Reason and revelation: a debate in Islamic thought
For centuries theologians, philosophers and Sufis answered one another on the place of reason and revelation in knowledge. This journey presents the views in turn and treats none of them as the conclusion.
This page delivers no verdict; it presents claims and evidence with their sources. No theory in science is absolute.
Stop 1c. 750Kalām (Islamic theology)Tradition / school
The Muʿtazila
The Muʿtazila gave priority to reason and human free will in interpreting matters of faith.
Claims, evidence and sources →Stop 2c. 900Kalām (Islamic theology)Tradition / school
Māturīdism
Al-Māturīdī aimed to balance transmitted texts and reason and gave human will a wide scope.
Claims, evidence and sources →Stop 3c. 912Kalām (Islamic theology)Tradition / school
Ashʿarism and occasionalism
Al-Ashʿarī broke with the Muʿtazila to reconcile text and reason; for the Ashʿarīs, God alone is the true agent in the world.
Claims, evidence and sources →Stop 4c. 1027PhilosophyText / work
Ibn Sīnā and the Book of Healing
Avicenna sought to ground God's existence by reason through the argument from the necessary existent.
Claims, evidence and sources →Stop 51095Kalām (Islamic theology)Text / work
Al-Ghazālī's Incoherence of the Philosophers
Al-Ghazālī criticised Peripatetic philosophy, arguing that some of the philosophers' views rested on no conclusive proof.
Claims, evidence and sources →Stop 6c. 1108Sufism (taṣawwuf)Text / work
Al-Ghazālī's Deliverance from Error
The same al-Ghazālī described passing through methodical doubt in his search for certainty and settling in Sufism.
Claims, evidence and sources →Stop 7c. 1180PhilosophyText / work
Ibn Rushd and The Incoherence of the Incoherence
Averroes replied to al-Ghazālī, defending causality and the religious obligation of philosophical reflection.
Claims, evidence and sources →Stop 8c. 1229Sufism (taṣawwuf)Tradition / school
Ibn ʿArabī and the unity of being
Ibn ʿArabī's views on the unity of being put forward unveiling and experience as ways to knowledge.
Claims, evidence and sources →Stop 91273Sufism (taṣawwuf)Text / work
Rūmī and the Masnavi
Rūmī's Masnavi told these questions through stories and poetry and reached a wide audience.
Claims, evidence and sources →
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- Views on the origin of living things · 11 stops
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