The Potentials and Limitations of Professor Javadi Amoli's Viewpoint on the Position of Reason and Naql

Professor Javadi Amoli is a contemporary thinker who has presented one of the most refined and coherent systems of religious epistemology. In his view, religion is not confined merely to the enclosure of naql (Quranic verses and narrations), nor are rational achievements considered purely human and unrelated to religion. Instead, Professor Javadi Amoli posits a theory that situates reason alongside naql, not in opposition to religion. According to his theory, if authentic naql is "what God has sent down" (mā anzalahu Allāh), then demonstrative reason is "what God has inspired" (mā alhamahu Allāh), and both are sources of religious knowledge. This article, written using an analytical and library-based methodology, explains the presuppositions and arguments of Javadi Amoli while examining his intellectual system regarding the position of reason and naql from two perspectives: one that identifies the potentials and strengths of his thoughts, and another that considers their limitations and weaknesses. In summary, the notions that the "reality of revelation" can never be fully captured by either rational or traditional scholars, and that various types and meanings of reason are recognized, are considered among the potentials of his thought. However, his encyclopedic expectation of naql is identified as a limitation of his intellectual framework.