The role of logic in Islamic teaching and understanding considering the hadith narrated by Ali (رضى الله عنه) in which he said if the religion were based purely on logic then the bottom of the sock has more right to be wiped than the top but I saw the messenger of Allah wiped the top and not the bottom.

Logic tells us we walk around with our socks, the part of the socks which gets dirty is the bottom of the sock therefore if you are making wudhu (ablution) you should wipe the sock from the bottom to wash off the dirt and it makes more sense, but the Prophet (ﷺ) wiped the top and not bottom. He said that to clarify to us that we cannot use logic to explain each and every thing; meaning that everything should have a logical explanation. The reality is that much of the religion; the vast majority of it that we have to deal with has the logical explanation and the Prophet (ﷺ) himself has shown us that. He explains why we do this or that.  So we can’t say that since Ali (رضى الله عنه) said that we shouldn’t explain things logically there is a contradiction here. It only comes when a person tries to explain everything with logic thereby not recognizing or accepting that there are limits to logic.

It is wrong to think that by explaining the philosophies of Islamic laws their importance and value is decreased, but in fact explanation of these things satisfies intellect and reason of a person and then he applies these laws in his practical life with tranquility and contentment, which makes his life more dynamic. And in this way a person doesn’t follow the Islamic law in a dry way but acts on the laws of Islam with a great fervor. This was one side of the question.

The other is that, as the time goes no matter how much our knowledge increases it shall always be limited. We cannot know everything. If man had known all the things of the world, then the caravan of knowledge and research would have stopped. Rather the things which we do not know are like a huge sea and the things which we know are just like a drop, or the things, which we know are like one line from a big book. And to know the things which we do not know we will require a Professor from the other world, and even then we will not be able to understand them, in the same way that if the people who lived a thousand years ago were taught the scientific knowledge of this age they would not have been able to understand. They would not have been able to reach the depth through their own thinking and intelligence.

We all know that the source of heavenly wisdom is from the infinite knowledge of Almighty Allah. He is a source who is aware of the whole universe. For Him words like past, future, absent, present have no meaning; rather He is All-knowing and is fully aware of everything.

After considering these facts can we expect that we can understand all the philosophies of Islamic laws? If this was so, what was the need for Prophets? We would sit and correct those things, which we feel right according to our whims and fancies. And on the other side the question arises: are we aware of the philosophy behind the existence of each creature in the world and about the laws which govern them? The religious laws can be compared to the creation in this aspect and our knowledge regarding them both is limited.

From this discussion we conclude that:

In all the ages only those philosophies of the Islamic laws can be understood, which are in the ambit of their knowledge and according to their standard. Basically, we should not expect more because of our limited knowledge and the depth of the laws. We conclude by saying that for following the Islamic laws we cannot put the condition of knowing their philosophies, otherwise it means we are claiming to have unlimited knowledge and at the same time we are considering our intelligence equal to Allah’s and this is itself against logic.

In short the discussions about the hidden logic behind the laws and the right to discuss about them is one thing and to obey these laws is another. The latter is not conditional to former.

We discuss about religious laws to increase our knowledge about their benefits, importance and different effects. We do not discuss these things to decide whether we should practice these laws or not.

Source:

Religious Questions Answered: Logic for Islamic Rules by Ayt. Makarim Shirazi & Ayt. Ja'far Subhani