The Mirror of the Excellences of Islam — Page 57
56 Ā'ĪNA-E-KAMĀLĀT-E-ISLĀM―DĀFI UL-WASĀWIS matter how great a scientist or philosopher he may be, and who believe that if all the scientists of the world were to study the wonders and hid- den qualities of a grain of barley till the Day of Judgment, they would still not be able to say with certainty that they had discovered all its qualities. These very people—who are called Muslims and the progeny of Muslims―believe that apart from some coarse words and superficial meanings, the Noble Quran contains no other sublime truth within it. They have come to limit the fine points, the concealed mysteries, and the meanings of the Divine Word to the mere extent which the Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, had set forth in keeping with the need of his time and the intellectual capacity of the people who were present before him. They know that all the sayings of the Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, were not fully recorded nor completely preserved as they should have been. In spite of all this, they are absolutely uninterested and unconcerned with exploring the fresh subtleties of the Holy Quran. Bear in mind that by 'fresh subtleties, I do not mean that insights that are in conflict with its ordained and explicit Shariah can be extracted from the Noble Quran from time to time. Rather, they are the insights implied from the secrets, fine points, and profound subtleties which— while keeping the whole Shariah intact-reveal its true and complete picture and manifest its true perfection for all to see, up to the point that they demonstrate the manqūl as being the ma'qul. ' Hence, there was a need to bring out these insights in this age of rationality. Look wherever your sight stretches to, you will find this to be the inevitable practice of Allah—that God Almighty always helps His Faith in accordance with the needs of the time. Whatever kind of light was demanded by the nature and circumstances of the time was shown 1. Manqul refers to knowledge transmitted through religious texts and tradi- tions, while ma'qul refers to knowledge based on reason and rational thought. Ma'qul refers to knowledge grounded in reason, logic, and rational thought. [Publisher]