3. KNOWLEDGE

 

Reality is what things are, Truth is how they behave, and Knowledge is what they convey. This depends on the nature of the recipients and how they are affected. Since this transforms them it becomes part of their truth. Knowledge, for man, may be defined as an awareness of truth, though sometimes people also speak of sub-conscious and even unconscious knowledge. This, however, can only be done if it emerges into consciousness.

Awareness has the following properties:-

(a) There is a distinction between the experience of something and awareness of it. The awareness of the colour is not the same thing as the experience of the frequency of light which gives rise to it. However, the awareness of the frequency of light is a different experience obtained in other ways.

(b) The capacity for awareness is less than the range of experiences we have. That is, there are a great number of things which affect us which we are not aware of. The word ‘mind’ refers to the processing ability and is distinct from both consciousness and the materials processed, though they interact. We have a conscious, sub-conscious and unconscious mind. The word ‘Spirit’ may be used to refer to consciousness.

(c) Awareness is variable in extension (the number of things we can be aware of at the same time), in intensity (the strength of awareness), cotensity (the number of connections between data or the degree of integration) and in movement (we can change the focus of attention).

(d) Awareness is, therefore, selective. Different people can select different areas of experience. This causes differences of opinion.

(e) The selectivity of awareness depends on interest, assumptions and activities.

 

A fact of experience by itself has no value. It must be interpreted. This is done by association with other experiences already existing in memory. These may be external, physiological or inner psychological ones. They have to form or fall into a system or pattern. This system is formed in or created by the knower. The system may not correspond to the system of experiences or the system in nature from which the information is derived. However:-

    (a) Human beings are created by the materials, forces and laws of nature.

    (b) They have evolved in association with nature.

    (c) They test the results of their awareness by trial and error, and successes and failures.

 

There ought, therefore to be a correspondence between the system in nature, the system of experiences and the system in their awareness, though these are not identical.

Knowledge, ultimately, means the awareness of that which enables people to adjust to their environments, the Cosmic process, ultimately to Allah.  

 

Human beings have three aspects:-

   (a) They are passive and dependant on their environment, physically, mentally and spiritually. They have an input. They are affected and have a cognitive faculty.

   (b) They process and transform the input for their own use. This, too, has a physical, mental and spiritual level.

  (c) They are active and creative, physically, mentally and spiritually. They produce an output.

 

Owing to human creativity a distinction exists between Imagination, Opinion and Knowledge. Imagination refers to what human being create in their minds, knowledge to something which has not been invented but is given to them, and opinion refers to a mixture of the two. But these are not independent since imagination, too, requires the data of experience and knowledge requires interpretation and organisation. The distinction is one of degree and whether we regard it as mainly a creation of the mind, or having a social significance or referring to something independent.

Imagination can be divided into Fantasy, Invention and Lies. Lies are deliberate falsehoods which the person does not himself believe. If he believes them then we have Fantasies. Fantasies cannot be completely false since it also depends on the data of experience which has simply been rearranged in a manner not in accordance with the facts given to them. Inventions are a rearrangement of the data of experience for some purpose. They may be ideas, interactions or objects which are actualised and become true. In this form it could be a material object or a condition, a social institution (organisations, Law, modes of behaviour and thought, sciences etc.) or a psychological condition. It is possible to produce disease or cure a disease not only physically, but also through social conditions and purely psychologically. It is also possible to create mass hallucinations or entities which are seen as real. Opinion attributes an element of fantasy to the given world. Knowledge may be about the external (physics), the mediate (physiological) or the inner (psychological) world.

Opinions may be divided into three levels distinguished as Opinion1, Opinion2 and Opinion3. In the ordinary sense opinion implies guess work, conjecture, based on partial knowledge and mixed with inventions and fantasy. But at a second level, there is an element of invention even in a serious description. Appropriate concepts and conceptual systems have to be invented and data interpreted in accordance with these. At the third level opinion depends on the particular activities and procedures adopted.

 The word knowledge is normally used very ambiguously.

1. Sometimes it means information, what a person has read about in text books, newspapers or received by conversation with others. He may not have thought about or understood it. And he cannot apply it. It may exist in his mind in a verbal form. He has no personal experiences.

2. Sometimes it means something which a person has experienced, but he has not processed this experience. It forms little or no connection with other experiences.

3. Sometimes it means that which we have understood. It forms a consistent system with other experiences, but does not inform his motives and actions.

4. In Islam knowledge means something a person is conscious of; some thing which causes learning and development, something which modifies the individual and his behaviour and is applied. It becomes part of the individual by a process of thinking, criticism, testing, practice, digestion and assimilation. It has intellectual, emotional and motor elements. It becomes truth and is based on truth.

 

There is a distinction between a description, understanding and consciousness. This corresponds to a distinction between Opinion2, Knowledge and Gnosis. A person may be given information which he then studies and assimilates until he understands it. He applies it and gains experience, and eventually he develops an intuition about things. The doctor, engineer, carpenter and other professionals develop an intuition in connection with their work which does not require intellectual calculations. Knowledge requires some active efforts from the individual. Gnosis, however, is a state of passivity in which the individual allows his consciousness to take up the structure of the effects of the truth impinging upon him.

Knowledge depends on several factors:-

1. Knowledge belongs to a triad - the knower, knowledge, the known, in which knowledge is the result of the interaction between the other two. It cannot exist without the object or without a knower. Knowledge requires a contribution both from the object and the observer. The knower may, however, be regarded as either the body or the mind or consciousness.

All kinds of forces impinge on the body and are processed by it without our consciousness. The mind is also active independently. It selects, analyses, re-arranges data, creates associations and patterns, fills in gaps, extrapolates and synthesises. It invents and produces fantasies. A person, regarded as a conscious being is wrongly said to have knowledge when he has a passing acquaintance with something, when he is in fact sub-conscious. The ordinary waking state of the individual should not be regarded as consciousness. It provides very little awareness of one’s surroundings. Attention has to be concentrated in order that we become conscious of something. The various abilities of the mind can be deliberately used to form inventions or models and systems which aid understanding.

