Thursday, March 28, 2024 AD / Ramadan 17, 1445 AH
Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani
 New saying: A significantly important and enlightening saying from His Eminence about the condition for the Mahdi’s advent. Click here to read it. New question: What does it mean that the Quran is extremely eloquent and rhetorical? It has been said that the Quran contains true reports about the future and hidden sciences at the time of completion. Please provide some examples of these reports and sciences. Click here to read the answer. New critique: Please mention the name of the university or religious school from which His Excellency Khorasani has graduated; because no matter how much I searched, I did not find his name nor his fame as a famous writer, researcher, or religious man in Afghanistan. Click here to read the response. Visit home to read the most important contents of the website. New letter: An excerpt from His Honor’s letter to one of his companions, in which he advises him and frightens him from God. Click here to read it. New lesson: Lessons from His Honor about the fact that the earth is not empty of a man knowledgeable about the entire religion, whom God has appointed as a Caliph, Imam, and guide on it with His command; Authentic Hadiths from the Prophet that indicate it; Hadith No. 11. Click here to read it. New remark: The remark “Inverted era” by “Elias Hakimi” has been published. Click here to read it. New video: A new video with the subject “The Call of Return to God” has been published. Click here to watch it. Visit home to read the most important contents of the website.
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Critique & Response
 

God introduces, in the verse 46 of Surah Al-Baqarah, the humble individuals as those who have conjecture on meeting their God and returning to Him. Whereas, according to the saying of his Excellency[1], achieving certainty in religion is obligatory, and according to the verses that are mentioned repeatedly in the book[2], conjecture has no place in Islam.

Please explain how these two come together?

It is certain that there is no contradiction or any speech against the intellect in the book of God, but there are metaphors that must be referred to the definitive verses of the book of God to understand their meanings; as He has said: ﴿هُوَ الَّذِي أَنْزَلَ عَلَيْكَ الْكِتَابَ مِنْهُ آيَاتٌ مُحْكَمَاتٌ هُنَّ أُمُّ الْكِتَابِ وَأُخَرُ مُتَشَابِهَاتٌ ۖ فَأَمَّا الَّذِينَ فِي قُلُوبِهِمْ زَيْغٌ فَيَتَّبِعُونَ مَا تَشَابَهَ مِنْهُ ابْتِغَاءَ الْفِتْنَةِ وَابْتِغَاءَ تَأْوِيلِهِ ۗ وَمَا يَعْلَمُ تَأْوِيلَهُ إِلَّا اللَّهُ ۗ وَالرَّاسِخُونَ فِي الْعِلْمِ﴾[3]; “It is He who has sent down to you the Book. Parts of it are definitive verses, which are the foundation of the Book, while others are metaphorical, but those in whose hearts is deviance, they pursue what is metaphorical in it, courting temptation and courting its interpretation. But no one knows its interpretation except for God and those firmly grounded in knowledge”; as for example, has said in a verse: ﴿وُجُوهٌ يَوْمَئِذٍ نَاضِرَةٌ ۝ إِلَى رَبِّهَا نَاظِرَةٌ﴾[4]; “Some faces will be fresh on that day, looking at their God”, but this, given that looking at God is not possible intellectually, is considered as a metaphorical verse and for understanding its meaning, one must refer to the definitive verses, similar to the verse that has said: ﴿لَا تُدْرِكُهُ الْأَبْصَارُ وَهُوَ يُدْرِكُ الْأَبْصَارَ ۖ وَهُوَ اللَّطِيفُ الْخَبِيرُ﴾[5]; “The sights do not apprehend Him, yet He apprehends the sights, and He is the All-attentive, the All-aware”, and it is understood from that the intention of looking at God , is not looking at Him, but it is looking at His signs, or has said in another verse: ﴿وَجَاءَ رَبُّكَ وَالْمَلَكُ صَفًّا صَفًّا﴾[6]; “and your God and the angels [in the judgment day] arrive in ranks”, but this, given that arriving and going of God is not possible intellectually, is a metaphorical verse, and for understanding its meaning, one must refer to definitive verses; similar to the verse that has said: ﴿يَوْمَ يَأْتِي بَعْضُ آيَاتِ رَبِّكَ لَا يَنْفَعُ نَفْسًا إِيمَانُهَا لَمْ تَكُنْ آمَنَتْ مِنْ قَبْلُ أَوْ كَسَبَتْ فِي إِيمَانِهَا خَيْرًا﴾[7]; “The day when some of your Lord’s signs do come, faith shall not benefit any soul that had not believed beforehand and had not earned some goodness in its faith” and it is understood from that the intention of arriving of God in the judgment day is not His arriving, but the arriving of some of His signs, or in another verse has said: ﴿الرَّحْمَنُ عَلَى الْعَرْشِ اسْتَوَى﴾[8]; “God settled on the Throne”, but this, given that settling God on the throne is not possible intellectually, it is considered as a metaphorical verse and for understanding its meaning, one must refer to the definitive verses, similar to the verse that has said: ﴿وَسِعَ كُرْسِيُّهُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضَ ۖ وَلَا يَئُودُهُ حِفْظُهُمَا﴾[9]; “His throne embraces the heavens and the earth, and He is not wearied by their preservation”, and the verse that has said: ﴿أَلَا إِنَّهُ بِكُلِّ شَيْءٍ مُحِيطٌ﴾[10]; “Look! He indeed comprehends all things!”, and it is understood from that the intention of God’s throne is all His creations including the heavens and the earth, and the intention of His settling on them is His comprehending over them. With this respect, the verse that He has said in that: ﴿الَّذِينَ يَظُنُّونَ أَنَّهُمْ مُلَاقُو رَبِّهِمْ وَأَنَّهُمْ إِلَيْهِ رَاجِعُونَ﴾[11]; “those who have conjecture that they will meet their God, and that they will return to Him” is considered as a metaphorical verse; because having conjecture on the Hereafter, meaning to give it a mere possiblity, according to the commandment of intellect and according to definitive verses such as ﴿إِنَّ الظَّنَّ لَا يُغْنِي مِنَ الْحَقِّ شَيْئًا﴾[12]; “Undoubtedly, conjecture does not reveal anything from the truth”, is not sufficient, and accordingly for understanding its meaning, one must refer to definitive verses; similar to the verse that has said: ﴿وَالَّذِينَ يُؤْمِنُونَ بِمَا أُنْزِلَ إِلَيْكَ وَمَا أُنْزِلَ مِنْ قَبْلِكَ وَبِالآخِرَةِ هُمْ يُوقِنُونَ﴾[13]; “and those who believe in what has been sent down to you, and what was sent down before you, and are certain of the Hereafter”, and it is understood from that the intention of having conjecture on the Hereafter is not merely to give it a possibility, but is believing in it with certainty, which is interpreted as having conjecture on the Hereafter in order to confront the disbelievers; because most of the disbelievers did not have conjecture on the Hereafter and stated that we do not have conjecture on the Hereafter; As God has said about them: ﴿وَظَنُّوا أَنَّهُمْ إِلَيْنَا لَا يُرْجَعُونَ﴾[14]; “and they had conjecture that they would not be brought back to Us”, and has said from their words: ﴿وَمَا أَظُنُّ السَّاعَةَ قَائِمَةً وَلَئِنْ رُدِدْتُ إِلَى رَبِّي لَأَجِدَنَّ خَيْرًا مِنْهَا مُنْقَلَبًا﴾[15]; “and I do not think that the judgment day will ever set in. And even if I am returned to my God I will surely find a resort better than this”. Therefore, in the mentioned verse, God is in the position of stating that the believers, unlike most of the disbelievers, have conjecture on the Hereafter, not that they are not certain about the Hereafter; as in its place, He does not considered sufficient for some disbelievers to have conjecture on the Hereafter, and He blamed them for lack of certainty and has said: ﴿وَإِذَا قِيلَ إِنَّ وَعْدَ اللَّهِ حَقٌّ وَالسَّاعَةُ لَا رَيْبَ فِيهَا قُلْتُمْ مَا نَدْرِي مَا السَّاعَةُ إِنْ نَظُنُّ إِلَّا ظَنًّا وَمَا نَحْنُ بِمُسْتَيْقِنِينَ﴾[16]; “and when it is said, “Allah’s promise is indeed true, and there is no doubt about the judgment day, ”you said, “We do not know what the judgment day is. We know nothing beyond conjectures, and we do not possess any certainty (of that)”; as He clearly considered His will and objective as His servants’ certainty in the Hereafter and said: ﴿يُفَصِّلُ الآيَاتِ لَعَلَّكُمْ بِلِقَاءِ رَبِّكُمْ تُوقِنُونَ﴾[17]; “elaborates the signs that you may be certain of meeting your God”!

