„Salient Features of al-Māturῑdi‟s Epistemology‟

Aldila binti Dato‟ Isahak

aldila@iium.edu.my

Abstract

By using the conceptual framework of epistemology and worldview of Alparslan

Acikgenc, the significance of the salient features of al-Māturῑdi‟s epistemology,
namely, sense perception, reason and Revelation is discussed. In proving the feasibility
of his epistemology, al-Māturῑdῑ demonstrates through the methodology of burhān or
demonstrative proof, at length, the relevance of obtaining the correct sources of
knowledge and proper methodology of seeking knowledge of the reality of existence in
order to reach the certainty of truth. He applied al-Sam‘ and al-‘‘‘aql at the source;
hand in hand to understand the meaning of al-din, and concurrently the utilisation of al-
Akhbār, al-‘Iyān and al-Naẓar as the means to understand cosmology. By doing this he
places al-dῑn as the foundation of the way of life of the rational being. An exposition of
al- Māturῑdi‟s cosmology and the functions of sources of knowledge is given, where we
see the relationship of Allah, the world and human being is discussed. It is found that
sense perception being one of the means of finding the reality of existence plays a
paramount role in his epistemology, for, without it, the whole truth cannot be known
nor realised by the rational being. Hence, showing the significant of al- Māturῑdi‟s
epistemology is to assist the rational being to arrive at the transcendental truth of the
universe, that is, the cosmos is finite in nature, and that only Allah is the One Eternal
Creator and Sustainer.

1
INTRODUCTION

Kalām is the discipline that strives to establish the wisdom, understanding or ḥikmah, that are

only sought after by rational being. This wisdom or understanding sought is with regard to

the existence of the rational being and other existents vis-à-vis the Ultimate Existence. It is

thus, the discipline that guides the rational being to understand the reality of existence or

ḥaqā’iq al-‘āshiyā’ is based on the The Truth of the realities of existence, namely al-Ḥaqq. It

is when al-Ḥaqq, The Truth or the essence of existence is found, the teleological-ontological

existence of cosmology and the axiology of life based on the worldview of Tawḥῑd becomes

logical and this is the aim of kalām.

By using the conceptual framework of epistemology and worldview of Alparslan

Acikgenc, showing how a scientific worldview is constructed through a systematic

application of epistemology, this essay investigates the significance of al-Māturῑdi‟s

epistemology within the context of a systematic thinker who constructed an Islamic

epistemology of kalām. It is thus, the objective of this essay to see the epistemology that has

been formulated by al-Māturῑdῑ through burhān or demonstrative proof leads to the correct

understanding of The Truth. Where he shows that the way to the truth; whether to understand

the meaning of life or the teleological existence of cosmology (ḥaqā’iq al-‘āshiyā’) or to

understand and know The Truth (al-Haqq), lies in the very being or the faculties of the

rational being. In other words the rational being has within their physical, mental, spiritual

and physiological make up, the very constituents needed hold the key to reach the truth. 1

1
A more thorough and critical study of the functions of the three sources of knowledge of cosmology, i.e. al-
‘Iyān, al-Akhbār, and al-Naẓar can be found in the article by the author, “Salient Features of al-Māturῑdi‟s
Theory of Knowledge”, al-Shajarah, Vol. 6, No.2. 2001. Kuala Lumpur : ISTAC.

2
EPISTEMOLOGY

The history of epistemology dates back to the time of Plato. It is held that this discipline was

born out of his efforts to rid the system of thought propagated by the Sophists, concerning the

negation of certitude of knowledge that can be acquired by a rational being. 2 In so doing he

started an investigation into the nature of knowledge, its validity as well as the sources from

which knowledge is acquired.3 Al-Māturῑdῑ; finding himself in a similar situation in 3rd

century A.H. / 9th century C.E., amidst the genesis of peripatetic philosophy during the time

of the Abbasid caliphate, was defending Islam against foreign worldviews that was

encroaching upon the Islamic worldview that is based on tawhid and the internal schisms

among the Muslims between the traditionalists and the rationalists of the Mu‟tazilites; the

conflicting schools of naql and ‘aql among the fuqahā’ and the mutakallimūn. By defining an

Islamic epistemology he became the forerunner of the investigation of epistemology in

kalām. Thereon, the discussion on epistemology became central to the Muslim thinkers in

kalām.

