THE ROLE OF REASON AND RATIONAL SCIENCES IN THE UNDERSTANDING OF RELIGION ACCORDING TO FAKHR AL-DIN AL-RAZI

With the effects of modern ages, the importance and functions attributed to reason have started to challenge the limits in terms of the structures that form different aspects of life. Similarly, the success reached in technology and the tendency to use it for relatively ideological concerns, have had destructive effects on the religious perceptions and evaluations. Therefore, there has occurred a risk of development of autonomous areas and sectional worldviews, each of which constructs a different pole, that are independent from and irrelevant to each other. The data obtained, especially, in the last century, the evaluations on them, and some slight scientific developments in Islamic world, made it necessary to reconsider the place of rational sciences and reason in the understanding of religion. Undoubtedly, during this process, it is useful to give a comprehensive background on this issue. Thus, in this article, views of Fakhr al-Din al-Razi on the roles of reason and rational sciences in the understanding of religion will be discussed and it will be tried to offer a panorama of them.