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ArticlesOfTheIslamicFaithByGhazali, page : 67
and propensities is useful for sharpening the mind
which is the instrument of Religion just as the sword is the
instrument of Holy war (jihad), hence there is no harm in
sharpening it, it will be like saying that playing chess, because
it sharpens the mind, is a part of Religion. This, however,
is insane because the mind may be sharpened through the
other sciences of the Religion in which there is no fear
of harm or injury.
By this you see how much of scholastic theology is blameworthy
and how much is praiseworthy, the conditions wherein it is
condemned and these wherein it is praised, as well as the persons
who are benefited by it and the persons who are harmed.
If you should then say that, since you acknowledge the need
for it in refuting the arguments of the innovators, and since
innovations have now risen and calamities spread, the need
which is the instrument of Religion just as the sword is the
instrument of Holy war (jihad), hence there is no harm in
sharpening it, it will be like saying that playing chess, because
it sharpens the mind, is a part of Religion. This, however,
is insane because the mind may be sharpened through the
other sciences of the Religion in which there is no fear
of harm or injury.
By this you see how much of scholastic theology is blameworthy
and how much is praiseworthy, the conditions wherein it is
condemned and these wherein it is praised, as well as the persons
who are benefited by it and the persons who are harmed.
If you should then say that, since you acknowledge the need
for it in refuting the arguments of the innovators, and since
innovations have now risen and calamities spread, the need