Teaching by Reasoning & Logic

people are different in terms of their ability to understand and respond quickly. they are different also in terms of their ability to accept and surrender to the orders of allah the almighty; some of them accept and believe in such orders as soon as they receive them while others may need to discuss matters in order to know the purpose for which such orders were revealed.

this is also applicable on the students; some of them may not accept the rules or principles set by scholars and scientists unless they know the purpose and the point behind them. some of them can understand only after summing up the rules while others may need to have a discussion.

1- imam ahmad narrated that abu umama reported the following: a young man came to the prophet, peace be upon him, and said: o prophet of allah, let me commit adultery. hearing that, the companions proceeded toward him quickly and said: “hush! hush!” as an expression of anger for such shameless request. the prophet called the young man to come closer. the man sat down. then the prophet asked him: “do you accept adultery for your mother?” he said: no, i swear by allah that i don’t accept it. the prophet said: “and so people do not accept adultery for their mothers.” the prophet asked: “do you accept adultery for your daughter?” he said: no, i swear by allah that i don’t accept it. the prophet said: “and so people do not accept adultery for their daughters.” the prophet asked: “do you accept adultery for your sister?” he said: no, i swear by allah that i don’t accept it. the prophet said: “and so people do not accept adultery for their sisters.” the prophet asked: “do you accept adultery for your paternal aunt?” he said: no, i swear by allah that i don’t accept it. the prophet said: “and so people do not accept adultery for their paternal aunts.” the prophet asked: “do you accept adultery for your maternal aunt?” he said: no, i swear by allah that i don’t accept it. the prophet said: “and so people do not accept adultery for their maternal aunts.” then the prophet, peace be upon him, put his hand on that young man and said: ((o allah, forgive him, purify his heart and help him to keep his chastity)). thereafter, such young man refrained completely from looking for such (bad) things.

this hadith shows how the prophet, peace be upon him, was very kind in dealing with others. he did not scold or reproach the young man for his shameless request as the companions did. he did not tell him that adultery is forbidden and there is a severe punishment waiting for the adulterer at the hereafter; contrary, he followed a logical method to convince the young man how adultery is abhorred by all people and no one can accept it to his mother, daughter, sister or aunt. the prophet, peace be upon him, knew that the best mean to handle such case and convince such young man to abandon such bad thoughts is to use logic and reasoning.

al-bukhari narrated in his book that abu huraira reported: a man came to the prophet and said, "o prophet of allah! a black child has been born for me (although i and his mother are not black)." the prophet asked him, "do you have camels?" the man said, "yes." the prophet asked him, "what color are they?" the man replied: "red." the prophet said, "is there a grey one among them?' the man replied: "yes." the prophet said, "how that happened?" he said, "may be it is because of heredity." the prophet said: "may be your latest son has this (black) color because of heredity."

this man was surprised and astonished how he got a black child although he and his wife are white? the prophet, peace be upon him, made a dialog and discussion with him by using a logical method and giving a logical example. he set a simple example which can be easily understood by the bedouin man i.e. camels. he demonstrated to him how she camels may sometimes deliver baby camels different than their color and told him that it is a matter of heredity. the prophet, peace be upon him, opted to follow a logical discussion with that simple man so that he can reach a better understanding.

2- ibn abbas narrated that a woman from the tribe of juhaina came to the prophet and said, "my mother had vowed to perform hajj but she died before performing it. may i perform hajj on my mother's behalf?" the prophet replied, ((yes, perform hajj on her behalf. had there been a debt on your mother, would you have then paid it or not? so, honor your duties toward allah as his rights are worthier of being performed)).

summary:

1) using logic and reasoning is a good mean to provide better understanding to others.

2) the simplicity of the logical discussions and involving the students in them are essential factors to achieve interaction and understanding.

3) the dialogue and examples should be suitable to the mental level of the student, such as choosing the example of “camels” to make the bedouin man understand the matter easily.

4) before making a logical dialogue with a person, it is better to ensure whether such method is suitable to him or not.