Faith and Reason: A Comparative Study of Al-Ghazali and Adi Shankaracharya

Abstract

In order to understand how two different religious traditions—Islamic Kalam and Advaita Vedānta—address the relationship between rational inquiry, spiritual insight, and the achievement of ultimate knowledge, this paper compares faith and reason in the philosophical frameworks of Al Ghazali and Adi Shankaracharya. By contrasting Shankara’s non-dual epistemology and the pramāṇic framework of valid cognition with Ghazali’s critique of philosophy and his emphasis on divine illumination, I contend that both thinkers acknowledge the limitations of unassisted reason while differing in the metaphysical and soteriological contexts that shape their respective epistemologies. Shankara presents reason as a way to eliminate empirical illusion, leading to direct awareness of Brahman, but Ghazali shows that reason is a preparatory tool subservient to revelation. The research delves deeper into the applicability of their ideas today, emphasizing how combining faith and reason provides a framework for moral, intellectual, and spiritual investigation in complex and varied cultures. Through this comparative study, I argue that religion and reason serve as mutually reinforcing aspects of human understanding that direct both existential and intellectual endeavours rather than as conflicting spheres. This study highlights the continuing importance of classical insights in negotiating contemporary issues of ethics, knowledge, and spiritual coherence and adds to ongoing conversations in comparative philosophy, religious epistemology, and interdisciplinary studies of consciousness.