the bi-lā kayfa doctrine: theological-philosophical perspectives

In the current controversy surrounding the dichotomy of theism-atheism, most people, particularly in academic milieux, tend to reduce the whole matter into the sphere of rationality, arguing on whether or not the belief that “god exists” is rationally justified. the theism-atheism debate thus revolves mostly around the rational arguments for and against the existence of god. this is the very assumption upon which this paper intends to cast doubt by accentuating an imponderable moment inherent in religious faith which always defeats any rational attempt at demystifying it. henceforth, we refer to this as “bi-lā kayfa” feature of religious faith.the bi-lā kayfa doctrine itself is originally a theological view on the meaning of the anthropomorphic expressions appeared in quran and sunnah, as a middle ground between two opposite standpoints: anthropomorphism and rationalism. yet, we evoke it here because of the great emphasis it lays on the irrationality that constitutes the innermost essence of religious faith. what follows in this paper is firstly a historical outline of this theological doctrine. once the preliminary task is achieved, two philosophical perspectives—epistemology and anthropology—are to be taken into account to portray how the bi-lā kayfa essence of religious faith has been crystallized into modern philosophical approaches toward theism.to begin with, bi-lā kayfa doctrine bears profound epistemological implications that are of paramount importance for our understanding of theism and religious faith. these epistemological implications are elaborately articulated in kant’s kritik der reinen vernunft, where the theoretical reason is bound to embark on an inner journey of self-knowledge to discern its intrinsic limitations and the legitimate boundaries that if overstepped, it inevitably comes into conflict with itself. specifically, in transcendental dialectics, he demonstrates that all attempts of theoretical reason to establish a rational theology remain fruitless, that the principles of reason as applied to nature do not conduct us to any theological truths.the bi-lā kayfa feature of faith, transports the matter into the metaphysics of irrationality, particularly as a fundamental anthropological tendency in contemporary philosophy. though it may also be traced back to dilthey’s lebensphilosophie, this metaphysics of irrationality finds its full-fledged realization in heidegger’s phenomenological-existential anthropology, not only in metaphysics of dasein elaborated in his magnum opus, ‘sein und zeit’, but also in his less developed conception of facticity regarded as the core concept in his early freiburg courses.to conclude, this paper seeks to illustrate how a seemingly pure theological doctrine that aims to immaturely interpret anthropomorphic quranic verses, would contain such perspicuous philosophical dimensions that find echo centuries later in the most significant philosophical perspectives. in this regard, kant and heidegger are here cited as respective representatives of epistemological and anthropological perspectives on religious faith. whether or not one accepts the bi-lā kayfa doctrine, is here out of the question. rather, this is the profound insightful philosophical implications brought about by this kalāmic doctrine, that draw our attention to take it into account for current theism-atheism debates.