religions

The course of historical developments indicates that "word" and "speech" have always served a basis for delivering religious messages to the people. In other words, "word" as a container has been a platform for presenting religious messages. However this concept has been seriously challenged by the unique features of the era that is referred to as the "image era" in the contemporary age. In fact with the advent of new media such as cinema, television, and Internet, messages are presented on an "image" basis.As in other religions, Islam also has restrained/prohibited the use of "images" partly throughout history, which brings up this question once more whether or not the religion is inconsistent with "image" and "imagery". This paper however claims that Islam is (definitely) consistent with these concepts for at least four reasons: (a) the place of imagery in the holy text of the Quran; (b) explaining Islamic concepts with verbal imagery; (c) image in the form of religious rituals; and (d) the place of "image" in Islamic art.

Through examining the works of Allameh Tabatabaei about the links of the Islamic community, a system of religious proximity can be extracted for the social communication and interactions of the Muslim person or the Islamic community. The system of religious proximity determines the degree of attachment and convergence of people in different layers in a macro network of interaction. The system of religious proximity is organized in four layers: human, religion, denomination and faith. Proximity, in these four levels, is constructive and has a longitudinal relationship, and in interaction and action with each other, they establish the system of religious proximity. The general focus of the system of religious proximity in the four aforementioned levels will be "divine guardianship". At the human level, "Istkhlaf (inheritance of power)", at the religion level, "General Prophecy", at the denomination level, "Particular Prophecy" and at the faith level, "Visayat (executorship) and Imamate" are central. This study was conducted with analytical-descriptive approach and using the works of Allameh Tabatabaei and library sources. Allameh considers human existence worthy of honor due to the high capacity of the divine caliph. At the religion level, he considers the general principles of divine religions to be fixed and the existence of inherent differences between them as a violation of divine purpose, and at the denomination level, Allameh's thought and Tafsir Al-Mizan are placed in the category of proximity interpretations. In addition, at the level of faith, he expresses the highest degree of convergence among the believers, focused on the Ahl al-Bayt. In general, the system of religious proximity determines the position of human brotherhood, the convergence of divine religions, the unity of denominations and the unity of faith.

The present paper sheds light on the rationales of Imam al-Husayn's movement and why a great majority of the Kufans who had invited him left him unhelped and fought him. It also touches upon what were his main objectives. It shows that several political movements received their initial inspiration from that of Imam al-Husayn. In support of these views, several fragments from famous intellectuals are also quoted.

The four holy beings are among the oldest religious beliefs formed among peoples and nations, in fact, these are the first forces that come from the Almighty. In all religions and since ancient times, they respected and valued these forces and created different symbols for the four holy ones. Also, people of different cultures gave them different names such as Angel, God, Messenger and goddess. Belief in these angels is considered one of the important topics of divine religions. The position, role and characteristics of angels can express the type of vision and worldview of the beliefs and followers of many religions. This research with a descriptive, analytical method and with a theoretical and documentary approach aims to deal with the attributes and characteristics of these four creatures in addition to their roles and duties. And have a look around the concepts and use of the number four. The results of the research indicate that due to the centrality of belief in God in the religions of Islam, Zoroastrianism, Christianity and Judaism, the four holy beings have a lot in common in some features.

From the point of view of the Holy Quran, the divine religions before Islam have been distorted. No religion, not even Islam, is safe from the bite of distortion, at least in some of its dimensions, and the quantity of different branches in every single religion, as well as Islam, indicate this. This research entitled "Typology and Rooting of Distortion of the Divine Religions on the Basis of the Holy Quran" has investigated the types of distortion in pre-Islamic religions through analytical and inferential methods and using the opinions of commentators and tries to find the reasons for deviation of different religions by the distorters from the perspective of the Holy Quran. A step has also been taken to establish conformity among the types of distortion with the existing motives for distorting religions. The aim of the present study was to aid the reader in recognizing situations, types and factors of distortion to pave the way to distinguish the religious truths of their time from religious deviations. Also, recognizing the causes and roots of distortion can help the society to recognize the religious deviations and fight against it. The findings showed that "concealment and denial", "dressing up falsehood with truth", "change of meaning and concept" and "religious heresy" are the four types of distortion in religious truths. Also, from the perspective of the Holy Quran, gaining worldly interests and maintaining existing interests that religion opposes are two motives that lead people to distort religion.

The word “Tur” is mentioned at least ten times in the Quran and it reminds us of its sanctity, which makes the events that have taken place there important. But apart from the meaning of the verses and their importance, there are hadiths from the Infallibles (as) that equate the place of the “Tur Sinai” with “Ghari”, despite the fact that, given the fame of the place of Sinai in the opinions of geographers and commentators, and the books of historians, there remains almost no doubt that Sinai is not in Kufa. Now, considering this clarity in knowing the place of Sinai, the question is why in the hadiths of the Infallibles, Sinai is mentioned as the equivalent of the burial place of Imam Ali (as)? The purpose of raising this issue is to investigate the cause of such a strange event and to know its dimensions. Therefore, this article, adopting a citation analysis method, in addition to using the existing library documents, has also referred to geographical maps, satellite images, and archaeological documents. Through examining this issue, it is understood that equating “Ghari” with Sinai, in addition to making the high status of Imam Ali (as) more recognized by the Muslims, can also lead those Christians and Jews who unbiasedly seek knowledge and understanding to know the holy existence of this unique figure, and that means inter-religion peace and friendship.

Plurality of religion and the variation of vastly different religious attitudes always prompt us to ask questions about the criteria for their rightfulness. Followers of each religion have given different answers to this question as per their religion's historical features or their being among the Revealed or non-Revealed religions. Using rational, inductive, and historical methods and content analysis, this research has concentrated on different criteria for the assessment of the rightfulness of religions. These criteria include: 1. Belief in God, 2. Divinity, 3. Unity versus polytheism, 4. Belief in the Hereafter, 5. Epistemic coherence and more adaptation to human rationality, 6. Universality in doctrines and efficiency in providing meaning for human life, 7. Doctrine-centeredness instead of prophet-centeredness, 8. Non-distortion of Holy Scriptures, and 9. Correction of prior religions. The longitudinal and latitudinal relations of these criteria would enable us to draw the conclusion that the Revealed religions enjoy more rightfulness; and in turn, the one among them that is undistorted or less distorted, enjoys more coherent and rational beliefs, and plays a more effective role in the meaning of life and ethics of the faithful is more rightful. Meanwhile, religious rightfulness is gradational and thus most of religious traditions, especially the Revealed Religions, have it. However, they do not enjoy it equally; rather, the more noticeable presence the above criteria have in a religious tradition, the higher gradational and hierarchical rank that religion can enjoy.

Dealing with natural education (innate cultivation) and its components, due to its valuable and superior position in all Abrahamic religions, seems important and necessary. Therefore, in the present study, after introducing nature and expressing its distinction with similar concepts such as nature, instinct and soul (psyche), the important role of monotheism and faith in the fertility of nature has been explained and in order to apply the stated theoretical principles, the important components of religious-natural education (cultivation), based on the narrations of the Imams, have been stated that after calculating the natural components, it can be said that the components of religiosity are the ones that demand a special human nature from man. Of course, it must be perfectionist and in order to become a vicegerent of God and the most important obstacles to the flourishing of nature are negligence and worldliness (secularism), which are two factors that not only plague the lives of theologians of the divine religions, but also threaten all human societies.

Insulting to things that are sacred and respected for other religions and it is a faulty act from the point of view of the holy Sharia of Islam. The important verse "La Tasabbu Al-Lazina Yadoona Men Dunellah Fayasabbu Allah Adovan Beghayre Elm" expresses this issue. It is important to note that this action can not only be done verbally, but the general verse includes any action that involves insult. On the other hand, it is not only the sanctities of religions and idols that are subject to this ruling. There are some reasons why everything that is for others, and insulting them causes insults to the holy things, including the essence of God, the saints, etc., is prohibited in the holy verse. In Islamic hadiths, obscenity towards others is forbidden. According to some jurisprudential rules, sanctity can also be deduced.

