Revelation, Rationality, Knowledge & Truth — Page 298
BELIEF IN THE UNSEEN. Subject to this explanation, Quranic revelations have always been proved right; and once proved right they have never been proved wrong. This role of the Quranic revelation, with regard to the transfer of knowledge from the realm of the unseen to the seen, is remarkable and will be further elaborated under various categories in the following chapters. . F. OR THE PRESENT, we return to the general discussion concerning the phenomenon of the broadening of human knowledge, and the stages through which a new idea passes before reaching the stage of absolute truth. . When a new idea emerges from the realm of the unseen, it is always put to the test of rational scrutiny or experimental trial whenever possible. Having survived this scrutiny, age after age, it can be categorized as absolute truth. . This is a universal phenomenon which continues to work uninterrupted in every area of human experience. We are not talking here of theses and antitheses, the two philosophical terms employed by Kant to such great ideas as are of global importance; we are talking of an ongoing, all-comprehensive phenomenon which relates to human experiences, impressions and perceptions of everyday life. . It is a comprehensive continuous process like evolution. . Layer upon layer of such well testified, established facts continue to raise the level of dependable human knowledge and widen the human grasp of surrounding realities. It is this all-pervasive phenomenon which continues to convert doubts into plausibilities, plausibilities into probabilities, and probabilities into certainties and established facts. If the truth of Divine revelation is objectively testified by such reliable human knowledge, there is no justification for subjecting it to further doubt. the past, the present. The unseen belongs to all ages and the future alike. The Quran does not keep itself 290