Relationship between religion and philosophy in Fazlur Rahman

The relationship between religion and philosophy or revelation and reason, which is one of the focal points of issues and disputes in social, cultural, political and religious fields in Islamic thought is one of the important issues that have been brought to the agenda and discussed in every period. The background of the studies on this subject goes back to the first Islamic philosopher Kindi and can be traced back to many philosophers such as Farabi, Ibn Sina and Ibn Rushd. The studies on the point in question, has preserved it's vitality in Islamic thought until the 20th century. In this period, one of the thinkers who tried to evaluate the relationship between religion-philosophy or revelation-reason from a contemporary perspective is Fazlur Rahman. He approaches the subject within the framework of the actions that Muslims generally reveal with their perception of revelation. From this aspect, Fazlur Rahman, who exhibits a realist and practical attitude, evaluates religion together with a rationalist perspective and bases upon the understanding of Islamic revelation on the cognitive perfection of the human soul just like Farabi and Ibn Sina. According to him, the duty of man is to establish a moral-based socio-political regulation on earth, in the light of divine commands. The main mission in the center of revelation is the fulfillment of this regulation. The principles of the Qur'an, Sunnah, consensus and ijtihad are the basis of all kinds of Islamic thought. That is to say, intellectual activities are revealed with the integrity of belief and mind, in other words, religion and philosophy. As the theoretical aspect of religion can not be thought apart from understanding; also its practical aspect can not be separated from putting forward an action according to intellectual faculties. And consequently, the whole process involves the function of the mind. It is impossible to reach an ideal goal by adopting only reason or only religion. The main reason for the problems faced by the Islamic world in the historical process is that the divine message can not be understood in a holistic way. The doctrine of revelation, which was rendered to serving ideological purposes by many people or members of sects, has been diverged the collocutors of the revelation from each other by dividing into pieces over time. As a result, the problems especially in the political, economic and social fields had gradually increased. The scene encountered in the last phase was that while the geography dominated by Muslims was defeated in many aspect, the West took over authority through scientific discoveries. What needs to be done in order to revive and progress in Islamic thought, which leaded scientific researches and important developments in the beginning, is to present a comprehensive and holistic interpretation of the Qur'an and Sunnah without excluding free thought and any scientific data, being aware of the realities, and producing a solution to the problems of the age. Thus, it will be easier to reach the desired divine purpose. Keywords: Islamic philosophy, Fazlur Rahman, religion, philosophy, interpretation