Epistemology is the study of the sources or the means as to how knowledge comes is

obtained or formulated. According to Acikgenc, epistemology is “concerned with only the

nature of the internal knowledge acquisition process and how it takes place.” 4 He, however

further said that “kalām philosophers always include the external process of acquiring

knowledge in their epistemologies”.5 Hence, the combination of internal and external

knowledge acquisition process becomes the fundamental characteristic of Islamic

epistemology.6 Epistemology, therefore, belongs to the realm of human experiences. For only

2
Paul Edwards (ed), The Encyclopedia of Philosophy (New York : Macmillan Publishing Co. Inc. & The Free
Press, 1994. 9.
3
Ibid.
4
Alparslan Açikgenç. Islamic Scientific Tradition in History. (Kuala Lumpur : IKIM, 2014) 412.
5
Ibid.
6
Ibid.

3
the rational being pursues the investigation of knowledge in order to justify their belief. The

urge for the justification of belief though inherent in the rational being, is not however

pursued fully by every single rational being, because most prefer to blindly follow their faith,

i.e. being dogmatic in their practice because it is easier to live a life of ignorant than an

enlightened life. Which means the ignorant „rational being‟ becomes blind followers of their

faith and belief system, and this, according to al-Māturῑdῑ will never lead them to the true

understanding of cosmology.

AL-MĀTURῙDI’S COSMOLOGY

The unique physical and nonphysical frames of the rational being consists of empirical

faculties, rational faculties and spiritual faculties are in fact what distinguishes the rational

being from other beings. The experiences brought about by the empirical faculties become

the sense experience which the rational being perceives through their senses. After such

experiences come into contact with their lives, one will be able to see the workings of the

rational faculty. Henceforth, the faculties of the rational being are exercised in order to bring

about logical explanations and comprehension so as to ascertain the purpose of such sense

experience. This in turn will lead them to utilise their rational faculty to understand such

experiences and thus, should lead one to understand manifestations of the cosmos. It is no

wonder that al-Māturῑdi‟s epistemology is two-prong, namely, the way to al-dῑn and the way

to cosmology. Whence, one will see that he had carefully and logically bound the relationship

between the senses and reason with Revelation to become the foundation of his epistemology.

Existence is of two kinds, an existence of the world of the sensibles7; ‘ālam al-

shahādah, in which its manifestations can be seen, heard, smelled, touched, tasted through

7
What is meant by the „world of the sensibles‟ is the secular, mundane world that are experienced through sense
perception.

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the faculties of the senses of the animate beings. The other existence is an existence of the

non-sensible or the invisible existence: ‘ālam al-ghayb, unseen, cannot be heard, smelled,

touched or tasted, for the existence of this realm is not responsive to these external faculties

that are the sources of the perceptible mundane existence. This world can only be known, if at

all, through intuition and spiritual illumination guided by the Revelation. Both existence

coexist in the same cosmology which seems to be more physical than metaphysical, and due

to the unknowable nature of the invisible world through the normal channel or cognition of

the rational being, it becomes a mysterious world which at times overlaps the world of the

sensibles and poses questions to the rational being.

As it is clear in this exposition, on the basis of the Maturidean epistemology we are

putting puts forward two types of human experiences which provides data from the two world

of existence: sensible experience and spiritual experience. What is the role of reason in this

dichotomy? For him, reason, or to use his term, naẓar or speculative thinking, plays an

essential role in helping the rational being to reach conclusions.

Both the physical and the non-physical world, combined, therefore play an important

role in the lives of the living being on earth. However, it is the physical world that seems to

be playing a greater role in influencing their way of life that has given rise to materialism.

