THE EPISTEMOLOGICAL SIGNIFICANCE
Allah (subhanahu
wa ta’alah) has
explained in the Qur'an that the purpose of the al-Isra was "to show him (i.e. the
Prophet) of Our Signs". Now since the Signs of Allah (subhanahu wa ta’alah) are basically pregnant with
knowledge, which is intended for the benefit of mankind (and this is why the
verses of the Qur'an are also called Signs or Ayat), it should be
obvious that Allah (subhanahu
wa ta’alah)
showed those Signs of the purpose of imparting some special knowledge to the
Prophet (sallalahu ta’alah ‘alaihi wa
sallam). This
fact is clearly reinforced by the use, at the end of the verse, of the divine
attributes al-Sami (He Who hears) and al-Basir (He
Who Sees).
Since it is He, Allah, Who Really Sees and Really Hears, Real knowledge is with Him. Al-Miraj, therefore,
was to the world of Real knowledge. This is a matter of such supreme importance
for the modern world that it could usher an intellectual revolution. The modem
scientific method insists that only that which can be an object of observation
and experimentation can be admitted into scientific knowledge. That which
cannot be observed cannot be admitted as knowledge, because only scientific
knowledge is real knowledge. Everything else belongs to 'disneyland'. The
result has been that the secularization of knowledge has delinked knowledge
from the sacred and the transcendental. And since the essence of things are
located in their transcendental substance, modern scientific man can sees things
only as they 'appear' to him. As a consequence he is like a ship without a
pilot, sailing the wide sees without a clue as to where he is going.
All human knowledge comes to
man through the medium of the senses and the intellect, both operating
inter-dependently within the framework of space and time. Man is, under normal
circumstances, imprisoned within this framework of thinking and living. But
through the Prophet's Mira} Allah
(subhanahu wa ta’alah) demonstrated, in as
spectacular a manner as possible, that there is another world of knowledge
which transcends space and time. Man can partake of that knowledge if he can
pierce the spatio- temporal barrier. If and when he does, he will be able to
acquire the knowledge of things 'as they are' in contrast to the prevailing
knowledge of things 'as they appear to us'.
The Mira}, therefore,
established the existence of transcendental knowledge, and the learned man (Alim) is he whose knowledge is enriched
with transcendental knowledge. But the further significance of the Mira} into
the world of transcendental knowledge is that it did not take place until the
Prophet (sallalahu ta’alah ‘alaihi wa
sallam) had first
spent long years learning from the Signs of Allah (subhanahu wa ta’alah) here-below. Transcendental knowledge thus appears to be the fruit
which is earned after prolonged struggle in the quest for knowledge.
The epistemological
significance of the Mira}, therefore, is that it affirms the existence
of, and draws our attention to transcendental knowledge. It also provides us with the methodology which must be
adopted if the acquisition of that knowledge is to be possible.
To Be Continued ....
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