فصلنامه اسلام و مطالعات اجتماعی
سال دهم شماره 4 (پیاپی 40، بهار 1402)

Mahdiism is one of the most important doctrines in Islamic culture and thought, and it has an important and privileged position and has many impacts and functions in social arenas. The explanation of Mahdiism studies with a social approach and descriptive-analytical method can answer many issues related to social arenas. It seems that Mahdiism has been paid attention to in terms of belief, history and culture, but it has not been adequately considered in the social aspect. In this regard, this study aims to explain the functions, requirements and aspects of Mahdiism studies in social arenas. The most important functions of Mahdiism studies with a social approach include social order, cohesion and solidarity, creating social security and crystallization of social identity and hope. The requirements that were explained in this research are the implementation of contemporary justice, attention to Islamic and inter-religious identity, and the radical fight against corruption and the institutionalization of values in society. The aspects of Mahdavi teachings in the social arenas are also focused on the two areas of the family and the educational institution.

The current study aims to extract the components of Islamic social action and compare it with identity styles. The method of this research is comparative and exploratory factor analysis and variance analysis have been used. "What are the components of Islamic social action and its relationship with identity styles, what are the differences between them", are among the questions of this research. Data collection was done using questionnaires of Islamic social actions (based on interpretation of verses and narratives) and identity styles questionnaires. The statistical population of this study is the students of Islamic Seminary and university in Qom, among whom 388 people were selected by available sampling method. The findings suggest that Islamic social actions have four separate components (factors) among social activists. Religious normativity, avoiding narcissism in social relations, religion-oriented communication, and ethical boundary-finding were obtained from this structure. This structure of Islamic social action in relation to the triple identity is such that informational and normative identity styles are not significantly different from each other, but each of them is significantly different from the avoidant identity style. That means that, people with informational and normative identity style show higher levels of Islamic social actions and those with avoidant identity style have weak levels of Islamic social action.

Amir Momenan's (Imam Ali) identity-creating thought is so broad and rich that it deserves and is necessary to be considered as an ideal model to face identity threats in the present era. Therefore, this study has been organized with the aim of exploring the most important requirements for facing identity threats in the arena of religion based on the viewpoint of Imam Ali. The method of this research in content processing is explanatory-analytical, and according to the achievement or result of the research, it is of a developmental-applied type, and in terms of the type of data used, it is a qualitative research. The method of collecting data is library type and description is used in exploration. The findings of this article considers the requirements of facing identity threats in the arena of religion in two areas: basic and approach requirements. "Cognitive deepening of religious identity", "natured explanation of religious identity" and "centeredness of right orientation in religious identity formation" are among the basic requirements, and "multidimensional approach" and "collectivism" are also considered as the approach requirements.

The thought of takfir is referred to the issue of Salafism and returning to the thought and practice of the Salaf, which has been propagated by people such as Ahmad Ibn Hanbal, Ibn Taymiyyah and Ibn Abd al-Wahhab since the beginning of Islam, and has spread in the contemporary era. This study aims to examine the internal factors of the Islamic world in the expansion of the thought of takfir. Internal factors are those internal conditions of Islamic societies that have prepared the ground for the formation and expansion of this concept. Thus, the question arises as to what factors within the Islamic world have caused the promotion and expansion of the idea of takfir in the contemporary era? It seems that the idea of takfir by creating ideas and attracting audiences through the mechanisms of referring to the early Companions of the early days of Islam and by abusing some Islamic values, were able to distance them from the circle of Islamic sacred concepts and give them a legitimate and ideological status in the minds of their supporters. Also, the experience of takfiri groups like ISIS shows that the idea of takfir is more attractive to the audience of regions that are facing poverty, ignorance, unawareness, division and instability. The current study has taken advantage of the descriptive-analytical method and constructivist theory to analyze the set of internal factors involved in the expansion of the thought of takfir.

The main purpose of this study is a comparison between social evolution with the interpretation and words of Professor Motahari and Herbert Spencer's point of view. The method used in this study is descriptive-comparative and the means of collecting data is, authentic documents, evidence, books and articles through library method. The results of this research show that, although Spencer's evolutionary approach is different from Motahari's view on the concept of evolution, both of them have dealt with this concept with two different views. One with a religious view influenced by the religious teachings of Islam and some social and religious thinkers such as Allameh Tabatabaei and the other with a sociological approach and influenced by the ideas of Darwin and Lamarck. For example, they both share the definition of social evolution, which means more diversity and division of labor, as well as not believing in unilinear evolution. However, from Shahid Motahari's point of view, social evolution emerges through collective agreements and adaptations, not through differences and contradictions; But Spencer sees the evolution of society as the result of political and regional wars.

Bryan Turner is one of the thinkers who is trying to create a positive position in social theory with the principle of "life-affirming instinct" in Nietzsche's views based on the solid foundations that appeared in the thinkers of the 20th century, especially Nietzsche. The main question of the current research is that basically by examining his views, in the physical existence that could be seen especially in the thinkers of the 20th century, what is the justification for the re-entry of religion into the fields of theorizing and is this confrontation a coherent confrontation or again it has turned towards functional theories? The present study deals with this issue by examining the documents of Turner's viewpoints and analyzing its directional content. Through benefiting from the fundamental methodology as a theoretical framework, this study seeks to examine the coherence of his views in the face of religion and has reached the conclusion that not only Turner violated Nietzsche's foundations about thinking in many of his positions, but also violated the inherent rules of religion with its social rules. In addition, despite the materialistic approach, he has also dealt with beliefs and values in detail, and with a functional approach, he tries to fill the gaps caused by physicality in the global society with the virtue of citizenship resulting from religious teachings.

The growing population of female preachers and the wide range of issues related to women, in the scientific and cultural environment of society and the direct influence of female preachers on family members, require special attention to the matter of propagating women and the need to promote their activities. This study aims to promote women's religious preaching, by identifying the harms and providing solutions, with the approach of religious preaching ethics, among the pillars of religious preaching of preachers (including preacher, message, and audience). Among the many issues related to the preacher, the "covering (clothing) of the preacher" has been chosen and the question has been raised that "in the field of clothing of female preachers what harms the morals of their religious preaching and what are the roots of these harms?" The method of this article is descriptive-analytical. The data was obtained by interview method and analyzed by thematic analysis technique. The findings suggest that the concepts of wearing brands, unadorned clothing and unconventional clothing refer to types of female preachers’ clothing, which are all considered inappropriate, and the reason for choosing this type of clothing is the lack of recognition of appropriate clothing, the inability to choose appropriate clothing, and the inadequacy of the Islamic Seminary’s educational system. Secondly, the themes of fashionable clothing and formal wear are related to two types of ideal clothing is a challenge that neglecting the narratives as a reason for fashionable clothing, excesses in fashionable clothing, the context of the preaching region, the living standards of the preacher, and the confusion of examples of fashionable and unconventional clothing, have caused this challenge and should be considered.