What does thinking straight mean?

Some truths are absolute, permanent, never subject to alteration of any kind. Other truths are general: they seem to us to be always true but we can imagine exceptions, even if we have not yet come across any. Again other truths are relative: we know them to be always true under certain conditions; if the conditions change, these relative truths do not hold.

For example, God’s existence is an absolute truth; so too His essence is absolute, as are His names and attributes. The principles of faith such as divine justice with its dimensions of unity, the Resurrection or the Supreme Gathering, destiny, forgiveness, munificence and mercy are also absolute. Occurrences that can be examined by sciences like physics and chemistry are general truths for which exceptions can be found. By contrast, truths which are subject to variations in tone, colour, character, etc., which are dependent upon particular individuals or upon particular conditions and epochs, are only relative truths.

If we evaluate knowledge as “an accumulation of information obtained as a result of a person’s effort, merits, and capabilities,” then man comes to this world without knowing anything and encounters an endless universe where innumerable creatures come together and countless events unfold. Everything in the universe outside of man’s influence is in its proper place and complete order, harmony and balance reign. We can therefore conclude that all the physical and metaphysical principles underlying the unshakable order, harmony and indestructible balance of this vast and complex universe, of which the human body comprises a miniature, are the sum of truth or truths.

Sciences like physics, chemistry and biology—regardless of whether or not they are accurate—examine the universe and universal relationships with their own peculiar principles. The data from these sciences are taken up by philosophers, scientific and existentialist philosophers, etc. and data from human relations are used by sociologists and psychologists. In contrast, through their basic tenets of faith, monotheistic religions like Islam see the universe and man as an expression of the same truth in all relationships, principles of life and particulars of existence. The Divine Books like the Qur’an are an expression of, in fact, comprise, themselves, the truth that provides universal harmony and balance. Throughout history philosophers, sociologists and psychologists who have determined or discovered truths have differed among themselves, which has led to the emergence of different schools of thought. In contrast, all prophets and the divine books they brought have espoused the same thing. Consequently, we can say that all the principles that provide universal harmony, order and balance and the Qur’an, the only divine book that has remained unchanged, are the “truth itself”. Thinking and drawing conclusions according to these can be called “thinking straight.”