Bagherpour Kashani: It goes without saying that all human beings do not share the same level of intellectual ability (aql), and this very fact has been mentioned in the sharia law as well. But this does not mean individuals of weak reasons cannot reach the truth. God put fundamentals of His religion in such a way that its understanding would be possible even for the ones with weak reason. Reason of all people can understand and tell good and bad things apart and can comprehend the axioms. The Wise Lord has granted us all a degree of reason which is said to be livelihood and mathematical reason (aql alma’ash).
Dr. Seyyed Hadi Mousavi: If all the wise men had the same degree of reason, so they should all move in one direction and do not disagree!
Bagherpour Kashani: Yes, but this is on the condition that distractors do not cloud the reasoning and aql of the wise man to the point of disregard for the verdict of reason. Blind conformity, affection to figures and personalities, undue prejudice, arrogance and dictatorship, obstinacy, lust and sensuality, sickness in the heart, etc., make the wise man fail to pay attention to reason and act in an ignorant way;
- For example:
عن محمد باقر علیه السلام: انما یداق الله العباد فی الحساب یوم القیامة علی قدر ما اتاهم من العقول فی الدنیا
Imam Baqir (a.s.): “On the Judgment Day, God will scrutinize the deeds and actions of people proportionate to the amount of reason bestowed upon them in this world”
(Ahmad b. Muhammad b. Khalid al-Barqi, Al-Mahasin, vol. 1, p. 195; Muhammad ibn Ya’qub al-Kulayni, al-Kafi, vol. 1, p. 11).
عن ابی عبدالله .. قال: قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَهِ صَلَّي اللَهُ عَلَيْهِ وَ ءَالِهِ وَ سَلَّمَ: إنَّا مَعَاشِرَ الانْبِيَآءِ أُمِرْنَا أَنْ نُكَلِّمَ النَّاسَ عَلَي قَدْرِ عُقُولِهِمْ.
Imam Sadiq (a.s.): “ The Prophet (PBUH) said: We, the prophets, have been commanded [by the Lord] to speak with people on a par with their level of intellect (aql)”
(Muhammad ibn Ya’qub al-Kulayni, al-Kafi, vol. 1, p. 11).