The Issue of Rational Goodness and Badness
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
Honorable Shaykh! I would like you to elaborate on the issue of the role of reason in determining good and evil, citing the evidence. Regarding the role of reason in determining good and evil, please cite the evidence, and what is your view of those who say that reason has no role in determining good and evil?
Answer:
This is not the place to explain this issue, because it is one of the difficult issues, the issues of the theologians and the Mu'tazilah. There are three positions on it. The first position is that reason independently knows the determination of good and evil. This is the view of the Mu'tazilah. They say that reason independently knows the determination of good and evil; that a thing is good or that it is evil is perceived by reason independently. This is the view of the Mu'tazilah, and it is a false view.
The second position is that reason has no role in determining good and evil, and that this belongs to the Shari'ah alone. They even said that if the Shari'ah permitted riba (usury or interest), it would become good. If it permitted khamr (intoxicants), it would become good. If it prohibited dates and barley, they would become forbidden. Reason has no role in this. This is the view of the Asha'irah who deny wisdom.
As for the people of the Sunnah and the community, they took a middle path in this matter. They said that reason knows the determination of good and evil, but it does not do so independently. Rather, one must refer to the Shari'ah. What the Shari'ah rules to be good is good. Reason perceives that khamr (intoxicants) is foul. It perceives that zina (unlawful sexual intercourse)—the Shari'ah has ruled that zina is forbidden—and reason perceives that zina is a great sin and that it is foul. Does it perceive this or not? In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. O my brothers, according to the index of the audio library in Jeddah, the number of this tape is fifty-six fa, one thousand seven hundred and fifteen, 'asha, 'asha, 'asha.
Honorable Shaykh! I would like you to elaborate on the issue of the role of reason in determining good and evil, citing the evidence. Regarding the role of reason in determining good and evil, please cite the evidence, and what is your view of those who say that reason has no role in determining good and evil?
Answer:
This is not the place to explain this issue, because it is one of the difficult issues, the issues of the theologians and the Mu'tazilah. There are three positions on it. The first position is that reason independently knows the determination of good and evil. This is the view of the Mu'tazilah. They say that reason independently knows the determination of good and evil; that a thing is good or that it is evil is perceived by reason independently. This is the view of the Mu'tazilah, and it is a false view.
The second position is that reason has no role in determining good and evil, and that this belongs to the Shari'ah alone. They even said that if the Shari'ah permitted riba (usury or interest), it would become good. If it permitted khamr (intoxicants), it would become good. If it prohibited dates and barley, they would become forbidden. Reason has no role in this. This is the view of the Asha'irah who deny wisdom.
As for the people of the Sunnah and the community, they took a middle path in this matter. They said that reason knows the determination of good and evil, but it does not do so independently. Rather, one must refer to the Shari'ah. What the Shari'ah rules to be good is good. Reason perceives that khamr (intoxicants) is foul. It perceives that zina (unlawful sexual intercourse)—the Shari'ah has ruled that zina is forbidden—and reason perceives that zina is a great sin and that it is foul. Does it perceive this or not? In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. O my brothers, according to the index of the audio library in Jeddah, the number of this tape is fifty-six fa, one thousand seven hundred and fifteen, 'asha, 'asha, 'asha.
Source
الفوزان -أشرطة- أسئلة وأجوبة من دروس التوحيد - الفوزان - أسئلة وأجوبة - 04 — archive.org (47:20)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.