The Sources of Knowledge

By: Ayatullah Shaheed Murtaza Mutahhari
From the viewpoint of Islam the sources of knowledge are: the natural signs or the signs existing in the world, man himself, history or the social events and episodes of the nations and the communities, reason or the self-evident principles, heart, in the sense of the illuminating and purifying organ and the written record left by the past people.
In many verses the Holy Qur'an has asked people to ponder over the nature of the heavens and the earth: "Behold what is in the heavens and the earth." (Surah Yunus, 10:101)
Similarly the Holy Qur'an has invited people to study the history of the past nations intelligently with a view to take lesson from it: "Have they not travelled in the land so that they may have hearts to understand and ears to hear!" (Surah al-Hajj, 22:46)
The Holy Qur'an believes in the reliability of reason as well as of self-evident truths. It bases its arguments on them and says: "Say: 'Had there been gods besides Allah, then surely both the heavens and the earth (i.e. the whole universe) would have been thrown into confusion'." (Surah al-Ambiya, 21:22)
"Allah has not chosen any son, nor is there any god along with Him. Otherwise each god would have surely championed which he has created and some of them would surely have overcome others. Glorified be Allah above all that they allege." (Surah al-Mu'minun, 23:91)
Similarly the Holy Qur'an regards the heart as the centre of Divine inspirations and intuitions. Every man can receive inspiration in accordance with his sincere devotion and his effort to keep this centre spiritually pure and active. The revelation of the Prophets is the highest degree of this kind of knowledge. The Holy Quran has repeatedly referred to the value of the pen and the book and on several occasions taken an oath by them: "Nun. By the pen and that which they write therewith." (Surah al-Qalam, 68:1)
The Holy Qur'an which has urged people to think, not only pointed out the causes of wrong thinking, but has also specified the subjects which are fit to be pondered on and which can be used as sources of knowledge and information.
On the whole Islam is opposed to wasting energy on the question which cannot be investigated or even if they can be, they are not beneficial to man.
The Prophet of Islam has called vain the knowledge, the achieving of which is of no use and the lacking of which causes no harm, on the other hand, Islam has encouraged the knowledge of those subjects which are useful and open to research.
The Holy Qur'an suggests three subjects for useful and beneficial thinking: Nature, History, and Human Conscience.

I. Nature
In many verses scattered throughout the Holy Quran the natural objects such as the earth, the sky, the stars, the sun, the moon, the clouds, the rain, the movement of the wind, the sailing of boats on the sea, the plants, the animals and every thing that man may perceive in his surroundings, have been mentioned as subjects fit to think over deeply and to draw conclusion. As an example we quote here one Qur'anic verse:
"Say: Behold what is in the heavens and the earth." (Surah Yunus, 10:101)

II. History
There are so many verses in the Holy Qur'an which invite man to the study of the past peoples and describe such study as a source of knowledge. From the Holy Qur'an's point of view all developments of human history take place in accordance with systematic norms and laws. All historical events involving honour or disgrace, success or failure, good luck or bad luck have their definite and well-calculated rules. By knowing these rules and laws current history can be brought under control and can be turned to the advantage of the present generation. Here there is one verse as an example:
"Different traditions existed in the past. So travel across the land and see the fate of those who denied the revealed truth." (Surah Ale Imran, 3:137)

III. Human Conscience
The Holy Qur'an mentions human conscience as a special source of knowledge. From the Qur'anic point of view the entire creation consists of Divine signs and is a key to the discovery of truth. The Qur'an describes the world outside man as 'horizons' and the world inside him as 'selves', and thus instills in him the special importance of human conscience. That is why the term 'horizons and selves' has gained currency in Islamic literature.
There is a world famous sentence of the German philosopher Kant, which is inscribed on his tombstone:
"There are two things which greatly excite the admiration of man: one is the starry sky located over our head and the other is conscience located within us".