The reason is simply because the first experience which these rational beings would

encounter is various physical existence that permeates throughout cosmology. The physique

of the cosmology overwhelms the other existence, hence, the rational being would either be

ignorant or forget the existence of the other world, because the non-physical entity of the

existence is alien to the rational being that are seemingly physical in nature. Henceforth, one

will find in al-Māturῑdi‟s epistemology the relationship between these two worlds are

5
connected by the role which the faculty of the senses plays. For his epistemology highlights

the importance of it as the foundation of the means that should lead the rational being to the

reality of existence or ḥaqā’iq al-’āshiyā’.

Allah

Allah is the One, Eternal Creator who Composes and Sustains the cosmos. The cosmology8

of the universe is the manifestation of both the physical and the invisible that can be

experienced by the sensible beings. The invisible force or forces that is apparent to the senses

of the rational being, is that which influence the formulations as well as the conditions of the

physical manifestation of the cosmos. The conditions of these physical manifestations are

experienced either directly through the senses of the sensibles, or indirectly through the

exercise of reason of the rational being. It is here that we find the functions of the senses and

the rational faculty works interchangeable and interdependently in the pursuance of the

understanding of the position of the Creator, the world and also that of rational being, and this

is the purpose of knowledge.

In establishing the purpose of knowledge, we will see that al-Māturῑdῑ places reason

to be the faculty that play the role of an arbitrator in the understanding of the realities of

existence. He had established that Allah is the Creator of all things, and that He is the sole

Composer of the universe, as such, the harmony and the uniformity that is inherent in the

existence of the universe are the pivots of life.9

8
Cosmology has been defined by Osman Bakar as that which “... deals with the whole reality of the cosmos.”
Tawḥῑd and Science: Essays of the History and Philosophy of Islamic Science, (Penang : Secretariat for Islamic
Philosophy and Science, 1991), 73.
9
Kitāb al-Tawḥῑd, xxvi.

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 Being the sole Creator and the Composer of the universe, it is logical to conclude that

He is the only One Sustainer in respect to the life of the rational being and the cosmos. If

there were to be more than one Composer, then it would mean that more than one system

would be governing the cosmos. If this is so, the cosmos will not be in harmony. This

understanding of the oneness in the creation of the universe is Tawhid.

In order to convey this message of Tawhid or the oneness of His existence to the

rational being, there must a medium whose nature is communicable with Allah and the

rational being. The coexistence of the two natures - the medium - would reflect the attestation

of the unseen Creator, at the same time its „physical‟ manifestation which will attest to the

created nature of the existence of the rational being. This medium must be a medium of

communication that will facilitate the understanding of Tawhid in a way that is intelligible to

the rational being. The language or the logical coherence which it carries must be able to be

acquired by the rational being either through the scriptures, sayings or practices that can be

found in the prophets or messengers whom Allah has chosen. According to al-Māturῑdῑ, this

link between the Creator and the created is found in the institution of prophethood whose

purpose is to affirm the oneness of Allah.10 Whereupon the knowledge of the finite nature of

the world can be conceived and explained.

The World

The world is a finite entity whose existence is the result of the creation of the One Eternal

Creator. It consists of substances that can be perceived by the senses and through speculative

thinking, its nature can be deduced to be temporal. Thus, it implies the dependent nature upon

of the world upon another existence greater than itself, in this case the Ultimate Existent.11

10
Kitāb al-Tawḥῑd, xxvi.
11
Kitāb al-Tawḥῑd, xx.

7
The creation and the temporality of the world and its constituents is the reality of existence

which al-Māturῑdῑ tries to prove, and that the purpose of their creation is to lead the rational

being to acknowledge the Ultimate Existent, whose Being permeates the entire existence of

the cosmos.

