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The remedy for ignorance is asking questions. (Prophet Muhammad) The spirit of enquiry is the hallmark of an open society and the above saying of the Prophet aptly illustrates this principle. A culture of curiosity and open-mindedness will foster development in any society by motivating its members to learn enthusiastically and enrich their knowledge. This is because awareness of one’s ignorance is half of knowledge, as it becomes a stepping-stone to seeking and finding answers. A questioning mind is like a flowing river that is replenished with fresh thoughts and ideas and continues on its journey.
I have read some books on world history and the commentaries of some historians. Reading them, it felt like the whole of human history was a history of rebellion and unrest. There are very few moments in history when man has had the opportunity to live in a calm and temperate environment. With this view of history, some people doubt the existence of God. They say that if God is just, then why is there so much corruption in the world He has created? Please shed some light on this question.
This question about the world arises when it is viewed from the point of view of human beings. If, however, we look at the world through the eyes of the Creator, we can easily find the answer and believe that what happened should have necessarily happened.
To understand this, we must know what God’s creation plan is for the present world. According to the Quran, the creation plan of God is based on the principle of test. In the present world, God did not create man to enjoy life here. The life of luxury will be given to man in the Hereafter according to his deeds. The whole system of the present world is built in such a way that every human being and every group could undergo the test.
Experience has shown that in normal conditions, the true nature of a human being remains unknown. People hide themselves in enchanting words and beautiful clothes. In such a situation, in order to expose people, it is necessary to bring disturbance in their lives. This can be understood by likening human being to an egg. From the top, every egg looks good. Only when the eggs are broken do you know which egg was good and which egg was bad.
What God wants most in this world is that the condition of test should always remain, and for the test, extraordinary circumstances must be encountered. Therefore, extraordinary circumstances are repeatedly produced in the life of each individual and group to find out what they really were. A person may either be a true believer in the true sense of the word or he had only apparently put on a showy shell of truth.
I am a student of philosophy. I have a natural inclination towards philosophy. I often have doubts about many things. As soon as one kind of doubt is removed, another kind of doubt strikes me. Do you have to give up the study of philosophy to deal with this situation? Most people advise me that philosophy is not a practical discipline, it is an intellectual discipline. They also tell me that getting into intellectual complications is a waste of time. I am often warned that such pursuits not only fail to develop our mind along positive lines but also rob us of faith and belief in religion.
This question has been successfully answered by some eminent philosophers themselves such as the great British philosopher Bertrand Russell. If you read his book Human Knowledge, you will find the answer to your question.
The fact is that philosophy has been active in the search for truth for at least 5,000 years, but it has not been able to discover the truth. On the contrary, science has made great strides in modern times. The secret is that the aim of philosophy was to reach the ultimate level of knowledge and that was not possible in the present world. Science discovered this fact and became content with partial knowledge. This is the reason of the stupendous success of science.
An example of this is when a man is standing in front of an X-ray machine and the switch of the machine is pressed on, an internal picture of the man appears on a film. Now the philosopher would like to know why this happened. Since it is not possible for man to reach this knowledge due to his own limitations, philosophy will be forever entangled in it.
In the end, a philosopher will gain nothing but confusion. In contrast, science separated the question of ‘why’ and concentrated itself to the question ‘what’. In this way, science succeeded in giving a precious gift to human civilization.
The point of realism in this matter is that man should be content with partial knowledge. He should be satisfied with the knowledge of the part. He should not run after every other aspect of knowledge. The same fact is stated in the Quran in answer to a question: You have been granted but little knowledge. (17: 85)