Dr Ibrahim Kalin - The Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre

manity. But this can happen only when we see human reason
working in a larger context of thinking and contemplation.
Reason and Thinking in Context
The verb ‘a-q-l, to intellect or to use one’s reason, literally
means to hold, to protect and to guard. Reason is that by
which we protect ourselves from falsehood, error and evildoing.
Thus ma’qal means ‘fortress’. This is the same meaning
conveyed in the English phrase “intelligent person”. This
basic meaning of reason is not to be taken lightly, for it underlies
the essential component of thinking and contemplation
as the proper human response to the call of reality. In
contrast to attempts to reduce reason and rationality to logical
competency and procedural ratiocination, reason as a
principle of truth and as an instrument of knowledge represents
an encounter with the reality of things. Thinking is not
simply to enumerate the physical properties of things or the
logical relations of concepts. It is more than a mere mental
representation of things because, as Muslim philosophers insist,
mental abstraction gives us only a picture of reality. Like
all mental abstractions,this picture is frozen and can never
fully measure up to the reality itself.
Abstract concepts are essential for rational thinking and
the formation of ideas. Thinking, however, requires more
than abstraction and use of concepts. It takes place in a context
of encounter with reality and puts us in a relationship
with something larger than us. It means seeing, observing,
listening, hearing, reflecting, contemplating, and drawing
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