Razi: Using reason is essential
Many Muslim scholars felt human reasoning was a basic part of religion.
In the Qur’an there is praise for:
(those) who listen to what is said and follow what is best. These are the ones God has guided; these are the people of understanding. (Qur’an 39:28, Abdel Haleem translation)
Fakhr al-Din al-Razi (d. 1209) reflects this verse:
Contemplation and reasoning are essential. God Almighty has shown that when a person listens to many things and then chooses what is most beautiful and fitting (using their intellect), they find guidance and success.
In Arabic:
وجوب النظر والاستدلال، وذلك لأنه تعالى بين أن الهداية والفلاح مرتبطان بما إذا سمع الإنسان أشياء كثيرة، فإنه يختار منها ما هو الأحسن الأصوب
Arabic vocabulary
- wujub (وجوب) – necessity
- nazar (نظر) – rational investigation
- istidlal (استدلال) – reasoning, building an argument using proofs
- hidaya (هداية) – guidance
- falah (فلاح) – success
- sami'a (سمع) – hear, listen
- insan (إنسان) – human being
- kathir (كثير) – many, a lot
- yakhtar (يختار) – choose, select
- ahsan (أحسن) – best, better
- aswab (أصوب) – most appropriate, fitting, correct
Notes
- This quote is from al-Razi’s famous commentary on the Qur’an, known as Keys to the Unseen (Mafatih al-ghayb), aka The Great Tafsir (al-Tafsir al-Kabir)
- The translation of al-Razi’s quote is my own.