The Holy Quran defines the traits of the pious in their faith and behavior. One basic trait is believing in the unseen, as Allah says: "Who believe in the unseen..." Surah Al-Baqarah (2:3). The term "unseen" has different aspects. What is meant by believing in it?
Believing in the unseen is to believe in things that cannot be sensed. This includes believing in Allah through His creations, which reveal His magnificent ability. We cannot touch or see Allah, but our conscience imposes this as a conclusive truth. It relies on a scientific and rational basis, turning intellectual piety into certainty. Non-pious people rely only on senses and experiments. They ignore the rules that govern them. They believe the value of their judgments lies in deduction without any prior rational content. Some say man's natural standards to differentiate right from wrong lie in materialistic sensation. Man realizes the results of his experiments, whether they fail or succeed. If he succeeds, he repeats the experiment to explore it. If it fails, he stops so as not to repeat the fault.
They also believe man cannot determine through his conscience if pure thoughts are true or false. The mind lacks the criteria to judge, as pure thoughts are not visible and cannot be verified by observation. This is one of the strongest criticisms sensualists bring against mentalists, who believe knowledge has a base other than the senses.
In response, we say this viewpoint cannot hold for several reasons.
First, the evidence they present to prove it wrong to refer to the mind is itself rational. It is based on abstract observation. They say: had we not based our knowledge on the senses, we would not have an accurate measure for right and wrong. This raises a question: Are the connotations of this idea based on empirical results? If the answer is no, then they are denying rational evidence using rational evidence. This confirms the trend that believes there is another proof besides experiment.
Second, the senses and experiments are not a fit basis for knowledge without rational premises. An experiment is bound to a certain time and place. Its results are restricted to its own scope, excluding all future experiments. If we perform an experiment with a certain result and repeat it with the same result, sensualist logic cannot conclude that similar experiments will always yield the same result, as they have not been directly observed. If a second experiment produces different results, we cannot determine what was wrong, as each experiment has its own circumstances. No single experiment can be generalized beyond its scope.
Rational logic, however, makes experiments extend beyond time and place. For example, if we find a scientific rule that "movement produces heat" after many experiments, we cannot consider this rule comprehensive without abstract rational rules. Rules like: "the ruling towards similar things is one," meaning things sharing the same traits and circumstances yield the same results; and "the one could not be the result of the many"; and the principle that "a thing would not be true if its opposite was true." Without these rational rules, we could not extend the experiment beyond its scope. The first rule considers un-experimented cases similar to experimented ones. The second rule subjects the singular result of a million movements to the same cause. The third rule rules out the possibility of something being both true and false, as that is impossible.
We conclude that rational principles connect us to general thoughts and rules via limited experiments. Without them, empirical experiments would not enrich man scientifically or intellectually.
We ought to shed light on the third rule as a sample of a priori rational postulates. It is a measure to differentiate right from wrong. Existence and nonexistence cannot join in the same place and time. This is a conclusive mental thought that no knowledge can do without. The result of any means of knowledge is worthless if the opposite could also be true, for the case would be both right and wrong. Without this mental rule, which has no empirical basis, it would be impossible to prove any fact.
We Muslims rely on the soundness of religious thought that believes in unseen forces, worlds, and things. This is an obvious result of objective bases in the world of reality. We learn about them with the help of established rational evidence. The best example is believing in Allah. Everything around us reveals He exists, even though we cannot see or sense Him materially. This is based on the rational rule that anything possible must have an inducing cause not subject to any other cause. We realize this by some clarification means. We notice we believe in things in the universe we cannot experience with our senses. This means the principle of believing in the unseen is existent and right. The possibility of seeing it in the future does not change this. Believing in the unseen results from the conception that materialistic sensation is not all that is required to acquire knowledge. The senses must be accompanied by the mind.
We must stop at a critical point. Since religion emphasizes believing in the unseen, does that mean religion is based only on the unseen? Is the unseen the only reference for belief, evaluating people, or explaining social and cosmic events? Some might subject all natural phenomena to metaphysical explanations beyond human thought. As a result, the human mind might explain the causes of natural phenomena, like sickness, health, defeat, victory, and economic problems, outside the framework of practical reality. It might refer all that to metaphysical factors or to Allah, without examining the natural laws Allah founded in the universe under the principle of natural causality.
Some naïve believers fell for this argument. They denied many scientific results for clashing with their metaphysical mentality. Some even deemed those who believe in natural laws as unbelievers. They believed the difference between belief and unbelief is that believers accept metaphysical causes, while unbelievers accept realistic causes.
There was an insistence in some periods on focusing preaching on the metaphysical side in all life's aspects. This neglected the role of natural laws. It connected all natural phenomena directly to Allah. This prevented Muslims in past eras from progressing towards understanding the universe through its governing laws. It created a metaphysical personality that tries to dig out steps towards the unseen. It faces the future with metaphysical expectations, paving the way for astrologers and foretellers to manipulate people's feelings. We have noticed many politicians and others resorting to astrologers to know their future.
We do not believe in the unseen in this vast, applied sense on people's private and public lives. We believe in the unseen that connects us to Allah within a limited scope. Islam wages a stern campaign against astrologers, foretellers, and fortunetelling. This is to drift this mentality away from the reality of thought and life. It keeps believing in the unseen a doctrine tied inside oneself. In this way, man does not indulge in blind materialism. He opens up to the wide horizons related to Allah, without freezing at the limits of his narrow circumstances.
We might believe in the unseen in many cases we do not understand. We might even acknowledge that some natural laws have a metaphysical aspect. We believe life is not always subjected to materialistic explanations. In our lives, many things that cannot be explained physically might take place regarding livelihood or health. Some patients heal after invoking Allah through the intercession of a prophet, or through supplication. This occurs in a psychological ambience inconsistent with practical interpretation.
We do not deny a spiritual power that guards man and plays a role in his life. However, the basic Islamic principle is that life and all its secrets—political, social, or economic—are subjected to the natural laws Allah set for the universe. This is exemplified in many Quranic verses. Allah says: "[That was] the established way of Allah with those who passed on before." Surah Al-Ahzab (33:38). And: "You will not find in the way of Allah any change, and you will not find in the way of Allah any alteration." Surah Fatir (35:43)
Therefore, believing in the unseen does not prevent us from studying every universal or life phenomenon to understand its causes. The Quran calls on us in many verses to contemplate and meditate on the universe and history. This leads us to realize the Greatness of Allah. Islamic thought embraces all sciences of life and man that seek to discover the scientific laws governing the universe. It interprets reality in a way that conforms to the great role Allah has prepared for man in life.
We conclude that experiment is not the only measure to differentiate right from wrong. The mind also connects man to knowledge's solid base, in both abstract and empirical thoughts.
An excerpt from “Interpretations Inspired from the Quran”