The Third Premise
The Third Premise
On entering the fold of Islam, a sort of israiliyyat [^7] and a part of Greek philosophy assumed the garb of religion and threw minds into confusion. It was like this: the Arabs had been an illiterate people in the Era of Ignorance. Then the truth was manifested among them and their emotions were awakened with all their potentialities. And since they had seen the Clear Religion open up a way in full view, they focused all their efforts and desires on learning it alone. And they observed the universe not with the dissecting eye of philosophy but in second place, for purposes of deduction. The only inspiration their sensitive natural intuition received was from their expansive, elevated surroundings, which were in tune with their primordial natures; and the only training and education their unsullied, capable innate dispositions received was from the Qur'an. Later, just as the Arabs swallowed up other peoples, so too the knowledge of the other nations began to become Muslim, even. By virtue of this, such scholars of the People of the Book as Wahb and Ka'b found a way into the treasuries of the Arabs' imaginings and caused confusion in their unspoilt minds. Later they were even held in respect. For the scholars of the People of the Book who embraced Islam acquired great dignity and they advanced through its distinction, and their former gilded knowledge became accepted and seemingly incontestable, and it was not refuted. For since it did not clash with the principles of Islam, it was narrated like stories, and because of its unimportance, the Arabs listened without criticising it, But alas! It was later looked on as fact and became the cause of many doubts and uncertainties.
[^7]:See page 15 fn 2 above.
Also, the israiliyyat could have been source of some allusions of the Qur'an and Sunna, or, by some connection or other, a reference for some of their concepts. But supposing the israiliyyat had been true, since it was possible that it corroborated aspects of the scriptures' meanings, due to their ill judgement some literalist scholars