 

A distinction should be made in Inventions between Data, Instruments and Systems.

Data refers to raw, unprocessed experiences. Mathematical models, frameworks of reference, graphs, charts, descriptive devices, procedures, various conceptual systems and methodologies for organising data, certain concepts such as specific heat, centres of gravity, units of measurement, various constants, are Systems. These are used in science to facilitate understanding. These should not be mistaken for the phenomena themselves. Science also requires Inventions such instruments, machines and calculators or computers which extend human faculties, but are not part of a human being. These give indirect and interpreted knowledge. Instruments by which we measure things need not be physical ones, but can be social or ideological ones. In general people tend not to differentiate between them. The description of nature by Science using these Systems and Inventions is nothing like nature as experienced and should, therefore, be regarded as Opinion2 or Opinion3. The data gathered by science depends on these and are usually, themselves, merely aspects of things experienced rather than the things experienced, e.g. length, volume, duration, weight. They do not exist by themselves. The knowledge so acquired is, therefore, quite distinct from truth. There is also a distinction between the way the scientist who is actually doing the work understands science and others who merely accept these results and base their thoughts on Science. Some systems and inventions are more useful than others. Systems and Inventions could also be made for other purposes.

 

2. The human mind is selective. The need to concentrate attention on an object, and on certain features of it to the exclusion of others, depends on the interests, motives or value system of the observer. In general this is produced by the need created by the struggle to survive, and to use things for human purposes. Selection, rejection and interpretation of data depend on the judgement of what is valuable and what is not, and will differ accordingly. A person who makes no such judgement will see the world quite differently. The “Fall” of man consists of the narrowing down of his consciousness to what he regards as his self-interest. And this self-interest, too, is judged by the same restricted mind. A change in interest will produce different kinds of knowledge.

We define and describe qualities only by comparing. If we describe a table we not only distinguish it from other objects such as chairs, and from the background in which it exists, but also from ourselves. In fact, however, it exists in interaction and relationship to the background, the other objects and ourselves. The fact that we abstract it from all these relationships, for the purpose of concentrating attention and study, immediately creates a separation between an area of knowledge and an area of ignorance.

 

3. What we are aware of depends on the concepts and language we have constructed, our motives and actions which determine the kind of reactions, the data which the environment presents. The culture of the society affects what the observer searches for, selects, what he does, how he relates to things as well as how he interprets and organises the data of experience. We have numerous isolated or atomic experiences which we put together in various ways. We put them together according to a framework of reference. The object is partly a construction of our own minds.

Different people, therefore, see things differently according to their levels of consciousness or their interests, assumptions and their behaviour. The same individual sees things differently at different times. Peoples in the past saw the world differently than they do today. Peoples in different cultures see different things as true. The same man can be described differently by a biologist, economists, psychologist, businessmen, politician, colleagues, relatives and so on, not only because of differences in relationships and experiences, but because of the way they interpret and organise these experiences.

 

4. Knowledge differs from opinion along several parameters:-

(a) Opinions are mixture of invention and knowledge.

(b) Opinions have a motive other than understanding or the discovery or communication of truth.

(c) Opinions select and are based on a limited set of data, ignoring other relevant facts.

(d) Opinion refers to a verbal statement while Knowledge refers to that to which a verbal statement applies.

(e) Knowledge must correspond to experiences. It cannot be false.  Opinion refers to a thought. It is not true of an experience but may or may not be true of a thought, and the thought, the interpretation of an experience may be false.

(f) Knowledge produces modification of behaviour. Opinion may be held in the intellect without corresponding to behaviour.

(g) There are several categories of knowledge. Opinion may confuse these categories. A dream, for instance, is a real experience. But we may mistake it for an external event. It is then false. A story may be fictitious in its details and yet true about life in general. We may confuse these two aspects.    

 

The words used for description will have different meanings to different people according to their past experiences and associations. A word refers to a concept which is an abstraction of what is common to many experiences. The combination and relationship between concepts is not the same as the relationship between the objects or events. The objects and events in reality have multiple relationships. A verbal description is linear. It, therefore, transpires that the same object, event or pattern can be described by numerous analogies, and the same analogy can be used to describe aspects of numerous objects, events and patterns. A verbal description must necessarily be inaccurate. It must be both true and false according to how we look at it. There are, for instance, innumerable shades of the colour described by the word “red”. It may be that some of its aspects can be described also by the words “white”, “yellow”, “blue”, “green”, all of which cover innumerable shades.

All we can say of a verbal description is that something behaves “as if” a certain verbal statement was true, but only in certain aspects of it’s behaviour, and when understood in a certain way.

A concept, e.g. one described by the word “chair” refers to something which is common to all objects called “chairs”. In fact there is no such material object. All chairs are different. What, then, does it refer to? It could be that it refers to a particular function, the function of allowing people to sit on it. Anything we sit on will then be a chair for the duration of that particular relationship. It changes into something else, say a table, when used for that purpose.

The word “water” refers to something having a great number of functions and relationships, as rain, rivers, seas, wells. It dissolves things, transports substances and enables chemical reactions, and so on. The fact that it can be analysed into hydrogen and oxygen refers only to one of its characteristics. Certainly, the properties of water are not the same as those of hydrogen and oxygen. Organic life cannot live in them, and they do not quench thirst or wash.

 

Owing to the popularity of scientific and technical language which describes certain aspects of reality only, it has become difficult or impossible for many people to understand religious and even poetic language. The mistake lies in presuming that science deals in objective truths rather than useful methods of description for certain purposes. Applying the same literalist attitude to religious statements leads to all kinds of misunderstandings. It may be stated that when a person rejects a statement as “nonsense” he is in fact usually referring only to his own understanding. He first invents his own idea of say, “God” and then proceeds to reject it. A thoroughly unintelligent thing to do.

