Rationality of Faith in  Allamah Tabataba i s Philosophy

Faith and the quality of its relationship with the problem of rationality has always been one of the central problems attracting the attention of philosophers and researchers working in the field of the philosophy of religion. This has resulted in the development of some of the most important schools of philosophy and theology in the West and in the Islamic world. In this study, the researchers have tried to explain the place and role of the intellect in the system of religious beliefs based on the ideas of ‘Allamah Tabataba’i through a correct analysis and perception of the truth of faith and description of its major components and elements. ‘Allamah Tabataba’i believed that knowledge plays a fundamental role in the realm of faith and considered it to be the prerequisite for faith. Therefore, in order to explain the relationship between the intellect and faith, he argued that the intellect precedes faith. Moreover, owing to faith’s epistemological nature, he considered it to be one of the important achievements of the intellect. At the same time, by avoiding any extreme measure in this regard, he granted a supreme station to the intellect in the domain of faith and religious believes. He even introduced the truth of definite rational judgments as the basis for the truth of the religion. On the other hand, given the influence of faith over the human intellect and free will, ‘Allamah maintained that the believers can develop a deeper and more extensive perception of religious truths in the light of a faith-oriented life. Of course, he was never heedless of the perceptive limitations of the intellect in certain epistemological fields of religion and referred to them in some of his works, particularly in al-Mizan.