Islamic RevivalThe Rational Thought | The Evidence Course | Session 1 / Part 4 (2021-06-30) ​
Description ​
Session 1 Part 4
In an age of information overload and widespread pseudo-intellectualism, understanding the core foundations of Islam is as essential as ever.
This course comprehensively deconstructs the skeletal structure of prevalent ideologies and concepts such as atheism, scientism, materialism, secularism, and skepticism, in light of an all-encompassing intellectually robust Islamic worldview.
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The Hosts: ----------------------| Jake Brancatella, The Muslim Metaphysician
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Yusuf Ponders, The Pondering Soul
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Abdulrahman
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Summary of The Rational Thought | The Evidence Course | Session 1 / Part 4 ​
This summary is AI generated - there may be inaccuracies. *
00:00:00 - 00:15:00 ​
is part of a course on rational thought. It discusses how thoughts are generated and how they can be interpreted. It also discusses how language must be taught to us in order to be acquired. The course emphasizes the importance of previous information in order to understand thoughts.
**00:00:00
- Discusses the concept of thought, how it is generated, and how it can be interpreted. It also discusses how previous information is needed in order to understand thought.
- **00:05:00
- Discusses how language cannot be acquired by oneself, and must be taught to us. It also discusses the story of Adam Laysan, who was taught the names of things by Allah.
- **00:10:00 ** The Rational Thought course discusses the four components of rational thinking: reality, senses, brain, and previous information. These components help generate thoughts and determine what is real. The course also discusses causality, which is essential for rational thinking.
- **00:15:00
- Discusses the rational thought process, which requires the reality of things and the senses in the brain. Previous information is also necessary, such as the Quran. The rational thought process also requires the principle of causality.
Full transcript with timestamps: CLICK TO EXPAND
0:00:15 so you're about to sit down and watch0:00:17 this video0:00:18 and suddenly somebody knocks on the door0:00:21 would it be rational to say that there0:00:24 is somebody behind the door0:00:26 or rational to say that somebody or0:00:28 something has caused that knocking0:00:31 obviously yes it's a rational concept or0:00:33 rational idea0:00:35 that the door doesn't cause its own0:00:36 knocking and therefore there must be0:00:38 something that has caused the knocking0:00:40 from a state of non-knocking so we0:00:43 naturally asked that and we didn't0:00:44 actually come to that conclusion0:00:46 now imagine if somebody turned around0:00:47 and said well the guy behind the door0:00:49 has green eyes and i ask how do you know0:00:52 he has green eyes0:00:53 and he says well i can tell from the0:00:55 knocking now does that make a rational0:00:57 sense0:00:58 would that be rationally justifiable0:01:01 obviously0:01:02 it's not rationally justifiable so0:01:05 intuitively the reason why i give this0:01:07 example because intuitively0:01:09 we can understand that you know we can0:01:12 identify what is rational and what is0:01:14 irrational we have that sort of0:01:16 intuitive knowledge regardless of that0:01:18 but what we want to try and do today in0:01:21 this session0:01:22 is to precisely lay out the meaning0:01:26 of thought and how thought is generated0:01:29 and therefore look at some of the key0:01:32 components0:01:33 that we will utilize in order to look at0:01:36 the question0:01:36 whether the creator exists or not and0:01:39 this aspect0:01:40 is a little bit more trickier when0:01:41 you're trying to make it more explicit0:01:47 so the first question that will help us0:01:48 elucidate what rational thinking is is0:01:50 to understand0:01:51 how do we generate thoughts in the first0:01:53 place i'll give some basic examples to0:01:56 to shall explain this point so imagine0:01:59 you had0:01:59 a person who's blind and he's been blind0:02:02 from birth0:02:03 and you say to him the chair is red you0:02:06 know0:02:06 he's been blind from birth and you told0:02:08 him the chair is red he might understand0:02:10 what a chair is0:02:11 but would he understand what red is well0:02:13 obviously not because he has no0:02:15 conception of color0:02:16 he's never seen color in his life let0:02:18 alone the red color0:02:21 similarly if i was to ask you the0:02:22 question what does coke0:02:24 taste like and here obviously i'm0:02:26 talking about cola coke0:02:28 not the other type the haram type0:02:32 and and you'd probably say well coke0:02:35 it tastes like coke yeah0:02:38 now you explain it by what you've sensed0:02:42 but if you maybe try a little harder in0:02:44 terms of explaining it you might turn0:02:45 around and say well it tastes fizzy0:02:46 tastes sweet0:02:47 has a