4. Ishāq al-Kindi & the Qur’ān
Ishāqal-Kindiwasafamousphilosopherknown formaterialisticviews
abouttheworldandreligion.Oncehestartedwritingabookinwhichhe
intended to show the contradictions in the holy Qur’ān.
Oneday, somestudents of his came to visitImam Hasan al-‘Askari
(a.s.). The Imam: “Isn’t there anyone among you who can stop your
teacher from such a useless task?”
Thestudent:“Wearehisstudents;howcanwestophimfromwhathe
is doing?”
The Imam:“Areyoupreparedto conveyto himtheargumentthat I
would teach you?”
The students: “Yes, of course.”
TheImam:“Becourteoustowardshimandgainhisconfidence.Then
tellhimthatyouhaveaquestionabouthiswork.Whenhepermitsyou
to ask the question, say: ‘If the Writer of the Qur’ān comes to you; is
thereapossibilitythatwhatHeintendsbyHiswordswasdifferentfrom
what you have understood?’
“He [i.e., IshāqKindi] will obviously say, ‘Yes, itis quitepossible.’
Thenyou should say, ‘With that possibility in mind,how can you be
surethatwhatyouhaveunderstoodfromtheQur’ānisreallytheintent
oftheoftheQur’ān?Isn’titpossiblethattheWriteroftheQur’ānmeans
something different from what you have understood?’”
HavinglearntthisargumentfromtheImam,thestudentswenttoal-
Kindi.At the right moment, one of the studentspresent the argument
theyhadlearntfromImamal-‘Askari(a.s.).Ishāqal-Kindiaskedthestu-
denttorepeatthequestion.Afterthinkingforawhile,al-Kindireplied,
“What you say is quite possible.”
Ishāqal-Kindiknewtheintellectuallevelofhisstudents.Soheasked,
“How did this idea come to you?”
The student: “It just came to my mind, and so I asked you.”
Al-Kindi:“Youareincapabletogetsuchideas;now,tellmethetruth
where did you get this idea?”
The student: “Abu Muhammad (al-‘Askari) has taught us this.”