پژوهشنامه ادیان
سال پانزدهم شماره 2 (پیاپی 30، پاییز و زمستان 1400)

In the Islamic world, studies about other religions have a long history. The Muslim scholars have reviewed the field in different ways. In the Al-Milal wa al-Nihal (“books on the Nations and their Religions”) and historical books, the views and beliefs of various religions and descriptive reports of thoughts and the etiquette of religions like Judaism, Christianity, etc could be fined.  Other than these references that generally reviewed the matter without any critiques and rebuttal writing, we could also find some content about the previous religions through rebuttal and critical books. The research aims to study Christianity and to explore the Muslims' achievements during the first 10 centuries AH.  Based on the findings of the paper, Muslims’ knowledge about Christians is acceptable and detailed, however, the weakness of these researches comes from a fact that they were not conducted continuously and they were limited to the eastern and Greek half of the church.  The reason for this is the lack of public interest in conducting extensive studies in this regard, also the lack of knowledge of Muslims about the heritage of Latin language and literature and finally, the lack of a large territorial connection with Christianity in the West.

Mahatma Gandhi, spiritual, political and social Hindu leader of India in the first half of twenty century, conducted a political and social struggle by his spiritual and religious values. Theologians of Latin America’s liberation theology started their opposition against the unjust political and economic structures of Latin America after 1960s. Despite their different religious traditions and cultural atmospheres, Gandhi and liberation theologians had comparable features in bases, methods and ends. They had critical relations to their religious traditions, believed in contextual viewpoints, tried for this-worldly changes, removing poverty and injustice and argued that praxis is more important than mere theory. Liberation theologians emphasized on Marxist thoughts and tried to change unjust political and economic structure, even by violent methods of struggle. So, ends are more important than means. But Gandhi, with his emphasis on spiritual and moral transformation, believed in inseparability of ends and means. He argued that violent methods would lead to more severe constraints than that of colonialism. In these thoughts Gandhi was influenced by Leo Tolstoy’s thoughts and Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. He was in contrary with socialist struggling groups in India.

Protestantism has changed many aspects of traditional Christianity, so we have to ask what is the attitude of Protestant leaders to the issue of women, and on the other hand, have women been able to use the potentials of this sect in intellectual, political, social and religious developments? The findings of this paper are that reforming the attitude towards women in Protestantism was not the main priority of Protestant reformers and the patriarchal view of the Middle Ages dominated their attitude. Protestantism had a positive and indirect effect on the subject, and women were actively involved in the events.

One of the unique ideas of Thomas Merton, a catholic reverend, was the idea of interreligious dialogue to which he has pointed out in a multitude of his essays and articles. Merton aimed to expand the notion of interreligious dialogue in order to include religions other than Christianity as well, and by stressing the similarities in the belief system and religious rituals of other religions with that of Christianity, he tried to pave the way towards the enrichment of religious experience for the believers of all religions and to further develop their religious bonds with Christianity. In this study, Thomas Merton’s thoughts on Islam, especially that of Islamic Sufism and Mysticism are discussed. While expounding on his interreligious dialogue, the discourse between Islam and Christianity is examined in depth. The ideas of Merton, especially that of Sufism including recitation, meditation, to see yourself as nothing without God, and to see God as your only source of existence are discussed in this study. Merton’s view on Sufism as what brings Christianity and Islam together, as the findings of this study suggest, remains both a highly plausible and rather controversial stance that needs further investigation.

This article examines the formation and expansion of three main institutions of Sufism including Khānqah, ribāṭ, and zāwīyah in Jerusalem during the Mamluk period and raises the question of what was the function of those institutions in the social and cultural life of the city. According to the findings of this study, thirty Sufi institutions including seven khānqahs, six ribāṭs and 17 zāwīyahs were founded in Jerusalem during this period. The founders of the khānqahs and Ribāṭs were mainly Mamluk Sultans and Amirs, but the Zāwīyahs were instituted by the Sufi sheikhs. In addition to their educational and pedagogic functions, those institutions also had a large social and cultural function of accommodation and hospitality. By that they legitimize the Mamluk rulers, as the main founders and financiers of the institutions and so they used them to strengthen the religious foundations of their monarchy. The formation and expansion of Sufi institutions during this period was also one of the important factors in restoring the Islamic identity of Jerusalem and the Islamization of the city.

The concept of the ideal human being is an important concept in all religions, especially, in Mahayana Buddhism and Twelver Shi'ism. The Mahayana ideal human is “Bodhisattva” who begins his path of enlightenment with the awakening of “Bodhicitta” and steps on the path of spiritual journey with a covenant and oath for liberating himself as well as all intelligent beings. After passing mystical states or Bhumis, he removes the veils and obstacles and, in each state, acquires the perfection (Paramita) corresponding to that state. In the last state, Bodhisattva can join the ultimate liberation, “Nirvana”, however due to his infinite kindness and compassion, “Karuna”, refuses to enter it and remains in the circle of reincarnation, “Samsara”, to help other beings. The most perfect examples of the ideal human being in Shi’ism are the Prophet and the infallible Imams, who have a special and great position in Shi’ism. According to the Shi’ite tradition, the Imams are the mirrors of the truth, the mediators of heaven, the Caliphs of Allah on earth and adorned with all human virtues. They can lead human beings to true perfection and divine knowledge. Despite the differences of Buddhist and Shi’ite traditions, beliefs in Bodhisattva and Imam have significant similarities in features and functions that make their comparison meaningful. Infallibility, infinite knowledge, miraculous powers, developmental and canonical role in guidance, and being the sources for the appeals of the people are among these similarities.

