Rationality of Faith

There is an argument for rationality of belief in God and the Day of Judgment in some Islamic traditions which says: Given the possibility that God actually does exist and assuming the infinite gain or loss associated with belief in God or with unbelief, a rational person should live as though God exists and seek to believe in God. If God does not actually exist, such a person will have only a finite loss. This kind of argument did not appeal to Muslim theologians. However, there is an instantiation of this argument in Christianity which is known as Pascal's wager. According to some studies this argument has been transmitted from the writings of al-Ghazali to Christian culture. After reporting and analyzing the relevant hadiths, the present paper makes an analysis of the Christian version and reconsiders the drawbacks of this argument as well as its strength. The major drawbacks attributed to this argument are because of ignorance of its nature and function. Consequently, it seems that this argument has its effectiveness.