Jewish Theology’s Interaction with Islamic Theology (With Emphasis on the Role of Reason in Religion)

One of the Jewish intellectual movements in the Middle Ages is the theological movement. The movement was spread to the east and to some extent to the west of the Muslim world between the ninth and twelfth centuries AD. Jewish theologians, including rabbis and Karaites, influenced by the Islamic theology, especially the Mutazili theology, seek to consolidate its doctrines and beliefs. Before them, Philo of Alexandria and the church fathers had raised many theological issues, but medieval Jewish thinkers were familiar with the issues by the Muslims. Jewish thinkers discussed their common concerns with Muslims as they were following their own issues. In general, there are two trends within the movement: first, Rabbis’ trend that is their full belief in the authority of tradition. It is different from theology of the Bible and the Rabbis’ one before the ninth century; second, Karaites’ trend that they basically do not believe in the authority of tradition. The present article briefly discusses how Jewish theologians interact with Muslim theologians, only in terms of their emphasis on the role and function of reason in justification and explanation of the doctrines and religious beliefs.