2.9.08

Black Box Fiqh

Off the books decision creating and taking.
Probably mostly wrong, but live and possibly honest.


The ability to discern right from wrong is the objective of education in Islam. The literal meaning of fiqh is discernment, the jurisprudence thing came later. In the practical application of guidance, praxis if you like, there is no one but the performer and his Lord in the equation. It is not a linear equation, nor a first order truncation of an infinite series.

No channeling and no intermediary. In Our culture we do have guides, but explaining the nuances of particular scenarios can only get one so far. And that's assuming the relationship exists into which one can explain. This is not a black box because of its impermeability, but because of its isolation at the point of enaction.

It is probably mostly wrong because that's the way we expand our understanding. It is live because it is not covered in a dusty underappreciated and legalistic book somewhere from another time and place. The honesty bit depends on intention I guess.
If our black boxes are greater, our fluency and confidence of action will be greater, collectively and individually. A superior culture will be grown.

1 comment:

Shak said...

I still prefer "Black Book" since it sounds meaner. And besides, I don't think Black Box processes of many people are as opaque as the name implies.

Apart from the naming, are you condoning or condemning though? I think there's a place for it, but perhaps then that would make me a deviant?