They said: The relevant evidence is his statement: “Through it Allah is known and worshipped.”

These words are well known as a saying of Mu'ādh ibn Jabal, may Allah be pleased with him, and have been transmitted from him through well-known chains of transmission. They are good words, but their transmission as a saying of the Prophet is open to question.

They state that Allah is known and worshipped through knowledge, not merely through the innate faculty of reason. This is correct, and no one who understands what he is saying disputes it. Those who say that knowledge of Allah is attained through reason mean that it is attained through rational knowledge—that is, knowledge whose truth can be ascertained through rational inquiry. They do not say that reason itself—the innate faculty and its necessary concomitants—necessarily brings about knowledge of Allah and worship of Him.

Many people have disputed which is nobler: what is designated by knowledge or what is designated by reason. Most of these disputes are merely verbal. Reason may mean the innate faculty, knowledge acquired through that faculty, or acting upon knowledge. When it means knowledge, the two belong to the same category.

Yet knowledge may mean the words transmitted from the infallible Prophet. Such words have indeed been established as knowledge, as Allah says:

“Whoever disputes with you concerning it after knowledge has come to you…”

There are other similar verses. Reason, meanwhile, may mean the innate faculty. In that case, the two are distinct. There is no doubt that knowledge, understood in this sense, is nobler than reason, for knowledge here means the speech of Allah Most High, and Allah’s speech is nobler than the innate faculty shared by Muslims and disbelievers.

Moreover, knowledge acquired through hearing may itself be called reason, as has been said: