You mention Imam al-Akhdari and his as-Sullam in your article. I and a group of students are studying this text presently. A question arose concerning Imam al-Akhdari, some brief biographical info, and maybe the circumstances behind his writing this text. Very little was found by our small modest group.

Could you please share with me/us a little of what you can about Sheikh al-Akdhari?

As Salaamu Alaikum
Ismail

There are three points in the application of logic to Shari’ah that we must never forget.

#1 We believe in the “unseen” without question or complete understanding as a result of the many proofs which attest to the fact that Muhammad ibn Abdillah (pbuh) was indeed the final messenger of Allah.

#2 Allah can only be known through authentic revelation and we cannot allow our logic to interpret Him (Exalted be He above that).

#3 There are many rulings in Islamic Law (Fiqh) which our scholars have become certain about the purpose or reason of that ruling (al-‘illah). There are many rulings which we do not know the exact purpose or wisdom of it’s legislation, but we follow what has been related by the Prophet (pbuh) and understood by our scholars regardless. And of course there are some issue’s in which the scholars differed as to the reason or wisdom of a given ruling.

The reality is that pretty much everyone is in agreement on #1.

There have been some differences among application in Ahle Sunnah wal-Jama’ah about #2. There have also been people who went astray from not grasping #2.

#3 should be only dealt with by scholars who have a strong background in Fiqh, Usool, and Arabic and have sat with scholars for no less than 5 years on a regular basis discussing the implications of such rulings and thier possible basis.

So one way or another all scholars have studied and should as part of curriculum study the science of logic and its application. The problem is with commoners studying and not grasping the implication of applying logic to Shari’ah without grasping and applying the 3 principles I mentioned.

Wallahu a’lam

I noticed that the first building block of literacy is the ‘definition of a science.’

I was under the impression that logic was ‘a collection of principles and rules that, if followed, enable a person to avoid mistakes in his thought process.’ To read that certain scholars considered its study forbidden suggests that my definition might be incorrect.

Is there a different ‘logic’ that is being referred to here?

Justin