The understanding of proof in disciplines of kalâm and sufism: The example of Fakhr al-Dîn and Sadr al-Dîn al-Qunawî

Scholars, who expressed their opinions about the problems that arose since the formation of Islamic sciences, produced proof according to the knowledge systems of the sciences they belonged to and evaluated the proofs of their dissidents by their own systems, which they considered reliable. Thus, the evidence enabled the parties to express their opinions and these statements were respected to the extent of the knowledge value of the proof used. The disciplines of Kalam and Sufism have been positioned as two opposing disciplines that do not see each other's proofs reliable on the issues they have discussed since the early period. One of the main reasons of this situation is the difference in their understanding of knowledge. In this study, the differences about their understanding of "proof", which is a practical consequence of their different understanding of knowledge, were brought to the agenda. For this, in the first chapter, the nature of the proof was examined and explained with its general use in Islamic disciplines. Then, the understanding of proof of Fakhr al-Dîn al-Râzî (d. 606/1210) and Sadr al-Din al-Qunawî (d. 673/1274), who were elected as example of kalam and sufism, was explained, and generalizations were made to the disciplines they belonged to, based on certain justifications through their opinions. Finally, the two scholars' understanding of proof was compared and the possibility of comparing the proofs presented by both scholars was questioned. Key Words: Proof, Fakhr al-Dîn al-Râzî, Sadr al-Din al-Qunawî, Kalam, Sufism, 'Aql, Qalb