 

The Quran advises:-

“Follow not that whereof you have no knowledge. Of the hearing and the sight and the heart - of each of these it will be asked to give an account. And walk not in the earth exultant. Lo! you cannot rend the earth, nor can you stretch to the height of the hills. The evil of all that is hateful in the sight of thy Lord.” 17:36-38

“Nay, but those who do wrong, follow their own lusts without knowledge. Who is able to guide him whom Allah has sent astray? For such there are no helpers.” 30:29

 The verses tells us that:-

1. We should avoid hearing, seeing and doing what is evil (as in the case of the three famous monkeys), but also what is untrue, useless or harmful, and ugly.

2. We should seek that which is or leads to what is true, good, useful and beautiful.

3. We cannot alter the basic nature of things and ourselves, but must take this fact into consideration for our own welfare. Fantasy and illusion will not help us. The arrogance which underlies self-opinions and speculation should be set aside and real knowledge sought.

4. We are accountable for, and hence benefit or otherwise from doing this.

5. Knowledge is only obtained when the individual is in interaction with the environment, not when he is detached or when he speculates.

6. It describes three categories of Knowledge, namely:- Hearing, Seeing and Feeling. We can hear about something, see it and feel it. We can learn from listening or reading; from observing; and from involvement. The expert differs from the non-expert by his ability to use feelings and intuition about what is appropriate and consistent. It is knowledge when it is understood, when a person sees the relevance of something to himself. This creates a difference between the Islamic attitude and that of Science.

Consider, for instance, the Newtonian Laws of Motion.

The First Law states that everything continues in the same direction and velocity of motion unless some external force acts on it. The value of this law should be in the understanding that we cannot alter our state or behaviour without effort.

The Second Law states that the change of velocity and direction is proportional to the force applied. Thus we learn that the quality and quantity of effort we make will determine the changes occurring in us and our environment. We earn according to what we do.

The third Law states that there is an equal and opposite reaction to every force. Every action we do not only produces changes in the environment but also within ourselves. Thus environmental actions will produce inner changes, and inner efforts will produce environmental consequences.

These laws have only been applied to the external world, mainly because their message has not been assimilated. They do not constitute knowledge but information. It is not difficult to see that these laws are implicit in the following verses, and could have been derived from them:-

“..man has only that for which he makes an effort, and that his effort will be seen.” 53:39

“Verily, your effort is dispersed towards diverse ends.” 92:4

“Allah changes not the condition of a folk unless they change what is in their hearts.” 13:11

Similarly, the discoveries in Astronomy about the vastness of the Universe should have created humility in man, and taught him how insignificant his ordinary daily ambitions are.

7. The verse may be taken as urging us to observation. The normal procedure in the face of new experiences is to interpret them in accordance with past experiences. This traps the individual in a vicious circle. Learning then stops. This mechanism is particularly observable when reading books or looking at the behaviour of other people. The wonder with which the child first looks at his world soon disappears as experiences form habits of thought. This vicious circle needs to be broken by a new procedure - To observe first and to assess and interpret later. Observation is what distinguishes Science from Philosophy. Here, however, we are asked to engage the feelings too. They, too, supply information. Empathy, for instance, is recognised as an essential instrument in Psychology. It ought to be used more widely.

8. There is also an inner meaning to the verse. Seeing, hearing and feeling do not merely refer to the external senses, but also introspection and to inner faculties. Inner seeing, for instance is referred to as Insight, the ability to see relationships between data. Logical arguments, too, are not possible unless one already has the insight to see connections and relationships. Some people select their premises in order to produce a predetermined conclusion. Others put together premises and discover the conclusion. This, too, requires insight. Insight has three degrees, namely, intuition, inspiration and revelation.

There is also an inner hearing. This is sometimes referred to when speaking about the voice of conscience. Conscience refers to a faculty similar to the instincts in animals, the inherent ability to know what is right for oneself. It probably refers to the feeling of inner consistency or contradiction. It may, therefore, also refer to consistency among acquired experiences. It also refers to the possibility of self-criticism. The experience of inner debates is not uncommon.

Inner feeling is often used by experts to arrive at a judgement without calculation. It is the direct result of experience. Inner feeling is probably the main faculty used by psychic workers such as clairvoyants, mediums and sensitives when they are genuine. But they usually have little or no control over this faculty and often confuse their own fantasies and desires with the data offered by this faculty. Everyone has these faculties to varying degrees, but they lie neglected and dormant. As the mind is directed outwards, they have not been exercised. Inner feeling also refers to the experience of harmony, consistency and the awe and joy generated by this.

Inner seeing, hearing and feeling may have different degrees of intensity. They may, as has been confirmed by many people, lead to actual visions, voices and impulses. These are often regarded as hallucinations. But the term makes no distinction between the sources, whether it is due to disease and disintegration of the psyche or the reverse, whether it is harmful or beneficial, whether it leads to maladjustment or greater adjustment. In fact, they may be experiences connected with various levels of the Collective Consciousness or the Quantum Field.

9. Knowledge could also be obtained by deeper and deeper self-observation. The same materials, forces and laws operate within us. The word, Gnosis is used to refer to this supra-rational kind of knowledge. It is unreasonable to disbelieve these experts while accepting the rational mode of thinking advocated by scientists and philosophers. It is perfectly possible to develop the faculty for this kind of transcendental knowledge in the same way as the powers of observation and reason have been developed.

“Proofs have come unto you from your Lord, so whoso sees it is for his own good, and whoso is blind is blind to his own hurt. And I am not a keeper over you. Thus do We display Our revelation that they may say: You have studied. And that We may make it clear for people who have knowledge. Follow that which is inspired in you from your Lord” 6:105-107

 

Accordingly, we recognise three sources of knowledge - the empirical, the rational and the supra-rational. We must not confuse the three. They require quite different faculties and methods. Religious knowledge arises from the supra-rational faculty. It is, then, not possible to say, as some rationalists do, that it is not knowledge but opinion, therefore, every opinion is as good or bad as any another. There is a remarkable consensus among the mystics of all traditions.

