پژوهشنامه معارف قرآنی
پیاپی 6 (پاییز 1390)

Knowledge in the absolute sense of awareness is divided into two kinds of presential and acquired. Three criteria for this division are: intervention of the human faculties or lack of such intervention, the existence or lack of a mediator, and with respect to the meaningfulness or existence of knowledge. It was Farabi who first divided acquired knowledge intotwo further categories of conception and perception. Other Islamic thinkers have advocated Farabi's classification and have studied it more than other taxonomies. Acquired knowledge is also classified into certain and noncertaintypes. Denotatively, certain knowledge means removal of doubt, and as an expression, it has several meanings all of which share the notion of stability and continuity. Illusion and doubt are the preliminary concepts guiding us to the meaning of certainty, and are not of equal significance compared to the notion of certainty; they are mostly applied in rational sciences. Dogma is a word closely related to certainty and denotes a preponderant belief. However, in some views, its being susceptible to distortion and the fact that its opposite may also be possible accord unreliability to it and a lower status compared to certainty. For Islamic thinkers, reliable knowledge is one that is comprehensive, cannot be falsified and will not fall into decline. Many of Islamic thinkers deem knowledge and certainty to be the same. Religious documents such as the holy Quran and the narrations of the immaculate Imams accord a high status to certainty. The Quran does not consider non-certain argument as valid and strongly insistson reasoning and certain evidence. The narrations on this subject also emphasize the importance of certainty and its value. The holy Quran and the narrations have identifieddifferent ranks of certainty all of which enjoy the status of certainty, but at the same time have some features that distinguish them from other ranks. Intellectual certainty, intuitive certainty and real certainty are three ranks of certainty.

In the holy Quran, perfect man is portrayed on the basis of contemplation and reasoning. However, in mysticism, perfect man is introduced in an intuitive manner. This paper aims at investigating the qualities of perfect man from these two perspectives (mysticism and reasoning). Through the examination of these perspectives we arrive at this conclusion that mysticism and the Quran are not separate. It may be true that the reasoning dimension of perfect man is highlighted in the Quran, but this does not mean that the Quran has been oblivious to the mystical aspect. IbnArabi has pointed to this issue and is in the belief that divine words can be interpreted from both reasoning and intuitive viewpoints and based on the understanding of the reader. Moreover, the mystical dimension of perfect man is not devoid of reasoning, particularly because the primary stages of mysticism are based upon reasoning and rational knowledge. Then, the point deserving attention is that the outcome of investigating the perfect man from these two perspectives has been the same: perfect man has the power to dominate the universe, and as the men of wisdom put it, "the heavens of existence turn around him".

Islamic management is one of the necessities of an Islamic society. Therefore, any Islamic society requires a management system which is in line with Islamic patterns and is at the service of the Islamic society. Different schools of thought have provided differing definitions of management of which they have certain expectations. Islam, too, has a particular attitude towards management and has laid out certain criteria for that. We can get to know these criteria through the study of Quranic verses and the traditions and narrations of the immaculate Imams; the present paper aims at identifying Islam’s perspective on management.

One of the most significant requirements for attaining prosperity and human perfection that all divine religions have attended to and all the great men in the world – the prophets, saints, mystics and sages – have sought is the companionship of and association with the great people. Such association has an enormous impact on man’s fate and according to Sufi sages, all the achievements of man are the result of his association with the wise. Unfortunately, at present, most of the human societies that are faced with acute moral crises are oblivious to this fact, while the holy Quran and the traditions have been seriously concerned with such companionship; texts on mysticism have paid considerable attention to this point too. This paper aims at examining the status and significance of companionship and association in religious texts and in Islamic mysticism.

Modern man, especially modern youth, suffers from numerous moral and psychological problems due to cultural invasionsand secular propaganda. These problems are due to the fact that, man, in the modern era, has not understood his human truth or has ignored it and has forgotten his source of peace which is God and His teachings. The only way out of these problems is to return to the true religion, to understand it and to put its teachings into practice. Islam, as the last and the most comprehensive religion, can play a pivotal role in educating man and saving him from further crises. The teenage years and youth are decisive and critical in shaping man’s personality. To make the best use of his youth, man should turn to a knowledgeable guide who knows the way; someone who is devoid of error and mistakes and the best such guide is the holy Qur’an and the correct traditions of the immaculate Imams (PBUT). What lays the foundation and paves the way forany progress and refinement is correct knowledge and understanding. It is education that guarantees such knowledge and understanding and can reinforce self discipline. The most effective and in fact the sole factor in healing moral and psychological problems is thus following religious teachings and practicing them sincerely. Therefore, the aim of Islamic education is educating Islamic individuals. This paper, with reference to the holy Quran, the traditions and documented proofs, examines the above-mentioned issues.

Understanding the nature of Fatemeh Zahra (PBUH), this perfect woman, is both easy and difficult. It is easy because she has innumerable virtues and excellences, and difficult due to the inaccessibility of the depth of her character. The present paper addresses this issue with ontological, epistemological and sociological approaches. Relying on the knowledge from the holy Book and the Prophet’s progeny as well as theQuranic, prophetic, Alavite and imamate teachings, this paper expounds on the individual excellences of Fatemeh Zahra (PBUH) including the following: representing the proof of God for people, being Imam Ali’s partner, being a manifestation of the holy Prophet, the truth of Kawthar, general guardianship, and her devotion to and sincerity before the Sublime Being. This paper also deals with her social excellences such as being the daughter of the holy Prophet, the wife of God’s guardian and the mother of the immaculate Imams, and attempts to explain her social qualities based on her individual virtues. In the final section of the paper, attempt has been made to arrive at a relative, formalunderstanding of this woman whose creation and existence haveboth been heavenly, so that she becomes a role model to all those who long for perfection, yearn to encounter God, desire to have happiness and prosperity and seek success in all scientific, practical, individual, social and family areas.

Religious experience is a novel issue in the field of theology and the philosophy of religion; it denotes God’s manifestationin the experiencer, which comes about in certain feelings and states. These states of the experiencer may sometimes be considered as a confirmation of his innate disposition, or the religious experience and proof of human nature maybe hastily deemed the same. However, there are essential differences between them which cause their manner of knowledge enhancement and their scope of knowledge to be different. Hence, the present study deems it necessary to first provide a brief definition of these two terms and then examines them comparatively.