It is understood from here that God has not considered conjecture as sufficient in any case, but in all cases, He has considered certainty as necessary, and if He mentioned the humble individuals’ conjecture on the Hereafter, it has been out of sarcasm to the disobedient people who did not have conjecture on the Hereafter and stated that we do not have conjecture on the Hereafter; as if He had said to them: “If you do not have conjecture on the Hereafter, the believers have conjecture on it”! It is on this basis that none of the Islamic sects has considered conjecture on the Hereafter as sufficient, but all of them have emphasized the obligation of certainty in it; because conjecture, although in the opinion of most of them is valid in the laws of Islam, in the opinion of none of them is valid in the beliefs of Islam, and for this reason, the impression of all of them from the mentioned verse has been the certainty of the humble individuals in the Hereafter.

With these descriptions, we ask God to bring all Muslims into the light of certainty and bring them out of the darkness of illusion, doubt and conjecture; because illusion, doubt and conjecture are darkness that some are on the others, and whoever God does not provide him light, there is not any light for him.

↑[1] . [Translator note: the author’s intention of his Excellency is “Allamah Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani”.]
↑[2] . [Translator note: the author’s intention of the book is “Return to Islam”.]
↑[3] . Al 'Imran/ 7
↑[4] . Al-Qiyamah/ 22 and 23
↑[5] . Al-An'am/ 103
↑[6] . Al-Fajr/ 22
↑[7] . Al-An'am/ 158
↑[8] . Ta-Ha/ 5
↑[9] . Al-Baqarah/ 255
↑[10] . Fussilat/ 54
↑[11] . Al-Baqarah/ 46
↑[12] . Yunus/ 36
↑[13] . Al-Baqarah/ 4
↑[14] . Al-Qasas/ 39
↑[15] . Al-Kahf/ 36
↑[16] . Al-Jathiyah/ 32
↑[17] . Ar-Ra'd/ 2
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