The Existence of al-Aql in Quran and Its Articulation with the Text of Revelation in Islamic Law Interpretation

Abstract

Humans are gifted with al-aql thus, they are special for Allah SWT as they have ability to think. Ironically, in the Islamic thinking discussion, al-aql and text of revelation are faced vis a vis. It is, as if using al-aql in text interpretation is considered religious crimes. The authors reveal the existence of al-aql in Quran and trace the interrelation with text of revelation in creating the prescription of Islamic law according to sharia purposes. This article’s outputs are: first, al-aql existence with activity of reason is urgent. The proof is, the Quran highly appreciates it. No other samawi books appreciate al-aql as Quran does. Those dissipating al-aql will be tormented in hell. Second, the articulation of text of revelation and the activity of reason in interpreting Islamic law find its momentum when the Quran text composition shows imbalanced numbers, dominated by various zhanni texts more than the qath’i ones. Some roles of al-aql in activity of law deduction from text of revelation are 1) text comprehension combined with maqashid al-syariah, so the interpretation product is not vague, 2) the integration of text and context, in which mufassir is not only demanded to understand nash, but also has sensitivity over social reality surrounding the issues to discuss, 3) the use of reverse logical understanding (mafhum al-mukhalafah).