Document Type : Original Article
Author
Associate Professor of the Department of Islamic Studies of Allameh Tabatabai University
Abstract
-Introduction
According to many thinkers, reason plays an important role in the creation and development of human knowledge. Despite the challenges in the religious field, the role of reason in the creation and development of religious knowledge is undeniable, and a kind of correlation exists between religion and reason. Regardless of some differences, a rationalist understanding of religion and Sharia and the authority of reason in understanding Sharia have existed throughout different eras. Reason tries to justify and express the understanding of Sharia with the changing conditions of time and place. Therefore, it is necessary to discuss the understanding of reason, various attitudes towards reason, and the use of reason as an epistemological tool.However, the main issue is the independence of reason and its relationship with revealed knowledge etc., which are disputed. On the one hand, the neo-religionist movement, which is considered a modern movement, views the power of reason as unlimited, and we witness criticisms they make in the field of traditional religion.Among them, Muhammad Abed al-Jabri, who is attributed to this movement, has a special approach to reason because he has dealt more with the category of reason and enumerated its different meanings. The result of that constitutes his epistemological system and is considered. On the other hand, among those who have been able to deal with religion and its issues with a maximal rational approach is Allamah Ṭabāṭabāʾī.From the perspective of this philosopher, who has a special approach to reason, human thoughts, as required by their nature, benefit from everything for their true perfection and do not submit to imitation.In this research, the view of Muhammad Abed al-Jabri, who is among the modern contemporary intellectual movements, has been considered comparatively with the view of Allamah Ṭabāṭabāʾī in these fields to assess the capacities of each to respond to social and political issues in the field of religion.Accordingly, "A comparative study of the foundations of rationality from the perspective of Allamah Ṭabāṭabāʾī as a Shiite commentator and Muhammad al-Jabri as a neo-Mu'tazilite thinker" is the aim of this article, which uses a descriptive-analytical method in the works of both advanced thinkers and enumerates the effective characteristics of each in rationality.
2-Literature Review
Regarding the research background, there are numerous works in the field of reason and the thoughts of Muhammad Abed al-Jabri and Allama Ṭabāṭabāʾī, but so far no independent treatise, book, or article has been compiled in Persian on the foundations of rationality from the perspective of Muhammad Abed al-Jabri and Allama Ṭabāṭabāʾī with a text-based methodology and the impact of these two intellects on religious knowledge. Therefore, it is necessary to examine the foundations of rationality from the perspective of these two thinkers.
3-Research Method
In this study, the research method is a descriptive-analytical method that analyzes the works of both advanced thinkers and the effective characteristics in the rationality of each and examines and compares the views of these two thinkers.
4-Conclusion
After the studies conducted in the field of the foundations of rationality by Allamah Tabataba'i and Muhammad al-Jabri, some conclusions have been reached.
1-Al-Jabri, by reading the process of the formation of modernity in the West and by being inspired by the views of Western thinkers, such as structuralist, foundationalist schools, and philosophical hermeneutics, returns to Islamic culture and seeks to adapt the ideas and methods of Islamic thinkers and intellectuals to the ideas of Western thinkers. Al-Jabri selects and emphasizes the use of Hanafi jurisprudence and Al-Ashʿari theology from among the tradition, considering their empiricism. On the other hand, in Al-Jabri's thought, the Arabic language is the carrier of culture and the builder of the worldview (and not belief) of the Arab world.
2-Al-Jaberi's anthropological basis is close to the concept of man in the Renaissance, according to which man seeks to achieve perfection with his soul and body at the level of moral and aesthetic rationality and is trying to control the world and appropriate it for his benefit. In the view of Allamah, the human species is the target, and God has determined a path in the creation system to guide each species to its true perfection, and this path for man is the path of religion. Al-Jaberi sees man as nature; nature is the container of man, and in Allamah's view, based on the divine creation plan, man is the container of nature, and nature is the container of man.
3-In the view of Allamah, there is a connection and condition between society and the human individual, and they influence each other in a unitary way. However, in Al-Jaberi's perspective, the connection between society and the human individual does not have a priori reasoning and operates based on a posteriori reasoning (experience) of rationality. We will witness the specific experiences of each nation and society with culture, which ultimately cannot achieve a unity of a posteriori rationality.
4-Al-Jaberi considers the role of culture essential for the formation of rationality. In other words, the way of thinking is a kind of habit and behavior that is transmitted from one generation to another. Rationality is like a living being with a natural and social environment. According to Allamah, the effect of culture on rationality is distinguished by the separation of valid and real perceptions in two social and philosophical domains. In the social domain, human rationalities have been established and legislated throughout history for social relations and improving living conditions. In the philosophical field, there will be a series of obvious rational principles as basic principles, and the validity will be based on these principles.
5-According to Al-Jaberi, in the development of reason, culture, society, and history are original and limited to them. However, in the view of Allamah Ṭabāṭabāʾī, religion, revelation, and monotheistic nature are original, and the role of culture, society, and history in the development of reason plays a role within the framework of the creation system and under divine guidance.
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