The Light of Truth — Page 17
THE ULAMA OF INDIA 17 for the one who has forgotten the way of Tauhid [Oneness of God] and has inclined towards the former Age of Ignorance [i. e. paganism]- being unable to perceive the results it would necessarily produce or its hidden mischief—or the one who is firm in his ignorance by choice and has drowned entirely in the abyss of taqlid [blindly following tra- dition] to the point that he has lost every trace of human volition. He is trapped in a cage from which there is no escape and follows the tracks of Satan the Accursed. The one who believes in the Holy Quran and subjugates himself to its guidance will never find such beliefs agreeable. Indeed, he will not accept any statement that plainly contradicts the Quran, or that opposes its clear proofs and its explicit, muhkam verses. ¹ Can there be a greater sin than for someone to believe in the Quran, then relapse and deny some of its teachings-following the mutashābih verses² and abandoning the muhkam verses—and distort the Quran and alter its rightful meanings and, through their statements, help the disbelieving people? As for the one who holds fast to the Book of Allah and believes what it contains to be right and true, what objection or harm is there if he rejects those nar- rations that contradict the clear proofs of the Quran, and are not estab- lished as having been made by the Messenger of Allah through clear and certain proof, in the manner of the proof and tawātur of the Quran; or, say, if he rejects those meanings that conflict with the literal reading of the Quran, and instead chooses those meanings that are in accord with it, even if they are derived through tawil [interpretation]? Indeed this is the way of the righteous and God-fearing, and the way of [Ayeshah] 1. Muhkam verses: Those that are clear, firm, and decisive in meaning. [Publisher] 2. Mutashābih verses: Those that may carry multiple meanings or interpreta- tions and require deeper understanding or explanation. [Publisher] 3. A mode of transmission whereby the sheer volume and diversity of sources reporting the same news across time and place make it impossible to have been a lie. [Publisher]