نشریه کلام پژوهی
پیاپی 1 (بهار و تابستان 1401)

The rise of newly-emerging mysticisms in Modern World has led religious thinkers to re-examine their spiritual heritage. In addition to criticizing these new mysticisms and stating their weaknesses and deviations, they are bound to propagate the genuine religious spirituality in an affirmative manner. The author of these lines has tried to analyze religious rites and observe their elements and components that affect the development of spirituality through employing analytical-descriptive methods in desk research. By doing so, the superiority of Islamic religious rituals over other spiritual schools has been demonstrated. In terms of attending to intention, form, timeliness, obscurities, etc., and some dimensions of the spirituality of indulgence and restraint, Islamic religious rites surpass the rites of other schools and emanating spirituality of them.

The cancellation and compensation, and in case of the possibility of occurrence, its relation to divine justice  are among the challenging issues in Islamic Theology. The views and perspectives of Mu’tazilite, Ash’ari, and Shi’i theologians vary greatly on the contingency or non-contingency of cancellation and compensation and reckoning of deeds. Mu’tazilites acknowledge the cancellation and compensation in its absolute and balanced form and have referred to the rational arguments and revealed arguments. On the contrary, Ash’arites and Imamiyya theologians with reference to the rational and revealed arguments have attempted to refute Mu’tazilites’ proposition and substantiate their viewpoint. However, the matter of contention is that in light of some verses in Quran indicating the occurrence of cancellation and compensation, in addition to the verses emphasizing the precise retribution of every deed, how can the compatibility of cancellation and compensation with divine justice be interpreted, justified and clarified? By elucidating the viewpoints and arguments of theologians about the occurrence or non-occurrence of cancellation and compensation, the current article is aimed at examining its relation with divine justice.

The present article is aimed at examining the doctrine of “seal of the prophethood”. To this purpose, initially different approaches to this issue are discussed and then intellectual thinkers’ approach is critically elucidated in this area. Motahhari’s point of view is taken as the benchmark since it gives a comprehensive analysis of the issue. The doctrine of “seal of the prophethood” is examined critically from the perspectives of intellectual thinkers such as Muhammad Iqbal, Shariati, Soroush. Next, numerous rational and revealed arguments are employed to scrutinize these perspectives. It is concluded that such approaches are destined to fail in authentic Islamic culture due to their objection to the necessity of religion, the exact religious texts, and Islamic rationalism. In the end, a number of misconceptions about the question of seal of the prophethood are mentioned and relevant responses are presented from various angles.

Repentance is defined as a mental transformation on one’s own volition against oneself. According to the religious and verbal metaphors, repentance is like taking off dirty clothes and putting on clean clothes. In this sense, repentance matches the views of pre-Sadrian philosophers, such as Sheikh al-Ra'is, in terms of spiritual perfecting and in accordance with the soul’s disrobes and wear (khale w lubs) relation to its own perceptions. These philosophers place knowledge in the category of generic relation. However, in the philosophical views of Sadr al-Mutalahin and rooted in his theoretical grounds, the human perceptions are a part of the human existence and hence are not mere breadths. Consequently, the acquired properties (both virtues and vices) are not only the deep-seated qualities in soul, but are the very essence of being in itself. In this thinking tradition, the truth of human is formed based on the identity of soul’s acquired ideas with the soul itself. Based on the creativity of the human soul and in keeping with wear after wear (lubs baed lubs), repentance is no longer the taking off dirty clothes and putting on clean clothes but it is an existential transformation and inner revolution of the essence, a movement from vice to virtue and from misery to prosperity. Given that, repentance will be an extremely tough subject since purification from properties (stemming from vices) which are not a part of the existence but the existence itself, demands a personality overhaul and is a difficult journey.

In Islam, establishing a government by Prophet and Imams is awarded a special status. During the occultation of the Imam, the most important reason for founding a government is to maintain the sovereignty of religion and divine prophets. Among Imamiyya thinkers, Shaykh Tusi brought up the theory of separation of Imamate and Prophecy. He does not regard executive domain and sovereignty to be a part of the prophet’s responsibilities. He also believes in the separation of Imamate from Prophecy. Such a viewpoint may be considered as the equivalent of Secularism. The current article attempts to clarify this issue and by drawing on the evidence in Shaykh’s works, it refutes the attribution of Secularism to his theory. However, regarding the question of Imamate, in some instances he has inadvertently expressed his belief in the theory.

The discussion of atom among Muslim thinkers from the first century to the sixth century of Hijri is one of the significant and effective theological theories in the Islamic world. This theory was first introduced by the Mu'tazili thinkers with a theological approach in the Islamic world and later the Ash'aris acknowledged it as well. According to this theory, the world is the result of polycentricity and scatteration of individual and small components. According to the historical evidence, the origin of the adaptation of this theory is not only from ancient Greece, but also from Hindi opinions such as: Sutrananika, Ibashika Buddhist groups, in Jain religion and the Nyaya school, and three major viewpoints have been proposed regarding the atom: the first viewpoint, which is the predominant attitude of the scholars including Mu'tazili and Ash'ari, is that indivisible component has no quantity and is place-oriented like a geometric point. In the second view, Mu'tazili Basri theologians believe that the body is made up of place-oriented components that have dimension and extension. In the third view, which is specific to Muhammad bin Zakariyyā, it is considered that the origin of all substances to be hylomorphic, and the first hylomorphism is the atom that includes the possibility of distortion and change in bodies and as a result the creation of the world. These three different views have similarities and differences.

