نشریه اسلام و پژوهش های تربیتی
سال هفتم شماره 2 (پیاپی 14، پاییز و زمستان 1394)

One of the most important activities in "philosophy of education" is analyzing educational concepts and issues. "Creativity" is considered one of the most important concepts in this field. This paper aims at presenting an analysis of the nature of creativity by referring to Islamic sources. "A conceptual analysis" method is used in this research in which the semantic elements related to the concept of "creativity" in Islamic texts are investigated according to the semantic network and text analysis. According to Islam, the creativity of man who is considered as the caliph of God, is shaded by God's creativity. As the caliph of God, man who has the potentiality which enables him to perform his duties is regarded as the epitome of “creativity". Analyzing the terms governing creativity which come in Islamic texts, this research shows that the concept of "creativity" is framed in two words; namely "creation" and "innovation" both of which refer to the emergence of something new. “Creation”, however, is preceded by matter and time while "innovation" is not. In addition, an inquiry into Islamic texts shows that creativity along with such elements like "knowledge and experience", "power of perception and thought", '' incentive of satisfaction of needs," "volition and free will", "mental concentration", "practical skills", "modeling "and" court-appointed relationship "constitutes a semantic network, which forms the basis for defining" creativity".

This paper seeks to answer the question as to what of the criteria should be used for setting the educational objectives in the process of nature-based education. A "descriptive" and "inferential" method is used in this research. Man's nature is a "special kind of creation" that belongs only to him and that distinguishes him from other creatures. Man along with the set of innate and acquired talents constitutes the subject matter of education and developing these talents prepares the ground for achieving the highest possible perfection in the educational process. The ultimate goal of nature-based education is achieving the highest degree of perfection or the "station of being with God" or "good pleasure of God". In addition, the process of education includes some stages and specific goals, the achievement of which is necessary for the achievement of the ultimate goal. Setting goals in the long process of education is not accessible without having some criteria and indicators, the most important of which are "considering the manner and purpose of the creation of man", "compliance with the goals of life, ''considering the man's innate and non-innate talents", "considering the possibilities of exploring educational innate goals", "regarding innate objectives as motivators", "congruence between the innate objectives and process of education and priorities", ''considering innate objectives as the criterion of evaluating the process of education. "

It is, perhaps, necessary to consider the views of the thinkers and scientists who have conducted in-depth research works in different fields including anthropology and offered remarkable views about education. In this qualitative research in which a ‘’descriptive-analytical’’ method, some important notes of Bertrand Russell’s anthropology are expounded and then his anthropological and educational arguments are discussed and criticized in the light of the view of Allamah Mohammad Taqi Ja’fari. According to Allamah Mohammad Taqi Ja’fari’ views, human life is not limited to two domains: individual ‘’pleasure and pain) and trans-individual, rather it has third domains, that is,’’ perfection and sublimity’’, which is an important domain that has no place in Russell’s theory. The results of research show that, despite this difference and other basic differences between these two philosophers about the general anthropological orientations, Allamah Mohammad Taqi Ja’fari, who considers the natural agreeable life and material life as an introduction to a healthy life, holds that some of the intermediate targets and principles and methods of put forward by Russell education are verified but they are not sufficient because they consider personal and social welfare a man’s aim in this world. Among these principles are the principle of ’’ necessity of education’’, the principle of ‘’ conformity of education with instincts” and the principle of ‘’profitability of education’’. Also, controversial points are found in Russell’s educational views, such as the role of art in education, the principle of ‘’ absolute’s skepticism’’ and the principle of ‘’the precedence of participation over competition’’. It is also clear that most of the criticisms are directed to Russell’s view about man’s afterlife and man’s education, to which he takes no notice, because of his unbelief in and doubts about God and spirituality.

The aim of this research is to evaluate the University syllabus content of the subject Islamic morality in the view of the teachers of Islamic knowledge in Islamic Azad University in Qom. The research uses an ‘’applied’’ method in terms of objective and a ‘’descriptive’’ method in terms of data collection having the form of a ‘’survey ''. The population sample comprises 40 teachers. For collecting the data, the survey used a researcher-designed questionnaire consistent with Cranach’s Alpha and consisting of 25 closed-end questions of in the range of five point Likert scale with a reliability of 0.89. Statistical methods of descriptive average, standard deviation, variance, dispersion coefficient and a Z single-group inferential test were used for analyzing the data. The findings show that university syllabus content of the subject of Islamic morality fully conforms with the needs, ambitious aims, culture, ideals, social aspirations, students’ capacity and their needs and interests, principles and law fullness of lesson planning the findings are confirmed by a 0.99 confidence and a 0.01 error. The relative condition of the degree of congruence of the syllabus content of ‘’Islamic morality’’ with the principles and law fullness of lesson planning is higher than the criteria of the congruence of content with social values, characteristics and learners’ needs.

The main aim of this paper is to expound the concept of ‘’ spirituality’’ and compares the Western view( with emphasis on the views of Andrew Wright, Parker J Palmer, Jane Erricker, Ron Best, Graham Raster) with that of Islam. The literature of the research shows that there is not only one definition of spirituality. The most important factor behind the variation in these views is that there is a kind of the relationship between the concept of ‘’spirituality’’ and ‘’religion’’. The present research expounds the views of the mentioned thinkers on the basis of the relationship of spirituality with religion. These views come under three headings: religious worldview, apart from religion and not religious. Then, in order to offer a more accurate explanation of the concept of ‘’spirituality’’, the philosophical fundamentals of the mentioned thinkers’ views are investigated. Then, the concept of ‘’spirituality’’ in Islam is compared with that of the West. Among the findings of this paper is that the concept of spirituality in Islam has a recognizable external Equivalent. Therefore, the concept is merely not an inventible it is detectable. According to some Western views, the reference of spiritual affair is man-made and therefore the meaning is simply makeable. Some Western views believe in the existence of plurality in the reference of the spiritual affair. However the Islamic view believes in unity. From the viewpoint of Islam, spirituality is a holistic concept which includes all the aspects of child’s life and it has four kinds of one’s relationship: with one’s self, with people, with the environment, with the creation, and with God, but in some Western views this relationship is limited to one’s relationship with one’s self others (people) and environment. The method of this research is the quantitative content analysis.

The various situations which man faces throughout life provide him with potential educational opportunities. Among the foundations of man education is his being influenced by these opportunities. This paper aims to explain the educational opportunities in jihad and show how these opportunities can be used. This research is qualitative study in which an "analytical - inferential" method is used. According to the method of combat, there are four conditions: "attack, defense, emigration and religious dissimulation". In "defense", man is placed in a predetermined situation; in "attack" the decision is taken by man himself. In emigration", man should leave the battle field, and in "religious dissimulation" he should resist and remain consciously silent. Each one of these conditions prepares the ground for strengthening various characteristics in man and contributes to bringing up a combatant who enjoys many moral and social characteristics consistent with the individual and collective dimensions of jihad, such as monotheism,, trust in God, tolerance, patience and resistance, love and anger, obedience, fighting against cruelty and conscientiousness.