No conflict between reason and faith Reappraising Abu'l Fazl's rationality

<strong>Centre for Historical Studies School of Social Sciences </strong> a Lecture <strong>No conflict between reason and faith Reappraising Abu'l Fazl's rationality</strong> <strong>Harbans Mukhia</strong> Formerly Professor at the Centre for Historical Studies, JNU <strong>30th September 2015</strong> Reason vs Faith is a frequently constituted dichotomy derived from Post-Enlightenment context and extrapolated into other contexts over time and space. Abu'l Fazl is invested with one such dichotomy, grandly upholding the majesty of reason (mā'qūlāt) over received faith (taqlīd), but falls short of going the whole distance towards 'scientific rationality'. This is a Euro-centric perspective with a singular view of rationality. Abu'l Fazl's rationality had little in common with it; it was rooted in a new dichotomy he was constituting, one between universal religiosity and denominational religions.Sulh-i kul (Absolute peace) in the midst of religious strife was his rationality. It is suggested that the main inspiration for this dichotomy came from the saint-poet Kabir, even as Abu'l Fazl was greatly influenced by the Sufi doctrines 'Illumination' of the Eastern School and wahdat al-wujud of the great Ibn al-Arabi. It is this rationality facing the gravest threat today in India and around the globe.