نشریه معرفت کلامی
پیاپی 2 (تابستان 1389)

The question of the nature of revelation in the view of various thinkers has been of special interest, and philosopher's audacity to embark on this area and delve into the various aspects of revelation meets full approval. The philosopher's embarkment on this subject is an active step towards the integration between religion and philosophy and philosophical analysis of religious teachings. Mulla Sadra considers that revelation is far too high above any sort of perception. He thinks revelation is initiated by God and it is conveyed to people by the prophet, and along with his perfectness of intellect, imagination and sensation, is chosen by God to carry out a mission and it is through the union with active intellect that the prophet attains heavenly knowledge. According to Mulla Sadra, revelation is verbal and propositional which is reduced to the existential states of the universe and prophet's psychological nature and intellectual, ideal and sensory levels. The most important finding of this article is that Mulla Sadra sees that the verbal form of revelation demands certain mechanisms. To sum up, it is possible to suppose that the positive aspects of the philosophical theory of revelation camcontribute to completing and enriching the study of revelation in the Quran especially concerning such questions like revelation's being exemplified, visual or audiable, and if not attention is given to this idea, serious prolems will remain unsolved.

Mujtahid Shabistari's book Eman wa Aazadi contains another conception of the faith in the Book of Guidance. Though the author's views are nicely expressed, one should not be deceived by the beauty of his words and then cannot reach the truth. One had better use the hermeneutic principles of understanding the Quran and the Sunnah and refer to the main source to satisty one's thirst. According to Shabistar's interpretation, faith is viewed as a religious experience and in reviving religion, it is regarded as reviving an experience. Using an analytical approach and documentary evidence, the author compares the items in the author's speech, one by one with the Quranic verses. The roots of faith, the appurtenance of faith, the attributes of the faithful and requirements of faith are all taken from the Quran. In conclusion, the suppositions of the author are contrasted with the Quranic ideas and put at the disposal of the reader to judge.

The question of the Divine attributes is given great important by the different religions. Many religions definity believe in the existence of God, and instead of confirming this fact they have directed their attention to disussing and identifying God's attributes. Some of the atheists, taking into consideration the attributes in which those who have faith in God believe, talk about an inner contradiction of the concept of God or about the existence of a god possessing certain attributes which, due to the occurance of damaging events such as floods or eathquaqes-as evil prenomena, are not harmonous. Today, a large number of belivers continue to adopt a traditional perception of God but a number of them (especially from among the Christians) has abandoned some of the ancient ideas about God. For example, they do not believe that God is all-knowing and allpowerful. This article points at the outset to the various aspects of the attributes of God and then answer a number of the question on how these attributes are internally consistent with one another.

The present article explores a considerable part of Martyr Mutahhari's ideas about theism including such issues like the extent to which theism is intellectually accessible, the proofs of the existence of God and the proofs of the oneness of God. The author adopts an analytical approach to investigating theism in Martyr Mutahhari's works. The article does not only display and analyse Allama Martyr Mutahhari's views but includes critical remarks, as well.

Before the advent of Islam and prophetic mission, when idolatry and polytheism were prevalent in the Arabian Peninsula, a spontaneous movement came to existence, which was later known as "hanif faith". its adherents were named ahnaf" Ahnaf are people of insight and pure faith who, due to their insight and inner guaidamce, refrained from idolatry and turned to God and worshipped none other than Him. Due to the fact that their religious acts and behavior were based on the remaining Ibraham's religious injunctions or ascribed totally to their own pure godly disposition or perhaps both of the two mentioned factors, different possibilities exist. Regardless of the origin or basis of the faith of the hunafa, they had important functions during the pre- Islam era. They, not only turned away from idolatry, unjustice and superstitions but also forbade others from exercising them. The Prophet's forefathers represent a distinct type of hanafiyah for they, according to historical oridence, never worshipped any idol, nor did they have any inclination to idolatry or polytheism.

Shi‘I essential beliefs about Imamate has been the subject of various investigations throughout the centuries. The investigations have been carried out to show whether these beliefs are authentic. Through studying the primary sources in this regard, one can come to a conclusion that the current Shi‘i view of Imam as being infallible and having divine Knowledge has its roots in particular views of Imam is a divine authority (hojjah) enjoying broad divine knowledge. It should be noted, however, that there were also some people among the early companions who cast doubts on Imam's divine Knowledge and infallibility due to the unfavorable circumstances of the time as well as the differences in people's mental capacity. The article seeks to study the status of Knowledge and infallibility of Imams from the viewpoint of Imam ‘Ali (p.b.u.h.), drawing upon an analytical approach to the subject in question.

Questions like corporeal resurrection, the Prophet's ascension (to Heaven) and occultation of the Imam of the Age and the possibility of his prolonged life have been the subject of speculation and inquiry for along time and thinkers have made major contribution to confirm the mertioned beliefs. Sheikh Ahmad Ihsai, for example, is one of these thinkers. The leaders of Babi and Bahai sects, especially Ali Muhammad Shirazi who was influenced by the Sheikhi beliefs, sought to highlight the idea of the "Fourth dimension" or the doctorine of Mahdism which is inspired from Sheikh Ahmad's theory of havarqali world, and first he claimed that he was the Imam of the Age's deputy, then he claimed Imamate and finalhy prophethood. Therefore it is possible to say that one of the contributory factors of emergence of Babism and Bahaism is their being effected by Sheikhi's beliefs. This article seeks through an analytical study to take a probing look at the circumstances in which Babism and Bahaism came to existence.