What is Reasoning (Taʿaqqul)?
The importance the Qur’an Places on the Use of Reason (ʿaql)..
The word "Taʿaqqul," meaning "to reason, to use one's intellect, to act intelligently, and to approach things and events with reason", is derived from the word "ʿaql" (intellect/reason).
Although the Quran uses verbs derived from the word "intellect/reason" (ʿaql) 49 times, it never uses the word "intellect" as a noun.
This is one of the miraculous messages. The Quran states that it does not consider the mere existence of reason sufficient; it demands that reason be employed and utilized.
Raghib al-Isfahani defines "ʿaql" as follows: It is the power that is ready to accept knowledge. The knowledge that a person acquires through this power is called intellect (ʿaql - (عَقْل).
The Quran describes the connection between reason and knowledge as follows:
And these are the examples We give for mankind; but none will understand(yaʿqiluhā - to understand something by actively using reason, comprehend through reason) them except those who have knowledge(alimun)
The reason why the revelations to the prophets came in the language of the society they addressed is so that the word could be understood by reason.
We have made it an Arabic Quran so that you may exercise your reason(taʿqilūna),
And We sent not a Messenger except with the language of his people, in order that he might make (the Message) clear for them. Then Allah misleads whom He wills and guides whom He wills. And He is the All-Mighty, the All-Wise.
The Quran emphasizes the necessity of using one's intellect in order to properly read and understand all its verses.
Thus does Allah make clear to you His verses that you might use reason(taʿqilūna).
O you who have believed, do not take as intimates those other than yourselves, for they will not spare you [any] ruin. They wish you would have hardship. Hatred has already appeared from their mouths, and what their breasts conceal is greater. We have certainly made clear to you the signs, if you will use reason(taʿqilūna).
There is no blame upon the blind, nor any blame upon the lame, nor any blame upon the sick, nor upon yourselves if you eat from your own houses, or your fathers’ houses, or your mothers’ houses, or your brothers’ houses, or your sisters’ houses, or the houses of your paternal uncles, or the houses of your paternal aunts, or the houses of your maternal uncles, or the houses of your maternal aunts, or those whose keys are in your possession, or those of your friends. There will be no blame on you whether you eat together or separately. So when you enter houses, greet yourselves with a salutation from Allah, blessed and good. Thus does Allah clarify His signs for you so that you may exercise your reason(taʿqilūna).
Know well that Allah revives the earth after it becomes lifeless. We have clearly shown Our Signs to you, perchance(maybe) you will use your reason(taʿqilūna).
He presents to you an example from yourselves. Do you have among those whom your right hands possess any partners in what We have provided for you so that you are equal therein [and] would fear them as your fear of one another [within a partnership]? Thus do We detail the verses for a people who use reason(taʿqilūna).
The ability to use one's intellect/reason is one of the primary distinguishing characteristics between humans and animals. If a human fails to fulfill their nature by using their intellect, they will not only become like an animal, but will descend to the worst of animals.
Indeed, the worst of living creatures in the sight of Allah are the deaf and dumb who do not use reason.(yaʿqilūna- they use reason)
The verse above is not addressed to animals, but to humans who, despite possessing intellect, fail to use it; or rather, who do not give their tongues and ears their due in a manner befitting an intelligent being.
Do you suppose that most of them listen or exercise their reason? They are just like cattle; indeed, they are further astray from the way.
While a functioning intellect invites faith, an inactive or improperly used intellect causes its possessor to be plagued by deviations from belief such as polytheism, disbelief, denial, and hypocrisy—in other words, spiritual impurities.
No soul may have faith except by Allah’s leave, and He lays defilement(rijs) on those who do not exercise their reason.
When we look at another verse where the word الرِّجْسَ “rijs”, which is translated as filth given to those who do not use their minds, is used, we see that those who do not use their minds are unfortunately punished with filth in the same way as those who do not believe in Allah. From this, it is possible to deduce how important it is to use one's mind in the sight of Allah.
Whomever Allah desires to guide, He opens his breast to Islam, and whomever He desires to lead astray, He makes his breast narrow and straitened as if he were climbing to a height. Thus does Allah lay [spiritual] defilement(rijs) on those who do not have faith.
Ignorance, the result of not using one's intellect, is a veil over the eyes, a covering over the heart, and a weight in the ears that prevents hearing. And understanding the truths of the Quran is the lot of those who are free from these veils, coverings, and weights.
170. When they are told, ‘Follow what Allah has sent down,’ they say, ‘No, We will follow what we have found our fathers following.’ What, even if their fathers neither exercised their reason nor were guided?!
171. The parable of the faithless is that of someone who shouts after that which does not hear [anything] except a call and cry: deaf, dumb, and blind, they do not exercise their reason.
And among them are those who listen to you. But can you cause the deaf to hear, although they will not use reason?
They will not fight you all except within fortified cities or from behind walls. Their violence among themselves is severe. You think they are together, but their hearts are diverse. That is because they are a people who do not reason.
And if you asked them, "Who sends down rain from the sky and gives life thereby to the earth after its lifelessness?" they would surely say " Allah." Say, "Praise to Allah "; but most of them do not reason.
Allah has not prescribed any such thing as Bahirah(a she-camel whose milk was spared for the idols and nobody was allowed to milk it), Sa’ibah(a she-camel let loose for free pasture for their false gods, e.g. idols, etc., and nothing was allowed to be carried on it), Waseelah(a she-camel set free for idols because it has given birth to a she-camel at its first delivery and then again gives birth to a she-camel at its second delivery), or Haam(a stallion-camel freed from work for their idols, after it had finished a number of copulations assigned for it)(all these animals were liberated in honour of idols as practised by pagan Arabs in the pre-Islamic period); but those who are faithless fabricate lies against Allah, and most of them do not exercise their reason.
