Oliver Leaman’s View of the Conflict Between Revelation and Philosophy

The problem of the relationship between revelation and philosophy or the conflict between reason and faith is one of the most famous and challenging discussions in the history of Islamic philosophy. In fact, it has occupied the minds of prominent Islamic thinkers, both Shi‘ite and Sunnite, since the advent of Islam and, following this, has been discussed by Orientalists in the field of Islamic studies as well. Oliver Leaman, the Orientalist, Qur’ān researcher, and Western interpreter of Islamic philosophy, has dealt with the problem of the relationship between the Qur’ān and philosophy. While adopting a more moderate standpoint in comparison to many other Orientalists, and while acknowledging the consistency of revelation with philosophy, he believes that Qur’anic theorems and teachings have influenced the development of Islamic philosophy. Moreover, he has propounded a number of noteworthy points in his analysis of the theory of conflict of reason with revelation and evaluation of Islamic philosophers in this regard. Following a descriptive-critical method, this paper clarifies and criticizes Leaman’s view of this theory and demonstrates that, firstly, the conflict exists only between the human intellectual philosophical and Qur’anic perception of this problem, and the hypothesis of the conflict between revelation and philosophy among many Orient ologists stems from comparing Islam and the Holy Qur’ān with Christianity and the Holy Book. Secondly, the author states that, in contrast to Leaman’s claim, the solution provided by Islamic philosophers, including Ibn Rushd, does not necessitate undermining the significance of the Qur’ān and revelation and accusing Muslim philosophers of denying God’s knowledge of particulars and corporeal resurrection and following Aristotle regarding his theory of the soul, which originates in a misunderstanding of Islamic philosophers’ views of this conflict by opponents of philosophy in the Islamic world or Orientalists.