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In a recent book, Catarina Belo dealt with Ibn Rušd's and Hegel's doctrines of the relations between philosophy and religion with special insight on knowledge. She contended that both preferred philosophy to religion as the best way to understand reality. In the article, I argue that the real importance of Ibn Rušd's philosophy consists in being a means to reform society in connection with religion (Islam); while Hegel's endorsement of Christianity is ambiguous insofar as the phenomenology of Spirit leads to an Absolute that jeopardizes God's perfection. Finally, I emphasize that Hegel's theory is epistemologically at odds with an Islamic outlook. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]