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Sura 39
Aya 18
18
الَّذينَ يَستَمِعونَ القَولَ فَيَتَّبِعونَ أَحسَنَهُ ۚ أُولٰئِكَ الَّذينَ هَداهُمُ اللَّهُ ۖ وَأُولٰئِكَ هُم أُولُو الأَلبابِ

Muhammad Asad

who listen [closely] to all that is said, and follow the best of it:1 [for] it is they whom God has graced with His guidance, and it is they who are [truly] endowed with insight!
  • According to Razi, this describes people who examine every religious proposition (in the widest sense of this term) in the light of their own reason, accepting that which their mind finds to be valid or possible, and rejecting all that does not measure up to the test of reason. In Razi's words, the above verse expresses "a praise and commendation of following the evidence supplied by one's reason (hujjat al-'aql), and of reaching one's conclusions in accordance with [the results of] critical examination (nazar) and logical inference (istidlal)." A somewhat similar view is advanced, albeit in simpler terms, by Tabari.