Al-Māturῑdῑ postulates that the world is created wherein it is an abode of both the

animate and inanimate objects. Their immutability is observable through the fact of

procreation and annihilation which makes up their being and becoming. 12 This existence can

be further broken down to substances, whereby their distinctive characters are ascertained by

the accidents which define them. These substances consists of contradictory natures whose

coming together could only be conceived as a result of another existence whose nature must

be the opposite of all that can be found in the perceptible world of the sensibles. The

divergent nature of substances are the elements such as life and death, young and old,

generation and corruption. These observations are made and confirmed by the testimony of

the tradition and the scientists, through the synthesis of the senses and reason. According to

al-Māturῑdῑ, if one follows the logic and the finitude of the substances, one will have no

excuse but to confirm that the world is transient.13

Substances in al-Māturῑdi‟s natural philosophy, are made up of accidents which

characterises each substance as it is in itself, which is finite. It is from this premise that he

arrives at the conclusion the world is created, because it is made up of transient substances

which completes its existence. If one can accept the nature of the components of the world to

be true, then he cannot see any reason as to why a different conclusion can be made of such

12
Mustafa Ceric, Roots of Synthetic Theology in Islām: A Study of the Theology of Abu Mansūr al-Māturῑdῑ (d.
333/944), (Kuala Lumpur : ISTAC, 1995). 110-111. Herewith cited as al-Māturῑdῑ.
13
Kitāb al-Tawḥῑd, xx.

8
premises.14 From these al-Māturῑdῑ affirms the creation of the world as well as its

temporality.

Human Beings

Human beings, the sensible-rational beings, whose existence is supported by the empirical

senses and reason, is able to perceive and understand the cosmology of the universe. Al-

Māturῑdῑ views human beings as beings whose lives will be fulfilled if and when they

conform to the prescribed morality that has been revealed by Allah.15 As such, this objective

can only be achieved if the rational being knows and understands the purpose of their

existence in conformity with that of the Ultimate Being. The rational being is also capable of

acquiring the knowledge of the true nature of things. As mentioned before, knowledge of al-

din can only be obtained if the means to it is obtained from al-sam and al-’’aql taken

together.

WORLDVIEW

Every human being has a worldview; a window to look at the outside world of their own

ontological being. It is naturally formed in their minds from the time humans were babies,

influenced by everything they experienced; the external factors, such as their family

upbringing, their surroundings, their schooling and education. This natural view of the world

that is unique to each human being is coherent though not formed in a systematic manner. It

is as a result of this coherent, natural worldviews that their personalities are formed.

Acikgenc says that a worldview is “an architectonic network of ideas, conceptions, beliefs

and aspirations in which all that make it up are organized in a coherent manner, but not

14
al-Māturῑdῑ, 126.
15
al-Māturῑdῑ. 205.

9
necessarily in a systematically interconnected network.”16 This means that a worldview is the

“framework within which our mind operates.”17 Hence, it is inconceivable to think that any

human being is absent of a worldview. This leads one to look for an answer what makes a

human being a rational being, because throughout this essay, the term rational being has been

used to denote the meaning of a thinking human being who uses reason, sense perception and

tradition to try and understand the teleological existence of cosmology and The Truth. The

term rational being must imply a being that has a systematic framework and way of thinking

that helps them to find the truth.

It is on this basis that Acikgenc explains in details as to how a scientific worldview or

a „transparent worldview‟ is formulated, and this scientific worldview depends on the rational

being‟s epistemology. He says the „transparent worldview‟ can be formed in two types of

societies, “… first, in an environment in which the dissemination of knowledge within the

society takes place non-scientifically; second, in a society where scientific knowledge

regulates the dissemination of knowledge….”18 In order to see the significance of al-

Māturῑdῑ‟s epistemology, the second situation is more fitting to be applied here, and can be

summed up in the table below:

16
Alparslan Acikgenc, Islamic Science: Towards a Definition (Kuala Lumpur : ISTAC, 1996) 14. Herewith
cited as Islamic Science.
17
Ibid, i.
18
Islamic Science, 18.

