Page 252 - Quranic Wisdom - New.indd

The Limitations of Human Knowledge

between two lines of thinking. He tries to gain knowledge about
the things around him, but refrains from jumping into those
fields where it is impossible to draw conclusions due to a lack of
data. To differentiate between the two kinds of disciplines is an
important principle of knowledge. If you want to know about the
physical world, that is something which is comprehensible with
the aid of telescopes and microscopes. But there is a world which
is beyond all telescopes and microscopes.
Taking a leap into the realm of these inaccessible phenomena
is characterized by the well-known saying: ‘Fools rush in where
angels fear to tread.’ For example, you can find an introduction
to the Creator in the creature and in nature, but if you try to see
the exact being of the Creator with the eye as it is at present, you
will fail. There is no doubt that the Creator is understandable,
but the Creator is not observable. Differentiating between
understanding and observing is wise thinking.

Let us take another example. If you want to gather knowledge
about the pre-death period of life, you can, but if you try to
obtain knowledge about the post-death period of life, you will
fail. In the first phase of life, you can achieve direct knowledge
but as regards the second phase of life, only inference is possible.
Here you must content yourself with inferential knowledge.
According to the Quran, this is the true basis of epistemology.
This Quranic epistemology is based on one basic principle:
Differentiate between what is comprehensible and what is not
comprehensible.
You have to apply your mind to those fields in which the
required data is available and not to fields where the availability
of data is doubtful. This is the same wisdom that has been
adopted by all scientists. They have accepted the limitations
of science and this acceptance has opened all the doors of the
modern sciences.

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