Question:

Does his honor Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani believe wisdom is prior to religion and does he believe that we should abide by the wisdom rather than religion?

Answer:

Your question is rising from the incorrect assumption that intellect and religion are in contradiction with one another, in such a way that adherence to one means compromising adherence to another and inevitably one has to regard one of them prior to another, while, in the opinion of his honor Mansoor, wisdom and religion have originated from one source and both are created by the wise God, and therefore there is no conflict between them; as God Himself has said: «مَا تَرَىٰ فِي خَلْقِ الرَّحْمَنِ مِنْ تَفَاوُتٍ»[1]; “You may not see any diversity in creation of God” and yet, adherence to intellect does not mean that you do not obey the religion and is not equivalent to prioritizing one over another; but rather, it means it is also obeying the religion; because religion has commanded to obey intellect and has invited toward it due to the unity of the source and the perfect reconciliation of religion and intellect; as, for example, God has said: «لَعَلَّكُمْ تَعْقِلُونَ»[2]; “It is hoped that you will use intellect” and has said: «أَفَلَا تَعْقِلُونَ»[3]; “So, do you not use intellect?” Therefore, Mansoor does not regard intellect is beyond religion and does not believe that you should obey the wisdom of intellect in lieu of religion, rather he believes intellect is in full agreement and congruence with the religion, and he believes you must abide by both of them, as God has commanded to obey them both and has said: «أَمْ تَحْسَبُ أَنَّ أَكْثَرَهُمْ يَسْمَعُونَ أَوْ يَعْقِلُونَ»[4]; “Do you think that most of them will listen or use their intellect?! They are nothing except like the beasts, they are even more ignorant” and has said: «وَقَالُوا لَوْ كُنَّا نَسْمَعُ أَوْ نَعْقِلُ مَا كُنَّا فِي أَصْحَابِ السَّعِيرِ»[5]; “They say that if we had listened or had used our intellect, we were not among the companions of fire”, While many Muslims, in contrast to this statement of God, believe that with presence of religion there is no need to follow the wisdom of intellect, and religion removes the need to intellect, but rather they believe adherence to wisdom is inappropriate when religion is present and whoever cites intellect while religion exists is in a state of heresy and deviation. On top of this group, the Ahl Al-Hadith from among Muslims are living and they believe whatever they need is mentioned in the Hadiths (narrations), and when Hadith is present there is no need to use intellect, while this supposition is contrary to reality;...