فصلنامه آینه معرفت
پیاپی 70 (بهار 1401)

Although al-Farabi’s treatise al- Jam’ Beyne Ra’yy Al-Hakimayn, affirms that the scope of the subject matter of philosophy encompasses all beings, and this is, in fact, an affirmation of the Greco-Aristotelian nature of philosophy, from the attributes and descriptors he counts for philosophy it can be inferred that, in this treatise, he had the Quranic concept of wisdom in his mind for the term philosophy. The present paper argues that al-Farabi views the nature of philosophy as the knowledge of all beings, meanwhile the way he has depicted the identity of this knowledge reminds us of the religious concept of wisdom in the Muslim’s holy scripture. In a broader sense, the identity of philosophy, asdepicted in this treatise, has a Greco-Aristotelian nature with a religious identity characterized with Qur'anic terms such as persuasiveness, non-difference, lack of inconsistency in its rulings and conformity with the actual text as expressed by divine men to be received and emulated.

Denying any resemblances between the creator and creatures, Qazi Saeed Qomi sets his ideas apart from the typical cataphatic theology in Islamic discourse as well as the conventional theology of Shi’ism. This paper aims at investigating the relationship or lack of it between Qazi Saeed Qomi’s apophatic theology and the conventional predominant monotheistic perspectives of main schools of theology (i.e., Ash’arism, Mu’tazila, Shi’ism). Qazi Saeed’s theology is very different from the common rational theology of Ash’arites or Shi’ites, both of which emphasize the congruities between the creator and creatures. Although differentiating the aforementioned ideas appears to be difficult, unlike other theologists, Qazi Saeed does not believe in the theory of substituting the essence for attribute. In spite of the fact that at the first sights, Qazi Qomi’s theology brings a resemblance to rational-narrative-apophatic theological thoughts (e.g., al-Shaykh al-Saduq’s narrative-apophatic theology), our argument is that his ideas are reliant on the theoretical mystical thought (although they are still different in some ways). Qazi Qomi’s theology has been influenced by the theoretical mystical thought in terms of the following issues: believing in personal unity of existence, negating congruities between the essence and its manifestations, negating God’s essence from his attributes and believing in confinement of God’s names and attributes. The most considerable difference between them is that mystic theologists believe in being qua being principle, while Qazi Saeed Qomi fails even to accept this principle.

The doctrine of Badā’, as a specific attribute of Shiite beliefs, has constantly been the subject of derision and criticism by Shia opponents. They have accused the Shiites of attributing ignorance and remorse to God and, for that reason, have taunted them as such. In response, Shiite scholars have always defended the doctrine of Badā’ and tried, based on their own thought systems, to clarify the true nature of Badā’ and to provide an accurate account of its relationship with the divine attributes. Ayatollah Seyyed Muhammad Kazem Assar is among the recent great figures who have dealt with the doctrine of Badā’ in detail. He has developed an independent treatise on this subject with a philosophical-mystical approach. Ayatollah Assar’s initiatives in explaining the truth of Badā’, especially his mystical view of it, are unique. Using Sadra’s philosophical and mystical principles, he has managed to provide a novel and new explanation of the truth of Badā’, its relationship with the knowledge and will of God and divine destiny, and the way it is expounded through the knowledge and narratives of the Ma’suumin (P.B.U.T.). Adopting his viewpoint, the present paper is an attempt to explain the truth of Badā’ and to analyze its relationship with Knowledge, will and divine destiny, and the knowledge and infallibility of the Ma’suumin (P.B.U.T.).

In some verses of the holy Qur’an, there are references to the descent of the Holy Spirit on Jesus Christ. Although, from the perspective of traditional and trinity Christology, it is possible to consider them as evidence for a distinction for Jesus Christ, close consideration of the Holy Spirit referents in exegetic and narrative sources fails to confirm this perception. It is rather an indication of a Christ’s characteristic for which similar explanations can be found in modern Christology. The present paper is an attempt to find the points of similarity between Schleiermacher’s Christology which puts emphasis on Jesus' privilege of having a pure and continual knowledge of God giving him the infallibility of sin and the Islamic commentators’ interpretation of the Holy Qur'an’s verses which confirm the descent of the Holy Spirit on Jesus. Results of the study suggest that the shift of modern Christology from the concept of the union of the divine and the human in Jesus to the perception of the Holy Spirit as the highest human spiritual level provides a much better framework for the interpretation of the Qur’anic verses which deal with the confirmation of the descent of the Holy Spirit in Jesus. This rank which flourishes in perfect human beings and some prophets like Jesus enables them to gain direct knowledge of God and other truths with His help.

The common understanding of the Quranic statement “God raised Jesus up toward Himself” is the ascension of Jesus to heaven alive, where He stands. However, some contemporary intellectuals have claimed that the Qur'an does not mean that Jesus ascended to heaven alive, but rather that Jesus was raised in spirit to a higher status. The present study shows that the claim of Jesus' death and the denial of his ascension to heaven, regardless of the Christian background of the story, can be justified, because the Qur'an explicitly states in two instances that God received Jesus. The word used in the Qur'an in these two instances can refer to ordinary death. Nevertheless, the statements of the Qur'an should be interpreted in accordance with the mentality of the audience, as consistent with Christian beliefs, which confirms the ascension of Jesus. In Christianity, belief in the ascension of Jesus has a clear history, and if the Qur'an did not mean the famous ascent, it would divert the minds of the audience by presenting a clear reason. So there is no reason for audience’s mind to turn away from the living ascension, and the verses that say God received Jesus can be understood to mean receiving him alive. On this basis, the Quranic verses can be understood as indicating the return of Jesus.

Ehsan Elahi Zahir is one of the famous Wahhabi authors active in rejecting Shi'a beliefs. In his numerous works, he has considered the existence of the twelfth Shi'a Imam as delusional and believes that Imam Al-Hasan al-Askari (P.B.U.H.) did not have a child. To support his claim, he draws on narrations from Shi'a books and the views of Shi'a scholars such as Nobakhti, Al-Shaykh al-Mufid and Al-Tabarsi. In this article, his views and the narrations attributed to Shi’a theologians quoated by him are reviewed critically. The results show clearly that his citations are inaccurate. Furthermore, based on narrations from authentic Sunni sources supplemented with the historical events narrated in historical books, it is concluded that the existence of Imam Mahdi (a.s.) is not delusional and from a historical point of view and based on Shi’a’s and Sunni’s views Imam al-Hassan al-Askari had a son and his son is Imam Mahdi (a.s.).

The theory of velayate e faqih (Guardianship of the Islamic Jurist), as conceptualized by Imam Khomeini, has close affinities with Rashid Reza's theory of Islamic Caliphate regarding government and politics in the sense that both models are similar in their general structure and principles. They put emphasis on the role of the people and their vote and, at the same time, stress that the Islamic government should be based on religious principles and rules. Ijtihad (exegesis of divine law) and expediency are supposed to lead to the flexibility of religion and pave the way for the implementation of religious rule consistent with the realities of the time and place. Despite their similarity in theory, the concrete results and the social output of their related affiliates vary greatly. Examining the theoretical foundations of these two theories, it is made clear that the way religion and some of its characteristics including the function of religion, its immortality and comprehensiveness, as well as the origins of theology and anthropology are viewed, lead to such an approach to government and politics. However, differences in the way these issues are viewed by the Shiites and the Sunnis lead to important differences in their implementation. The Shiite approach is based on reason and narration and has a rich rational support, while the Sunni theology is more based on narration and jurisprudence. This difference has made the theory of Islamic Caliphate fail to achieve its goals in practice.