Both, faith and reason, have been shown to be catalyst for a person coming and staying committed to religious belief. A person may come to believe in the veracity of a religion by using rational arguments, logic and facts. Whereas another person may become convinced of a religion after reading a holy book or hearing a preacher. Such a person might believe something to be true even in the absence of a logical proof or factual argument.
Whereas faith is emphasized by religious people, reason is the preferred tool of philosophers. Religious people believe that faith is a must and that it must be adhered to even in the absence of rational proof and reason-based arguments. Philosophers, on the other hand, discount “blind” faith. They assert that truth is based on rationality and facts rather than faith and religious teachings.
It is interesting to study a religion in terms of which parts of it requires “blind” faith, and what is the role of reason in understanding its wisdom. Some people claim that faith and reason are complementary whereas others say that faith and reason cannot be used together.
In a time, when rationality predominates modern study of knowledge, it is important to look at the role of reason in major religions. Let us consider faith and reason in Islam and Christianity. Both these world religions were influenced by the rational thought of Ancient Greek Philosophy. In both the traditions, theologians as well as philosophers have explained the relationship between faith and reason using their own paradigms of reality. We compare and contrast the similarities and differences in Islam’s and Christianity’s explanation of a person’s use of faith and reason to understand and grow in the understanding of their respective traditions.
Neglecting reason and depending on religious authorities blindly leads to exploitation by the religious establishment. It diminishes the status of man as someone who cannot rationalize and discover truths independently. Rational thought is the distinguishing characteristic of man and if he abandons it, he is not fulfilling the purpose of his creation. Nevertheless, the use of unbridled reason, which is not guided by the true revelation from God and the practices of the prophets, results in conjectures, delusions and Satanic influences which corrupts man’s understanding. It results in an extreme interpretation of reality.
The history of Christianity demonstrates how the church grappled with this problem. In its early history, it had complete control over its followers thought process. The clergy were very powerful and it was the church dogma and not their books which provided the principle of reasoning. Their clergy made many mistakes in interpreting their books which were already corrupted to come up with a dogma. Their followers considered the dogma infallible. Thus, their thought process was based on a false paradigm of reality. The conclusions that they drew from it were irrational.
This resulted in a pro-reason movement during the Enlightenment era led by the Renaissance philosophers who questioned the authority of the church and discredited their dogma. This resulted in large segments of Western society adopting secular thought in order to have a true rational conscience which the church teachings did not give them. Thus, in the absence of religion, reason became their new god. As reason by itself is not infallible, this resulted in bad repercussions in society.
Islam, on the other hand, has the revelation from God intact, in the form of the Quran. Historians and scholars agree that it is in the same form as when it was first compiled. Also, intact is the method of interpretation of the Quran and rationally seeking knowledge through it as taught by the Prophet (SWAS) and his companions. Islamic history is full of scholarship in this methodology. There is no dogma or clergy in Islam and its followers are free to study the sources of their religion and develop rational arguments based on its principles. Islam requires faith in the principles that are outlined in its sources that are from God. At the same time, they are encouraged to use reason to develop understanding and insights from the principles of their sources. Ibn Taymiyyah has written:
“Reason is a requirement for acquiring knowledge and performing righteous deeds, through which knowledge and deeds are perfected, but it is not enough on its own. Rather, it is a faculty of the soul and an ability like the ability within the eye to see. If it is connected with the light of faith and the Quran, then it is like the eye receiving the light of the sun and torch. If it is left to itself, it cannot gain insight into matters that it cannot know alone… Thus, the circumstances resulting from the denial of reason are defective, and ideas that contradict reason are false.”
He also writes: “Every reliable narration from the Prophet is the truth and confirms one another. It agrees with the natural instinct of creatures, sound reason that has been placed within them, and noble purposes. It cannot contradict sound reason, nor a noble purpose, nor an upright instinct, nor an authentic and established revelation from the Prophet.”
Whereas Islam is pro-reason, other religions, including Christianity have been shown as being anti-reason. Islam does not encourage people to become blind followers.