The word ‘mystic’ contains a bias. It assumes that there is something extra-ordinary, miraculous or supernatural about the faculty used by them. But it is no more mysterious than the rational faculty or the sense organs. It is merely a question of how many people cultivate and use it. The word ‘super-natural’ is meaningless and should be replaced by ‘super-normal’ unless one gives ‘nature’ a very restricted meaning. If it exists it is natural, and there are more things in nature than any particular person is aware of. Some things, however, are less familiar to people in general, and to some people more than to others, or they occur less often than other things. The applications of Magnetism and Electricity could have been called super-natural phenomena at one time without justification.

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If we make certain assumptions, namely (a) we take the word ‘truth’ as meaning the pattern of order within experience, (b) the word ‘knowledge’ as meaning the awareness of this, and (c) if awareness depends on inner organisation, then certain consequences should be considered:-

1. Knowledge depends on the capacity of the person to hold it. Knowledge can be given, transformed, taken away, accepted, transferred or rejected.

2. The total amount of knowledge can vary in different areas, and within an area, at different times. The variation depends on (a) the circumstances in the greater area to which the area under consideration belongs as a part, (b) the circumstances within the area and (c) the relationship between the one with the other.

3. Consider a small section of the area. If the amount of knowledge in the area is considered to be or kept constant then the increase in knowledge in that section means a decrease of knowledge in the other sections and vice versa. Thus, for instance, if because of mass hysteria, social disorder or the formation of deeply entrenched habits and conventions, there is a loss of knowledge in an area then this is also the time when it can be picked up by the few. Indeed, this is found to be the case. When societies begin to disintegrate, that is also the time when a few people achieve the most.

4. Knowledge differs in kind. The increase in one kind of knowledge implies the decrease in another kind.

5. There will be an inverse ratio between the quality and quantity of knowledge. It is possible for an educational system to either produce a great number of educated people who have a relatively low quality of knowledge, or to produce a smaller number of people who have a high quality of knowledge. The word quality here refers to higher forms of integration, synthesis or comprehensiveness.

6. The amount of knowledge present in a section is limited by the amount of knowledge in the area as a whole. It is more difficult for knowledge to reach a high quality in an area where the average is low. Much greater effort is required.

7. Apart from quantity and quality, items of knowledge also have relationships with other items. These relationships also form structures and order at higher levels. Access to higher levels of knowledge depends on the presence of certain amounts and qualities of knowledge and the size of the section. It is generally much easier for a single person who has such knowledge to reach these higher levels than it is for a group among whom the knowledge is distributed.

The areas we are speaking of may be a group of people, a community, a nation, the whole of humanity, the entire biosphere and so on.

However, the quantity of knowledge may change owing to changes in cosmic factors, the radiations of the sun, for instance, and perhaps also with social and psychological changes caused by this.

 

Knowledge has a Cosmic function apart from a social or psychological one.

The purpose of creation according to the Prophet, Muhammad, is formulated in the statement:-

“Allah wished to be known, therefore, He created the world.”

Evolution is a motion towards “Knowing Allah”. It is also produced by increasing Knowledge.

“Is he who founded his building upon duty to Allah and His good pleasure better; or he who founded his building on the brink of a crumbling, overhanging precipice so that it topples with him into the fire of hell? Allah guides not wrongdoing folk. The building which they built will never cease to be a misgiving in their hearts unless their hearts be torn to pieces. Allah is Knower, Wise. Lo, Allah hath bought from the believers their lives and their wealth because the Garden will be theirs: they shall fight in the way of Allah and shall slay and be slain. It is a promise which is binding on Him in the Torah and the Gospels and the Quran. Who fulfils His covenant better than Allah? Rejoice then in your bargain that ye have made, for that is the supreme triumph. Triumphant are those who turn repentant to Allah, those who serve Him, those who idealise Him, those who fast, those who bow down, those who fall prostrate in worship, those who enjoin the right and who forbid the wrong and those who keep the limits of Allah - and give glad tidings to believers.” Quran 9:109-112

The function of knowledge is self-construction. Knowledge is normally built like a brick wall where each layer depends on the previous layer and the whole depends on foundations dug deep in the earth. However, it is also a whole in which the parts are interpreted with respect to each other and the whole. As it grows it modifies all parts of it. It also has to be integrated into the very structure of the psyche. There are certain concrete facts which have to be known first. The patterns which these make form the next layer and so on. In general it depends on how we interpret these basic facts and how we arrange them, which determines how we will interpret the facts which come later. We also have to revise our understanding of these basic facts as knowledge grows.

If we are given, say a Scripture or a text book in science, to study, and we begin by concentrating our attention on one particular idea which we understand in one way, then we will interpret subsequent ideas according to how they fit the original one. If, however, the sequence of ideas we study is altered then the whole understanding of the scripture or the science will also be altered. The controversy between various interpretations of the scriptures results from the selection of different ideas as fundamentals. The same will happen in any subject which depends on a long series of arguments as in Philosophy or Politics. Quite apart from errors in logic it is possible to refute one Philosophical thesis by means of another merely by selecting different ideas as the base line.

Testing a hypothesis by experiment as in science does not necessarily help to settle controversies. The reason for this is that the tests we devise are themselves created on the basis of the understanding we have reached, and the results of the experiment are interpreted by means of the same understanding. All that is proved by the test is whether or not a hypothesis fits in with that understanding.

In order to obtain inner integration we need a unified world view. All knowledge must form a self- consistent system. This requires a single all-comprehensive Framework of Reference. This is like the Co-ordinate System used by Mathematicians. It has a centre or origin, and all things are described by their distances from this centre along several dimensions. They are not described in terms of their relationship with each other, though this can be worked out.

From the Islamic point of view that Origin or Centre and the whole of the framework of Reference ought to be Allah. The reality and significance of a thing can only be discovered with reference to Allah.

However, Allah is separated from the world through several levels or heavens. This Framework of Reference contains systems which have their own Origins and framework of Reference. This is like saying that everything in the Galaxy should be understood with reference to the Centre of the Galaxy, but that it has several centres of its own. There are Solar systems in it. Everything in the Solar system should be understood with respect to its centre. Its Framework of Reference is understood with respect to that of the Galaxy. And so on.

