[Ibn Abī Mūsā’s Discussion in His Commentary on al-Irshād]

Those who say that knowledge is acquired without reason explain their words in a sound sense. An example is what al-Sharīf Abū ‘Alī ibn Abī Mūsā mentioned in his commentary on al-Irshād, his work on jurisprudence, when explaining the brief creed he had included at the beginning of al-Irshād.

After discussing the oneness of Allah, he said:

“The next question is whether knowledge is attained through reason or through revelation.”

He said:

“The position we adopt is that of our imam: knowledge that the Creator is Allah can be attained only through revelation.”

He said:

“Our scholars have differed on this, taking two approaches. A minority of them said that knowledge is attained through reason, while agreeing with us that it cannot be attained through reason alone before revelation concerning it has come.”

He said:

“The evidence that it is attained through revelation, and that reason has no role in it before revelation concerning it has come, is that reason is created, just like the five senses: sight, hearing, smell, touch, and taste. Moreover, created beings differ in the share of reason allotted to them. Everyone knows this necessarily. Since this is so, a person cannot perceive scents through touch, nor can someone perceive sounds through smell.”

He said:

“In short, Allah has not made touch a means of perceiving scents, nor smell a means of perceiving sounds. Rather, He has made each a means of perceiving what is specifically assigned to it. Nevertheless, we consider it possible for Him to do so, placing knowledge in the hand, speech in the foot, and sight in the tongue, for substances are of a kind