Dar Ta'arud al-Aql wa al-Naql
- Author died
- 728 AH
- Editions
- Imam Muhammad ibn Saud Islamic University
Dar Ta'arud al-Aql wa al-Naql (Averting the Conflict between Reason and Revelation) is an extensive theological and philosophical treatise by the Hanbali scholar Ibn Taymiyya (661–728 AH / 1263–1328 CE) dedicated to refuting the claim that rational intellect and divine scripture inherently contradict one another .
Title and Composition
The book is also known by several variant titles, including Bayan Muwafaqat Sarih al-Ma'qul li-Sahih al-Manqul ("Clarifying the Concordance of Sound Reason with Authentic Revelation"), Al-Aql wa al-Naql ("Reason and Revelation"), and Qistas al-Insaf wa al-Adl fi Radd Ta'arud al-Aql wa al-Naql ("The Balance of Equity and Justice in Refuting the Conflict of Reason and Revelation") . Ibn Taymiyya composed the work after returning from Egypt to Damascus, with modern research dating its composition between 712 and 718 AH, following his earlier treatise Naqd Asas al-Taqdis .
The work was prompted by an inquiry concerning the "universal canon" (al-qanun al-kulli) formulated by speculative theologians (such as Fakhr al-Din al-Razi, Abu Hamid al-Ghazali, al-Juwayni, and Abu Bakr ibn al-Arabi) . This theological rule posited that whenever rational proofs and textual revelation appear to conflict, rational proofs must be given definitive precedence—arguing that reason is the foundation of accepting revelation, and that scripture must subsequently be allegorically reinterpreted (ta'wil) or its meaning consigned entirely to God (tafwid) .
Structure and Method
Ibn Taymiyya organizes his refutation around forty-four primary facets (awjuh), embedding within them extensive subordinate debates and analyses . Several of these individual facets span broad treatises in their own right, such as the nineteenth and forty-third facets . Methodologically, Ibn Taymiyya quotes his opponents verbatim from their written works, analyzing their arguments across metaphysics, natural philosophy, and logic, while highlighting their internal inconsistencies and reciprocal disagreements .
The central premise established throughout the work is that sound, explicit reason (al-aql al-sarih) never opposes authentic revelation (al-naql al-sahih) . Ibn Taymiyya maintains that divine revelation conveys matters that may bewilder human minds (ma taharu fihi al-uqul), but never matters that intellects recognize as logically impossible (ma tuhiluhu al-uqul) . Where a discrepancy seems to exist, it is attributable either to flawed reasoning or to an unauthentic textual transmission . To dismantle the theologians' claim that prioritizing revelation invalidates reason, he offers the analogy of an ordinary guide directing a petitioner to an authoritative jurist (mufti): once the guide directs the petitioner to the expert, the mufti's verdict takes precedence over the guide's personal views, without invalidating the initial guidance that led to the mufti .
Reception, Responses, and Editions
His student Ibn Abd al-Hadi described the work as a voluminous treatise occupying four large manuscript volumes or more . During Ibn Taymiyya's lifetime, Kamal al-Din ibn al-Shuraysi composed objections against the work, prompting Ibn Taymiyya to write a dedicated response of roughly one volume .
In modern times, Dr. al-Julaynid produced a one-volume abridgment of the work comprising ten chapters (290 pages) . The complete work was critically edited by Dr. Muhammad Rashad Salim and published in ten volumes by Imam Mohammad Ibn Saud Islamic University (second edition, 1411 AH / 1991 CE) .
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