caramel type of taste and what0:02:50 we're now doing is when we're talking0:02:52 about0:02:52 what does you know how to generate0:02:54 thinking within a blind man0:02:56 or how to explain what coke uh0:02:59 coke tastes like then what we're doing0:03:02 is0:03:03 we're describing things through0:03:05 previously sensed reality with a blind0:03:07 person he hasn't got the ability to0:03:09 comprehend because he's not previously0:03:11 sensed it0:03:12 with the person who's drank coke or has0:03:15 if he's never drank that if he's drunk0:03:17 fizzy drinks and he's drunk sweet drinks0:03:19 then he can understand he can0:03:21 correlate with what you're saying he can0:03:23 generate a thought okay0:03:24 i understand what physios i understand0:03:26 what sweet is and therefore when you're0:03:28 saying that coke tastes fizzy and sweet0:03:30 then i can sort of understand that i can0:03:32 appreciate that0:03:33 so you're describing things based upon0:03:36 previously sensed reality0:03:38 and these things are stored in our heads0:03:40 so i can interpret and understand what0:03:41 someone else0:03:43 saying and when they describe something0:03:45 uh0:03:46 through this reference point of my0:03:48 previously stored0:03:49 idea let me give you another example0:03:52 let's say i found a stone tablet and0:03:54 found written on it0:03:56 is some ancient egyptian hieroglyphs0:03:58 could i understand a language0:04:00 just by sensing the stone tablet by0:04:03 looking at the language the hieroglyphic0:04:05 language0:04:06 if you had no knowledge of the0:04:08 hieroglyphics would it be possible0:04:10 no it wouldn't it would be impossible0:04:13 and in fact it0:04:14 was impossible to understand the ancient0:04:16 egyptian language the hieroglyphic0:04:18 language0:04:19 because it became a lost language it was0:04:21 only when they discovered0:04:23 the rosetta stone and here what they had0:04:26 was egyptian0:04:27 hieroglyphs at the top and below it0:04:30 was ancient greek and because it had0:04:32 knowledge of the ancient greek0:04:34 they were able to correspond the words0:04:36 and the meanings and the sentences from0:04:38 the hieroglyphs the ancient greek to0:04:40 start to0:04:42 decipher what each word meant because0:04:44 they0:04:45 already had the previous information of0:04:47 ancient greek it was still it already0:04:48 existed0:04:50 so the reason why i give this example is0:04:52 because when we sense the reality we0:04:54 don't sense reality0:04:56 without previous information we still0:04:58 need something else0:04:59 called previous information another0:05:02 example of this is language and that's a0:05:04 i think it's a key example here language0:05:07 is not something that0:05:09 we simply acquire through experience0:05:12 so if you put a child in the middle of a0:05:15 baby in the middle of the desert and it0:05:16 grows up he's not going to acquire0:05:18 language0:05:19 he's going to have to learn language so0:05:20 if it's kind of english he's not going0:05:22 to acquire language on its own it's0:05:23 going to have to be taught english0:05:25 and english words or arabic or whatever0:05:27 other language0:05:28 in fact it won't even learn any language0:05:31 this is a sad reality there are examples0:05:34 of this0:05:35 where children have been abandoned in0:05:37 the jungles or been neglected in their0:05:39 homes0:05:39 where they have been isolated and0:05:42 therefore0:05:42 you know have not engaged or interacted0:05:45 with other human beings they've not been0:05:47 spoken to0:05:48 and so they lost the ability to speak0:05:50 they didn't speak when they were finally0:05:52 rescued and this is an example of this0:05:54 was the russian bird boy0:05:55 because he was kept in a cage next to0:05:57 birds and he started chirping like the0:05:59 birds0:06:00 and he was in 2008 and he was found when0:06:02 he was eight years of age0:06:04 in a cambodian cambodian jungle there0:06:07 was a girl that was found when she was0:06:08 27 this is in 20070:06:11 and they found that they didn't have0:06:13 language they didn't have like a basic0:06:15 language they didn't have language0:06:16 at all they just made grunts no language0:06:19 at all0:06:20 and also what's also very interesting is0:06:23 that they found that these feral0:06:24 they term feral children these children0:06:27 that0:06:28 did not have any interaction with human0:06:31 language0:06:32 before the age of seven lost the ability0:06:35 to0:06:36 learn grammar or make grammatically0:06:38 correct speech0:06:39 so they could after the age of seven0:06:41 learn for example0:06:44 uh and identify objects and the names of0:06:47 objects0:06:48 but they couldn't grammatically0:06:50 construct0:06:51 those vocabularies into a meaningful0:06:53 sentence so they might turn around said0:06:55 food eat but they wouldn't be able to0:06:57 say the food is on the table0:06:59 and i want to eat it yeah but they'd0:07:02 rather they would just simply0:07:03 use the vocab of that they look they so0:07:06 this was the case0:07:07 and