Ebū’l-Muʿīn en-Nesefī’de İmanın İki Yönü ve İnsanın Özgür İradesiyle İlişkisi: Felsefi Bir Analiz

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between knowledge (ʿilm or maʿrifa) and faith (īmān), or intellect (ʿaql) and religious assent (taṣdīq), in the thought of Abū al-Muʿīn al-Nasafī (d. 508-1115), the most distinguished theologian after the founding father of the Māturīdī school. Regrettably, the works of al-Nasafī and his school have not received the recognition they deserve in academic circles of the English-speaking world. This study aims to fill this gap and contribute to the studies already conducted in Turkish academia. The study distinguishes itself from other works in Turkish scholarship by exploring the philosophical reasoning behind the moral praiseworthiness of the act of faith in the Māturīdī tradition, as represented by al-Nasafī. To this end, the initial focus of this article involves conducting research on the essence of faith using al-Nasafī’s corpus. It then explores the relationship established by al-Nasafī between knowledge and faith, or intellect and religious assent. This paper also examines the impact of God’s intervention on human free will in the act of faith and whether this act should be viewed as a human or divine act. The findings of this study show that, according to al-Nasafī, the truth or legitimacy of a religious belief can only be established through knowledge or evidence (dalīl). Imitating the beliefs of forefathers (taqlīd), relying on intuition (ilhām), or trusting in the goodness of those beliefs cannot be a means of acquiring true knowledge of religions. Nevertheless, faith cannot be reduced to knowledge. Instead, faith is a special assent of the heart that is grounded in knowledge. With this voluntary assent, a person adopts the Islamic faith and its values as the most fundamental guiding principle of their life. The assent that al-Nasafī deems worthy of being called faith is a special kind of assent of this kind.