Summary of the article:
In this essay, Maulana Mawdudi uses a simple analogy to show that believing in a Creator is the most reasonable position a person can take. Imagine a city where machines, lights, and vehicles all run on a hidden power source that no one can see or trace — people would naturally disagree about what is making everything work. Now imagine that across history, a long line of people steps forward claiming to have direct knowledge of that hidden source. They all say the same thing, they never change their story even under torture and persecution, and they are universally recognised as honest people with nothing personal to gain. Reason, acting as a judge, compares these claimants to everyone else — the materialists, the polytheists, the agnostics — and finds that the claimants are far more credible: they are united, consistent, and trustworthy, while their opponents are divided, speculative, and uncertain. Reason therefore sides with the claimants as the most sensible conclusion given the evidence. The essay ends with one final point: this rational case can bring a person close to belief, but true faith ultimately requires something more — a deep inner certainty that goes beyond argument.
Section 1 - The Problem: When Causes Are Hidden:
In large cities, we see hundreds of factories being run by electrical power. Trains and trams are constantly in motion. In the evening, thousands of lights suddenly illuminate. During the summer, fans operate in every home. Yet these phenomena neither produce in us any feeling of amazement and wonder, nor do they give rise to any disagreement among us concerning the cause of their illumination or motion. Why?
Because we can see with our own eyes the wires to which those lights are connected. We also know about the power station to which those wires are connected. We know of the people who work in that power station. We also know the engineer who supervises those workers. We know that the engineer is familiar with the work of generating electricity, that he possesses many machines, and that by setting those machines in motion he produces the power whose manifestations we observe in the light of the lamps, the rotation of the fans, the movement of trains and trams, and the operation of mills and factories.
Thus, the reason why no disagreement arises among us concerning the causes behind electricity when we observe its effects is simply that the entire chain of causes lies within the realm of our perception, and we have already observed it.
Now suppose that these same lamps were illuminated, the fans rotated, the trains and trams moved, and the mills and machines operated exactly as they do now, but the wires through which electricity reached them were hidden from our sight. Suppose the power station also lay beyond the range of our perception. Suppose we knew nothing of those who worked there, nor that there was an engineer running it through his knowledge and power. Would our hearts still remain equally satisfied on seeing these effects of electricity? Would we still refrain from differing about the causes behind these phenomena?
Obviously, your answer would be no. Why? Because whenever the causes behind effects are hidden and the reasons behind phenomena are unknown, it is natural for hearts to become uneasy along with being astonished, for minds to engage themselves in seeking out the hidden mystery, and for opinions and conjectures regarding that mystery to differ.
Now carry this hypothetical discussion a little further. Assume that what has been supposed is actually the case in reality. Hundreds of thousands of lamps are shining, millions of fans are turning, vehicles are running, factories are operating, yet we possess no means whatsoever of discovering what force is at work in them or where it comes from.
Section 2 - The Competing Theories:
People behold these phenomena and effects in astonishment. Everyone drives the horses of reason in search of their causes. One says that all these things are illuminated or moving by themselves; there is nothing outside their own existence that grants them light or motion. Another says that the particular combination of materials from which they are made has itself produced within them the qualities of light and motion. Another claims that beyond the material world there exist several gods: one lights the lamps, another runs the trams and trains, another causes the fans to rotate, and another is responsible for the operation of factories and mills.
Some people become exhausted from thinking and finally, in helplessness, say: "Our reason cannot penetrate the essence of this mystery. We know only what we see and perceive. Beyond that, nothing comes within our understanding. Whatever we do not understand, we can neither affirm nor deny."
All these groups are disputing with one another. Yet none of them possesses any means of knowledge beyond conjecture, assumption, and speculation with which to support its own view or refute the views of others.
Section 3 - The Claimants and Their Testimony:
Meanwhile, a person appears and says:
"My friends, I possess a source of knowledge that you do not have. Through this source I have learned that all these lamps, fans, vehicles, factories, and mills are connected to certain hidden wires that you cannot perceive. Through those wires comes the power from a vast power station, and that power manifests itself in the form of light and motion. Within this power station are enormous machines operated by countless workers. All these workers are subordinate to a great engineer. It is that engineer whose knowledge and power have established this entire system. Everything is being done under his guidance and supervision."
