The Grammar vs Logic Debate in the Arab-Islamic Tradition: From Disciplinary Conflict to Interdisciplinary Problematics

This study examines the relationship between grammar and logic in the Arabic-Islamic intellectual tradition as a complex epistemological problem rather than a merely technical dispute between two independent disciplines. It argues that this debate constitutes a critical intersection where philosophy of language, epistemology, history of science, and discourse analysis converge, revealing divergent models of rationality and competing criteria for regulating knowledge. The tension between bayān, understood as a pragmatic and discursive linguistic system for meaning production, and burhān, conceived as a formal system for organizing inference, cannot be adequately grasped outside an interdisciplinary horizon. The article analyzes the famous debate between Abū Saʿīd al-Sīrāfī and Abū Bishr Mattā b. Yūnus as a foundational moment that crystallized the confrontation between two epistemic paradigms: a linguistic, pragmatic rationality grounded in usage and context, and a formal,logical rationality claiming universal normative authority. It shows how this debate quickly exceeded its immediate historical context to become a conceptual reference through which Baghdad philosophers rethought the relations among the sciences. In this regard, special attention is given to al-Fārābī’s project, which sought to move beyond disciplinary conflict by proposing a model of functional parallelism between grammar and logic, based on differentiation without reduction or domination. The study further examines the contribution of Yaḥyā b. ʿAdī, who advanced the discussion by rigorously demarcating the respective subjects and aims of grammar and logic, thereby establishing a methodological division intended to prevent epistemic confusion while preserving complementarity. Finally, the article traces the transmission of this debate to al-Andalus through the controversy between al-Baṭalyawsī and Ibn Bājja, highlighting a shift from struggles over legitimacy toward a critical reflection on the limits and possibilities of interdisciplinary interaction. Keywords: Grammar; Logic; Bayān and Burhān; Interdisciplinarity; Rationality; Arabic-Islamic Intellectual Tradition.