فصلنامه آیین حکمت
پیاپی 27 (بهار 1395)

Time and temporality are two inseparable aspects and features of contingent beings. However, since being is a hierarchical reality, each level of being has its own status. Chain of Time is never to be broken in levels of contingent beings but it becomes more and more subtle in ascending journey of being. As a result, the states of being are subject to contraction and expansion. Time of natural world is different from that of dream world. In comparison to the world of nature, years passed in dream world are but a moment. According to Quranic revelations, however, this reality is so delicate and subtle in hereafter that one day of it equals to one thousands or fifty thousand years depending on spiritual states of believers and unbelievers. The other-worldly time is an internal personal qualitative reality while this worldly time is an external quantative reality. Using descriptive analytic method the present article attempts to explain the theory in question.

One of the problems that have drawn attention of the thinkers who research on human nature is self-alienation. Questions on the nature of self-alienation and the way it comes about can be differently answered depending on the responses that each thinker gives to the questions on the nature and reality of man in his own perspective. The present article is an attempt to give an analytical study of various definitions of self-alienation and by making use of Quranic revelations and Traditions it concludes that the true nature of man is identified with his soul which is variously indicated by such terms as “self” and “I”. The perfection and transcendence of this reality rest on its relation with God so much so that if man forgets God and becomes alienated from Him, he will forget himself and become alienated from himself. Self-alienation, therefore, is to be traced back to alienation from God.

“Faith” is one the fundamental and frequently used concept in Islamic sources in such a way that the earliest theological disputes in the history of Islamic thought broke out on the nature of faith. Among the practical consequences of these disputes was the rise of different doctrinal sects that sometimes gave rise to takfir (excommunication) of other groups of believers. However, it remains as a point of different and even contradictory views among Muslim thinkers. Therefore, it is essential to explore the concept so that one can apply it consistently with without any practical difficulty.
The present article is intended to properly explain the concept of faith from the perspective of holy Quran with reference to views of Muslim theologians. The article is organized in three parts. Using the method of paradigmation the first part tries to give a consistent semantic analysis of faith in Quran. The second part is to review the most prominent positions taken by Muslim theologians and explore the views expressed on the nature of faith such as affirmation by heart, action by bodily limbs, confession by tongue and the role of knowledge in faith. The last part is devoted to final explanation and conclusion.

Argument or objection from brain in a vat is among arguments offered in favour of skepticism. This argument was raised after innovations have been made in the field of computer sciences and electronic industries. The argument which is similar to that Cartesian vicious demon or to the argument from dream is the most or one of the most important objections raised in favour of skepticism. Upon explanation and examination, we can respond many of these objections and criticisms. To the author the argument is subject to many difficulties and faults such as its being self-destructive and that it cannot be all-inclusive and as a result it undermines the very foundation of itself.

The issue of attractiveness in any process of communication is one of the earliest mutual concerns of transmitter and recipient of a message. An attractive message is the ground for continuation of communication and formation an influential communication. Any religion based on its own theoretical foundations has made use of specific communicative system and consequently defined its own methods and purposes in transmitting message. The nature of and pattern of attractiveness, therefore, is to be explained on the basis of its theoretical foundations, which is the first and fundamental step in dealing with the subject of attractiveness.
As to the way perceptive faculty is related to the perceptional and imaginal forms there are two views among Islamic philosophers: Avicenna and other Peripatetics maintain that perception forms are “imprinted” on the perceptive faculty while Mulla Sadra believe both that they proceed from a stage of soul and are imprinted on another stage of it. On the Peripatetic view, human soul is of accidental perfection and has only an accidental characterization with the forms perceived and so the differences between perfect and imperfect human beings are merely accidental. In Sadra’s view, however, human soul through its substantial movement is united with perception forms and thus the difference between the perfect and imperfect human being is substantial one. According to Mulla Sadra since such forms proceed from soul rather than imprint on it, they yield more certainty than on Avicenna’s view for the relation of action with agency is much deeper than that of receiver and what is received.

Rights of family are perhaps the most important problem that traditionally received due attention on behalf of researchers and thinkers. It is evident that study on foundations of the subject concerned can resolve many problems raised on the rights of the married partner. The present article is to identify the foundations of rights of family in the context of two rights of divorce and polygyny in Islamic point of view, shedding light on the question whether or not the sexual justice has role in granting the rights in question to men. Though in some cases sexual influences might seem to be involved, such factors cannot be of crucial role in granting rights to men and women because the origin of defining rights is God’s Will and observance of the real interests of human beings. Meanwhile however, other views are also to be examined and assessed.

Using analytic-descriptive method the present paper is to examine the subject wretchedness in Ibn Sina’s thought. In explaining the meaning of wretchedness, he regards it as sort of pain as opposed to felicity and believes that if pain and suffering are eternal, they constitute wretchedness. Avicenna divides into four types of sensual, imaginal, fanciful and rational. He characterizes wretchedness as eternal rational suffering. Explaining different elements that result in wretchedness such as injustice (violation of the mean ) and love for this worldly gains he offers two way to overcome the problem: different ways to achieve felicity which the opposite of wretchedness and also the various ways that do not lead to either felicity or wretchedness. In responding the question whether or not absolute wretchedness is attainable in this world he answers negatively and says it is only obtainable in the world to come i.e. hereafter.

The present article attempts first to explain the nature of attractiveness by means of descriptive-analytic method and based on principles of Islamic theosophy. As the second step the foundations of religious art are reformulated in terms of pattern of attraction based on Islamic philosophy and wisdom of Islamic art. Artist, art work and recipient are three central elements in this pattern. The results of the present research indicate that attractiveness is a matter of degree deeply related to beauty and its perception. Specifically in religious –art communication, the higher degrees of beauty in terms of sensual objects are manifested in a work of art, the more attractive it will be. On the other hand, recipient takes pleasure in proportion to his existential scope so that the more he can perceive beauty embodied in art work, the more he will enjoy and consequently the message will more attractive to him. The sort of the City, Ideal or otherwise, is one important element in creating and shaping the final art work and its realization.