This man presents his claim with complete force. People reject him. All the groups unite in opposing him. They declare him insane, beat him, persecute him, and drive him from his home. Yet despite all these physical and spiritual hardships, he remains firm in his claim. Neither fear nor temptation causes him to alter his statement in the slightest. No suffering weakens his assertion. Every word and action of his reveals complete certainty in the truth of what he says.
Then a second person comes and presents precisely the same claim. Then a third, a fourth, and a fifth come, all saying exactly what their predecessors said. Thereafter a continuous succession of such people appears. Their number eventually exceeds hundreds and thousands. Every one of them presents the same statement and the same claim. Despite differences in time, place, and circumstances, there is no difference in their testimony. All say: "We possess a source of knowledge unavailable to ordinary people."
All are declared insane. All are subjected to every kind of oppression and persecution. Every effort is made to force them to abandon their claim. Yet every one of them remains steadfast. No power in the world can move them an inch from their position.
Along with this firmness and perseverance, their distinguishing characteristics are that none of them is a liar, thief, traitor, immoral person, oppressor, or consumer of unlawful gain. Even their enemies and opponents acknowledge this. Their morals are pure, their characters exceptionally noble, and they are distinguished from the rest of humanity by their excellence of conduct.
Nor is there any sign of madness in them. On the contrary, they present such teachings for the refinement of character, the purification of the soul, and the reform of worldly affairs, and establish such laws, that even the greatest scholars and intellectuals must spend entire lifetimes merely to comprehend their subtleties, let alone produce anything comparable.
Section 4 - The Case Before the Court of Reason:
On one side stand the deniers with their conflicting views; on the other side stand these claimants united in belief. The case is brought before the court of sound reason. As judge, reason must first understand its own position, then the position of the two parties, and after comparing them, decide whose claim deserves preference.
The judge's own position is that it possesses no direct means of knowing the actual reality. It does not itself know the truth. Before it lie only the statements of the two parties, their arguments, their personal circumstances, and the external evidence and indications. By examining these alone, it must determine whose claim is more likely to be true. Yet it cannot go beyond probability, for the material available in the case is insufficient for a definitive judgment about the actual reality. It can prefer one party over the other, but it cannot affirm or deny either with absolute certainty.
The position of the deniers is as follows:
Their theories regarding reality differ from one another. There is no point on which they are fully agreed. Indeed, disagreement is often found even among members of the same group. They themselves admit that they possess no source of knowledge unavailable to others. No group among them claims anything beyond saying that its conjectures are weightier than those of others. Yet all acknowledge that these are merely conjectures. Their belief in these conjectures has not reached the level of faith, certainty, and unwavering conviction. Examples of changing opinions are abundant among them. It has often been observed that a person who vigorously advocated one theory yesterday refutes it today and advances another in its place. As age, intellect, knowledge, and experience develop, their theories frequently change. They possess no argument against the claimants except that the claimants have presented no conclusive proof of their truthfulness. They have not shown us the hidden wires they speak of. They have not demonstrated the existence of electricity through experiment and observation. They have not taken us on a tour of the power station, shown us its machines, introduced us to its workers, or brought us face to face with the engineer. Therefore, how can we accept these things as facts?