One of the issues debated in scientific circles today is the question of democracy and the Imamate system and their correlation. Shia theologians and philosophers consider Imamate as a divine right and one of the principles of religion. On the other hand, some Shia dissidents and non-Muslim thinkers, applying sociological knowledge, having lack of reflection and precision in the Quranic verses and traditions, and adapting this divine authority with the human authorities and systems, have considered the incompatibility of the Shia Imamate and Western democracy. In fact, they believe that the Imamate system is incompatible and in conflict with the principles of democracy and its intellectual, political and epistemological foundations. Therefore, his study attempts to discuss the correlation between these two categories based on the opinions of "Jean-Jacques Rousseau” and “Ibn Maitham Bahrani" in order to denote whether there is a relationship between these two or not. So, to achieve this aim, democracy is defined through Rousseau's point of view and Imamate system is explained through Ibn Maitham's viewpoint. Then, "the type of correlation between democracy and Imamate" is investigated to represent that democracy is neither absolutely compatible with Imamate nor absolutely contradictory.

The Holy Quran includes all-embracing and profuse knowledge in numerous fields, and one of the most important of them is the field of laws and rules. Obviously, each school of thought design and determine them through their principles and foundations, that consequently results in specific effects. According to the characteristics of the Holy Quran, the rules and laws of the Quran are based on several foundations, the most important of which are theological. Now the question is: which theological foundations are the laws and decrees in the Holy Quran based on? It is clear that the answer to this question will clarify the difference between the principle, process and scope of the legislation of the Quran and its difference with human laws, as well as the consequences thereof, and as a result, explain the dimensions and angles of the laws and decrees of the Holy Quran compared to human laws. This article, which was written with a descriptive analytical method, defines and states the most important theological bases of legislation in the Holy Quran as "the ontological basis of the purpose of laws and its consideration of the real interests and dishonesties", "the theological basis of the establishment of laws by the Almighty God" and "the anthropological basis of the existence of the human soul" and Quranic proofs for them are mentioned.

Undoubtedly, one of the features of traditional Islamic theology, especially after Nasir al-Din al-Tusi, is the application of Aristotelian logic by theologians. This topic has called the attentions of researchers in the field of the history of theology to study application of Aristotelian logic in Islamic theology. However, the etiology of this trend has not been taken into account since it has concentrated only on historical factors. The present study examines the causes of theologians' tendency towards Aristotelian logic from a linguistic point of view, in order to clarify the mental presuppositions of theologians for applying Aristotelian logic. Presuppositions about the breadth and narrowness of meaning, the quality of truth and certainty, the ability and capacity of language, the validity or lack of legitimacy, as well as the originality of clarity or ambiguity, which all can be considered the most decisive presuppositions in all theological topics and issues. The traditional linguistics model has been introduced to the thought of Muslim theologians during the translation movement and the presence of Greek philosophy. Adhering to the principles of the traditional linguistics model and welcoming its presuppositions regarding meaning, certainty and language, the theologians had no choice but to apply Aristotelian logic since there is a wide-ranging harmony between the components of the traditional linguistics model and the principles of Aristotelian logic. Therefore, the most important reason for the stabilization of Aristotelian logic in traditional Islamic words should be sought in the linguistic model of theologians.

Different schools offer diverse meanings for science and humanities. These meanings bring about a significant impact on ontology and anthropology, and determine, in particular, the type of attitude towards the world, man and his existential spheres, the purpose of existence and the method of his evolution. From the point of view of Allameh Misbah Yazdi, knowing and illuminating the effect of phenomena on human happiness and misery is one of the essential matters of religion. In many cases, this is associated with human voluntary action. Islamic humanities might be of special standing in this regard according to the enquiry of voluntary and conscious human actions and judgments, together with their consequences in human sciences. Man is a resolute being and the meaning of his life rests on knowing the purpose and placing all the connections and affairs of human life in line with that resolution. Therefore, determining this goal and explaining the correct method to achieve it is one of the imperative issues of Islamic humanities, which must be based on religious scientific foundations and sources. From his point of view, closeness to Almighty God is the highest goal that includes all goals and gives human life a meaning befitting human existence. Without the realization of this goal, his life will be empty and meaningless. In this article, it is attempted to shed light on the position of Islamic humanities and its role in explaining the meaning of human life from the perspective of Allameh Misbah Yazdi. The approach of this writing is descriptive and analytical, and the findings were compiled and then analyzed using the library method.

"Imamiyya" and "Zaydiyya" are two Shia groups that differ in some theological issues such as "narrated attributes", "judgment on committing a cardinal sin" and "Imamate". Religious educations are central, therefore, the purpose of this article is to answer this question: what is the explanation of the theological views of the Imamiyya and Zaydiyya concerning "narrated attributes", "the judgment on committing cardinal sin" and "the Imamate"? The findings of the research, which were obtained through descriptive and analytical research and using library and software resources, are: the Imamiyya, unlike some Zaydiyya, interprets Quranic verses and tradition to narrated attributes, the Imamiyya defines the great perpetrator as "believers who are immoral" and "non-believers in hell" and the Zaydiyya believe that they are "transgressive" and "immortal in hell". In Imamate, the Imamiyya believes in "scientific" and "practical" purposes, while the Zaydiyya only believes in "practical" purposes. The Imamiyya considers the qualities of the Imam as "infallibility", "excellence" and "having given knowledge", but Zaydiyya does not consider "infallibility" to be a condition, and it acknowledges "excellence" with the condition of allocation and do not believe in "given knowledge". In determining the Imam, the Imamiyya accept the "verbal" and "actual" texts, and the Zaydiyya only agree to take the "verbal" text. Moreover, the Imamiyya limits Imams to twelves imams, yet the Zaydiyya believes otherwise.