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 Natural Coherent but not
systematic

Worldview

Transparent Coherent and 3 levels Abstraction

systematic (‘ulamā’)
(Non- Scientific
and Scientific
environment)

Concretization
(Intellectuals)

Educational
Institutions &
Media
(Social level)

Table 1: Formation of Worldviews

From the table above, it can be seen that there are two types of worldviews; natural

and transparent. The transparent worldview that is coherent and systematic that leads to a

scientific worldview goes through three levels of dissemination of knowledge. The first level,

as can be seen there is the level of abstraction. The people responsible at the abstraction level

are the ‘ulamā’; this is the level where the ‘ulamā’ created system theories or philosophy or

kalām based on a constructive epistemology. The second level, the concretization level is

where the intellectuals emerged because they are the “illuminated personalities who develop

a transparent worldview within an environment of scientific activities.”19 These are the

people who could be educators, artists and architects are able to concretize the abstract ideas.

Meaning to say that they are able to translate the scientific, abstract ideas of the ‘ulamā’ in

tangible actions, but they themselves have not reached the level of the ‘ulamā’ because they

were not able to construct anything that is abstract and scientific. The third level of the

transparent worldview is the role which the educational institutions and media plays in
19
Ibid, 17.

11
disseminating the scientific ideas to the society.20 After having gone through the conceptual

framework of epistemology and worldview by Acikgenc, one is able to arrive to the

significance of al-Māturῑdῑ‟s epistemology, and that is to see that al-Māturῑdῑ‟s epistemology

has placed him to be at the first level of the formation of a scientific worldview because he

was able to introduce a scientific method of understanding the teleology of the universe.

THE SIGNIFICANCE OF AL-MĀTURῙDI’S EPISTEMOLOGY

Knowledge has been defined as a belief that has been justified.21 One can assume, that, before

a belief or a hypothesis becomes knowledge, that belief or hypothesis must have undergone a

process or validation or verification of some sort in order to prove that the belief is justified.

Once this belief is justified, it becomes knowledge. This is not an unfounded definition as one

can observe this very clearly in the scientific methodology. Before discoveries of science are

made, assumptions, a belief or hypothesis is tested. This is done in order to show that the

answer is conclusive; experiments and observations are made or created so as to verify the

findings. Only after the scientific methodology is applied and the assumptions, belief or

hypothesis were verified and proven to be conclusive and true, a new scientific discovery is

made. Thus, this new scientific discovery becomes a new body of knowledge. As a result of

this rigorous methodology of verifying, validating their findings that science or scientific

discoveries have been taken as the measure of a proven, justified belief system or

assumptions or hypothesis that becomes knowledge.

In Arabic, knowledge is known as al-ilm. For the non-scientific community, the usual

translation of al-‘ilm into English is „knowledge‟. However, in the expositions of the

20
This explanation is based on the books by Alparslan Acikgenc, Islamic Science: Towards a Definition (1996)
and Islamic Scientific Tradition in History (2014).
21
Jonathan Dancy and Ernest Sosa (eds), Blackwell Companion to Philosophy: A Companion to Epistemology,
(Oxford : Blackwell Publishers Ltd., 1993), 38.

12
mutakallimūn, al-‘ilm is used to denote the meaning of science, which means the knowledge

that has gone through various validation and verification process in order to justify a belief

system, so that it can be accepted to be true, i.e. knowledge.22 It is within this context that

one can see the significance of al-Māturῑdi‟s epistemology when he says there are three

sources, methods or means of al-‘ilm, he was implying a scientific explanation of the

meaning of life that is part and parcel of the din of Islam. This can be seen much more clearly

in al-Māturῑdi‟s epistemology when he uses the world al-ilm to refer to the knowledge or the

understanding of the reality of existence,23 and ma‘rifah is the word used by him to refer to

the knowledge of The Truth or al-Haqq.

This knowledge however, can only be considered to be correct if the means to reach it

are correct as well. Thus, how can one know with some degree of certainty that what one

knows is the truth, and at the same time how can one arrive at the truth, i.e. how can one

know by what means will one be assured of the validity of the truth known or acquired?