The position of the claimants is as follows:
They are all in complete agreement. On every fundamental point of their claim, there is total unanimity among them. Their unanimous claim is that they possess a source of knowledge unavailable to ordinary people. None of them has said, "We say this on the basis of conjecture or supposition." Rather, all have unanimously declared: "We have special relations with the engineer. His workers come to us. He has shown us his factory. Whatever we say, we say on the basis of knowledge and certainty, not speculation and guesswork." Not a single example can be found of any one of them altering his testimony in the slightest. Every one of them says the same thing from the beginning of his mission until his final breath. Their characters are of the highest purity. There is not even the faintest trace of lying, deception, trickery, or fraud. There appears no reason why people who are truthful and upright in every aspect of life should all, unanimously, lie in this one matter alone. There is also no evidence that they sought any personal advantage through this claim. On the contrary, it is established that most of them endured the severest hardships for its sake. They suffered physical torment, were imprisoned, beaten, exiled, and in some cases killed. Some were even sawed apart. With very few exceptions, none enjoyed a life of comfort and ease. Therefore, no charge of personal interest can be leveled against them. Rather, their steadfastness under such circumstances shows that they possessed the utmost certainty of their truthfulness—a certainty so great that not one of them abandoned his claim even to save his own life. There is likewise no evidence that they were insane or mentally deficient. In all matters of life they proved themselves highly intelligent and sound-minded. Even their opponents often acknowledged their wisdom. How, then, can it be believed that all of them became insane in this one particular matter? And what a matter it was: one that became a question of life and death for them; one for which they confronted the entire world; one over which they struggled against humanity for years; one that constituted the fundamental principle of all their teachings—teachings whose rationality many of the deniers themselves acknowledge. They themselves never claimed that they could introduce you to the engineer or his workers, show you the hidden factory, or prove their claim through experiment and observation. They themselves describe all such matters as "the unseen" and say: "Trust us and accept what we tell you."
Section 5 - The Verdict:
Having considered the positions and statements of both parties, the court of reason now issues its judgment.
It says:
Both parties have sought the hidden causes behind certain observable phenomena and have advanced their respective theories. At first glance, all the theories appear equal in one respect: first, none of them involves any rational impossibility. That is, from the standpoint of the laws of reason, no theory can be declared impossible. Second, none of them can be proven through experiment or observation. No group among the first party can provide such a scientific proof of its theories as would compel every person to believe them. Nor does the second party claim to be able to do so.
However, upon deeper examination, certain considerations emerge that make the theory of the second party preferable to all the others.
First, no other theory has received the unanimous support of so many rational, truthful, and morally upright individuals, expressed with such strength and certainty.
Second, the fact that such a large number of people of such pure character, living in different times and places, all agree in claiming that they possess an extraordinary source of knowledge and that through it they have learned the hidden causes behind outward phenomena inclines us to accept their claim—especially because there is no contradiction among their statements, because what they describe contains no rational impossibility, and because reason does not regard it as impossible that some human beings may possess extraordinary faculties not generally found in others.
Third, reflection upon the external phenomena themselves also suggests that the theory of the second party is more likely to be correct. Lamps, fans, vehicles, factories, and the like are not self-illuminating or self-moving. If they were, their illumination and motion would be under their own control, whereas this is clearly not the case. Nor can their light and motion be attributed merely to the composition of their material substance, for that same composition remains present even when they are neither illuminated nor moving. Nor does it seem plausible that separate forces govern them independently, because when the lamps cease to shine, the fans often stop, the trams cease operating, and the factories fall silent as well. Therefore, all the explanations advanced by the first party are remote from reason and probability. The more reasonable conclusion is that a single force operates behind all these phenomena, and that its control lies in the hands of a wise and powerful being who directs that force through a fixed and orderly system.
As for the skeptics who say, "We do not understand this, and whatever we do not understand we can neither affirm nor deny," the judge of reason also rejects this position. The occurrence of a fact does not depend upon the ability of those who hear about it to comprehend it. Reliable and recurrent testimony is sufficient grounds for accepting an event as having occurred.
If several trustworthy people were to come and tell us that in lands to the west they had seen men flying through the air while seated in iron vehicles, and that while in London they had heard songs being sung in America with their own ears, we would simply ask: Are these people liars or jesters? Do they have some personal motive? Is there some defect in their minds?
If it were established that they were neither liars nor jesters, neither insane nor motivated by self-interest, and if we observed that many truthful and intelligent people were unanimously and seriously reporting the same thing, then we would certainly accept it—even if the idea of iron vehicles flying through the air and songs being heard thousands of miles away without any visible material medium were completely beyond our understanding.
This is the verdict of reason in the matter.
Section 6 - Beyond Reason: The Nature of Faith:
Yet the state of affirmation and certainty known as faith (īmān) does not arise from this alone. For that, intuition is required. There must arise from within a voice that puts an end to every condition of denial, doubt, and hesitation, and declares clearly:
"The conjectures of men are false. The truth is only what the truthful have described—not on the basis of speculation, but through knowledge and insight."
(Tarjumanul Qur'an, December 1933)