The Methods of Religious Knowledge and the Relations between Them in the Eyes of Allamah Tabatabai

Religious knowledge includes the findings which are gained scientific understanding and study of religious sources through different ways. Religious scholars offer different ways for achieving this goal. As a religious scholar Allamah Tabatabai, who concentrates his efforts on this field adopts certain principles, offers three different ways for gaining a true and proper understanding of religion. Using a descriptive – analytical method, the paper investigates Allamah's methods of acquiring religious knowledge and seeks to demonstrate the relations between them. In his opinion, religious ritual, intellect and self-refinement are three different ways of acquiring religious knowledge, each of which has its own premises and requisites, is used independently and cannot be merged with each other ways. But, the result of religious with each of the three ways will be the same and the differences between the methods cause no difference.