Further, what is the measure of truth, meaning to say that what is the guide that will help one

to seek the right thing and whence does know that the truth sought has been achieved and that

might lead one to ascertain the purpose of the creation of the universe and its constituents. It

is this, which shows the relationship of epistemology and cosmology.

Before we look at an overview of his epistemology, it is only logical for us to see his

scope of knowledge. For only once this is established, can we see the relevance of the

upcoming discussion, for one will be able to see the logic of his epistemology. Therefore, it

is only pertinent that the concept of al-din be discussed first in the context of his thought, for

22
A more thorough discussion on the definition of science and Islamic science can be found in the book by
Alparslan Acikgenc, Islamic Science: Towards a Definition (1996) and Islamic Scientific Tradition in History
(2014).
23
Ibid, 7.

13
it is the only logical link which one may connect when one looks at the title of his book Kitāb

al- Tawḥῑd.

Al-din is a way of life that is complete in itself.24 It does not need any other

philosophy nor religious creed to compliment. It. It is the most comprehensive system of life

that governs the spiritual, the physical, the sociological and the environmental factors that

make up the lives of the rational being and the cosmos. It is a system that is so

comprehensive and vast that its comprehensiveness cannot be comprehended within the

lifespan of the human race. Its very nature of existence appeals to the psyche of the rational

being in their pursuance of the wisdom mentioned above, either to satisfy their rational self,

or to satisfy their sensory self or to satisfy the spiritual self. Just as it contains the impetus for

rational and sensory investigations, it naturally contains the answers as well, and thus, gives

us the methodology as to how to obtain the answers of cosmology, or in the case of al-

Māturῑdῑ, he refers to is as the knowledge of the realities of things (al-ḥaqā’iq al-‘āshiyā’ ). It

can be deduced that al-din is the foundation of any knowledge, and that al-Māturῑdῑ had

proven this by presenting it as the premise which act as the platform unto which the

cosmology lies, and thus, it is only logical for him to formulate a methodology which is

conducive to rational being.

According to him, the origin or the root of al-din is the interconnected faculties of the

rational being, namely, al-Sam and al-’Aql.25 Furthermore, in connection to these, there are

three other ways or means that are further needed in order to sharpen the understanding of

cosmology or the true nature of things in the universe, and they are, the senses / sense

24
A more detailed discussion about al-din can be obtained in the monograph of Syed Naquib al-Attas, Islam:
The Concept of Religion and the Foundation of Ethics and Morality (Kuala Lumpur : Dewan Bahasa dan
Pustaka, 1992).
25
Abu Mansur Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn Mahmud al-Samarqandi al-Māturῑdῑ, Kitāb al-Tawḥῑd, ed.
Fathalla Kholeif, 2nd ed. (Beirut : Dar el-Machreq Editeurs Sarl, 1982). 4. Henceforth cited as Kitāb al-Tawḥῑd.

14
perception (al-‘Iyān), reports ands and testimony (al- al-Akhbār) and speculative thinking (al-

Naẓar).26 According to him, without these, the true nature of the reality of existence which

the rational being seeks to establish will not be attainable. The reason we could see above lies

in the premise which al-Māturῑdῑ placed on the importance of al-din as the foundation of the

lives of the rational being. After having established the scope of al-Māturῑdi‟s theory of

knowledge, follows that one should see his view on cosmology, this is to help one to see the

significance of his epistemology.

Sense Perception: The Window of Existence

Senses are faculties which the rational being and other animate beings have in common. It is

the optimum use of these faculties are indispensable to the survival of both species.

Whenever, or if ever one or more of the faculties of the senses are absent from the animate

being, one would say that that particular being is handicapped or deformed. The reason is due

to the imperfection of forms of their existence, as the perfection of the forms of the existence

of any animate being are always connected with the presence of these external faculties.

