Page 94 - The Moral Values of the Qur'an

40 Not Arguing About Things About Which One
Knows Nothing
In the Qur’an, man is typified as being
“contentious in most things.” (Surat al-Kahf, 18:54) In
other verses, this criticism is levelled particularly at
the unbelievers:

“When (Jesus) the son of Mary is held up as an
example, behold, your people raise a clamour thereat (in
ridicule)! And they say: 'Are our gods best or he?' This they
set forth to you, only by way of disputation. Nay! they are a
contentious people.” (Surat az-Zukhruf, 43:57-58)

The reason for this tendency to argue about
everything is not to reveal and evaluate different
opinions, but to satisfy the urge to quarrel. In the
arguments of the ignorant, neither side tries to
evaluate the others' ideas or find a correct solution.
Beating the other is the one and only aim. This
explains the loud voices and the tense attitude during
such arguments, and the turning of what should
merely be a discussion into a quarrel.

It is most abnormal surely, to argue over things
about which neither disputant has any certain
knowledge. The most obvious example of this is to be
seen in discussions of religion, about which the
arguers are generally exceedingly ignorant. The error

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