نشریه پاسخ
پیاپی 17 (بهار 1399)

Secularism emerged in the West under the influence of a number of factors, such as the separation of religious authority from worldly authority in Christians' scriptures. Likewise, in the Muslim world, some Muslim analysts who follow this point of view interpret some Quranic verses in such a way that their interpretation turns out to be a secularist one just as is the case in Christianity. As a case in point, by referring to the verses 58 and 59 of Surah Al-Nisa', they argue that the Prophet (s) does not have the authority to rule, and therefore obeying him in all the affairs of Islamic state would not be absolute and that even God has commanded that the issue of establishing the state be within the control of people. This is while firstly the majority of Islamic programs are not feasible without establishing a state. Therefore, the Holy Prophet (s) not only founded a state himself, but he also determined the state after him by the Divine command; and secondly, 'Uli al-Amr, whom Allah the Exalted has commanded people to obey unconditionally in the same way as they obey Him, are the Infallible Imams (‘a) and not lay people; otherwise it would defeat the purpose of sending prophets as well as Divine guidance. In fact, Islamic traditions have also corroborated this interpretation of 'Uli al-Amr. Thirdly, the verse that commands the Trust to be entrusted to those who are qualified for it, suggests assigning Imamate to Imams of Ahl al-Bayt (‘a) and not people.

Women's covering is regarded as one of jurisprudential and ethical issues in Islam. The Islamic feminine covering possesses various cognitive, motivational, emotional and behavioral dimensions. Admittedly, one of the factors that has an impact on the social form and structure is women's covering. Analyses that are against hijab insist on introducing hijab and Islamic covering as the result and effect of power structure within conventional patriarchal societies, representing its abandonment as the most important path to women's freedom, dignity and standing up for their social rights. Through providing cognitive, psychological and sociological explanations, the present article proves that women's covering does not have a direct relationship with power structure in conventional societies although it has two-way connections with social structure, but rather it has more solid and deeply ingrained roots in shaping the identity of the individual and society.

One of the doubts that has been fueled concerning Imam alSadiq (‘a) is his Eminence's lack of knowledge due to writing no books. This issue has been used as a pretext to question all the narrations issued by the Imam (‘a). However, one of the ways of acquiring knowledge is using quotations and narrations in religious teachings which have epistemic value commensurate with their authenticity. Consequently, the complete denial of narrations would contribute to the elimination of various scientific disciplines such as history, Quranic sciences, exegesis and hadith. Furthermore, the Imam's Divine knowledge has been proven by solid and demonstrative reasons. Thus, assuming that no books have been written by Imam al-Sadiq (‘a), this matter does not necessarily signify his Eminence's lack of knowledge; furthermore, the reasons behind not having written any books should be explored as well. One of the main reasons why Imam al-Sadiq (‘a) wrote no books was the prevalence of political pressure in his era. Writing a book would have served as a pretext as well as a living proof that could have been used by the despotic rulers of the time to intensify their persecution of the Shi'a. Moreover, training a large number of students, each of whom has authored numerous scholarly books is regarded as the best proof of their master's knowledge.

Drawing upon historical accounts such as the ones provided by The History of al-Tabari, some have been fueling doubts as to the invasion of Banu Qurayẓa by claiming that a large number of Jews of Banu Qurayẓa were executed by Muslims and the Prophet (s) treated them violently. This is while in this event, the tribe of Banu Qurayẓa, which was one of the Jewish tribes living in Medina, took measures in the fifth year after Hijra to conspire with polytheists, breach their treaty with the Prophet (s) and sow discord, seeking to obliterate the Islamic government, and therefore they were executed by Muslims. In the present article, the legitimacy of adopting this decision will be proven by citing some authentic reasons, one of which is that the Prophet (s) had given the men of Banu Qurayẓa the chance to reverse their decision, but they turned him down deliberately, opting for their own execution. Another point pertains to the number of those executed, which has been blown out of proportion and is far from accurate according to historical evidence.

The way the Messenger of Allah (s) treated the Jews of Banu Naḍir has been viewed by some of his opponents as a form of banditry and robbery as it led to the felling of a number of their trees and the confiscation of a portion of their property, casting the doubt that because the Muslims lived in poverty, the Prophet invaded them with a delusive excuse, thereby seizing their property. The exploration of this issue by drawing upon early sources, particularly historical and exegetical sources as well as applying the descriptive-analytical method indicates that the Jews of Banu Naḍir, just like other Jews of Medina, had signed a pact with the Messenger of Allah (s), based on which they could not conspire to take action against the Prophet (s); however, they turned a blind eye to their treaty and allied with the pagans of Quraysh, urging them to confront Muslims. They also made arrangements to assassinate the Prophet (s). Even though the Holy Prophet (s) had the power and he could have severely punished them, he only asked them to leave the city and emigrate to some other place.

Some people contend that Imam Khomeini was not familiar with the modern era and the world and that he had no plans for development and prosperity. Nevertheless, by studying the leadership approaches adopted by him during the period he was the leader of the Islamic revolution, one can find that Imam Khomeini attached great importance to development and prosperity, making use of a realistic political plan and model for leadership based on religious principles in order to lead people to attaining Islamic and revolutionary ideals.

Social changes in the sphere of beliefs, attitudes and various behavioral patterns in Iranian society over the recent years are not disputable. Some media activists contend that over the past years, Iranian society has been turning away from religious faith and moving toward secular attitudes. This group of activists perceive such parameters as the growth of urbanization, level of education, the government's inefficiency in some areas, the growth of demand for change, etc. as the signs and causes of Iranian society's secularization. In the present research, we explored the parameters of secularism in order to verify its correspondence with the current features of Iranian society, drawing the conclusion that modern elements such as urbanization, demand for change, level of education and so forth not only have not resulted in the secularization of Iranian society, but they have been inspired by Islamic-Iranian culture, helping to deepen the cultural and religious beliefs and attitudes of Iranians