Each faculty is responsible for being receptive to external stimuli that are peculiar to

each kind of the faculty of the senses. These faculties of the senses are the faculties which aid

the animate being to retain the forms of the external perceptible world, and in order to make

sense of the existence encountered, the rational being has to resort to another faculty which is

internal in nature, either the reason or the heart.27 Each faculty works individually, when the

stimuli are conveyed to various faculties, the information relayed will be combined. This will

help to make sense of the random or different information relayed. The intellectual power of

the rational being will take over to play its part. Thus, the interpretation of the information of
26
Kitāb al-Tawḥῑd, 7.
27
Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas, The Nature of Man and the Psychology of the Human Soul: A Brief
Outline and a Framework for an Islamic Psychology and Epistemology (Kuala Lumpur : ISTAC, 1990) 9.

15
the raw materials will be turned into knowledge. In other words, it becomes the actualisation

of the significance of the physical manifestation of cosmology. Thereafter, the constituents of

cosmology are made intelligible to the rational mind so as to enable them to understand its

true nature and at the same time their perception of the manifestations of the external world

with be formed.

Perception is defined as an awareness or a realisation of something that materialises in

the mind of the rational being. It is formed when an apprehension of the manifestation of any

sort are acquired either through the senses or the mind in order to provide the cognition and

the understanding of the concerned object of knowledge to the rational being.28 Once a

perception of any sort is formed in the mind of the rational being, it will then become the

premise from which the rational being will start to use in their pursuance of the reality of

existence. However, as the perception is still raw, so to speak, it can only be used as the

starting point of an investigation, and the verification of the validity of such perception will

depend upon the process which will accompany it, this is to ensure that the perception

perceived will not be in error. This is important because hypothesis, philosophy, theories and

worldviews are the eventual results. Therefore, if the perception formed is wrong, then the

conclusions, namely the hypothesis, philosophy, theories and worldviews will also be wrong.

The consequence is thus, the reality of existence vis-à-vis the Ultimate Existent will be short

sighted. In other words, the actualisation of the physical and the non-physical manifestations

of existence will remain as potentiality, never to be fully understood.

28
Random House (ed) Webster’s Encyclopedia: Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language, (Avenel :
Gramercy Books, 1989).

16
Conclusion

In the pursuit of understanding and establishing the reality of existence of the world, the

mutakallimūn and the philosophers has relentlessly pursued a course of empirical and rational

methods, either interdependently or independently of one another respectively. The conflict

of ‘aql and naql in philosophy and sciences of the Quran and Hadith, sees a hand in marriage

of ‘aql and naql in kalām, and to be more precise in the epistemology of al-Māturῑdῑ.

At the time when the fuqahā’ and the muḥaddithūn were busy prioritising, justifying

and authenticating the reliability of knowledge found in various sources of the Shariah, such

as the Quran, sunnah, ijmā‘ and qiyās, al-Māturῑdῑ was preoccupied with the authentication of

the external and the internal processes of acquiring knowledge in kalām. In other words he

was constructing a scientific worldview of kalām by validating and verifying the sources of

knowledge that will enable the rational being to fully realise their potentials as rational

beings. Hence, Islamic epistemology of kalām ensued

The final objective of Islam is that the transcendental reality of existence is brought

into the picture of the cosmology of the rational being. In view of this, al-Māturῑdῑ formulates

his epistemology for the purpose of affirming as well as proving the conceivability of such

existence in empirically and rationally apprehensible viewpoint for the rational being to

achieve. It is due to such an objective that his thought may be classified to belong to the

realm of metaphysics and to some extent speculative philosophy. However, because of the

premise from which he works on that his thought is classified under kalām. It is on this basis

that al-Māturidῑ strives to establish in his epistemology and he demonstrates that it is

knowledge that will uproot the rational being from their ignorance. Nonetheless, for those

human beings who do not accept Tawhid as the measure of all things, their thought system

17
may not be an acceptable system of thought for the pursuit of truth of the rational being. The

rise of mechanical philosophy, materialism of the Scientific Revolution of the 17th century

and postmodernism of the 21st century illustrates this fact.

18
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