Through Force or Faith? — Page 220
?— A Reply to Pope Benedict XVI 220 At another place, it is said that there are signs in the Heaven and the Earth for those who ponder: َّنِا ْيِف ِقْلَخ ِتٰوٰمَّسلا َو ِضْرَاْلا َو ِفاَلِتْخا ِلْيَّلا َو ِراَهَّنلا ٍتٰيٰاَل يِلوُاِّل ِباَبْلَاْلا In the creation of the heavens and the earth and in the alternation of the night and the day there are indeed Signs for men of understanding ( S u rah A l-e-‘Imr a n, 3:191); Islam also claims that its teachings are from a God who is Wise; and they are based on wisdom. ٌبٰتِك ْتَمِكْحُا ٗهُتٰيٰا َّمُث ْتَلِّصُف ْنِم ْنُدَّل ٍمْيِكَح ٍرْيِبَخ … This is a Book, whose verses are fortified and made flaw- less and free from imperfection and then they have been expounded in detail. It is from One Wise, and All-Aware ( S u rah H u d, 11:2). It also tells us that God, despite His perfect knowledge and unfathomable wisdom, does not invite man to anything that is contradictory to his rationality or beyond his comprehension. اَل ُفِّلَكُي ُهّٰللا اًسْفَن اَّلِا اَهَعْسُو١ؕ Allah burdens not any soul beyond its capacity. … ( S u rah al-Baqarah, 2:287) That is, man is not commanded to believe something or believe something blindly which is contrary to collective human wisdom and conscience. Instead Islam asserts that all its teachings are not only based on wisdom, but the prophet of Islam has the distinction