Reason in Islamic Thought: A Study of Methodology and Application— The Mu‘tazila and Ahl al-Sunnah as Case Studies

Abstract

This study deals with the issue of the intellect and its position in the knowledge system of the most prominent sects of Islam: the Mu'tazilites, the Ash'aris, the Maturidism, and the school of Athar (Hanbala), and the study aims to reveal the fundamental differences in the concept of the intellect itself, the mechanism of its employment in understanding the texts, and the limits of its validity as a tool for religious knowledge, where it starts with the rooting of the problem of reason and transmission, and then moves on to analyzing the position of the Mu'tazilites and the Sunnis and their sects on the pivotal issues, which are:  In conclusion, we will present a new classification of theological attitudes towards the mind according to two aspects: "the authority of the mind" and "the limits of employment", and the study concluded that the difference about the intellect is due to fundamental differences in the concept of knowledge, and that the position of each sect represents a construction consistent with its major premises in the theory of knowledge, providing a new analytical framework that can be used to understand contemporary theological differences.