نشریه پژوهش های راهنماشناسی
پیاپی 2 (بهار و تابستان 1400)

Dr. Farhad Daftary is one of the researchers in the field of Shi’i studies in the West who has written many works in this field for many years. His most famous work is the book ‘The Ismailis: Their History and Doctrines’ which presented most of his important notions. His viewpoints and styles are accompanied by strong and weak points in this book. The most important vital points of his work are the appropriateness in form and structure, and the use of analytical history in the field of Islamic studies which is a novelty in its kind. At the same time, his book is critically acclaimed both in terms of method and content. The most important methodological critiques of this book are the absolute focus on historiography and non-Shiite sources and texts, the disregard for Shiite sources, and the use of unproven presuppositions. In terms of content, belief in the historiography of Imami Shi’ah, compilation of some original Shi’ah beliefs by Keysaniyah, incorrect analysis of the time of Shi’ah formation and the role of exaggerations in the formation of a distinct Shi’ah identity are among the issues that are weak in terms of definite history as well as Shi’ah hadiths and are criticizable. The style of work in this aspect is to express the vital points as well as criticizing Dr. Farhad's Shi’ah ideas based on gathering numerous evidences from his famous book in this field, namely ‘The Ismailis: Their History and Doctrines’, and a brief analysis of each and their conclusions based on the two platform of method and content.

The scope of the law of the Ulul Azmi Prophets is one of the important issues of the principle of prophethood. To what extent does the universality or non-universality of the prophethood of these prophets interfere with their determination? Ustadh Subhani is one of the thinkers who, contrary to popular belief, has accepted only the universality of the Shari'ah of the Holy Prophet and considers the prophethood of other Ulul Azmi Prophets as regional and specific to a particular nation. For this reason, analyzing and examining their point of view is of particular importance. The method of this research is descriptive-analytical and critical and the main question of this research is that according to what arguments did Ustadh Subhani try to prove the regionality of the prophethood of some of the Ulul Azmi Prophets and to what extent did he consider these arguments acceptable? To prove his theory (attributing the prophethood of Noah, Abraham, Moses, and Jesus to their own people and the non-universality of those narrations), Ustadh Subhani presented narrative and rational arguments. And in rational arguments, the emphasis is on the inadequacy of the necessary infrastructure to make the invitation of these Prophets public. However, in the interpretation of the narrations, there is no difference between the original core of the invitation and the final audience of the invitation, and if such a distinction is made, the universality of their prophethood is certain and undeniable. Rational arguments can also be answered by sharing the prophetic propagation and raising people's level of understanding.

From the perspective of religion and Islamic scholars, the soul is a divine essence and has levels such as vegetative, animal and human souls; and the holy soul can be considered one of the highest levels of the human soul. The possessor of this soul has manifestations in the universe due to liberation from (worldly) attachments and also refinement from any obscenity and filthiness, and counted among these manifestations are mediation of divine grace and guidance and apprehension of God's servants, and he is one of the representatives of infallible leaders and special saints of God. These sacred manifestations, in which time and place will have no effect, have found a different and obvious manifestation in the Arbaeen pilgrimage today. Among these manifestations, we can mention the fulfillment of faith and servitude, the renewal of the covenant with the Wilayah, the revival of the culture of freedom-seeking and rebellion for God, as well as the connection between the school of Ashura and the school of revelation.

In the time of Imam Sajjad (AS), in political, social, cultural and economic dimensions, very deep and wide challenges were formed against the basis of religion and religious beliefs and Shi’ism as well as the identity of the Islamic Ummah. Undoubtedly, in order for these challenges to fail in achieving the main goals, a powerful and socially and intellectually prudent stream is needed that could intelligently prevent the challengers from achieving their goals, taking advantage of the opportunities provided by the Sunnah of the Messenger of God (PBUH) to stabilize the society and bring the Islamic Ummah through the crisis. This is important with the rising thought of Sayyid al-Sajdeen (AS) and the plan with the adequacy and stability of the Imam and his organization with measures such as awakening public opinion and exposing the nature of the challengers, analyzing and drawing a straight line, explaining high ideological teachings and empowering and training good students. This was organized in the best possible way. In this article, an attempt has been made to explain and analyze the most important actions of the Imam in dealing with the religious challenges of the mentioned era by using descriptive-analytical method and using valid historical sources. The results can be used as effective strategies to prevent and deal with religious challenges of the present age.

The knowledge and infallibility of the Prophet (PBUH) are among the important issues that Muslim theologians have presented different views according to its importance, and the result is better knowledge of the Prophet (PBUH) and reciprocal better practical behavior for his followers. This article intends to measure and compare the knowledge and infallibility of the Prophet from the point of view of Ibn Taymiyyah and Ibn Mutahar. This selection can be considered due to the time proximity of these two theologians as well as Ibn Taymiyyah's specific criticisms of Allamah Hilli's point of view, a question that has been answered in this article. This is: whether knowledge and infallibility are current in all aspects of the life of the Prophet (PBUH) from the perspective of these two thinkers or not? Considering that the Prophet is a role model, it should be said that infallibility cannot be accepted only in some aspects of his prophethood.The present article has been done by descriptive-analytical method and software and library search, and its purpose is to explain the views of Ibn Taymiyyah and Allamah Hilli on this issue.

Considering the special place of encyclopedias in injecting information, and awareness in general and even at the level of the general public or even researchers, review and critique, the articles compiled in this encyclopedia and determining the validity and accuracy of the content presented in those articles is necessary and certain. The Encyclopaedia Americana, the world's oldest English-language encyclopedia and well-known among the world's public encyclopedias, is a reference encyclopedia written by more than 6,500 researchers on a variety of topics.The incomplete and erroneous picture of the Shi’ah and Shi’ah Imams presented in this encyclopedia, with the help of library tools and referring to historical and hadith sources, led the author of this article to critique and review the article “Ali” in this encyclopedia. The brevity of the article on the most important figure in the Islamic world after the noble Prophet [PBUH], incorrect and one-sided analyzes, as well as fanatical attitudes resulting from incorrect and incomplete information and limited references in this article written by Orientalist William Montgomery Watt are among the criticisms of this entry in the American Encyclopedia.