نشریه هفت آسمان
پیاپی 47 (پاییز 1389)

The problem of proximity among the Islamic sects has become a central issue among the Muslim thinkers and religionists for almost one century. A great many Muslim thinkers have called for proximity out of compassion and prudence, while some others have adopted such an attitude out of political expediency. On the other hand, the majority of the opponents of the proximity are religiously motivated; however, a small number of the opponents are politically motivated. Also, one can classify the thoughts and the works concerned with proximity into several general approaches. This may help us to adopt an approach which can make proximity enduring. Having reviewed the works on proximity, the present writing sets to work to study the movements associated with the proximity among the Islamic denominations. Thus, it first considers the criterion of a proximity-seeking movement, and then five approaches to proximity which are as follows: 1. opposition to proximity; 2. emphasis upon the social and political unity; 3. highlighting the shared characteristics and regarding the disagreements as excusable; 4. offering a particular interpretation of Imamate; 5. and, emphasis upon the common characteristics and the revision of the differences. The most important works and thinkers of every movement, whether Shiite or Sunni, are also taken into consideration.

The Muslim thinkers have made a great many points about unity; however, they have failed to actualize their vision. In fact, one of the reasons behind the failure to achieve unity is the existence of a large number of obstacles such as the misunderstanding of the issue of unity, and the concern of some religionists about the loss of the religious identity and the degeneration of religion; although, it has been already pointed out that proximity does not lead to the loss of religious identity. On the other hand, the call for unity is not a moral advice; but, it is a social strategy whose implementation involves a coherent educational system, institutionalization of compromise, and the development of the social tolerance. This cultural movement is based upon the satisfaction of the sophisticated portion of society and frequent discussions; it also involves a long term educational program. The inquiry into the obstacles may help to achieve such goals and avoid more damages. The present paper is an attempt to examine the obstacles on the road to the Muslim unity and the reasons behind the failure of the reformers in terms of the Quranic verses and traditions. Thus, the foundations of the obstacles to the unity are first considered in religious terms, and then the obstacles themselves and the ways in which they can be overcome.

Doctrinal controversy among the adherents of different Islamic denominations has sometimes become bitter. The denial of this fact is impossible; and any attempt to overlook it is doomed to failure. However, if there is a constructive dialogue rather than dispute among the Islamic sects, the Muslim world will soon begin to flourish; and the existence of different opinions is, in fact, a necessary condition of a dynamic community. Generally speaking, morality is disregarded in the interreligious controversy; and this is the major problem. In other words, the Islamic moralities are sacrificed for the defense of only one aspect of religion, that is, the dogma. The common immoralities involved in the interreligious ontroversy have been gradually established; and the danger lies in the fact that we sometimes forget that the spread of the religion of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), as the exemplar of morality, is possible only through the observance of the moral principles. The present essay is mainly concerned to give a picture of the current reality in this regard; it is also an attempt to provide a framework for the consideration of the doctrinal controversies. Thus, ten general moral principles are given; they are, in fact,the development of the golden rule which is appealed to in the interreligious controversies and the ethics of disagreement.

In order to analyze the Islamic sectarian movements, one should first enquire into their backgrounds; and this may help to carry out a comprehensive research. The majority of the scholars are of opinion that sectarianism, especially the political one, began to develop from the time of Uthman's murder; however, the understanding of this important issue involves the consideration of the intellectual backgrounds and the historical events preceding Uthman. In fact, so long as one does not occupy one's self with the background events, one's enquiry into the causes of political events and the origins of thoughts is less likely to bear fruit. Having considered some of the characteristics of the age of the Prophet (PBUH), this writing first examines the characteristics of the age of the Prophet's companions and followers, its political and doctrinal controversies, the way in which the Islamic Sects developed, and the controversial theological issues; then, it proceeds to enquire into the extent to which the political controversy influences sectarianism; and finally, it provides a list of the most important objects of conflict among the sects. This study may help to shed light on the causal relationship among the intellectual events; it also may help to notice the similarity of the doctrinal conflicts between the past and present thinkers.

