An Study on the Role of Reason in the Era of Traditionalism

Regarding the evolution of Islamic Rational Interpretation (Osûl) through out the history, reason as the principal issue of this science had some serious challenges. One may ask what is the situation of reason in the procedure leading to jurisprudential opinions. This is an ancient question on which from the primary centuries of the genesis of Islamic theology and jurisprudence there were several discussions. Some Islamic sects seek the roots of their differences in the different applications of reason. However, the contrast of two major approaches in this issue may be found in sciences such as interpretation, theology, jurisprudence and Osûl. In the determination of the position of rationality, three following approaches may be detected: 1. reason is the foundation of Shariat.2. reason is the key to Shariat.3. reason is the illustration and light of Shariat. In this essay, we tried to study this approach with a historical perspective on the situation of rationality in the era of traditionalism.