Emotions vs Rational

For Youth Who Seek the Truth
by Gabriel Keresztes (jibreelk)

All praise is due to God who has created the heavens and the earth and is above His creation and there is not partner to Him. Peace and blessings be on all the Prophets and the righteous people to follow the truth until the Day of Judgment.
One of the most contested issues that face our Western pluralistic society is the concept of the ‘right culture’. A question such as what is ethical and what is in line with humanity? What is the truth? Which culture is better? Is the Western culture better than its Eastern counterpart? Within the large fold of culture, religion is a social factor that has raised many questions as to which religion is correct. Which religion falls in line with acceptable practices by society at large, and if not, does it invalidate that religion, or disqualify it from potentially being the truth? In this article we will cast some light on the issue of the criteria that a seeker of truth should have when looking at cultural practices and faith, and how can one look at information from a very critical point of view while putting emotions aside. Within the context of this article we will concentrate on Islam and the stumbling blocks that some people face when studying it.
It is without a doubt that emotions are some of the strongest human manipulators, and if someone can master the art of bringing out emotions in people, such a person can cause much damage. From the beginning of the so called scholarly studies of religion, there have been many objective works which have contributed greatly to facilitating studies; while on the other hand, there have been a greater majority of works which have contained biases, personal agendas and at some points (colonialism) ideological and political agendas. In the attempt to answer some of the questions above, a seeker of truth will stumble upon a vast compilation of arguments against Islam and Muslim culture.
Even though many Western scholars have not made the distinction between Islam and culture, without dwelling on the issue we will just state at this point that the two are like apples and donuts. Getting back to the arguments that can be found against Islam, a sincere seeker of truth will find that such are predominantly emotional appeals which can be dismissed right away from a rational point of view.
Let us take one example: I have seen and heard of many people who refuse to look deeper into Islam because of the issue of polygamy. From a rational approach should one dismiss a religion due to a practice which is contrary to his or her emotions, or cultural upbringing? The answer should be a resounding “No”. The Western scholars will look at Islam and create such arguments that will fall in contradiction with Western values and with what Western society has conditioned its people to believe. How can a religion allow more than one marriage? How come women have different roles than men? Oh that is just horrible; I can’t accept that, I will not even look further into the matter.
I have heard these of repeated statements over and over again. Emotions are placed before rational. The approach of a sincere seeker of truth would be much wider and encompassing. It would involve anthropological research on issues related to acceptable cultural practices at different times by different people. My question here to a person who would engage in such emotional thinking would be: How did you prove the religion wrong? How does the fact that a religion allows polygamy make it invalid? The only thing you proved is that you are emotional and subjective to your emotions in your research, which will be disqualify your points from being scholarly.
How can someone understand the reality of facts and know the truth? It is simply said and hardly done. One must place aside all biases which he or she has acquired throughout their life span. One must use reliable sources of knowledge and no stop at emotional blocks. One has to use the faculty of reason more than any other faculty. One has to look at both sides of the argument and keep monitoring the emotions and biases that may arise from different events. One has to take his or her time and not be superficial but go to greater extents than what some of the so called Orientalists have done. And final but most important, one has to be sincere.
In the end truth stands by itself, and does not need emotions to make it stronger. It does not need sugar coating and distortion. It is what it is. Are you able to handle the truth?