(Series of Answers by the Eminent Scholar Ata bin Khalil Abu Al-Rashtah, Amir of Hizb ut-Tahrir, to the Questions of Visitors to his Facebook Page "Fikri")
To Dhuha Ghufron
Question:
Assalamu Alaikum Wa Rahmatullah Wa Barakatuh, our honorable scholar, Sheikh and Amir Ata bin Khalil Abu Al-Rashtah. I have a difficult question regarding the book At-Takattul al-Hizbi (The Party Grouping). The word "mukhlisan" (sincere) appeared in the statement: "even if he wanted not to be mukhlisan (sincere), he would not be able to do so." What does this mean? Also, I hope for a clarification of the meaning of "logic of sensation" and "intellectual sensation."
Thank you very much, and may Allah reward you with the Khilafah during your time, as you are our Imam. Amen.
Muhammad Dhuha from Indonesia. Wassalamu Alaikum Wa Rahmatullah Wa Barakatuh.
Answer:
Wa Alaikum Assalam Wa Rahmatullah Wa Barakatuh,
It seems you are referring in your question to the following text from the book At-Takattul al-Hizbi (pages 25-26):
("This is because the sensation that leads to a thought in the party shines this thought within the Ummah among multiple thoughts. It becomes one of them and, at first, the weakest of them, because it is the most recent birth and the newest in existence; it has not yet centralized, and an atmosphere has not yet been created for it. However, since it was a thought resulting from the logic of sensation—meaning an understanding resulting from sensory perception—it creates the intellectual sensation, i.e., it creates a clear sensation resulting from deep thought. Thus, by its nature, it purifies the one who is impressed by it, making him sincere, so that even if he wanted not to be sincere, he would not be able to do so.") End.
Your question is about the meaning of "logic of sensation," "intellectual sensation," and why this thought makes its carrier sincere.
A significant portion of your question is answered in the book Mafahim Hizb ut-Tahrir (Concepts of Hizb ut-Tahrir), where it clarifies the meaning of the logic of sensation and the meaning of intellectual sensation. It states in the book Mafahim (pages 58-59) the following:
("It is absolutely impermissible to separate action from thought, from a specific goal, or from belief. In this separation—no matter how slight—there is a danger to the action itself, its results, and its continuity. Therefore, the specific goal must be understood and clear to everyone who attempts the action before starting it.
It was necessary that the logic of sensation be the basis, i.e., that understanding and thinking arise from sensation, not merely from assumptions of imaginary issues, and that the sensation of reality affects the brain, creating, along with previous information, the brain activity which is thought. This is what achieves depth in thinking and productivity in action. The logic of sensation leads to intellectual sensation, i.e., the sensation that is strengthened in a human being by thought. For this reason, the sensation of the carriers of the Dawah, for example, after understanding it, is stronger than their sensation before that.") End.
The logic of sensation means that a person takes the thought after their direct sensation of reality and their firsthand standing upon it, and not through reception and indoctrination that is not certain in its correctness. Naturally, it is also not through assumptions of imaginary issues. The logic of sensation means thinking that depends on direct sensation, and the logic of sensation is stronger and more stable than others because it is directly connected to the senses. For example, a person’s perception of the extent of decline and backwardness experienced by Africa through the information they received differs greatly from their perception of the extent of this decline when they visit Africa, directly observe the reality there, and reach, through this observation, a judgment on Africa as being backward and declining.
As for intellectual sensation, its opposite is pure sensation, which is to sense reality without having a thought related to this reality. If a thought exists and one senses the reality after the existence of this thought, then their sensation of the reality and their understanding of it will undoubtedly be stronger and more stable than their pure sensation—i.e., their sensation of it before the existence of the thought. The occurrence of sensation after the existence of the thought related to it is called intellectual sensation. For example, a person's sensation of the reality of Africa after knowing the meaning of decline and perceiving the difference between it and revival (Nahdah) is stronger than their sensation of the reality of Africa before knowing intellectually the meaning of decline and the meaning of revival. Their sensation of the horror of the Disbelieving West's exploitation of Africa and its looting of its wealth will be stronger after their intellectual knowledge of the policies of these countries towards Africa than their sensation of this exploitation before the existence of this knowledge. Therefore, the youth of Hizb ut-Tahrir in Africa sense the decline of the society there and the horror of the exploitation of their countries more than other people, because of their perception of the meaning of decline, their awareness of the policies of the colonialist countries towards their countries, and their knowledge of the greed of these countries. As for others, their sensation of that is weak; in fact, some of them do not even pay attention to it.
The change-oriented thought that the principled party reaches is through the logic of sensation, which leads to true and correct results. From it, an intellectual sensation is generated that makes its carrier see the reality and sense it in its correct and true form. Therefore, this thought undoubtedly creates true concepts in its possessor and does not stop at the limit of theoretical information. The carrier of this thought perceives the realities of matters, so they cannot help but be sincere and truthful, just like the thought they carry. They cannot deceive themselves or delude themselves that reality is contrary to what they see; rather, they see reality for what it truly is and know the remedy for what it truly is. Thus, they cannot help but be sincere as long as they carry this thought.
Your brother, Ata bin Khalil Abu Al-Rashtah
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