LessonsCauses of Knowledge: Definition, Certainty and SourcesQuiz

بِأَنْ يَخْلُقَ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى فِينَا الْعِلْمَ مَعَهُ بِطَرِيقِ جَرْيِ الْعَادَةِ
God creates knowledge in us in conjunction with that means, in accordance with the customary course of events.

This theological explanation distinguishes observed or proximate means from ultimate agency. People see, hear reports, and reason; knowledge ordinarily follows through these routes. The passage nevertheless avoids treating such routes as independent of divine creative power.

Jary al-ʿādah denotes a regular customary pattern in which events accompany their familiar antecedents. The distinction is not a rejection of observation or argument. It specifies the theological relationship between created means and the Creator's action.

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Ultimate agency and ordinary causes

Causes of Knowledge: Definition, Certainty and Sources

بِأَنْ يَخْلُقَ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى فِينَا الْعِلْمَ مَعَهُ بِطَرِيقِ جَرْيِ الْعَادَةِ
God creates knowledge in us in conjunction with that means, in accordance with the customary course of events.

This theological explanation distinguishes observed or proximate means from ultimate agency. People see, hear reports, and reason; knowledge ordinarily follows through these routes. The passage nevertheless avoids treating such routes as independent of divine creative power.

Jary al-ʿādah denotes a regular customary pattern in which events accompany their familiar antecedents. The distinction is not a rejection of observation or argument. It specifies the theological relationship between created means and the Creator's action.