In general since every individual is the centre of observation, he is himself the Origin of his own framework of reference. This centre is usually the Ego. To achieve a transformation, a person ought to identify himself with Allah, the spirit being within him. This is the Real Self not the ego, which is merely an idea of self, a psychological entity which corresponds to the social entity denoted by a name and the physical entity, the body.

 

Knowledge progresses through several stages as follows:-

1. Sensations. There are seven external senses, not five as commonly believed:- sight, hearing, smell, touch, taste, but also the sense of balance and the sense of weight. Apart from these external senses we can also sense feelings and thought. Different people have different sensitivities. Some may be colour blind, some may see colours differently, some can distinguish between smaller differences in shade, some can hear sounds of a higher or lower pitch than others, and so on. It is obvious that different people will see the world differently.

2. Perceptions - Interpretation of sensations by associating them with past experiences contained in the memory, and an evaluation of these according to how they affect us. For instance, something is food if we can eat it. It may not be food for someone else. In so far as people have different experiences they will interpret things differently. Inherent or acquired temperamental differences will lead their attention to different aspects of things, thereby creating different experiences and different interpretations. A nervous person may interpret a rope lying in a dark place as a snake. And the rope may have different significance for a hangman or a sailor or mountain climber. Past memories may be wrong, and may have become distorted.

 Our conscious and sub-conscious behaviour and thinking is not governed by sensations but by perceptions. The word ‘fact’ refers to perceptions. They are, therefore, created by the individual through the process of interpretation. This is not normally realised. The word ‘table’ does not refer to the sensation nor to the object but to the relation which the sensation has with other things and with ourselves. Facts can be changed by re-interpretation. There are several levels of interpretation. Percepts can be related together in numerous different ways to create still other percepts.

It is supposed that past experiences determine present actions and experiences, and that present experiences will determine future actions and experiences. But this is not strictly so. There are three sources of change and these will cause changes in interpretation.

  (a) The external world changes, both by its own forces and because of the activities of the community and the individual himself. The individual can also migrate to other environments.

  (b) The individual changes as he ages, and because of his experiences. He grows from babyhood to childhood and adulthood to seniority. Memories fade, some are renewed and reinforced, and others neutralised.

  (c) It is perfectly possible to change ones past by reinterpreting ones experiences.

 

3. Conception, We abstract common elements from several experiences.- e.g. the colour ‘red’, the shape ’roundness’, the class of objects such as ‘chairs’ or ‘cats’. It is argued that there is no such thing, for instance, as ‘cats’, but only ‘this cat’ and ‘that cat’. The class of similar objects is a formal or logical one, not a material one. Others point out that ‘cats’ refers to a species of animals and such a species forms a real unit or object. Others would argue that there must be a level of reality where “catness” exists and which is able to bestow the common qualities we recognise as cats. This is built into the genes, for instance. Similarly, aeroplanes possess common qualities because they exist in the mind of designers. Thus we have a distinction between three kinds of concepts:-

    (a) the formal, (b) the concrete and (c) the abstract.

The argument as to whether there is a real world of abstract objects is not different from the argument as to whether colours, for instance, exist in objects or only in the mind of perceivers. The fact remains that in so far as objects display different colours there is something real which produce the effect of colour on us. The mental or verbal construct may corresponds to the experience or the object but is not itself the experience or the object.

By selecting our experiences we can abstract any number of common qualities in many combinations. We may, therefore, have concepts which overlap each other or are mutually exclusive or contain others within themselves. The same field of vision can be divided into objects or patterns in numerous ways. Different people with different sets of concepts may argue to their hearts content without coming to an agreement and without understanding each other. They may use the self-same word to refer to different concepts, or different words to refer to the same concept giving the illusion of agreement or disagreement.

The ability to abstract common elements depends on our powers of discrimination. Usually differences are distinguished because something is left over when similarities are removed. But it is equally true that similarities are seen when we remove differences. If we cannot distinguish between, say, one shade of red from another then what we see as similarity contains hidden differences about which we can form no concepts and no associations. On the other hand we may not be able to see subtle similarities because our minds are fixed to the differences. We see the trees but not the forest or the branches.

The ability to form concepts and name things distinguishes man from animals. Religion begins at this point.

4. Ideas. Here concepts are put together in certain structures and patterns. This will take place under the influence of objective, subjective or neutral factors. Subjectively, there may be some motive. A plan of action is of this type. A neutral organising force is in the nature of mental experimentation. Objectively we associate things according to their connectedness in experience. Certain concepts or experiences may already be bound together in a fixed or rigid way, not because they are always and everywhere so connected, but because they are so connected in our local situation, the way we see things, or in our past experience. We then have a complex or fixation. If data exists in a fluid or flexible state then they can be connected in a great number of ways until some result is arrived at which turns out to be useful. Learning by “Trial and error” in thought apart from in action becomes possible. Success facilitates association and failure discourages it. It should, however, be noted that the efficacy of this method depends on the discrimination and flexibility of the mind. Association is often a question of accident. However, given a sufficient speed of combination and a sufficiently great number of combinations, all possibilities could be exhausted.

Unfortunately the rigidity of the mind owing to fixations prevents a great number of possibilities. A state of expanded consciousness must be achieved so that a great amount of data is held together in the mind at the same time. A pattern will then become discernible. Disputation at this level is most common because of the great number of ways in which such combinations can take place. It may be supposed that logical arguments should put an end to disputes, but experience shows that among philosophers, politicians and even among scientists this does not, in fact, happen. Apart from the fact that the contestants may not possess the same data, logical argument depends on a choice of concepts. and on how they are put together.

