isa isazadeh

The question of human agency in relation to divine will is a foundational issue in Islamic thought, giving rise to various theological doctrines such as predestination (jabr), absolute delegation (tafwiḍ), acquisition (kasb), and the intermediate position (amr bayn al-amrayn). The Shi‘a school, drawing on the guidance of the Imams (as), has endorsed the intermediate position, which has been interpreted in different ways by Shi‘a scholars. This study explores the interaction between divine and human will in the context of everyday life. Using a descriptive-analytical method, it examines the distinctions and balance between these wills in Qur’anic verses. The article aims to shed new light on the concept of free will based on religious texts and Qur’anic exegesis. Within this interplay of wills, the human being is portrayed as a free agent who acts and chooses, yet whose autonomy is encompassed by God’s supreme will (mashiyyah). This reciprocal relationship plays a crucial role in shaping both individual and social responsibility.

Achieving worldly and otherworldly success is contingent upon realizing the functions of the Quran in everyday life. Practical strategies are essential for implementing the functions of this divine book. One influential figure offering valuable guidance on attaining the functions of the Holy Quran is Ayatollah Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of Iran. This study aims to analyze and investigate the strategies presented by this esteemed scholar for realizing the functions of the Quran. Using a descriptive-analytical approach, the article examines the topic through a library-based method. Through an analysis of the Supreme Leader’s statements, it was found that implementing strategies such as "changing and correcting beliefs about the Quran, internal acceptance of Quranic teachings, cultivating piety, reflecting on and contemplating the verses, promoting and institutionalizing Quranic concepts in society, maintaining constant connection with the Quran, fostering a Quran-centered social environment, and practicing applicable Quranic teachings" can lead to achieving the Quran's intended functions

Education is one of the most crucial goals and concerns of the religions, which has been heeded by divine books such as the Qur’an and Old Testament. Thus, it has been carefully pursued by the Qur’anic exegetes in both Shi’ite and Sunni schools. According to religious teachings, God and His prophets, as the main custodians of human training, have tried to religiousely educate the people in various ways. The present article has endeavored to introduce these custodians through a descriptive-analytical method, considering the Qur’anic exegetes’ viewpoints from the two Sunni and Shi’ite schools. In the following and by pointing out their educational methods, it has analyzed and evaluated these two groups’ manners, taking a religious studies approach. As the results of the conducted studies, while examining the viewpoints of both schools’ exegetes, as well as the texts of the Qur’an and Old Testament, it can be noted that God and His prophets have been introduced as the main custodians of religious education in both traditions. In addition, both traditions are common in conveying the methods of religious education. However, there are some notable differences. The Qur’an mentions the spiritual education’s custodians as uswa (good example) ones, while the Old Testament, on the contrary, has even attributed some discreditable mistakes to them. Moreover, in the Qur’anic accounts, God and His prophets have taken care of the resurrection and the divine rewards and punishments more than in the Old Testament. It can be thus concluded that the methods of religious education in the Qur’an are richer and more comprehensive than those mentioned in the Old Testament.

The Qur'anic Revelation Fatrat (Fatrat or interregnum) means the interruption of the legislating revelation by Gabriel to the Prophet of Islam, which has been considered by Muslim scholars as one of the topics of the Qur'anic and interpretive sciences. There are two views amongst the Quranic scholars on this subject. Some believe in a three-year fatrat, and some believe in a few-day interruption of the Qur'an's revelation. Ayatollah Ma'arefat is one of the scholars who believes in the three-year revelation Fatrat. This was the motivation of the present study to investigate the viewpoint of Ayatollah Ma'arefat in this scope through a descriptive-analytic method. The present study shows that Ayatollah Ma'arefat's view is based on the narration of Ahmad ibn Hanbal from Sha'abi and the narrations related to the three years of secret invitation. The Sha'abi's narration was proved weak and invalid, thus Ayatollah Ma'arefat's viewpoint was not approved. It was also clear that the Ayatollah had considered the two issues of Revelation Fatrat and the Secret Invitation as the same thing that there was no historical, narrative or Qur'anic documents to accept this viewpoint. The view of the few-day interruption of revelation that has been said to be between three and forty days has been found to be acceptable and consistent with the historical and narrative documents, especially with the Imams' narrations.

As the sucsess of Islamic Republic system in achieving the modern Islamic civilization is inexrticably bounded with the understanding of the future possible challenges and the reasons of civilizations' destroyment, this paper attempts to investigate the underlying factors contributing to this by the use of relevated lessons.

Each society’s lifestyle is a representation of the society’s internal beliefs and values; the society could benefit from its advantages only if the members’ lifestyle were formed in conformity with those beliefs and values. The Iranian society has so far been deprived of the effective factors of religious life and affected by western culture, so it has never been able to make a profound tie between its religious beliefs and lifestyle across different private and social realms. This has deprived our society of real Islamic lifestyle, while the study of religious maxims and ponder upon them demonstrate their high capability of culture-building and giving proper behavioral criteria. The problem is how we should utilize this huge religious capacity to make our lifestyle more Islamic. The solution lies in recognizing factors leading our lifestyle to Divine criteria and the ways to achieve those factors. Thus, we have explored several influential factors on the Islamization of lifestyle and some ways to achieve them.