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| Truth Seeker |
To speak
about absolute truth, we need to first define truth. According to the
dictionary, truth is "a verified or indisputable fact,
proposition, principle, or the like: (for example, mathematical
truths.)" It is also defined as "ideal or fundamental
reality apart from and transcending perceived experience: (for example, the
basic truths of life.)" (Truth)
For all practical purposes, truth can be defined as an understanding of reality
that is internally harmonious and universally held to be accurate. From this
point of view, truth has relevance and validity for all people.
And absolute truth is described
as perfect truth existing beyond the bounds of time and space. It is held to be
valid everywhere and for all time.
Human knowledge, on the other
hand, "refers to those items in our thought systems we believe to be true.
Human knowledge is limited and easily compromised by ignorance and illusion.
Human knowledge varies from person to person and time to time. It is in a
continual process of growth or decline. It is often in need of modification,
and it is always in need of development." (Delaney)
There is the
view that "truth" is relative to a person's belief and personal
disposition; and that no person's "truth" can be considered to be
unique or privileged in preference to others. From this point of view,
"absolute truth" does not exist. There are only subjective and
indefinite answers to eternal questions that seek to define the purpose and
meaning of life.
The proponents of this view
argue that there can be no reality; and therefore there can be no moral
authority to judge an action as right or wrong. For this reason, whatever
appears to be right in a particular situation is right, and what appears to be
wrong in a particular situation is wrong. This is the teaching of "relativism", a
doctrine that truth and morality are not absolute, but relative.
But what
we mean by absolute truth ought to be unaffected by our personal standpoints;
it must be perfectly correct under all conditions, for all time. At the same
time, it is an undeniable fact that all human beings are subject to the
limitations of their life-situations. So, they cannot have a correct
understanding of absolute truth, let alone describe it; because their language
is never objective and always betrays a bias towards their predilections and
preferences.
The
foregoing leads us to the argument that as absolute truth is something that no
one can know, it has got to be mythical. But to believe in anything, we must
accept some foundation, not as a myth, but as truly existing. And indeed, the
building block of the foundation of that belief is our innate understanding of
it. Without absolute truth, truth has no standing; and without truth, nothing
is meaningful.
This is
where religion comes in. Religion teaches us that life has a meaning. It gives
us answers to our eternal questions, such as: "Who am I?" "Where
do I come from?" "Where do I go?" "What is the meaning of
life?" "What is death?" "Is there any life after
death?"
From the
very beginning of human consciousness, humans have been searching for answers
to these questions. They traversed desert tracks, crossed the seas and climbed
the mountains; but found no answers. Then they turned inwards. They spent days
and nights on end in the remote mountain caves, meditating on the mysteries of
life and death, seeking answers.
At the
end, God revealed His guidance to help them find answers to their eternal
questions. Thus, it was that religion came into being. And that was when God
guided His noblest creature to an aspect of the absolute truth.
As humans
are afflicted by several inherent limitations and constrained by their living
conditions, there is no way they can know the absolute truth, except for what
God, out of His infinite Mercy, reveals to them.
Allah
(God) Almighty in the noble Quran, which Muslims believe is the word of God,
says what means:
[Of knowledge it is only a
little that is communicated to you, (O men!)] (Al-Israa' 17:85)
This means that knowledge — the
human knowledge as we possess it — is not the absolute truth. Human knowledge
reflects only a glimpse of the absolute truth. Even of the revealed knowledge,
the scholars offer interpretations which are indeed a product of their level of
understanding; and these are mostly imperfect or approximate, as they are
humans.
As our knowledge of the world,
derived from our objective studies and researches develops, we get a deeper and
better understanding of the revealed knowledge, and consequently of absolute
truth.
This is the foundation —
though it is only an inkling of the absolute truth — on the basis of which we
can assess the reality around us in order to derive knowledge that helps us to
lead a meaningful life here.
And there is no scripture in the world that attaches so much of importance to
knowledge as the noble Quran. There are several Quranic verses as well as
Prophetic sayings that urge Muslims to seek knowledge:
Allah Almighty says in the noble Quran what means:
[Say: "Can they who know and they who do not know be deemed
equal?" [But] only they who are endowed with insight keep this in mind!]
(Az-Zumar 39:9)
[God will exalt by [many] degrees those of you who have attained
to faith and, [above all,] such as have been vouchsafed [true] knowledge.]
(Al-Mujadalah 58:11)
And Prophet Muhammad (peace be
upon him) is reported to have said:
If anyone travels on a
road in search of knowledge, Allah will cause him to travel on one of the roads
of Paradise. The angels will lower their wings in their great pleasure with one
who seeks knowledge, the inhabitants of the heavens and the Earth and the fish
in the deep waters will ask forgiveness for the learned man. The superiority of
the learned man over the devout is like that of the moon, on the night when it
is full, over the rest of the stars. The learned are the heirs of the Prophets,
and the Prophets leave neither dinar nor dirham (money), leaving only
knowledge, and he who takes it takes an abundant portion. (Abu-Dawud)
The
above verses indicate how knowledge from the point of view of Islam is linked
to its concept of absolute truth. Islam does not discriminate between mundane
knowledge and spiritual knowledge, as both are ultimately derived from the
absolute truth. next
