In the book Return to Islam, His Eminence Mansoor has said that the intellect is the criterion of cognition. Is the intellect of every person qualified to be the criterion of cognition?!
If a person’s intellect is qualified to be the criterion of cognition, then he is considered an obligated person. However, if his intellect is not qualified for this, then he is not considered an obligated person, which is the intellect of children and the insane; because Allah does not obligate anyone with cognition except those who are capable of it; as He has said: ﴿لَا يُكَلِّفُ اللَّهُ نَفْسًا إِلَّا وُسْعَهَا﴾[1]; “Allah does not obligate anyone beyond his capacity.” It is clear that cognition is the work of the intellect, and the human being has no other means by which he can know things. If he does not know things by his intellect, then by which of his organs does he know them?!
From here, it is understood that the intellect of those who are obligated is qualified to be the criterion of cognition, even though it may differ in strength and weakness, as explained by His Eminence Mansoor (may Allah Almighty support him) in the book Return to Islam, where he has said:
The intellect, in the meaning of the power of thinking and knowledge, although it is more in some human beings compared to some others, sufficiently exists in all human beings, and this is sufficient for its unity as the criterion of cognition; because Allah the Just has granted every obligated human being a sufficient amount of the intellect, and its abundance in some of them is a favor that He has granted them, without it being unfair to others; as Allah Almighty has said: ﴿وَاللَّهُ يُضَاعِفُ لِمَنْ يَشَاءُ ۗ وَاللَّهُ وَاسِعٌ عَلِيمٌ﴾[2]; “Allah increases for anyone He wills, and Allah is indeed the Wise Extender.” In addition, the intellects of some people complete the intellects of some others through a natural and mutual process; because they interact with each other and, through the exchange of opinions, make a collective intellect that compensates for the deficiency of the individual intellect; as Allah Almighty has said: ﴿وَرَفَعْنَا بَعْضَهُمْ فَوْقَ بَعْضٍ دَرَجَاتٍ لِيَتَّخِذَ بَعْضُهُمْ بَعْضًا سُخْرِيًّا﴾[3]; “And We have given some people superiority over others in rank so that some of them may take others into service.”[4]
Yes, the intellect of every person, although capable of cognition, can only acquire knowledge if it is not prevented by impediments to cognition, which are ignorance, imitation, passions, worldliness, fanaticism, arrogance, and superstitious tendencies; just as His Eminence Mansoor (may Allah Almighty support him) has explained them in the book Return to Islam and likened them to curtains drawn in front of a person that prevent him from seeing things despite having healthy eyes[5]. Therefore, the intended meaning of our statement that the intellect of every person is capable of cognition is that it is capable of it if there is no impediment with it, and that it is capable of removing the impediment; just as every obligated person can seek knowledge in its proper places, abandon imitating past people, scholars, oppressors, disbelievers, and the majority of people, abandon following his passions, and remove from his heart every impediment to cognition by sincerely intending, frequently remembering Allah and the Day of Judgment, seeking help through patience and prayer, staying away from the devils of humankind and jinn, and listening to the word and following the best of it. From here, it is understood that the reason why most people do not know the truth is not because their intellects are not qualified to know it, but rather because they do not use their intellects or prevent their intellects from knowing it by some psychological diseases they are afflicted with. This is Allah’s intended meaning, where He has said: ﴿لَهُمْ قُلُوبٌ لَا يَفْقَهُونَ بِهَا وَلَهُمْ أَعْيُنٌ لَا يُبْصِرُونَ بِهَا وَلَهُمْ آذَانٌ لَا يَسْمَعُونَ بِهَا ۚ أُولَئِكَ كَالْأَنْعَامِ بَلْ هُمْ أَضَلُّ ۚ أُولَئِكَ هُمُ الْغَافِلُونَ﴾[6]; “They have hearts with which they do not understand, and they have eyes with which they do not see, and they have ears with which they do not hear. They are like cattle, but rather they are more astray. They are the heedless.”