Indeed, those who call you, [O Muhammad], from behind the chambers - most of them do not use reason.
Have they taken intercessors besides Allah? Say, ‘What! Even though they do not control anything, and cannot reason?!’
Have they not travelled through the land so that they may have hearts by which they may exercise their reason, or ears by which they may hear? Indeed, it is not the eyes that turn blind, but it is the hearts in the breasts that turn blind!
There are also many verses that show that by using one's intellect,
a person can find the right path from the signs, proofs, and indications of Allah around them.
He said, ‘The Lord of the east and the west and whatever is between them—should you exercise your reason.’
Indeed in the creation of the heavens and the earth, and the alternation of night and day, and the ships that sail at sea with profit to men, and the water that Allah sends down from the sky—with which He revives the earth after its death, and scatters therein every kind of animal—and the changing of the winds, and the clouds disposed between the sky and the earth, there are surely signs for a people who exercise their reason.
In the earth are neighbouring terrains [of diverse kinds] and vineyards, farms, and date palms growing from the same root and from diverse roots, [all] irrigated by the same water, and We give some of them an advantage over others in flavour. There are indeed signs in that for people who exercise their reason.
There are signs for people who exercise their reason in the alternation of night and day, in the provision that Allah sends down from the sky, with which He revives the earth after its death, and in the changing of the winds.
He disposed the night and the day for you, and the sun, the moon and the stars are disposed by His command. There are indeed signs in that for people who exercise their reason.
From the fruits of date palms and vines you draw wine and goodly provision. There are indeed signs in that for people who exercise their reason.
Certainly We have left of it a manifest sign for people who exercise their reason.
Is there an oath in that for one possessing intellect?
And of His signs is that He shows you the lightning, arousing fear and hope, and He sends down water from the sky, and with it revives the earth after its death. There are indeed signs in that for people who exercise their reason.
It is He who created you from dust, then from a drop of [seminal] fluid, then from a clinging mass, then He brings you forth as infants, then [He nurtures you] so that you may come of age, and then that you may become aged—though there are some of you who die earlier—and complete a specified term, and so that you may exercise your reason.
Say, ‘Come, I will recount what your Lord has forbidden you. That you shall not ascribe any partners to Him, and you shall be good to the parents, you shall not kill your children due to penury—We will provide for you and for them—you shall not approach indecencies, the outward among them and the inward ones, and you shall not kill a soul [whose life] Allah has made inviolable, except with due cause. This is what He has enjoined upon you so that you may exercise your reason.
In many of the verses below, humanity is addressed with the question, "Do you not reason?" The repeated use of this question in different surahs is actually intended to draw attention to this issue. Instead of asking questions like, "Do you not follow those who came before you?", "Do you not imitate them?", "Do you not memorize them?", etc., the question "Do you not reason?" is emphasized repeatedly.
Certainly We have sent down to you a Book in which there is an admonition for you. Do you not exercise your reason?
Certainly, he has led astray many of your generations. Have you not exercised your reason?
Say, ‘Had Allah [so] wished, I would not have recited it to you, nor would He have made it known to you, for I have dwelled among you for a lifetime before it. Do you not exercise your reason?’
The life of the world is nothing but play and diversion, and the abode of the Hereafter is surely better for those who are Godwary. Do you not exercise your reason?
Will you bid others to piety and forget yourselves, while you recite the Book? Do you not exercise your reason?
‘O my people! I do not ask you any reward for it. My reward lies only with Him who originated me. Do you not exercise your reason?
Whatever things you have been given are only the wares of the life of this world and its glitter, and what is with Allah is better and more lasting. Will you not exercise your reason?
And whomever We give a long life, We cause him to regress in creation. Then, will they not exercise their reason?
O People of the Book! Why do you argue concerning Abraham? Neither the Torah nor the Evangel were sent down until [long] after him. Do you not exercise your reason?
Fie on you and what you worship besides Allah! Do you not exercise your reason?’
And it is He who gives life and brings death, and due to Him is the alternation of day and night. Do you not exercise your reason?
We did not send [any apostles] before you except as men from among the people of the towns, to whom We revealed. Have they not travelled over the land so that they may observe how was the fate of those who were before them? And the abode of the Hereafter is surely better for those who are Godwary. Do you not exercise your reason?
136. We destroyed the rest.
137 Indeed you pass by them at dawn.
138. and at night. Do you not exercise your reason?
Then they were succeeded by an evil posterity, which inherited the Book: they grab the transitory gains of this lower world, and say, ‘It will be forgiven us.’ And if similar transitory gains were to come their way, they would grab them too. Was not the covenant of the Book taken with them that they shall not attribute anything to Allah except the truth? They have studied what is in it, and [know that] the abode of the Hereafter is better for those who are Godwary. Do you not exercise your reason?
Even if a person uses their intellect to find the truth, for some (referred to as a group from the People of the Book in the following verse), their ego, as another factor, can render their efforts futile.
Are you then eager that they should believe you, though a part of them would hear the word of Allah and then they would distort it after they had understood it, and they knew [what they were doing]?
And finally, the Quran concludes with a magnificent verse stating that one cannot get anywhere by merely listening, and that the use of reason is essential for understanding what is heard.
And they will then say: 'If only we had listened and understood we should not now be among the inhabitants of the Blaze'.