The Islamic concept differs further from other belief-concepts due to its divine origin. It is not a concept originated by man, but comes directly from Almighty Allah. Mankind received it in its entirety from its Creator. No man, or men, invented it, as is the case with pagan or philosophical concepts, despite their mutual differences. Man’s action concerning the Islamic concept is to receive it with gratitude, to understand it, adapt to it, and apply it to all affairs of life. The divine utterances constituting the holy Qur’an, which bring this concept to us, are all from almighty Allah as a gift from him and a mercy. The thought of all the Messengers of Allah is the same, since all of them received the same Islamic concept in its original form but none of them shared in its origination. Rather they received this concept as a guide for them and through them for others. This guidance is a gift from almighty Allah by means of which minds are opened. The duty of a Messenger, any Messenger, with respect to this concept is to communicate it accurately to others and propagate it faithfully and diligently, without mixing any human ideas -referred to in the holy Qur’an as ahwa or “whims” -with Divine revelations. We cannot overemphasize the point that it is the Source of this concept that makes it precious and great, because it is the only trustworthy Source, free of defect, ignorance, and whim. Defect, ignorance, and whim are characteristics of human ideas and actions and, as we saw, are embodied in all the conceptual paradigms molded by men, such as mythologies and philosophies, and in the concepts interpolated by men into the revealed beliefs of earlier times. This Source of the Islamic concept is a guarantee that it accords with human nature, responds to it from all directions, and provides for all its needs. Furthermore, from this concept proceeds the straightest and the most comprehensive way of life. The fact that the Islamic concept did not originate in human thought does not mean that it is outside the domain of the human intellect or that rational thought is prohibited in Islam. Its divine origin, however, does imply that it is the task of human thought to receive it, grasp its significance, adapt to it, and then translate it into action. There is a correct method of receiving it, and this is as follows. Almighty Allah does not want humans to receive this divinely-revealed concept within the context of previous norms, whether these come from other sources or from their own ideas, and then to judge this concept by them or measure it in their scale. Indeed, human thought should receive all its norms and standards from this very concept, rejecting all the previous norms and standards that do not conform to it. Man should not accept any norms and standards from any other source, but should correct all incompatible norms and standards by using the method prescribed by this concept, which originates from the divine Source.
And then, whatever comes to a person’s mind of feelings and ideas, values and concepts, and of the affairs of the worldly life, he should refer to the truths and standards of the Islamic concept in order to know what is true and what is false, and what is right and what is wrong. An inherent and central part of the Islamic concept is that human reason is a great and valuable faculty to which is assigned the task of understanding the characteristics and constituents of this concept originating from their divine Source. From them it is the task of human reason to deduce values and norms, without adding to them anything from external sources and without distorting or impairing them in anyway. Furthermore, teachers of the Islamic method of training go to great lengths to sharpen and develop this great faculty of man, the intellect, to protect it from being wasted in futile pursuits, and to prompt it toward action in all the numerous fields for which it is equipped. Although the intellect has the prime responsibility to receive and absorb this concept, other human faculties also participate in this task. Due to its divine origin, this concept is characterized by the fact that it addresses the personality of man in its entirety and is totally within man’s comprehension. Even if certain aspects of this concept relating to the ultimate questions of what, why, and how are beyond human comprehension, they are not contrary to human reason, as are the’ ‘mysteries” of other religions, and the concept itself is totally within the realm of human reason and logic. Human logic can never surrender itself to a con-tradiction, and there are no contradictions in the Islamic concept. However human reason knows when to surrender in the presence of a simple fact. The simple fact is that the domain of the Islamic concept includes matters, such as the Person and the attributes of Allah, the operation of Allah’s will, and its connection with his creation, that are beyond the reach of human perception. This is the domain of the Ultimate, the Free and the Absolute, whereas man, a mortal creature, is cir¬cumscribed in time and space and is impotent in perceiving the infinite and in knowing the totality of being.