An evaluation of the relationship between faith and reason in Gazzâlî an evaluation

Thanks to the intellect that man has, he tries to understand the purpose of creation and existence. Again, thanks to the intellect, he tries to know the reasons for the existence of beings and the justifications for their existence. And again, thanks to the intellect, man tries to comprehend the degrees of existence of beings and try to become a mature person by getting rid of ignorance. In accordance with what we have said, Ghazali is among the foremost İslamic thinkers who emphasize the importance of intellect from a human perspective. From this perspective, Ghazali sees intellect as the first source of knowledge and the first place of acceptance where knowledge is realized and comprehended. He also accepts the conclusions that man reaches with his intellect regarding knowledge as true. Ghazali tries to consider intellect not only from an epistemic perspective but also from a practical perspective. From a practical perspective, Ghazali believes that intellect also provides the tools that can be a means for man to be happy. As the owner of all these views, Ghazali attaches special importance to faith as much as he attaches to reason. According to Ghazali, faith is the initiation of the Prophet Hz. It is defined as confessing with the tongue and confirming with the heart all the principles of faith that Muhammad has conveyed to us, without the slightest doubt. Although the absolute obedience aspect of faith described in this way by Ghazali is at the forefront, Ghazali has tended to establish some extremely original and unique relationships between faith and reason. Therefore, it is extremely important to academically examine and evaluate the type of relationship between reason and faith in Ghazali's thought within its own originality. When the concept of faith is generally considered and examined by focusing on reason, we see that two different trends emerge. The first of these is the fideism trend. Fideists argue that the phenomenon we call faith or belief is realized not by reason but by emotions. According to them, faith is an event that occurs with the approval of the heart or emotions, not by reason. The other trend in this regard is rationalism. Roughly speaking, rationalists argue that God can be felt but cannot be grasped by reason. The religious field, faith, is a phenomenon that cannot be grasped by reason and belongs entirely to the emotional field. How can we determine the position of Ghazali's thought in terms of tendencies that occur between faith and reason? How can Ghazali's thought be evaluated in the context of reason and faith? This study will attempt to address the relationship between faith and reason in Ghazali's thought. The purpose of this study is to attempt to address the relationship between faith and reason in Ghazali's thought and the problems that arise in this relationship. Keywords: Ghazali, Reason, Faith, Fideism, Rationalism