Chapter 1 Page

Fitrah of the human being – attributes and instincts, emotions 5

- survival instinct
- procreation instinct
- worship instinct
Thought – ripples of energy ?? 5
- what is it
- where does it occur?
- faculty of the mind – what is the mind?
- What about the brain? what is the connection between it and the mind?
- where does it sit anotmically?
- Types of thought

Necessary reading – Faith & Progress

Recommended reading – Al Tafkeer; A Man Thinketh

Q: Why is thought necessary? – why do we need to change man’s concepts?

A good debating point – if your not enlightened or deep then you are superficial and at worse
not a thinker at all.

Concepts – about our very existence 5

- the ‘comprehensive approach’

understanding/ viewpoint about universe, man, life, what was before and is after it and the
relationship between it all

Man’s greatest problem – aqeedah/ creed – ideological springboard – basis upon which thought 6
about man's behaviour and the systems of this life are built.

Need for enlightened thought to solve

The rational approach – satisfies the mind and is in harmony with man’s nature i.e satisfies his
nature (fitrah), convinces his mind, and fills his heart with tranquillity.

One of the greatest questions for any creed: Is there a Creator behind man, life and the 7, 8
universe?

Islam as a creed/ aqeedah says there is a Creator

The Creator

What is existence?
Limited and dependant? or Start v Finish?

What is limited? – comprehensible – any old scholarly views?

give examples – sight, taste, hearing, height, age, life, - p.7 para 2

What is dependant? – comprehensible – any old scholarly views?

What about the theories of continuum? – space, time and light?

Azali – eternal – has not start

Creator creates from nothingness

Have we used logic? Rational approach?

Criticism that HT does not teach tawheed

Sheikh Taqi-uddin’s teaching style – but Allah takes this approach! 9

Various ayaat

Necessity to learn Arabic and read the ayaat

Belief in a higher being is part of Man’s fitrah - emotional 10

Emotional based beliefs leads to Idolatry, superstitions, and mythology – Kur, Shirk

Examples – hinduism, ancient Eyptians, Greeks, Aztecs, - venerated various things

Therefore thought must be applied to channel emotion correctly

Qur’an’s call on the muslims 11
think deeply and to ponder so as his iman be based upon reason and clear evidence,
and warning him not to adopt what he found his forefathers doing
without investigating it, scrutinizing it, and being personally confident of its
correctness.
The mind is limited 11,12
Allah is beyond comprehension
Rational approach requires understanding this reality of man – no syllogism here
This limitation should strengthen Iman and not raise doubts
Sensation of Allah’s existence is through our mind and not our emotions
Our recognition of our inherent limitations should leave us awestruck with no choice but to
submit to our Creator, the very source of our existence
Need for messengers 13

- mankind will lead themselves astray – limited and dependant

- their lives need organization; systems to guide them
- not satisfying their fitrah will cause misery and could result in anarchy
Is the Qur’an from Allah 13,14,
- what are the possibilities? Arabs or non-Arabs? 15
- Reality shows Qur’an is in Arabic
- Muhammed or any other Arab (individual or collective) – proof is within the Qur’an
itself
- Challenges to produce verses, suras; exposing liars (Al Wild ibn Al Mughira);
questioning their source (re Jabir); reproofing of the Messenger
- The difference in Quran and ahadeeth

Re-assertion that proof of Allah, Messenger and the Qur’an is through rational means i.e what 16-19
the mind can comprehend – which is also used to determine decisive matters through decisive
evidences – i.e the mutawaatir re pillars of Iman

The relation of the created with his creator – i.e the affairs of this life and life after; obedience
to Allah and His messenger and following their commands and prohibitions i.e from how to
worship him to how to trade and get married etc.
Chapter 2 Page
Various ayaat re the concept of Qadaa and Qadar to question who creates what? 21-23
The notion that Allah creates man and his actions and therefore that man is subjected to His
divine will – Creation is from nothingness!
The issue relates to accountability; originates from kuffar questioning is Allah just in 24
accounting man?

Various opinions based on free will vs creation

Al As Sunnah – man has free will so accountable for his actions

Al Jabriyya – man does not have free will – he floats like a feather
Al Mu’tazila - man is the one who creates his actions

What is the correct basis of looking at this subject matter?

Ilmullah? – i.e all things are in the knowledge of Allah
Iradatullah? – i.e the will of Allah
AL Lau hal Mahfooth - things happen based on divine decree pre-ordained?

Are these matters connected with reward and punishment i.e the accountability of man
The Reward and Punishment approach 25 –
27
The 2 spheres within which man operates

1) dominates him
– Al Qadaa
- beyond his control i.e things happen according to laws universe i.e part of man’s
wujood – e.g he walks but does not fly, shape of his being, color or his eyes, hair, his
height etc
- beyond his control i.e but not subject to laws universe – e.g bullet ricocheted off wall
and killed someone
[no accountability whether one classifies it as good/bad/liked/disliked and Allah alone
knows the good/ bad (kheir/sharr) in/ of these events]. Belief in this Qadaa is compulsory.
Al Qadar – relates man’s actions in relation to both sphere’s but using objects
- instincts within man and attributes within objects are part of their characteristics
predetermined by Allah
- satisfaction of those instincts and use of the objects are subject to commands
- if satisfied and used accordingly then it is considered as good, if not then it is
considered bad

2) he dominates the sphere

- man is free will to choose how he satisfies his instincts and use objects either based on
Islam or man made systems 28-29
- man is therefore held accountable – they initiate the action in relation to their instincts
and objects; the attributes and instincts themselves are dormant characteristics until
used
- ability to achieve good and bad exists in the instincts and attributes but man decides to
undertake that action to lead to a good or bad outcome
- Allah created these instincts and attributes and laid down the law on how to satisfy and
use them – ayaat deal with this

The whole question whether it is fair to account man therefore become irrelevant; ilmullah, the 30-31
divine dcree in Al Lau Hal Mahfooth and iradatullah have nothing to do with man’s actions and
these matters relate to the ghaib which are beyond man’s comprehension