14.5 Why Be A Muslim Skeptic
Allah says,
“And if you obey most of those in the earth, they will lead you astray from Allah’s way. They follow nothing but conjecture and they only lie.”
Al-An’am [Q6:116]
Conjecture, translated from dhann, is baseless opinion, assumptions, basically empty thought that is not grounded in truth, reality, and understanding. Allah tells us very clearly that most people live and breathe on the basis of dhann. But they incorrectly claim that they are on solid ground, so much so that they try to lead people. In other words, they put on a show of confidence and speak with authority, acting like they know what they are talking about. In this way, they try to get people to follow them in their error.
But the Muslim has to be skeptical of these false leaders. Even if a person speaks with authority or has credentials or uses charming, persuasive language, be careful. Judge on the basis of the manifest, undoubted truths of Islam. More likely than not, such people are only speaking from dhann.
As an example, every few years a new scientific study comes out on the “health benefits” of drinking alcohol. Secular, colonized Desis, Arabs, Persians, etc., point to the studies as proof of how backwards Islam is. But inevitably, all these studies turn out to be flawed and overturned or the results turn out to be ambiguous and ultimately un-repeatable and baseless.