The Prophet (SWAS) said: “Do not let yourselves become blind followers, saying that if the people are good then we will be good, and if they are unjust then we will be unjust. Rather, make up your own minds. If the people are good then be good, but if they are evil then do not be unjust.” (Tirmidhi)
Whereas faith is emphasized by religious people, reason is the preferred tool of philosophers. Religious people believe that faith is a must and that it must be adhered to even in the absence of rational proof and reason-based arguments. Philosophers, on the other hand, discount “blind” faith. They assert that truth is based on rationality and facts rather than faith and religious teachings.
It is interesting to study a religion in terms of which parts of it requires “blind” faith, and what is the role of reason in understanding its wisdom. Some people claim that faith and reason are complementary whereas others say that faith and reason cannot be used together.
In a time, when rationality predominates modern study of knowledge, it is important to look at the role of reason in major religions. Let us consider faith and reason in Islam and Christianity. Both these world religions were influenced by the rational thought of Ancient Greek Philosophy. In both the traditions, theologians as well as philosophers have explained the relationship between faith and reason using their own paradigms of reality. We compare and contrast the similarities and differences in Islam’s and Christianity’s explanation of a person’s use of faith and reason to understand and grow in the understanding of their respective traditions.
Neglecting reason and depending on religious authorities blindly leads to exploitation by the religious establishment. It diminishes the status of man as someone who cannot rationalize and discover truths independently. Rational thought is the distinguishing characteristic of man and if he abandons it, he is not fulfilling the purpose of his creation. Nevertheless, the use of unbridled reason, which is not guided by the true revelation from God and the practices of the prophets, results in conjectures, delusions and Satanic influences which corrupts man’s understanding. It results in an extreme interpretation of reality.
The history of Christianity demonstrates how the church grappled with this problem. In its early history, it had complete control over its followers thought process. The clergy were very powerful and it was the church dogma and not their books which provided the principle of reasoning. Their clergy made many mistakes in interpreting their books which were already corrupted to come up with a dogma. Their followers considered the dogma infallible. Thus, their thought process was based on a false paradigm of reality. The conclusions that they drew from it were irrational.
This resulted in a pro-reason movement during the Enlightenment era led by the Renaissance philosophers who questioned the authority of the church and discredited their dogma. This resulted in large segments of Western society adopting secular thought in order to have a true rational conscience which the church teachings did not give them. Thus, in the absence of religion, reason became their new god. As reason by itself is not infallible, this resulted in bad repercussions in society.
Islam, on the other hand, has the revelation from God intact, in the form of the Quran. Historians and scholars agree that it is in the same form as when it was first compiled. Also, intact is the method of interpretation of the Quran and rationally seeking knowledge through it as taught by the Prophet (SWAS) and his companions. Islamic history is full of scholarship in this methodology. There is no dogma or clergy in Islam and its followers are free to study the sources of their religion and develop rational arguments based on its principles. Islam requires faith in the principles that are outlined in its sources that are from God. At the same time, they are encouraged to use reason to develop understanding and insights from the principles of their sources. Ibn Taymiyyah has written:
“Reason is a requirement for acquiring knowledge and performing righteous deeds, through which knowledge and deeds are perfected, but it is not enough on its own. Rather, it is a faculty of the soul and an ability like the ability within the eye to see. If it is connected with the light of faith and the Quran, then it is like the eye receiving the light of the sun and torch. If it is left to itself, it cannot gain insight into matters that it cannot know alone… Thus, the circumstances resulting from the denial of reason are defective, and ideas that contradict reason are false.”
He also writes: “Every reliable narration from the Prophet is the truth and confirms one another. It agrees with the natural instinct of creatures, sound reason that has been placed within them, and noble purposes. It cannot contradict sound reason, nor a noble purpose, nor an upright instinct, nor an authentic and established revelation from the Prophet.”
Whereas Islam is pro-reason, other religions, including Christianity have been shown as being anti-reason. Islam does not encourage people to become blind followers.
The Prophet (SWAS) said: “Do not let yourselves become blind followers, saying that if the people are good then we will be good, and if they are unjust then we will be unjust. Rather, make up your own minds. If the people are good then be good, but if they are evil then do not be unjust.” (Tirmidhi)
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