The direction of the argument will depend on motives and purposes. Generally, these disputes are not about objective matters but consist of clashes between different types of personalities. It is not true that the scientist, for instance, will go wherever the argument will lead him. He has a theory or hypothesis first and tries to prove or disprove it. Generally he selects only certain facts while ignoring others. One would suppose that discussion and exchanges of information would ensure that mistakes of this kind would be avoided. But there is usually also a consensus within a community to ignore certain kinds of data. It is not sufficient to prove a hypothesis since one can do so merely by selecting appropriate facts. It is only when it cannot be disproved that it should be tentatively accepted. It may well be that other facts will come to light later which change the situation. This procedure ensures consistency. That is, there are no facts which contradict it.

 

However, it is also possible to separate all contradictory facts into another Hypothesis. And then try to reconcile the two Hypotheses by means of still another. And so on. In this way ever greater comprehensiveness is achieved. We cannot start with all facts, but must allow for an expansion of knowledge. An explanation why there is a contradiction will have to be provided. For instance, the Law of motion states that all motions continue in a uniform and unidirectional manner. We have to explain why they do not in fact do so. To do this we have the notion of force. The force is defined as that which causes the change in motion. It is not observed by the senses, but established by the definition. How different would science have been if no such hypothesis had been made!

The hypothesis, moreover, has already selected the experiences out of the field to which it will apply, neglecting all others. This being the case the likelihood of achieving consistency is ensured. It does not, however, ensure the impossibility of other hypothesis covering a different selection of experiences. Some may be more comprehensive than others, more useful for other purposes.

The Hypothesis is arrived at by a flash of insight, inspiration or revelation in the same way as in religious experiences. The scientist differs from others in that he tests this against nature, while others may not distinguish between a genuine inspiration and the product of fantasy, prejudice, or accident. The test so made could be construed as “consulting Allah” , and as such, part of “Surrender”. However, as in the case of the Law of motion the test is irrelevant since it merely measures the pre-supposed force.

5. Systems. These consist of a structure of interconnected ideas. Obviously many such systems are possible, and the integration of ideas may vary. A science is such a system. Commerce, Politics and religions have their own. Individuals possess in their minds several mutually exclusive or loosely connected systems which are integrated and consistent to various degrees. This allows them to behave differently in different situations, sometimes in self-contradictory ways. They may not be aware that their opinions or actions under one set of circumstances are quite different from their behaviour under a different set of circumstances. Consciousness at this level is disintegrated, variable and unstable.

6. The above considerations indicate that there is a possible higher level where the individual is wholly integrated. He does not possess several systems, but a single one which comprehends them all. It is not merely a question of science discovering the Unified Field Theory which can explain everything and unite all the sciences, but also something which can unify life, the sciences, politics, economics and art. The communists have attempted this but failed. There is an inkling of it in Islam but not yet realised.

7. A still higher ideal state can be envisaged where consciousness has penetrated into the subconscious and unconscious levels. Having become aware of their physiological processes and even the processes going on at the cellular and subatomic levels man will be able to synthesise his experiences to a much higher degree.

 

It is necessary to remember that we do not know Reality in itself, but we only have knowledge of it. Though the two correspond, they are not the same. Since the power of human creativity increases the greater the unity of knowledge, the implication is that the Universe is created by exactly the same process - both are unknown in themselves but we have knowledge of them. Though Knowledge develops from maximum diversity, through a series of steps to maximum integration or unity, it is the reverse of the process in which the known Universe develops. If we name this direction of increasing unification Evolution, then the development of the physical Universe is Involution. The Fall and Ascent of man, therefore, assumes a particular meaning.

 

Knowledge, from the Islamic point of view is like food and air - it has an organic function. It may be nutritional, poisonous or catalytic to various degrees. It should be treated in the same way.

Knowledge, it has been pointed out depends on:-

(a) Sense experiences (b) Motives (c) Actions that elicit reactions from the environment.

Apart from this, knowledge is of three types, the knowledge of ‘what is’, the knowledge of ‘what ought to be’, and the knowledge of ‘how to do ’something; the knowledge of facts, values and techniques. Each of these can be similarly divided. The carpenter, for instance, can learn his techniques by practice, or in theory or by application.

Sense experiences:-

Every experience creates three memories, one each in the intellectual, the emotional and the motor centres. Or rather, each memory has these three aspects. Associations will form with other memories. The association of memories create certain patterns or structures which may also be abstracted. Analysis leads to numerous, what we may call “atomic ideas”. These are the simplest ideas. In a flexible mind these are constantly combining and separating. When a person is presented with a problem then a process of association starts, and a selection occurs when a combination offers a solution to the problem. However, the flexibility of the mind varies. Some combinations or patterns are more rigid than others. Training and conditioning sets up what we may call “templates” or “complexes”. These are certain behaviour patterns which are always invoked when a certain situation arises. Any particular place or situation, e.g. a country, a bank or a school, a factory, a festival, a war, and so on will be distinguishable from other places or situations by the relative frequency and the kinds of events which take place there. According to how successful a particular behaviour pattern is in providing satisfaction of a person’s needs, that behaviour pattern will become fixed. The fixation will depend on the frequency (extensity) with which it is invoked, the amount of satisfaction it provides (intensity), and its relationship (cotensity) with other behaviour patterns. Some may reinforce each other and others may cancel each other. If it is unsuccessful in providing satisfaction then it weakens the fixation. The world we see, its limitations and our own limitations depend, therefore, on these complexes, fixations or attachments. We are imprisoned in a confining circle which we may break out of.

Sensations, feelings and actions though independent faculties, interact with each other and contain within themselves all three aspects. Interpretation will vary according to the interests of the individual. Let us consider three people looking at a dance. One of these is a dancer. He will have certain muscle memories connected with dancing, and these will, by association, determine what he perceives. In fact, the act of observation will cause his muscles to undergo changes in tension in sympathy with the observed dancer. This will happen to a lesser extent in the case of a non-dancer. Perhaps he is an academician concerned with classification of movements. Or he may be a person who is merely seeking entertainment and sees the dance in the context of the company he is in and the feelings he undergoes. Changes in posture and muscle tensions are also connected with the circulation of the blood which in turn is connected with the respiration rate. Changes in emotion are connected with such physical changes. Whereas direct emotional changes bring about physical changes, physical changes also produce corresponding emotions. If this happens the individual is led to seek an object on which to vent that emotion. It is often the case that a person is not angry about something, but that he is looking for and finds something which he can blame for his anger, whose cause is something quite different.

