This article offers an epistemological account of how metaphysics (ilahiyyat) and theology (kalam) relate in Islamic philosophy. Reading al-Farabi, Avicenna, al-Ghazali, Ibn Rushd, Fakhr al-Din al-Razi, and Mulla Ṣadra comparatively, it proposes three models – separation, subordination, and integration – framed by “method – source – normativity.” The analysis shows that the boundary between demonstrative metaphysics and dialectical theology shifts historically, reflecting different standards of justification grounded in causality, necessity, and self-evidence. The study maintains a neutral scholarly stance.

metaphysics, kalam, demonstration, dialectic, typology, Islamic philosophy

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