jan 31, 2015 at 9:27 PM, Samiya Illias <[email protected]> >> wrote: >> >> >> >>> This theologian stays true to more scientific attitude of ignorance in face >>> of the unknown. >>> >>> Alhazen described his theology: "I constantly sought knowledge and truth, >>> and it became my belief that for gaining access to the effulgence and >>> closeness to God, there is no better way than that of searching for truth >>> and knowledge." >> >> That is prescribed by the Quran. It directs us to use our intelligence, > > Not if it deviates from scripture. And to my knowledge Alhazen's contribution > to mathematics/physics, and optics in particular were not in scripture.
Studying scripture or being a Muslim does not limit or forbid studying the sciences or other disciplines. Seeking knowledge is encouraged. > He searched and found glimpses of god/reality outside of the scripture. But ofcourse. The world around us is the work of God. Everything is a sign when viewed thus. > >> it directs us to pray for more knowledge, > > Can search be a less passive/rigid form of prayer? Again and again do we read that those who 'believe and do good works' as pre-conditions. When you believe, you pray and when you believe, you do good, including search for knowledge. Prayer and Search are not mutually exclusive. > >> and it states that, on that day, the truthful are going to benefit from >> their truth. > > Respectfully, to me, that's waiting around for god/truth, when perhaps it is > already here. You misunderstand. Our truth here is what we carry there. We will be judged on how true we were in every aspect of our lives, including the quest for knowledge and truth. We may be incorrect, or our truth may be incomplete, but an honest effort seems to be the requirement. > Another reason why strong form of literalism can imply lack of faith and hide > laziness. Sure is used by some at various times. > Kierkegaard complained about this with his own Religion, the Christians. > Maybe all religions suffer from this as there is vanity in assuming to know > what god wants from us. I believe that Quran is from God, hence I try to follow it. You ask me questions and I try to answer them. Sometimes, yes, I also volunteer to share some verse which I find relevant to my perspective of something being discussed. Is that vanity or just sharing of knowledge? > > Alhazen did use "search", being aware of the meaning of prayer, one would > assume. And search points towards a humility and ignorance of god's will, > despite doing our best in matters faith, which is more flexible and thus > allows a broader question of how to approach truth, without presupposing that > we know what it is. And without minimizing the arrogance that walks with > vanity too. > > I don't see how your approach is clarified, particularly in addressing the > problem of insulting other people's search by insisting on your particular > interpretation, and the implied argument per authority constructs/certainty > etc. If I were to ask you about something I thought someone said, and you gave me the direct quote of what he said, instead of your own philosophical interpretation of it, will that be vanity or arrogance on your part, or kindness in facilitating me by connecting me to the literature I am asking about? Samiya > Your approach is thus still obscure to me. PGC > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Everything List" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/everything-list. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Everything List" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/everything-list. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