Knowledge is connected with action and motivation. Actions can be more or less skilful, and their results may depend on whether some other piece of information was present or not, correct or not, and whether the situation has changed or not. Motives are affected by association, and the means may well become the ends. For instance, the need to eat becomes the need to find a means of earning money to buy food. This in turn leads to various careers. It may well be that a person has formed a habit to certain kinds of behaviour in his career. He continues to do these things though the situation has changed and it is no longer a source of income.

The relative strength of an impression or idea, and, therefore, its value, V may be said to depend on 7 factors. It is directly proportional to the intensity of the stimulus, S, its frequency of occurrence, F, the number of associations it has, N, the personal significance or affect, A, and inversely proportional to the intensity of consciousness, C, the total size of the field of experience, E, the amount of intellectual activity performed on it to analyse, digest and assimilate it, I. There may be other factors involved. In so far as different experiences will have different values to different people they will obviously perceive the world differently.

Motives:-

The main interests which govern thinking and action derive from the three major instincts:- (a) The self-preservative (b) the socio-sexual (c) the self-extensive. Three levels should be recognised:- the physiological, the mental and the spiritual. At the physiological level w have need for food, security and territory from which these are obtained, sexual relationships, reproduction and the formation of families and tribes etc., and the need for activity and experience. These raw urges are processed at the mental level to provide other indirect motives such as those connected with following a career, social organisation and culture. At the spiritual level we have hope, love and faith which are much more global qualities.

These have already been dealt with elsewhere. (See Book 3- Creation Chapter 2-Man)

Action:-

There is a distinction between (i) identified, (ii) conscious, (iii) intelligent, (iv) conditioned, (v) habitual (vi) instinctive and (vii) reflex actions.  Reflex actions are simple reactions to external stimuli such as the withdrawal of the hand when burnt or pricked. Instinctive actions are those which arise from the way the organism is constructed and requires no external stimuli. Both arise from a long process of evolution. Most of the behaviour of animals is regarded as instinctive. Conscious actions are those which are done deliberately. This requires a faculty or centre which is able to exert control over physiological processes at a lower level. Learning intelligently depends on the flexibility of the mind, the facility with which associations can be made and behaviour modified accordingly. Intelligence to various degrees is a universal phenomenon. If you press against a piece of wood it will adjust its shape. Having a certain amount of elasticity, it will press back, and it will return to its original shape when the pressure is removed. Or it may retain the marks of its experience. These should be considered simple examples of intelligence. It refers to the degree of adaptability. This is not necessarily conscious. Learning through conditioned reflexes allows instinctive behaviour to be modified by experience. It increases adaptability. The data of external experience are recorded in the organism, become associated with certain instincts and channel the energy. The notion of conditioned reflexes was invented to reduce the behaviour of living things to mechanics. In fact it is probably a combination of intelligence at a lower level and habit, but a third ingredient, the capacity to form and retain records of experience, must also be taken into account. Habits consist of learned behaviour patterns which have become relatively fixed, but differ from conditioned ones in that they require no external stimuli. They are automatic and self-stimulating. They may be compulsive to different degrees. Identified behaviour refers to the capacity of man to form attachments or self-identification with things such that it is these things which control behaviour. There are many degrees of this:- greed, addiction, hypnosis, obsession, adoration, love and surrender. The objects may vary from drugs, possessions, ideologies, institutions, nations, sciences, systems, self to God.

Attempts have been made to measure human intelligence, but these tests were found always to be biased according to what the person creating the tests considered intelligence to be. It turned out that the tests were not measuring intelligence, but on the contrary, intelligence was defined as what the tests were measuring. This was not very useful. It was found that there were a great many different abilities each having a wide range and that people had them to different degrees. They are now measured for their aptitude for different functions. It is no longer possible to classify people as more and less intelligent. Though some people may have an over all intelligence greater than others, the fact is that people differ more widely because of the differences in the direction which intelligence takes. They may be highly intelligent in one respect, say A, and quite moronic in another, say B, while someone else may be the reverse. It turns out, therefore, that the person who might be regarded as a fool in one respect has great talents of another kind. It is also a fact that the particular conditions of life in a certain place determine whether these talents are used, applied, have value and produce a recompense or not and the rank and wealth of a person are quite accidental. In another set of conditions things may be quite different. Social rank or position is no indication of the quality of a person.  

When a person learns some new complex skill he does so consciously. e.g. cycling or swimming. But after he has learnt it, it becomes gradually automatic. He has formed a habit, and learning stops. The advantage of the habit is that it releases consciousness, of which we have little and which requires great effort, for other purposes. The habitual action is effortless and much faster and more efficient. It has advantages in a competitive and dangerous world. Training and education create conditioned behaviour and habits deliberately because, being automatic they are fast and efficient and require no great conscious effort. But they are not easily modified. Habits once formed are rigid and inadaptable. If conditions change, which often happens because of human activity itself, then the habit becomes obsolete. If the individual finds himself in a situation where he can continue with his habit unchanged, and he need not learn anything new, then the faculty for conscious effort is not exercised and it atrophies. Whole nations have degenerated because of habits of thinking, feeling and action. when conditions changed. From the Islamic point of view consciousness is the truly human faculty which ought to be cultivated. It is the only thing which adds something to man.

“Man shall have only that for which he makes a conscious effort. And that his efforts will be seen” 53:39-40

The distinctive feature of science is that it is not merely concerned with pure thought about nature and the universe but with action in order to elicit reactions which can be studied. It is concerned with measurement and experimentation. It is a more intimate relationship with nature and the universe than philosophy. From the Islamic point of view, however, this scientific attitude should apply not merely to specialist subjects, nor should it be confined to the laboratories, but should pervade the whole of life in all its aspects. The lessons to be learnt from Nature are not only facts, but also values. Its results should be applied to the process of living.

