Issues of Ijtihad

true essence of things; we can only observe their outward effects. From these effects, we infer that something exists—even if it is beyond our direct experience. So for Bertrand Russell and people like him, it becomes necessary to accept the truth of religion based on the same level of probability they apply to scientific theories. Once they accept one, there’s no valid reason to reject the other. They should understand that the real choice they face isn’t between accepting or rejecting religion. The choice is between accepting religion—or rejecting themselves. If they insist on rejecting religion, they would also have to reject their own reasoning. And since rejecting themselves is not an option, rejecting religion isn’t either. The Second Group: Einstein A symbolic figure of the second group is Einstein. He dedicated his entire life to studying science. At the same time, he also experienced spiritual feelings within himself. That’s why he explored religion as well. His belief in religion was just as strong as his belief in science. However, in his view, the two were completely separate subjects. In his words, the purpose of science is to understand what is, while the purpose of religion is to understand what should be. In other words, religion deals with inner conviction, while science deals with knowledge of the external world.