نشریه حکمت اسرا
پیاپی 1 (پاییز 1388)

Every society has an epistemic identity and its unique social identity is secured by way of the unity of its epistemic identity. The article at hand asserts that the unity and identity of modern experimental science is based upon the unity and identity of its underlying philosophy. Hence it follows that the division of philosophy into religious and secular calls for a similar division of science into two kinds، giving way subsequently to two kinds of identities. The present article aims to explain the characteristics of an Islamic science.

Modern science is necessarily based on non-empirical assumptions and presumptions، which، according to its own definition of knowledge، are devoid of cognitive content. It is only by way of a negation of metaphysical realities and intellectual principles that such a science coheres to form a “single” unit. Nonetheless this science cannot but fail to secure a single existential unity for any society that is based on it. Sciences that are based on metaphysics، however، are themselves united on the one hand، and bring about unity for the societies that are based on them on the other. Sacred metaphysics and the perspectives diametrically opposed to it are mutually contradictory، such that the sciences which are based upon these two cannot have the same cognitive value. This article follows up on the article “Useful and identity-making knowledge”، and more closely scrutinizes the relation between science and identity.

The present article seeks to explain the philosophy of governance during the Occultation [of the 12th Imam] by using a meta-political approach that is based on the Transcendental Theosophy [of Mulla Sadra]. Politics is a sub-branch of practical theosophy. The depth of a practical theosophy is indebted to the depth of the theoretical theosophy on which it is based. Thus Transcendental Theosophy as the most extensive and profound theosophical trend gives rise to a profound transcendental politics. Understanding the philosophy of a government is dependant on understanding the aims and objectives a government follows. In Transcendental Theosophy، politics is based on prophecy. The aim of prophecy is thus to promote an imperfect man to the level of perfection he or she deserves. To relate the philosophy of prophecy in such a way is different from and more profound than explaining it in accordance with the theory of ‘naturally civility’ or the law of ‘grace’، for according to transcendental analysis the philosophy includes not only societies but also individuals. Looking from this perspective، prophecy is not the requirement of human social needs but the requirement of Divine creatorship، guidance and divinity. It is in accordance with such an understanding that one can come to know that prophets are the vicegerents of God and after the prophets pass away it is the holy Imams، divine saints، and lastly jurists (in the age of Occultation) who replace them and assume their responsibilities. Thus according to Transcendental Theosophy، Islamic politics during the Occultation is a divine politics originating in prophecy. The present study attempts to outline this process and model of philosophical thinking in the course of 15 stages.

The present article is composed of two parts. The first part begins with the traditional Western definition of propositional knowledge. While briefly touching the histrical roots of this definition and analyzing its three components، the article deals with Gettier’s counter- examples، bringing to light important responses presented by contemporary epistemologists. The second part of the article deals with the definition of propositional knowledge from the point of view of Muslim philosophers and sheds light on where this definition differs from the traditional Western one. It also touches on the division of knowledge into concept and proposition، expounding aspects of certain propositional knowledge and its characteristics. It concludes by showing that Gettier’s counter-examples do not harm the Islamic definition.

The concept of vicegerency is a key concept in Islamic studies in general and in Islamic mysticism in particular. The present article deals with the concept of vicegerency in Islamic mystical sources comparing it with that in Islamic studies. In other words, the author tries to explain the position of the vicegerency of man, showing that mystical vicegerency is nothing other than the vicegerency explicitly mentioned in Islamic sources.

Tasnim is an invaluable exegesis of the holy Quran prepared as the outcome of a series of exegetical lectures on the holy Qur’an by Ayatullah Jawadi Amuli in the Seminary of Qum. To date 16 volumes of this exegesis have been published and 64 more volumes are expected to appear in the future so as to cover the entire Qur’an. Thus far Tasnim has obtained several awards both in and out of Iran. In 2006، Tasnim was selected as the best research work in Islamic and Quranic studies by ISISCO. The word ‘Tasnim’، deriving from Quranic terminology (chapter Mutaffifin، verse 27)، is the name of a heavenly fountain that springs forth pure water for the use of those brought near to the Holy Presence of God. Ayatullah Jawadi has named his exegesis ‘Tasnim’ because the Quran is a fountain from which all other sciences flow and on which the authority of all other sciences is based. One of the most important structural peculiarities of this exegesis is that it is a methodic exegesis. Things such as personal inclinations، intellectual or popular preferences and the presuppositions of other sciences are not imposed on the holy Quran in this exegesis. The present article studies the following: 1) structure and content of Tasnim 2) a comparison between Tasnim and al-Mizan pointing out their differences and commonalities 3) the ethical-intellectual stature of the writer of Tasnim 4) Tasnim and its writer from the perspectives of others 5) the sources used by Tasnim. The present work is the outcome of methodological studies on Tasnim made by the writer. Some of the discussions touched on in this study are contributions by Ayatullah Jawadi himself while others are the result of due deliberation upon this luminous work.

Risalah Mithaliyyah authored by Shaykh Baha al-Din Muhammad bin Ali Lahiji is about the world of ideas. According to Armawi، a traditionist، Lahiji is no one other than Qutb al-Din Muhammad bin Ishkawari، author of Mahbub al-Qulub. The present article seeks to explain the qualities of the world of ideas and prove its existence on the basis of verses، traditions and reason. It also shows how a soul belongs to an ideal body. Platonic ideas، transmigration of souls and bodily resurrection are among other issues that are dealt with in this article