{"id":42021,"date":"2025-11-26T11:45:06","date_gmt":"2025-11-26T09:45:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aldiplomasy.com\/en\/?p=42021"},"modified":"2025-11-26T11:45:55","modified_gmt":"2025-11-26T09:45:55","slug":"when-faith-speaks-to-the-mind-against-the-silence-of-closed-gates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aldiplomasy.com\/en\/?p=42021","title":{"rendered":"When FAITH Speaks to the MIND… Against the SILENCE of CLOSED Gates"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ashraf AboArafe<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

I am often surprised by those who demand my silence whenever I reflect on the Qur\u2019an or offer an opinion on a prophetic saying, as though religion descended exclusively for a selected elite, or as if understanding God\u2019s words requires a stamp of approval from a formal institution.<\/p>\n

Religion was revealed for all people<\/strong>, not in an encrypted form decipherable only by experts. God addressed minds, souls, and human consciousness\u2014and urged reflection without attaching that invitation to a degree, a title, or a profession. He said: \u201cDo they not contemplate the Qur\u2019an?\u201d<\/em> and \u201cA blessed Book We sent down to you so that they may ponder its verses.\u201d<\/em>
\nHe did not say: \u201c\u2026so that the scholars alone may ponder.\u201d<\/p>\n

I know my limits.
\nI do not claim expertise where expertise is required, nor do I issue legal rulings.
\nBut I do have a mind God gifted me, a soul that seeks, and a heart that responds to the divine text\u2014
\na mind shaped by knowledge, critique, and analysis.<\/p>\n

When I read the Qur\u2019an, I do not read ink on paper;
\nI read a call to awareness.
\nWhen I contemplate a hadith, I do not treat it as a linguistic idol,
\nbut as a historical and spiritual message that demands context and purpose.<\/p>\n

Some compare religion to medicine:
\n\u201cJust as I don\u2019t argue with you about medicine, don\u2019t differ with us about religion.\u201d
\nBut medicine is an empirical science\u2014its practice requires specialized training.
\nReligion, however, begins with the human being:
\nwith the question,
\nthe reflection,
\nthe search for meaning.<\/p>\n

Turning religion into the private property of a clerical class is the doorway to priesthood\u2014
\nand the final fortress of stagnation.<\/p>\n

A religion that forbids its followers to think, question, or reread the text in light of expanding human awareness,
\nis a religion misunderstood\u2014
\neven if its texts are memorized.<\/p>\n

History offers countless examples of how new ideas in our societies were met with prohibition and denunciation\u2014
\nbased on fatwas issued by those who claimed exclusive authority over religion.
\nYet those very prohibitions later became pillars of daily life.<\/p>\n

Coffee, for example, in the 15th century, was banned by some Muslim scholars who likened it to intoxicants or innovations of the devil. Those who drank it were excommunicated.
\nToday, coffee is a symbol of hospitality and identity.<\/p>\n

The printing press was rejected in many Muslim lands for centuries under the pretext that it would \u201cdistort the Qur\u2019an\u201d or \u201cspread corruption.\u201d
\nToday it is the foundation of education, culture, and even religious scholarship.<\/p>\n

The same happened with music, women\u2019s education, theatre, and even sports\u2014
\nall once viewed with suspicion or labeled forbidden,
\nyet all became engines of enlightenment.<\/p>\n

This invites a serious question:
\nWhy does this pattern keep repeating?
\nWhy is the fatwa used to block the new instead of understanding it?<\/p>\n

Even in public health, practices based on religious rulings\u2014like the insistence on female circumcision\u2014remained unquestioned for years, despite overwhelming evidence of its harm.<\/p>\n

And now, in the twenty-first century, in a country with access to all knowledge and science, a proposed law appears in Egypt to criminalize voices that dare approach religious topics without \u201cspecialization\u201d\u2014
\nas though thinking were a crime, and reflection a trespass.<\/p>\n

I do not claim to possess \u201cthe truth.\u201d
\nBut I do search for it.<\/p>\n

And if reflection is an accusation,
\nthen blessed be the accusation\u2014
\nso long as I read with a mind,
\ncontemplate with a soul,
\nand honor the sacred text without closing the door to understanding.<\/p>\n

A young dreamer once sent me a message about this very topic\u2014
\na reflection so profound that I share it here:<\/p>\n

How do people know God?<\/strong><\/p>\n