حسن مجیدی

The present article seeks to examine the dimensions and reflection of anti-rationalism in the opinions of various Salafi thinkers and movements, mainly anti-rationalists. It does not deny the existence of some Salafis who are not anti-rationalists but do not independently accept the authority of reason, but this article does not address them. The question of the article is: What is the place of anti-rationalism among thinkers of different periods of Salafi thought and what are the manifestations and consequences of anti-rationalism in the opinions and positions of Salafis? The method used in this research is documentary. The findings of the article show that Salafism, with its various approaches in the foundations and components of its thought and strategy, is opposed to reason and rationality. This characteristic, while denying the capacity for civilization and state-building in the face of modernity and even other rationalist religious movements, is unable to stand and is in conflict with the principles and foundations of authentic Islam, which has a great capacity for connection with reason and wisdom. The trajectory of anti-rationalism shows that to the extent that this line of thought increases its opposition to reason and emphasizes superficiality and stratification, it insists on a more jihadist and takfiri policy, and the extent to which the thinkers of this thought movement use othering, violence, and extremism is increasing.

One of the rules and principles that has long been considered a necessity of human society in the narrations of the Prophet of Islam (PBUH) and the Shiite Imams (AS) and consequently in jurisprudence, is maintaining the system. From the beginning of Islam until now, Muslim leaders and Islamic thinkers have ruled on the prohibition of what causes disruption of the system, and in return, they have considered maintaining the system obligatory, and consequently, have considered what is necessary for maintaining the system obligatory. This ruling has become so widespread among jurists and other Muslim thinkers that it has become a rule; Of course, it is clear that this issue is not one of the founding principles and rules of Islam, but since the most important document of it is reason, in every system and society everyone has been and is seeking to preserve the system of their society, and perhaps it can be said that this need has been felt since the very beginning of human society. In this case, according to the view presented by Imam Khomeini (RA), the obligation to preserve the Islamic system is one of the primary rules and has such a strong interest that it takes precedence over other religious rules. Therefore, if there is a conflict between the interests of the Islamic system and other interests - even if none of the secondary titles exist - the interests of the system take precedence and the other ruling is temporarily suspended. The ruling that the jurist issues in this case is a governmental ruling and is formed based on the interests of the Islamic society - the interests of Islam and Muslims.

Abū Naṣr Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad Al Farabi is the founder of Islamic philosophy and the greatest philosopher of the Islamic world. Though, among Islamic thinkers, Farabi should be considered as a group of thinkers seeking harmony between reason and religion, but with a description of the earthly divine wisdom of man, inspired by the souls of the grace of the Plotinus, the intellect transcends the intellect beyond the imagination, and compares it with the religious version of the divine intellect and puts it to a higher rank than the creed. The study of political rationality in the sense of understanding the type of role and the flow of reason in the pillars of the political system with this Aristotelian philosopher shows that the starting point of his theory of reason is Aristotle’s book “On the Soul”; but the idealist Farabi is in favor of a unified system in utopia. Using the use of Islam and Platonic and Neoplatonic philosophy, he describes the characteristics of a desirable society, a higher classification of society and the problems of the utopian system, Everywhere reason  rules  over other things, a rationale that compared with faith and religion(shariah) has some privilages. Farabi regards happiness as the ultimate goal of the political community and emphasizes the importance of intellect in individual and political ethics. The main question of the article is what is the role of reason in al-Farabi’s philosophical theorem, and how does Farabi make a relation between reason and religion in his political theory? The findings of the article show that reason and rationality play a pivotal role in theoretical philosophy of al-Farabi, being pivotal, descending, ultimate, and along with the revelation and even beyond it in Farabi’s political thought, and religion has a secondary role. Farabi’s approach in this way is philosophical.