The Effect of Non-epistemological Factors on Belief Formation from the Perspective of the Holy Quran with an Emphasis on the Past Traditions

Knowledge and more specifically man's beliefs and faith – one of the most important factors in the construction of man's identity and in shaping society – have since long ago been attended to and have been the subject of numerous studies adopting various perspectives. For certain, man's beliefs, like other phenomena, affect some affairs and at the same time are influenced by other epistemological and non-epistemological factors. The holy Quran has taken into account this affecting and being affected qualities and all their aspects; this holy Book has stated the processes and trends of this interaction and has explained its norms and deemed them necessary for man's prosperity and perfection. After some preliminary remarks, this paper investigates the past traditions as one of the factors affecting belief from a Quranic perspective. The importance of these issues lies in the fact that one of the ways of Islamizing science is the development of a systematic and comprehensive theory about the norms of beliefs based on the Holy Quran and tradition of the Prophet (PBUH) and the immaculate Imams (PBUT).