Interaction between Reason and Religion and Its Impact on Islamic Culture

The issues of reason and religion are among the most important human problems, preoccupying man’s thought for centuries. Reason here refers to the instrumental and planning reason, demonstrative reason and rational achievements. Religion refers to a set of doctrines that provides interaction between the world and the hereafter or between the terrestrial and celestial worlds in order to ensure guidance and felicity. Different viewpoints about the relationship between reason and religion have left their impacts on the Islamic culture. Culture refers to a set of beliefs, moralities and rituals. This paper advocates planning and moderate rationalism that plays an important role in realization of Islamic culture. Each approach, i.e. maximal rationalism, critical rationalism, fideism as well as the approach advocating contradiction between reason and religion produce their own kind of culture.