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Knowledge may be classified as. Personal, Social and Universal.

1. Personal knowledge is that which a person himself has experienced. We seldom rely exclusively on this kind of knowledge. That which we have read about, heard from others or have deduced is not personal knowledge. To know something is different from knowing about something. What we know in this case is that we have read it or heard it or deduced it. To establish the accuracy of such information requires other techniques of gaining experience.

 

2. Social knowledge is that which exists in the community. There are three types.  

 (a) That possessed by other people from which we also benefit or are affected by e.g. scientists and experts of various kinds.

 (b) Knowledge which is known by organisations, but not necessarily known by any one individual. Different parts of the total are known by many different individuals.

 (c) Knowledge which is recorded in books and documents and is accessible to people, though no one, in fact, knows about it at a given moment. There may be great amount of neglected books and documents. As communal interest changes much of what was once known is neglected in favour of other things.

 

3. Universal Knowledge. If consciousness refers to the organisation or order of things, then there will be consciousness associated with all other things besides man. There will be a Universal consciousness which will have parts, each having parts. There will be knowledge recorded in the structure of things. What accounts for the behaviour of a bird or animal? How is reproduction of the species possible? Obviously information is transferred genetically. A great amount of our knowledge consists of becoming conscious of what is already inherent in us.

We can also distinguish between inner, interactive and outer knowledge. Outer knowledge is gained through the external senses by studying the world around us. Interactive knowledge arises from communication with people and things. Inner knowledge is gained by looking within ourselves deeper and deeper. Though these three kinds of knowledge may at first appear to be different, the greater and the more comprehensive they become they more must they converge.

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A distinction is usually made in the West between knowledge and belief. In fact, it cannot be said that a person has knowledge which he does not believe. The Quran condemns disbelievers, not because they have no knowledge (this is ignorance), but because they do not recognise the truth when presented with it. That is, they are not aware of it because they suppress or ignore it, either unconsciously or deliberately. The Quran also condemns conjecture or speculation because this is invention and replaces knowledge. There can be no belief in conjecture, only self-deception. Belief, therefore, means not only to have knowledge but to be motivated by it and to act accordingly. This is because every item of real knowledge has an effect on the cognitive as well as the affective and motor faculty. Knowledge does not, therefore, mean only sense data which is valueless unless interpreted. The ability to adjust correctly to reality and to benefit oneself depends on knowledge. To seek and obtain knowledge is not merely a means to Surrender but is Surrender.

Knowledge may come unintentionally or it may be deliberately sought. It may be obtained directly or indirectly through the use of methods, techniques or procedures. It may be unsystemised or systematised for various purposes. When it is (a) deliberately sought, (b) has well defined procedures, (c) and is systematised, then it is a science. It should be noted that science is limited by the direction of attention and the effort made, the procedures adopted and the purposes and modes of systematisation. All these are human activities and depend on their qualities which may vary according to person, and the circumstances of time and place.

 

The following features of knowledge are important:-

1. Since knowledge is awareness of truth, it depends on the nature of the person who is aware. There is generally no point in a dispute between people. The only realistic purpose of communication is transmission of awareness. This can sometimes be done through logical argument, but not necessarily. It could also be done by other means, e.g. through poetry, oratory, empathy, cooperation, instructions and various psychological exercises.

2. In these days of variety and specialisation different people are aware of different aspects of the truth. It is not possible to compare people to say that one person has a greater amount of truth than another, except in a restricted field.

3. Knowledge has a purpose. We interact with and are dependant on the world we live in. The possibility of adjusting to it depends on correct knowledge, but also on correct values and meanings, and these are also inter-dependant. Knowledge depends on what we strive for, on how we do it, and these depends on knowledge.

4. Nothing is completely certain or impossible. It is only possible to say that certain things are statistically more or less likely under particular conditions.

5. The Universe is developing. New phenomena arise. Statistical likelihoods change. This, too, is truth.

6. Human beings are part of this process. They also transform the world and themselves.

7. That which is useful and superior in bestowing advantages will multiply and survive while that which is not will be annihilated. Ultimately it is only Allah who will determine what is true. There is, therefore, only a single ultimate certainty.

It appears, therefore, that a truly democratic system is a much more sensible way of organising human affairs. But it must be one in which the above considerations are recognised and people strive accordingly. It cannot be an end in itself, but must have an objective purpose.

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The real we have defined as what an object is apart from an observer. Since there is no observer to make a distinction between one thing and another, it follows that Reality is a unity. Knowledge requires an object and an observer and interaction between them. Truth is that which is transferred from the object to the observer. There are three aspects to the Truth, the physical truth which refers to the object, the living truth which refers to the interaction and the psychological truth which refers to the observer.

These three should not be confused with each other. The physical truth is connected with space, time and resistance. If, for instance we speak about the duration of an event then we are comparing it with the motion of the hands of a clock, a physical object. When we say something takes an hour then what we mean is that its duration is equal to a certain distance the hands of a clock have travelled. But a very busy observer may experience this duration to be much less than that. Or an observer waiting in expectation of something may experience it to be much longer. Thus the psychological truth is different from the physical. Consider, however, an insect with a small life span. How long is an hour for it relative to its life span. How long is an hour relative to the history of man kind. Here we have a different kind of truth. There is no reason whatever for us to say that one kind is more or less true than the other. It is merely the case that the advances of science and technology have made the physical truth more popular.

The three truths are not independent of each other. The comparison of an event with the motion of a clock must also be made by an observer. He also chooses the units. The physical truth also requires an input from the observer and his awareness. And the psychological truth is not independent of events taking place external to him and also to those within him of which he is not aware. When we calculate our time with respect to the rotation of the earth and its motion round the sun we include all three aspects because the nature of the observer is also formed by events connected with these motions and so is their interaction with the world.

It is necessary to remember that a statement need not be physically true, but may still be true either interactively or psychologically. Many religious statements are of the latter kind.

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