ماهنامه معرفت
سال بیستم شماره 11 (پیاپی 170، بهمن 1390)

A faithful person should always maintain his heartfelt relation with his/her Deity and ask happiness in this world and in the hereafter from Him. Among urgent request of every guided believer is to have the privilege of being a servant of God, perform divine obligations, dispel doubts and Satan's temptations, and remain firmly grounded in faith.According to divine wont, whoever is headless of the remembrance of God will be one of Satan’s companions and then man's desires and wishes will be determined by Satan. But a pious man, whose heart shines with divine light, will turn his/her attention to no one but God. Man's inclination towards his own desires is behind his/her refusing to accept the call of God and His messengers. Therefore, in order to preserve our faith we should remain firm in faith and whatever related to it and stand firmly against Satan's temptations.

A country’s growth and sublimity is of special significance for all. Observing the views of the leaders of society can contribute to the collaboration and alignment of the efforts to achieve the ambitious aims and thus preparing the ground for creating the civilization which the leaders consider ideal.It seems that studying history as the most extensive science has a good effect on the creation and sublimity of civilizations including the new civilization accompanied the Islamic Revolution. Therefore, it is necessary to study the views adopted by Imam Khomeini, the leader and founder of the Islamic Revolution. In this regard, the present research contains a thorough study of Imam Khomeini's testament and his other works, using an analytical- library approach. The aforementioned necessities can, according to Imam, be divided and arranged into two main groups: moral and individual” and “political and social”.

Defining “Muslim world” according to the demographic indexes or exercising authority by Muslims cannot be a sound and comprehensive definition, especially when regarding the historical record of the geographical contraction and expansion of Islamic territory, the current changes in the sociopolitical conditions and the increase in the minor communities. The present paper provides a new index for defining "Muslim world" by investigating Muslim's historical and geographical territorial jurisdiction and outlining the modern situation. The global reaction to the victory of Islamic Republic of Iran as well as the defeat of the Russians in Afghanistan has brought about a new wave of Islamism among the Muslim through the world over. Therefore, with regard to the current situation, a dynamic definition of Muslim world can be offered.

The most important issues relating to the divine uprising of Imam Hussein (peace be upon him), the lord of Martyrs, are its historical juncture, aim, philosophy, and effects, which caused the tree of Islam to blossom. There are two principal perspectives on Abu 'Abdullah Hussein's uprising. A group of thinkers believe that the aim of this uprising martyrdom-seeking on whose aim is reforming the community of the Prophet, while a second group hold that the aim of Imam Hussein's uprising is to form a government. Allameh 'Askari adopts the first perspective, relying on a theological agreement about Imam Hussein's knowledge, and reviews the evidence of those who adopt second perspective, after providing the proofs that support his view, including Imam Hussein’s sermons and writings. Furthermore, he believes that forming government by Imam Hussein under the social circumstances of that time was impossible. Having an independent glance at from theological issues, Salehi Najafabadi tries to prove the second perspective rely on historical proofs and so he believes that the aim of Imam Hussein's uprising is establishing a Islamic government. Regarding the proofs provided for by each of these two sides and evaluation of the historical conditions of the uprising, the researcher advocates the first view and considers the proofs given by those who adopt the second view have serious shortcomings.

Although the Umayyads considered the bloody and tragic event of Karbala as a turning point in the history of their caliphate it, in fact, prepared the ground for their fall; because although the Muslims who joined Imam Hussein in Karballa were few at the beginning, people's revolutionary spirit revived and successive uprisings took place after his martyrdom against the Umayyad caliphs and, later on, against the 'Abbasid caliphs. Using a documentary approach to the traditions and historical findings, the present paper points to the most important factors of the Umayyads fall and the 'Abbasids’ rise, and investigates the role of 'Ashura and mourning ceremonies during the Fourteen Infallible's lifetime in the fall and rise of the two caliphates.Due to the significance of Imam Hussein's uprising in the history of Islam and Shiite, any study of the revolutionary and martyrdom-seeking movements which the followers of the Fourteen Infallibles launched and which led to the fall of the Umayyads and rise of the 'Abbasids should be a attributed to the 'Ashura Uprising. In the meantime, the efforts made by the Shiite imam's to promote and propagate the aims of 'Ashura by holding mourning ceremonies, going on piligrimage to holy shrines, etc had an important role in this regard.

Firuz Abu-Lulu' (also known as Pirouz Nahavandi), an Iranian slave, killedOmar b. al-Khattab at the closing days of Dhul-Hijjah of the year 23 ('AH'). According to authentic historical sources of the school of Caliphs and that of the Fourteen Infallibles and according most Sunni and Shiite scholars, the time of his assassination was the closing days of Dhul-Hijjah, but some recent Shiite sources, which rely on narration, assume that it was on the 9th of Rabī' the 1st (Rabī' al-Awwal). This narration, known as "the tradition of Raf' al-Qalam", is attributed to Ahmad b. Ishaq Qomi. The mentioned narration also included such claims like distortion of the holy Quran and permissibility of doing sins. This research blemishes and refutes the idea that this account is attributed to Ahmad b. Ishaq Qomi, criticizes its text and chain of transmission and proves that the assassination of the caliph 'Omar took place on the 26th of Dhul-Hijjah. According to the research, choosing the 9th of Rabī' theI st. as the assassination anniversary of the caliph and holding ceremonies on such a day are not based on narrative or historical grounds.

Women's political, social, and cultural role in Islam's political system is not less that of men. Accordingly, the most important duty of committed Muslim women is to know how to take part in such activities. The present research reinvestigates this subject relying on the view of Islam in this concern.The oath of allegiance and emigration are among the important and fundamental questions in the political culture of Islam and among the important and influential events of the history of early Islam when women, alongside the men had an active role which can be regarded particularly memorable. After reviewing historical and religious resources, this paper investigates some striking instances of the women's political participation in the oath of allegiance and emigration which represent crucial events of the history of early Islam.

The present paper tries to shed light on one of the figures who played an active role in the history of early Islam and that is, 'Abbas b. Abdul Mutallib. He was a wealthy man from Quraish clan. He had the responsibility of proving the water for the pilgrims to Kaba. He witnessed the second 'Aqabah treaty, the three-year siege in Shi’b Abutalib with the other members of Bani Hashim clan and some of the battles during the lifetime holy Prophet. His presence in Hunayn battle had special significance. After the holy prophet's passing away, he was among those who helped Imam Ali (peace be upon him) with the ceremonial preparations before and during the prophet’s burial while most of the prophet’s companions were away arguing over whom to choose as a successor to the prophet. He sometimes chose to be silent and sometimes to object. The present paper addresses 'Abbas's role occurrences during the lifetime in the holy Prophet's by analyzing the content of the main authentic sources and studying the research sources.

The present research comments on six important European travelogues belonging to the Safavid period in order to see how authentic they are, using an analytical-descriptive method. Having given an account of these travelogues, the author addresses their structural problems, providing historical evidence so that the researcher of history may not have absolute trust in what is included in these travelogues and the like, and that he/she may be cautious when referring to the travelogues of the Safavid period. This paper avoids discussing the particulars and points out to the general problems which all travelogues have in one way or another.