A Probing Look at the Meaning of Divine Vicegerence in Jalal Al-Din Davani and Qiyas al-Din Mansur Dashtaki's Views

Aristotle bases his moral discussions on "Eudemonia" which is translated as "happiness" by Muslims and has undergone important conceptual developments. Later on, Muslim thinkers associated this term with the concept of "divine vicegerence". Since the correct understanding and exact assignment of the meaning of "vicegerence" are of particular importance in the discussions of anthropology and Islamic morality, there has always been many debates and disputes among commentators, philosophers and mystics on understanding and interpreting the Quranic verse "man's vicegerence": "I am about to place a viceroy on the earth".Davani believes that man's entitlement to the state of vicegerent lies in his capacity to attain reciprocal attributes and regards that its realization is contingent upon scientific and practical perfection. Mansur Dashtaki disagrees with Davini and rejects his thought and arguments in detail. Dashtaki believes that vicegerence indicates that man is the shadow of God among the possibilities. He also thinks that creatures submit and obey man just as they submit and obey the Most High God. The present paper expounds these two thinker's views on divine vicegerence.