The present paper considers the problem of peaceful coexistence from the viewpoints of the Infallible Imams (PBUT) in terms of its necessity,background, and the ways of attaining it. Putting emphasis upon the positive consequences of the peaceful coexistence such as security, and the spread of the true religion, the Infallible Imams (PBUT) kept asking people to develop mutual cooperation. They have also showed that the just government possesses some characteristics which can prepare the ground for the peaceful coexistence. According to them, the consideration of the differences and degrees of faith as well as the establishment of common morality may pave the way for peaceful coexistence. Further, they maintain that there is a variety of ways in which we can attain peaceful coexistence; for example,compromise and mutual tolerance as regards religious and social matters. Respecting the adherents of other religions and participation in the ceremonies associated with them may be two other ways in which we can attain the peaceful coexistence.

Salafism is one of the contemporary religious movements, which has got a great many adherents across the Muslim world; thus, it can have positive or negative influence upon the process of proximity among the Islamic sects.
Salafism was founded by Ibn Teimieh, who put emphasis upon the accuracy of the understanding of the predecessors. Ever since its appearance, Salafism has had adherents all over the Muslim world; all of them agree with Ibn Teimieh in holding that the understanding of the predecessors is accurate; however,they are different in some respects. Salafism can be categorized as follows: the radical Vahabi Salafism of Saudi Arabia, the moderate and extremist Deobandi Salafism of the Indian subcontinent, the moderate Zeidieh Salafism of Yemen, the proximity-seeking Salafism of Muslim brotherhood of Egypt,and the Jihadi Salafism of Seyyed Qotbi. One may think that all Salafis are the opponents of the proximity on the ground that Ibn Teimieh was anti-Shiite. On the contrary, almost half of the Salafis are the xponents of Islamic unity. At one end of the spectrum are the radical Vahabi Salafis who play the major part in causing conflict, and at the other, a group of the Muslim brotherhood of Egypt who has been seriously concerned with the proximity among the Muslim sects. Introducing the different trends of Salafism, the present paper is concerned to examine the extent to which they are compatible with the cause of the proximity among the Muslim sects.

In spite of the fact that Imamate is one of the fundamental issues of Shiism, Shahid Sadr did not consider it seriously; however, he may be excused on the ground that he had been concerned with equally serious issues. As regards the issues associated with Imamate, his approach was non traditionalist; and as he kept pointing out, he had been concerned to consider Imamate in a way which was acceptable to those, who wanted Imamate to be considered from the perspectives other than that of tradition. Thus, he occupied himself with the issues which had been overlooked or only a limited number of scholars had taken into account. In common with such theorists as Shahid Motahari and Imam Khomeini, he distinguished between Imamate and political leadership, and Imamate and intellectual leadership on the one hand and religious authority on the other. This writing is concerned with Shahid Sadr's views on Imamate; it ends with a set of questions posed in the light of the distinction which is made between the aspects of Imamate by Shahid Sadr and some other Muslim thinkers; and these questions seem worth considering.

The present writing is an attempt to argue that some of the views which are intended to bring about proximity among sects, in fact, cause Shia Islam to dissolve in Sunni Islam. These views, on the one hand, lower the status of Imamate and undermine its culture; and on the other hand, they propagate caliphate, causing it to become even superior. This paper is concerned to show that the spread of such views will cause serious political and social damages to both Shia Islam and the Shiites; to show this, I have first analyzed these views to show their social and political implications; then, I have considered the inferences which the exponents of these views draw from their own premises so that I can show that not only such conclusions necessarily follow from these views but also that they have been really arrived at; and finally, the historical evidence is provided to show that any position taken on Imamate and caliphate has led to certain political and social results. Further, the arguments advanced by the exponents of proximity are sometimes evaluated.