Side by Side
Side by Side: The Quran talks about understanding but links it to the heart (qalb), not the brain. Some people take this as proof that religion depends on feelings, not logic. They argue that faith requires a blind leap and rejects rational thinking. This view misunderstands faith.
Limits of Reason
When Kierkegaard said, “Where reason ends, faith begins,” he did not reject reason. He accepted its limits. Logic can guide us far, but it cannot reach every truth. When reason fails to give certainty, faith takes the search forward.
This step into faith is not blind or emotional. Intuition guides it. Intuition works with reason and completes it. Emotions pass quickly, but intuition remains. It strengthens understanding and shapes how we live.
Knowing God
Carl Jung explained this clearly. As a child, he believed in God. As an adult, he said he knew God. He spoke of intuitive knowledge, not emotional belief. This knowledge runs deeper than logical thinking.
Intuition is not emotion. Emotions rise and fall. Intuition stays and transforms action. It calls us toward truth and pushes us to live by it. The Quran points to the heart because intuition lives there, at the deepest level of awareness.
Foundation of Reason
Intuition comes from within us, but we do not create it. We receive it. Many dismiss intuition as irrational, yet reason depends on it. Before we trust logic, we must trust our thinking ability. We cannot prove this trust logically. We accept it intuitively.
The same applies to our existence. We cannot prove that we exist, yet we know it with certainty. Intuition gives us this knowledge. It leaves no room for doubt.
Faith Not Blind
If intuition grounds basic truths like thinking and existence, we should not reject it in spiritual matters. Spiritual intuition and basic intuition come from the same human faculty. They differ in depth, not in nature.
When we accept both reason and intuition, faith no longer looks blind. Real blindness comes from denying intuition. Kierkegaard’s journey shows this. Reason begins with intuition, explores on its own, and returns exhausted. Intuition then carries the seeker forward when reason can no longer do so.
Published in Dawn, 2nd January 2026
