An Evaluation of Allameh Majlesi’s Epistemological and Methodological Critiques of Islamic Philosophy: An Examination of Four Fundamental Axes

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Assistant Professor, Department of Islamic Studies, University of Tabriz, Faculty of Theology and Islamic Sciences, Tabriz, Iran

10.22080/jepr.2026.30942.1317

Abstract

This study aims to provide a critical analysis of Allameh Mohammad Baqer Majlesi’s views on Islamic philosophy. The research data consist of primary sources such as Bihār al-Anwār, the treatises of Allameh Majlesi, and the philosophical texts of Muslim philosophers, including the works of Ibn Sīnā (Avicenna), Suhrawardī, and Mullā Ṣadrā, as well as secondary sources by contemporary scholars in Islamic philosophy, the history of science, and Shiʿi theology. Data collection was based on a systematic review of texts and the extraction of Majlesi’s critical axes, while data analysis was conducted through comparative analysis and critical reasoning.

The findings indicate that the main axes of Majlesi’s critique include the non-revelatory origins of philosophy, the claim of the independence of reason from revelation, the method of philosophical interpretation (taʾwīl), and the disagreements among philosophical schools. Comparative analysis shows that Islamic philosophers regarded reason not as opposed to revelation but as complementary to it, and employed philosophical interpretation within the framework of rational and textual principles in order to achieve a deeper understanding of religion. Examining Majlesi’s views within the social and intellectual context of the Safavid era also reveals his effort to safeguard the authority of revelation and to prevent deviations in religious understanding. This study demonstrates that although Allameh Majlesi’s critiques are not fully developed from the standpoint of philosophical methodology, they nevertheless play an important role in preserving the foundations of religious epistemology and in shaping the dialogue between reason and revelation within the Islamic tradition.

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