Abstract

The article examines the philosophical and epistemological legacy of Sa‘d al-Din al-Taftazani, an outstanding Muslim thinker, scholar, and theologian who lived in the fourteenth centurie. The main objective of the study is to provide a philosophical analysis of the relationship between rationality and religious cognition in the works of the thinker, the role of reason in the process of cognition, and the methods of rationally substantiating religious knowledge. The article focuses on the historical and cultural environment in which al-Taftazani lived, as well as on the intellectual traditions that influenced the formation of his scholarly views. Particular attention is given to the relationship between reason and revelation, rational argumentation and religious faith within the traditions of Islamic philosophy and kalam. The importance that the thinker attached to logic, the theory of demonstration, and the rational analysis of concepts is examined as one of the key aspects of his epistemological thought. The study analyzes al-Taftazani’s views on cognition, truth, proof, reason, and religious knowledge as presented in his works, particularly Sharh al-‘Aqa’id, al-Talwih, al-Mutawwal, and other writings. It is demonstrated that, in the thinker’s conception, rational cognition does not serve as a means of rejecting religious truth; rather, it functions as an important method for interpreting, substantiating, and systematizing it. Furthermore, the article examines the influence of al-Taftazani’s rational method on the development of Islamic theological thought and his place within the subsequent intellectual tradition. By exploring the interrelationship between reason and religious cognition, the study reveals the distinctive features of the thinker’s philosophical and epistemological position. The legacy of Sa‘d al-Din al-Taftazani is regarded as an important theoretical foundation for the study of rationality and religious cognition within the fields of contemporary philosophy, Islamic studies, and the philosophy of religion. The findings of the study contribute to a deeper understanding of the specific features of rational cognition in medieval Islamic thought, the role of reason in the formation of religious knowledge, and the interrelationship between philosophical reasoning and theological cognition.

Keywords: Sa‘d al-Din al-Taftazani, rationality, religious cognition, epistemology, philosophy, reason, religious knowledge.