The relationship between reason and revelation in Abû Shakûr al-Sâlimî

In Islamic thought, which embodies an intellectual structure shaped on the one hand by reason and on the other by revelation, the relationship between reason and revelation has historically occupied a central place in theological (kalām) debates and has remained one of the most fundamental issues of our intellectual tradition. The way this relationship has been addressed has played a decisive role not only in determining the theological orientations of various schools but also in shaping their epistemological approaches and conceptions of exis-tence. Islamic scholars—particularly theologians—have regarded reason (ʿaql) and revelation (waḥy) as two distinct sources of knowledge in grounding matters of faith. They endeavored to construct religious thought on both rational and scriptural foundations by defining the bo-undaries and spheres of competence of each source. The Ḥanafī–Māturīdī intellectual tradition sought to establish a sound balance between reason and revelation, considering reason an indispensable means for the correct understan-ding and interpretation of revelation. One of the significant yet relatively understudied repre-sentatives of this tradition, Abū Shakūr al-Sālimī, addressed the relationship between reason and revelation in the process of acquiring knowledge. He devoted an independent section to the subject of reason, providing a systematic justification of its place within epistemology. His approach to the relationship between reason and revelation becomes particularly evident in his treatment of issues such as the epistemological function of reason and the cont-ribution of revelation to it, the role of reason in verifying prophethood, the respective functi-ons of reason and revelation in acquiring theological knowledge, the ḥusn–qubḥ (good–evil) debate, and the significance of reason in the verification (taḥqīq) of faith. While Sālimī consi-ders reason a crucial element in comprehending the fundamentals of faith, he attributes a de-terminative role to revelation in matters pertaining to the details of religion. Thus, his thought reflects the characteristic balance between reason and revelation emphasized in the Māturīdī tradition. Moreover, the influence of the prevailing philosophical outlook of his time on Sālimī's theological approach is also evident. Sālimī's thought offers an important opportunity both for a deeper understanding of the internal dynamics of the Māturīdī tradition and for highlighting the original approaches developed in kalām regarding the relationship between reason and revelation.