This article has analyzed the Strategies of Imam Reza (AS) on Proximity religions for identifying and introducing this strategy for the unity of the Islamic religions in the modern world. With a vision inspired by the Quran and prophetic tradition, Imam Reza (AS) like the other Imams (AS) always emphasized on the approximation of religions in the expression, opinion and action. In the Razavi style, the divine religions with different effects, have a single nature, making their co-existence possible. This study was descriptive - analytic and necessary data has been collected by using documentary technique and studying books and articles. The results showed that the attitude of Imam Reza (AS) towards divine religions, has been to reveal approximation and convergence of them. In this respect, Imam’ strategies has been dialogue with other religions emphasizing on the religious awareness and common ideas of religions, commitment to ethics in human relations with the followers of other religions, and the principle of unity and representation of the Islamic faith principles in the context of divine religions.

One of the main questions about the book Man La Yahdaruh al-Faqih is whether the Morsal Prophetic hadiths of the book are all obtained from the Shi`a chain of authorities and documents or some of them belong to the Sunni chain of authorities? The answer to this question requires analysis of individual narratives. To make a systematic analysis of the hadiths and obtain more accurate results, the author of the present paper first has divided the traditions into seven groups based on three criteria: hadith narrated in Sheikh Saduq’s other hadith books (through Shi`a documents or non-Shi`a ones); hadith narrated in other Shi`a hadith books through Shi`a documents; hadith narrated in the Sunni hadith books. Then he has verified the implications of each of these types of narratives whether Sheikh Saduq has utilized Shi`a chain of authorities or Sunni’s. Then he has collected hadiths belonging to each group. It is worthy of notice that the author has investigated the first volume of the above mentioned book as an example in this study.

Proper and systematic knowledge of the branches of Islamic sects and denominations can be a useful background to identify new sects and movements. One may detect and analyze some common patterns which both follow. In addition, some sociologists regard some kinds of Islamic sects, such as Taliban, which can be categorized under the heading of Islamic fundamentalism, as new religious movements. Therefore, by a historical review, one can find causes of the emergence of the early Islamic sects and detect some common points between the initial and current movements. Present article can be an introduction to this approach.

The emergence of opinion “promised” is not special to any religion or any particular nation. Each kind of Nations published in the world has confessed it. They expect the final savior to come and save the world from the claws of cruelty and oppression. Naturally every nation talks about apocalypse according to their religious teachings and details of it. But what is undeniable is that we see a lot in common not only in the
Abrahamic religions, but in most religions we have witnessed.One of the common cases is the emergence of Dajjal or Islamic Anti-Christ who has a negative characteristic. In this paper authors have tried to briefly image him in different religions and then in Islamic culture and finally to cite some evidences from some Persian poets on this issue.

Miracles drew the attention of thinkers from different angles in the history of religions. Of especial importance, however, is the ontological glance of philosophers at miracles. That every effect requires a congruent cause is a intellectual philosophical law. On the other hand, the constituent element in miracle is its being “extraordinary” which makes it seem to be lack of any congruent cause thus being inexplicable event. Now the question is whether miracle has no cause in which case it is regarded as irrational, or has a cause but not of natural sort that is familiar and known by human beings or souls of Prophets are involved and act in producing miracles. Analyzing different sorts of miracles this article attributes them to unfamiliar natural causes as well as familiar unnatural ones and the influence of prophetic souls involved in bringing them about.

This essay is to discuss about the future of government in the view of different religions, specifically, in the view of Islam. The viewpoint of divine religions like Islam to future is optimistic and full of hope and trust and this hopefulness results in an endeavor to live piously and purifying the universe from abominations. This essay, alongside surveying different religion's viewpoints about human beings future, also is to benefit from the reason, narratives and induction to Mahdism in order to observe mankind's future. This presentation is in the field of religions and the studies about religions.