| Author: Mohammad Taqavi | Date: 2015-05-30 |
Is the intellect of every individual mature enough to be a criterion for cognition?
| Response to critique: 1 | Date: 2015-05-31 |
Intellect of every individual, whenever it is mature enough that can be a criterion which can distinguish is held liable (to do religious commandments) and whenever it has not reached to such a maturity level then it is not held liable; like the intellect of the kids and the mentally disable people; because liability to commandments is contingent upon ability to distinguish and holding one who does not possess this ability liable, is contrary to justice, whereas God is not an oppressor; as He has said: ﴿وَأَنَّ اللَّهَ لَيْسَ بِظَلَّامٍ لِلْعَبِيدِ﴾[1]; “and indeed God does not oppress the servants”; It is hereby understood that the intellect of those individuals who are considered liable to religion commandments is mature enough to be able to act as a criterion to distinguish, even though it may have different degrees and levels; because according to the precise explanation by his excellency Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani in the honorable book “Return to Islam”[2], “intellect to the meaning of power of thinking and knowledge, although, it is more in some human beings compared to others, it sufficiently exists in all human beings and this is sufficient for its unity as the cognition standard; since the just God, gifted every adult human being, a sufficient amount of intellect and its abundance in some of them, is a favor granted to them, without this being an oppression to others; as God has said: ﴿وَاللَّهُ يُضَاعِفُ لِمَنْ يَشَاءُ ۗ وَاللَّهُ وَاسِعٌ عَلِيمٌ﴾[3]; “God increases for anyone he wills and God is indeed the wise extender”; As the intellect of some people, completes intellect of others, through a natural and reciprocal process; since they have interaction with each other and make a collective intellect through discussion that compensates for the deficits in individual intellects; As God has said: ﴿وَرَفَعْنَا بَعْضَهُمْ فَوْقَ بَعْضٍ دَرَجَاتٍ لِيَتَّخِذَ بَعْضُهُمْ بَعْضًا سُخْرِيًّا﴾[4]; “And we have given some people, superiority over others in rank, so that some of them may take others intro service!”.”
Anyways, it is clear the intellect of human being is his only tool to distinguish; because if he is not able to distinguish with his intellect, where else from his body can he distinguish with?! Yes indeed, his intellect can distinguish only when it is not suffering from cognition impediments; because impediments to cognition will stop him from distinguishing and this is the reason that many people are not able to distinguish. Regarding the fact that they are suffering from impediments such as ignorance, imitation, passions, worldliness, prejudice, arrogance and superstition and therefore, they cannot use their intellect the way they should. It is hereby understood that one should investigate “cognition impediments” for the reason as to why people do not distinguish, and one should not look into “the criterion for cognition”. Because the criterion for cognition is a light from the world of heavens in which there is no darkness, but it is the impediments to cognition that act like curtains and do not allow for that light to reach some things and cause them to sink into darkness.