نشریه معرفت کلامی
سال سوم شماره 1 (پیاپی 8، بهار و تابستان 1391)

The issue of determination and free-will has long between the special concern of Muslim thinkers, and it has been stressed by the Glorious Quran and traditions. This idea was first mooted by Muslims in the first century ('AH'), and different views have been provided in this concern over the history. Attempting to preserve the principle of unification of act, Asharite theologians have adhered to determination neglecting divine justice and dismissing it but the expense of unification of act. The dispute between Muʻtazilah theologians over unification of act or divine justice ended in their adherence to divine justice, and so they questioned the unification of act when the introduced the idea of absolute delegation of power. Presenting the idea of "intermediate position" and preserving the principles of unification of act and divine justice, Shi’I school of thought has explained man's free-will in the light of divine agency. This view does not have the deficiencies which each of two previous ones has. The subtlety of the idea "intermediate position" has made theologians, philosophers and mystics provide several interpretations for it. Using a rational analysis method, the present paper elaborates on this issue, and shed light on the interpretation of "intermediate position", by commenting on philosophical determination and providing a solution for the question of succession of wills.

Avicenna, one of the eminent peripatetic philosophers in Islamic world, has provided a special explanation for revelation. In his view, the origin of revealed sciences is Active Intellect and a prophet's soul is connected to Active Intellect by interacting with sacred intellect and the knowledge of the Unseen is reflected in his soul. Then this knowledge which is received by the prophet's imaginative faculty reach his common sense in a particular manner having the form of words. The present paper examines the different aspects of Avicenna's theory about revelation analysis in terms of his ontological and epistemological principles contained in his different works and shows how this philosopher has used his peripatetic philosophical principles for explaining such theological phenomenon like revelation.

Some Iranians who follow some western thinkers show special interest in the issue of desecration (desacralization) of world and religion. Among the things which has been desecrated is the position of Imam. Some writers claim that the scholars of the second and third century ('AH'), including Sheikh Ṣaduq (May God have mercy on him) rejects the idea of the superiority of Imams over others, and that earlier scholars have mercy on him), as well as the Imams themselves have reduced position of Imamate to "righteous scholars". They also claim that whoever disagree with this view is considered extremist and has to be excluded from Shia society. Having studied the applications and characteristics of extremists mentioned in Sheikh Ṣaduq's works to find the limits of immoderate beliefs in his thought this paper concludes that, contrary to these writer's claim, Sheikh Ṣaduq confirms that many of the characteristics of the Household of the prophet show their superiority over others although he thinks that the prophet is liable to distraction.

During the Middle Ages different intellectual trends took form among the Jews. Among these trends is a theological trend with two Karaite and rabbinical orientations, which tried under the influence of Mutazilah school of Basra, to justify and explain Jewish doctrines. Despite common language and source of revelation of the two, the main difference between Karaites and rabbis is that Karaites ignore tradition. Karaites merely believe in the authority of the Bible and consider that tradition or the spoken form of Torah as invalid and it is something framed by rabbis, who consider it to be as valid and holy as the written Torah. Although Karaites are more associated with theology than their rival, only few of their works have been found. Since no independent research has been conducted on the issue, the main aim of the present paper is to provoke further discussions by providing a brief account on the views and thoughts of some important personalities of Karaite sect (such as Yaqub Qirqisani, Yafeth b. Ali, and Yusuf Al-Basir) and citing some cases which show how much they indebted to Mutazilah school.

There are two kinds of theology relating to the possibility of speaking on the topic of the Exalted Being or God by means of ordinary human language: negative Divine and positive Divine. The followers of positive Divine hold that it is possible to talk about divine attributes and Divine acts by means of human language, while the followers of negative Divine maintain that it is possible to talk about divine attributes and Divine acts only in a negative manner, that is, they focus on what God is not such and such, rather than what He is. Negative Divine has had many followers throughout the history of thought- that is since ancient Greece until today. The present paper deals with the historical development of negative theology. Then it reviews and comments on the views shown in this regard. It seeks to provide a moderate position between the pure positive position which means falling into the morass of polytheism and anthropomorphism and the pure negative position which resulting preventing reason for knowing God and falling into the morass of agnosticism.

Incarnation has long been the special concern of thinkers of different ethnicity and creeds. Besides, Quranic texts have explicitly mentioned the doctrine of corporal resurrection, to which Muslims has always adhered. However, this doctrine has always come under serious criticisms, one of which is considering it as identical with reincarnation, which is generally believed to be impossible. The present paper tries to elaborate on philosopher and theologians’ view about the relationship between reincarnation and corporal resurrection into a body composed of elements, and explain the view adopted by the researcher. The main research findings show that Avicenna and Mullā Ṣadrā believe that corporal resurrection into a body composed of elements is an instance of reincarnation. However, due to their particular view of reincarnation, theologians do not tolerate such a convergence.