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The_Savior_from_Spiritual_Error_and_50_Principles, page : 112
certainty can only be reached by acquaintance with his conduct, either by
personal observation, or by hearsay as a matter of common knowledge. For
example, if you are familiar with medicine and law, you can recognize
lawyers and doctors by observing what they are, le, by hearing what they
have to say. Thus you are not unable to recognize that al-Shafi‟i (Allah have
mercy upon him) is a lawyer and Galen a doctor; and your recognition is
based on the facts and not on the judgment of someone else. Indeed, just
because you have some knowledge of law and medicine, and examine their
books and writings, you arrive at an obvious knowledge of what these men
are.
Similarly, if you understand what it is to be a prophet, and have devoted
much time to the study of the Koran and the Prophetic Sayings, you will arrive
at a obvious knowledge of the fact that Muhammad, may Allah venerate him
and grant him peace, is in the highest grade of the prophetic calling. Convince
yourself of that by trying out what he said about the influence of devotional
practices on the purification of the heart, how truly he asserted that `whoever
personal observation, or by hearsay as a matter of common knowledge. For
example, if you are familiar with medicine and law, you can recognize
lawyers and doctors by observing what they are, le, by hearing what they
have to say. Thus you are not unable to recognize that al-Shafi‟i (Allah have
mercy upon him) is a lawyer and Galen a doctor; and your recognition is
based on the facts and not on the judgment of someone else. Indeed, just
because you have some knowledge of law and medicine, and examine their
books and writings, you arrive at an obvious knowledge of what these men
are.
Similarly, if you understand what it is to be a prophet, and have devoted
much time to the study of the Koran and the Prophetic Sayings, you will arrive
at a obvious knowledge of the fact that Muhammad, may Allah venerate him
and grant him peace, is in the highest grade of the prophetic calling. Convince
yourself of that by trying out what he said about the influence of devotional
practices on the purification of the heart, how truly he asserted that `whoever