what does this indicate it indicates0:07:09 that actually0:07:10 language that we acquire0:07:13 cannot be something that we acquire0:07:15 ourselves but rather it has to be taught0:07:17 to us0:07:18 including grammar so yes the brain has0:07:20 to have the capacity to understand0:07:23 and construct language grammatically but0:07:25 you have to be supplied the input0:07:27 that input comes from maybe a parent0:07:30 people around us or society at large0:07:33 that's the previous0:07:34 information and so as a result we0:07:37 realized that just0:07:38 sensation alone doesn't lead and0:07:40 generate to thinking0:07:42 this was the point if you remember when0:07:43 we talked about the empiricist and the0:07:45 rationalists we said the empiricist said0:07:47 you're not born with innate ideas0:07:49 you just need to sense things well0:07:50 actually we have to be born with certain0:07:52 level of previous information0:07:54 and certain level of innate ideas in0:07:56 order to come up with0:07:58 concepts otherwise just by sensation0:08:01 alone0:08:01 you wouldn't have that and this is a0:08:03 profound profound0:08:05 point because if it's the case that0:08:07 language itself0:08:09 cannot be acquired by ourselves it has0:08:12 to be taught to us0:08:13 then it makes sense when allah subhanahu0:08:16 wa ta'ala in the quran0:08:17 says in surah baqarah verse 4 310:08:21 and he taught adam all the names of0:08:24 everything0:08:25 then he showed them to the angels and0:08:27 said tell me the names0:08:29 of these if you are truthful hey allah0:08:32 is mentioning the point that0:08:33 adam laysan was taught the names of0:08:36 things i the previous information was0:08:38 first supplied0:08:39 in terms of language and understanding0:08:42 to0:08:42 adam lesson from allah and0:08:46 in the imam tabari's tafsir of this0:08:48 story0:08:50 he mentions further about how the angels0:08:54 they came to adam islam and they started0:08:56 to test him0:08:57 you know his use of language they found0:08:59 it you know novel0:09:01 and so they asked him adam islam who is0:09:04 the woman0:09:05 who was created to be adam laysan's wife0:09:07 and he0:09:08 alaihi salam said she is howa0:09:11 yeah and when the angels asked why she0:09:13 named such0:09:15 and he said because she was created from0:09:18 something alive0:09:19 hey which means life so howa0:09:23 is a construct of the word hey and so0:09:25 this allows us or this also demonstrates0:09:27 to us0:09:28 an aspect of the thinking process which0:09:31 is the ability to sense a reality0:09:33 and to link to previous information or0:09:35 innate concepts0:09:36 and then develop and expand0:09:40 our concepts beyond that so we can for0:09:43 example there's a very brief example0:09:46 if i uh if i've sensed gold and i've0:09:49 sensed a mountain0:09:51 and in my mind i can imagine a mountain0:09:53 that's purely made out of gold0:09:56 you know this is what i can do i can0:09:57 construct that similarly in language we0:10:00 can construct0:10:01 based upon the previous information new0:10:03 terms0:10:04 like for example biology comes from the0:10:06 word bio0:10:07 and ology bio means organic or life and0:10:10 ology means study0:10:12 so biology means the study of life or0:10:14 terms like globalization0:10:17 global meaning the world and ization in0:10:19 this suffix is used to refer to0:10:21 something0:10:22 to make something like that or to make0:10:24 it so globalization means to make global0:10:27 like nationalization is to make0:10:28 national so we can construct language in0:10:31 this way0:10:32 and we can understand whether the what0:10:34 we've constructed0:10:35 in this way is it a rational idea or an0:10:39 irrational idea0:10:40 because we can make these imaginations0:10:42 like the mountain of gold0:10:43 by understanding whether it has0:10:45 correspondence upon the reality0:10:48 so let's just really simplify what we've0:10:50 said0:10:52 famous scholarship dr edin and he was a0:10:55 scholar of the 20th century0:10:58 and he stated what the rational method0:11:00 was and what it was composed of and he0:11:01 mentioned this in the book0:11:03 of islam systems of islam and also the0:11:06 book at afghir0:11:07 the thinking and he said rational0:11:10 thinking or rational method0:11:13 is built upon four components first you0:11:15 need a reality0:11:16 second you need senses to send the sense0:11:18 of reality0:11:20 thirdly you need the brain which the0:11:22 reality is trans0:11:24 the reality through the senses0:11:25 transmitted to the brain and the brain0:11:27 has stored0:11:28 information or previous information so0:11:30 you have these things0:11:31 reality senses brain and previous0:11:34 information0:11:35 in order to generate thought and if we0:11:37 understand0:11:38 this definition of thought then we can0:11:41 understand a few things0:11:42 we can conclude a certain certain things0:11:45 the first thing that we can conclude0:11:47 is well if reality is necessary to think0:11:51 and i think therefore reality must exist0:11:55 so