REASON AND REVELATION IN ABU MANSUR AL MATURIDI’S THEOLOGY AND THE METHODOLOGICAL FOUNDATIONS OF CREEDAL KNOWLEDGE
Keywords:
Al-Maturidi; aqida; reason; revelation; testimony; rational reflection; Kitab al-Tawhid; Transoxiana; theological method.Abstract
This article examines how reason and transmitted knowledge cooperate in Abu Mansur al-Maturidi’s theology. It combines close reading of an accessible Arabic extract from Kitab al-Tawhid with a selective review of Turkish and English scholarship. The analysis distinguishes the origin of information, the justification of its credibility, and the scope of the conclusion drawn from it. The results show that perception, reports, and reflection have distinguishable functions while frequently depending on one another in actual argument. Reason participates in assessing transmission, and transmission supplies information that an individual cannot obtain by direct observation. These findings support a proposed procedure for examining creedal claims through source identification, authentication, contextual interpretation, and evaluation of inference. International examples illustrate textual scholarship, bilingual publication, philosophical reconstruction, and university teaching rather than national educational systems. The article also develops an untested teaching proposal for advanced aqida study. Its contribution is a transparent analytical framework that separates historical evidence from contemporary application; it does not claim new manuscript discoveries or measured educational outcomes.
References
1. Al-Maturidi, Abu Mansur. Kitab al-Tawhid. Edited by Bekir Topaloğlu and Muhammed Aruçi. Arabic extract, printed pp. 69–76, hosted by Madrasa Discourses, University of Notre Dame. Edition date not displayed in the extract. https://madrasadiscourses.nd.edu/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/M2_Maturidi.pdf
2. Esen, Muammer. “Matûridî’nin Bilgikuramı ve Bu Bağlamda Onun Alem, Allah ve Kader Konusundaki Görüşlerinin Kısa Bir Tahlili.” Ankara Üniversitesi İlahiyat Fakültesi Dergisi 49(2) (2008): 45–56. https://doi.org/10.1501/Ilhfak_0000000968
3. Özen, Şükrü. “Mâtürîdî.” TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, vol. 28, 146–151. Ankara, 2003. https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/maturidi#1
4. Topaloğlu, Bekir. “Mâtürîdî: Kelâma Dair Görüşleri.” TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, vol. 28, 151–157. Ankara, 2003. https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/maturidi#2-kelama-dair-gorusleri
5. Topaloğlu, Bekir. “Kitâbü’t-Tevhîd.” TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, vol. 26, 117–119. Ankara, 2002. https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/kitabut-tevhid--maturidi
6. Demir, Osman Nuri. “İmam Mâtürîdî’de Akıl, İnsanî Doğa (Tab‘) ve Fıtrat.” Diyanet İlmi Dergi 56(1) (2020): 171–204. https://dergipark.org.tr/en/pub/did/article/658349
7. Rudolph, Ulrich. Al-Māturīdī and the Development of Sunnī Theology in Samarqand. Translated by Rodrigo Adem. Leiden and Boston: Brill, 2015. Selected discussion: pp. 231–233. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004261846
8. Harvey, Ramon. Transcendent God, Rational World: A Māturīdī Theology. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2021. Public introduction consulted, especially pp. 5–7. https://doi.org/10.1515/9781474451666
9. Demiri, Lejla, Philip Dorroll, and Dale J. Correa, eds. Māturīdī Theology: A Bilingual Reader. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2022. Publisher description and contents consulted. https://doi.org/10.1628/978-3-16-161286-2
10. University of Notre Dame, Madrasa Discourses. “1.2.2 Māturīdī, Kitāb al-Tawḥīd.” Course material, n.d. https://madrasadiscourses.nd.edu/module_attachments/1-2-2-maturidi-kitab-al-tawḥid/
11. Saygı, Muhammet. “Faith and Reason: A Comparative Analysis of Abū l-Muʿīn al-Nasafī and Thomas Aquinas on Intellect, Assent, and Free Will.” Ilahiyat Studies 14(2) (2023): 469–506. Published abstract consulted. https://doi.org/10.12730/is.1317582
12. Topaloğlu, Bekir. “Te’vîlâtü’l-Kur’ân.” TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, vol. 41, 32–33. Istanbul, 2012. https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/tevilatul-kuran
13. Cambridge Muslim College. “New publication: A scholarly translation of Abu Mansur al-Maturidi’s Kitab al-tawhid.” May 29, 2025. Institutional publication announcement. https://www.cambridgemuslimcollege.ac.uk/new-publication-a-scholarly-translation-of-abu-mansur-al-maturidis-kitab-al-tawhid/
Online materials accessed 11 October 2026. Arabic diacritics are retained in bibliographic titles where supplied by the publication; simplified transliteration is used consistently in the main text.