Rituals are among the first and most important elements of religion that change over time. This article, which is written in a descriptive-analytical method, surveys how internal factors (Such as reduction of priests) or external factors (such as the rules of the majority) affected on Zoroastrian funeral ceremony after Islamic era. These effects occur in three forms: decreasing, constant and increasing which lead to deletion, conversion, change, justification, establishment, consolidation, imitation and imposition in some of the Zoroastrian funeral ceremony. The objective results of developments can be seen in a variety of matters such as: maintaining the credibility of rituals as a tool to support the dead and relieve the survivors, strengthen the foundations of Zoroastrian doctrines with new interpretation, adaptation of ancient ritual forms to modern conditions, utilizing the death rituals as a recovery agent of historical and religious identity, keeping up with the host community and reducing critical pressures, maintaining the exclusive position of religious people in the implementation of some rituals and introducing some other rituals to the general public.

Since Judaism, as a tradition-based religion, had a strong connection with Temple, the religious and national identity of Jews was seriously endangered after the fall of the Temple. This paper examines factors leading to the survival of the Judaism after the destruction of the Second Temple. By carefully examining the historical documents and previous studies, we can identify two groups of internal and external factors. Internal factors include the role of Yohanan ben Zakkai, Sanhedrin council, Pharisees, and rabbinic system. Simon Bar Kokhba’s revolt led to the consolidation of the Jews’ theological status. Moreover, the prominent role of oral traditions in the post-Second Temple period in the form of Talmud led to the survival of Judaism. External factors include the exile to neighbouring lands, especially Babylon, the influence of ancient Iran’s monotheist religions, the opposition between the Roman and Persian empires in the post-Second Temple era, bringing the Jews closer to the Parthians in enmity with Rome, and the probable role of the Parthians in provoking the Jewish revolts to distract Romans. The combination of these factors provided the basis for the religious life of the Jews and the consolidation of monotheistic beliefs in the post-Second Temple era.

This Article Consecrate on Fana (“Annihilation”) and Union with God as most important belief and charge of Ayn al-Quzat Hamidani and Meister Eckhart. Because of this Ayn al-Quzat is accused to claim of prophethood but he defended himself against this charge in his book. Many of Eckhart’s thoughts like The Image of God in the Soul, The Birth of the Son in the Soul, Detachment, Union of Good man with Son are preliminaries or results of Union with God and all of them were seen by Christian authorities as Heretics. The question is whether, despite the fundamental differences between Christianity and Islam, the charge of heresy against the two is the same? How do they defend themselves against this accusation and how different are they from each other? Ayn al-Quzat consider Sufism to be an esoteric science that purity is the condition for access to it. Eckhart also deals in detail with the preliminaries and requirements of union with God. In both minds, God is central to unity. Ayn al-Quzat’s annihilation is the result of man's ascension but Eckhart's union is the result of God's revelation. Both mystics use metaphors and allegories to express the truth of doom, and in many cases come very close to each other.

Sufis considered dreams to be one of the means of communication with the unseen realm, and they were thus highly valued. They examined the effects and goals of the dream experience in spiritual life and presented various viewpoints on the origins of dreams. This article explored the nature and function of dreams in Sufism by carefully studying 34 mystical texts from the 4th to 9th AH and assessing the contents of 387 dream accounts in these works. Dreams, according to mystics, are tied to either external circumstances or people's mental processes. Some mystics consider angels and others consider human waking behaviour, speech, and thought as the sources of dreams. Finally, others see the connection of man's encompassed imagination (khayal muttasil) to the absolute imagination (khayal mutlaq) as the source of dreams. Analysis of the content of dream reports in mystical works shows that dreams had three main functions for mystics: 1. a way for communicating with the unseen and gaining knowledge; 2. An approving proof for their doctrines; 3. A mirror that shows the people destiny and the outputs of their deeds. The present study can provide a coherent framework for understanding the nature and function of dreams from the perspective of Islamic mysticism.

Reconstructing the frames of Sufism's approach towards Hinduism in the Indian Subcontinent is what this paper aims for. Sufism over the course of time influenced Hindu ideas and was itself immensely influenced by Hinduism. Sufi Muslims' relationship with Hindus took a variety of forms based on the historical moment, place, and the specific currents within the Islamic civilization with which they were influenced. Generally, these relations put Muslim Sufis somewhere within “orthodox,” “philosophical,” and “popular” schools of thought within Sufism. In a broader scheme, these schools appear in six different types each with particular historical instances of its own. We can calibrate these relations to one of the following types: “comparison,” “interaction,” “conversion,” “assimilation,” “Affirmation,” and “confrontation”. This study will categorize these six types with the aid of historical evidence. This research examines the era between the third to the tenth century AH, during which Muslim Sufis remarkably thrived in the Indian Subcontinent.

In the following article, René Guenon's view on the correct approach to Hindu studies is discussed. In this regard, Guenon's view is presented in the context of critique of the scientific and historical view, which is opposite to his view. According to Guenon, the division into two views, western and eastern, is generally justifiable, and the western view has serious flaws that it cannot properly understand the teachings of the East, especially Hinduism. therefore, he rejects the general competence of the West in understanding the East, Among the reasons: he mentions lack of understanding of the spirit of the Oriental language and lack of intra-religious views. in return; The necessary principles for understanding these teachings will be explained from his works; 1- Having a stable-oriented view, not evolutionary 2- Believing in metaphysics and its effects 3- Understanding the spirit of Hindu language 4- Having an empathetic and intra-religious view 5- Having a cryptic and symbolic view which is discussed in this article.