A Critical Review of Shahid Mutahhari's Viewpoint concerning Jurisdiction Restriction and the Impact of Piety on Ma‘rifa

Ma‘rifa (doctrinal knowledge) and piety are interactively or reciprocally related. The philosophers' disagreement over the effect of ma‘rifa on piety is in fact this very efficacy, which some accept and others deny. As for the contrary, that is the effect of piety on ma‘rifa, however, they disagree, especially in terms of what kind of ma‘rifa can piety produce or provide the ground for. The question that crosses one's mind here is that regarding the effect of piety on ma‘rifa which one of the theoretical or practical ma‘rifa is effected by piety? As a contemporary Muslim scholar, Shahid Mutaharri believes that piety can be effective only on practical intellect and does not have any effect on theoretical intellect. With a descriptive-analytical method, using library sources, and relying on religious principle, this research undertakes to criticize Shahid Mutahhari's viewpoint. The findings show that such notions as mystical experience of the mystics, the mandate of conscience, the generality of religious statutes, the philosophy of creation, the arc of ascent, and the universality of manifestation denote the effect of piety on theoretical and practical ma‘rifa.