Rational Obligation in The Hanafī-Māturīdī School of Kalām

Abstract

In Islamic thought, the evaluation of the subject of proposal by different sects on the axis of revelation and reason is an activity aimed at finding solutions to the problems related to the source of the divine responsibility of independent human existence. Does human being, due to his creation, have the opportunity and power to know, comprehend and fulfill this responsibility on his own, without divine help and guidance? Or does human responsibility turn into obligation through divine notifications, and is the human being held accountable after this stage? The concept of taklīf was shaped within the framework of the value theories of the theological schools. In this context, there has been a simultaneous discussion of the ontological status of value in ethics and the sources of human knowledge of this value, and these two themes have rarely been clearly distinguished. Three different attitudes have developed in relation to these two issues. According to the first, values have an objective existence and can be known by independent human reason or revelation, or both. According to the latter, values are essentially shaped by God's commands and are ultimately known only by revelation, and reason has a secondary position to revelation. According to the third, values are objective and can be fully known by the independent intellect of those who have knowledge. In contrast to the Mu'tazilites, who stand out with their rationalist attitude towards the knowledge of good and evil in things and actions, Ash'arites are positioned with an attitude that prioritises revelation. According to the Hanafī-Māturīdī school of theology, which endeavours to reconcile revelation and reason in the middle of these two, reason can act on its own up to a certain point without divine help. In the Hanafī-Māturīdī school of theology, the theology of value constitutes a common area where reason and revelation act together. While reason knows the good and evil in things and actions in general te