A Critique of the Views of Philosophers and Historians of Religion from the Perspective of Islamic Theology

Abstract

This study presents an extensive doctrinal and critical examination of the most prominent philosophical theses and anthropological-historical approaches that have challenged the fixed tenets of Islamic creed, all from the perspective of Sunni kalām (Islamic scholastic theology), which harmonizes sound reason with authentic revelation. The research begins with a foundational introduction to the nature and significance of kalām in safeguarding religious principles. It then proceeds to deconstruct major philosophical claims such as the eternity of the world, necessary causal determination, emanationist hierarchy (al-fayḍ), denial of bodily resurrection, negation or suspension of divine attributes, and the restriction of God’s knowledge to universals. Drawing upon the theologians’ proofs – the argument from the impossibility of infinite regress (burhān al-taṭbīq), the argument from temporality (burhān al-ḥudūth), and the argument from contingency (burhān al-imkān) – the study exposes the fallacy of analogizing the Creator to created beings. The research further critiques evolutionary and anthropological theories of religion (Comte, Tylor, Spencer), secular- reductionist approaches (Durkheim, Freud, Marx), as well as relativistic and historicist hermeneutics (Soroush, Abu Zayd, Arkoun) and religious pluralism (John Hick). It defends the integrity of the Qur’anic text and Prophetic Sunnah against allegations of borrowing from myths or Israelite traditions, and refutes orientalist doubts (Goldziher, Lüling) by demonstrating the unparalleled oral and written tawātur (mass transmission) that characterizes Islamic revelation, alongside the unique critical methodology of ḥadīth sciences and canonical readings. The study concludes that a renewed kalām remains the ultimate stronghold for safeguarding creed, refuting materialistic and reductionist fallacies, and proving that Islam is the final revelation with a divinely preserved text, uninterrupted transmission, and a comprehensive theology that integrates reason and spirit, this world and the Hereafter.