and: ﴿إِنَّ فِي ذَلِكَ لَآيَاتٍ لِقَوْمٍ يَعْقِلُونَ﴾[1]; “Indeed, there are signs in it for a people who use the intellect,” and: ﴿إِنَّ شَرَّ الدَّوَابِّ عِنْدَ اللَّهِ الصُّمُّ الْبُكْمُ الَّذِينَ لَا يَعْقِلُونَ﴾[2]; “Indeed, the worst beings in the sight of Allah are the deaf and the dumb who do not use the intellect,” and: ﴿صُمٌّ بُكْمٌ عُمْيٌ فَهُمْ لَا يَعْقِلُونَ﴾[3]; “They are the deaf and the dumb and the blind, so they do not use the intellect,” and: ﴿وَيَجْعَلُ الرِّجْسَ عَلَى الَّذِينَ لَا يَعْقِلُونَ﴾[4]; “And He places impurity upon those who do not use the intellect.” These verses clearly indicate that those who deny the authority of the intellect and avoid using it are the worst beings in the sight of Allah and are associated with impurity and ignorance. Rather, the explicitness of these verses regarding the authority of the intellect and the necessity of its use is such that perhaps one who denies them denies an essential tenet of Islam and is outside of it! I have heard many times from this group that they reject rational matters and consider any form of rationality in understanding Sharia to be an innovation. Clearly, if proof is established against any of them holding this belief, the rulings of an apostate or a hypocrite will apply to him; because the authority of the intellect and the obligation to use it in Sharia are among the essentials of Islam, and one who is ignorant of it is not excused.

[Doubts of Those Who Deny the Authority of the Intellect]

It seems that what has made this group deny the authority of the intellect has been, more than anything else, the irrationality of their beliefs; because believing in the authority of the intellect necessitates abandoning these beliefs, and this is something they are unwilling to do. I have seen them; many of them would rather die than abandon the beliefs of their ancestors, like polytheists who, according to Allah’s account of them, say: ﴿إِنَّا وَجَدْنَا آبَاءَنَا عَلَى أُمَّةٍ وَإِنَّا عَلَى آثَارِهِمْ مُهْتَدُونَ﴾[5]; “We have found our forefathers upon a religion, and we have been guided by following them,”