Shah Waliullah R: The Basis of the Quranic Sciences

by hammad [Regarding the Islamic reformation of the intellect...] The most important thing that Allah SWT revealed to Ibrahim AS was reminding people of the clear signs of Allah, His exalted attributes, and His cosmic and personal blessings, until it was confirmed in a way to which nothing could be added that He is worthy of having them sacrifice all their comforts for Him, that they should prefer remembering Him over thinking of anything else, should love Him greatly, and worship Him to the furthest extent of their efforts. Allah added to this for Musa AS reminding people of the "Days of Allah," that is, the explanation of Allahs requital of the obedient and the disobedient in this world, [Especially the punishment of the previous nations who turned away from the teachings of their prophets] and His transposing of blessings for adversities, so that fearing sins and a strong inclination to acts of obedience were represented in their hearts. For our Prophet SAWS, He included along with these two things the warnings and good tidings about the events of the grave, and what follows it, and an explanation of the properties of piety and sin. Simply knowing about these things is not sufficient; rather they must be repeated and reiterated frequently and observed at all times, and kept in view until the intellectual faculties are filled with them and the limbs are guided by them. These three things (recalling the Days of Allah, giving warning and good tidings, and explaining the properties of piety and sin) along with two other ones, one of them the explanation of the rules of compulsory and forbidden, and so on, and the second of them how to dispute with the unbelievers, are five arts which are the basis of the sciences of the great Quran. Shah Waliullah, Hujjat Allah al-Baligha (The Conclusive Argument from God), Translation by M. Hermansen

About Shah Waliullah R Shah Waliullah Muhaddith Dehlvi (February 21, 1703 August 20, 1762) was an Islamic scholar and reformer. He was born during the reign of Aurangzeb Alamgir in India and worked for the revival of Muslim rule and intellectual learning in South Asia. He despised the divisions and deviations within Islam and its practice in India and hoped to "purify" the religion and unify all Indian Muslims under the "banner of truth". He is considered by many to be the most important thinker of pre-modern South Asia.