this0:11:56 point about people say oh you know how0:11:58 do we know things around us exist how do0:11:59 we know reality exists0:12:01 all these types of speculations well i0:12:04 think0:12:04 therefore there must be a reality that0:12:08 has allowed me0:12:09 to make this thought in the first place0:12:11 secondly if reality is the cause of0:12:14 thinking0:12:15 then what we are saying is that0:12:17 causality is a necessary component of0:12:19 rational thinking0:12:21 so what generated this idea was the0:12:23 reality0:12:24 so when you've got a person's blind from0:12:26 birth he can't sense the color red0:12:28 he's not going to generate thinking0:12:29 within him if he0:12:31 suddenly is able to see and he looks at0:12:33 the color red it's going to give him a0:12:34 comprehension what you mean now by the0:12:36 color red0:12:37 he's generated thinking that generation0:12:39 of thinking or generating your thinking0:12:42 was caused by the sensation of reality0:12:44 so you have to accept this principle of0:12:46 causality as well0:12:47 furthermore causality is even more fun0:12:51 well it's it can be also shown in0:12:53 another way as well0:12:54 which is which is really important and0:12:56 is really0:12:58 very important connected to the0:12:59 comprehensive comprehensible to0:13:02 comprehend0:13:03 let me give you an example you've got0:13:05 two colorless old0:13:07 colorless liquids and you wanted to know0:13:10 whether these two colorless liquids are0:13:12 the same thing0:13:14 same reality same liquid or are they two0:13:17 different liquids0:13:18 how are you gonna know well if they0:13:21 react0:13:22 differently at the same cause you're0:13:24 gonna call them two different things0:13:26 for example if i take one color color0:13:29 the colorless liquid and i put heat to0:13:31 it and i0:13:32 bring it to the boil and find it boils0:13:34 at 100 degrees celsius0:13:36 then i think to myself hold on this is0:13:39 you know distinct and it might be water0:13:42 and then i take the other liquid0:13:44 and i boil it and i find it boils at0:13:45 about 78 degrees celsius i think hold on0:13:48 there's two different liquids here0:13:50 because i subject them to the same cause0:13:52 but they exhibit different effects0:13:56 and maybe if i drink one liquid it0:13:57 quenches my first0:13:59 and the other liquid is probably haram0:14:02 i alcohol and makes them tipsy0:14:05 so we distinguish realities based upon0:14:09 the effects differing0:14:13 from each other even though they inhabit0:14:15 the same causes so i know a table is0:14:17 different to0:14:18 a camera a camera is different to a0:14:21 light a light is different to carpet0:14:24 yeah just giving you random examples but0:14:27 the reason why i'm saying this is0:14:28 because0:14:29 we sense the different attributes that0:14:32 exist within these things0:14:33 and when we're sensing the different0:14:34 attributes what we're really sensing0:14:36 is the different effects and the0:14:39 different effects0:14:40 even though these things exist at the0:14:42 same cause causality or the same causes0:14:45 and same conditions and that's what we0:14:48 store in our mind0:14:49 that's what we understand so when we0:14:51 talk about sweet we're talking about the0:14:52 effect0:14:54 yeah the same cause which is different0:14:56 or0:14:57 a particular cause which is different to0:14:59 maybe something that tastes0:15:00 fizzy so that's a different effect even0:15:02 though both are0:15:04 you know consumed or tasted that's how0:15:06 we're sensing them0:15:07 so therefore we understand and0:15:09 comprehend and that's how we understand0:15:11 and comprehend the universe around us0:15:14 so this is what we mean by the rational0:15:16 method the rational method requires the0:15:18 reality0:15:19 and it requires previous information as0:15:21 well as the senses in the brain0:15:23 that the previous information is0:15:25 something that you know we are0:15:27 you know we have innate concepts like0:15:28 causality but also has to be supplied to0:15:31 us through0:15:32 language has to be taught to us you know0:15:34 we've obviously got the quran as0:15:35 mentioned0:15:36 but we've also got very strong empirical0:15:38 evidence0:15:39 and also rational evidence on the things0:15:41 like the hieroglyphics etc0:15:45 so we've got that and the other aspect0:15:47 is that causality is a component0:15:50 for rational thinking so just like i0:15:52 said if i think there must be a reality0:15:55 that exists0:15:56 in the same way if i can think and i0:15:59 need causality to0:16:02 exist in order for me to think the fact0:16:04 that i think0:16:05 means that therefore causality exists so0:16:07 causality is not a principle we derive0:16:10 for experience i see causality therefore0:16:13 i'll believe in it0:16:14 rather causality is something that's0:16:16 necessary as a component to the thinking0:16:19 process0:16:19 itself and it's from this basis and0:16:22 understanding that we can start to0:16:24 investigate whether a creator exists or0:16:34 not