JOURNAL OF HUMANITIES
Year:2002 | Volume:12 | Issue:41|Papers Count:13

Which human souls shall exist after death? Do human souls lose their individual determinations and change into one universal soul, or do they keep their plurality? These are questions considered by AI-Farabi, Avicenna and Mulla Sadra. This article deals with the views of these metaphysicians on these questions. Having explained their ideas, the author comes to this conclusion that AI-Farabi believed that some human souls would be mortal, but the other two metaphysicians considered all human souls as immortal. Having considered three arguments given by Avicenna to prove the immortality of all human souls, and having criticized Mulla Sadras objection to these arguments, it becomes clear that Sadras objections cannot be sustained. On the question of the unification of particular souls to one universal soul after the death, it becomes evident that unlike some scholars, AI-Farabi did not believe in a universal soul making all particular souls lose their individual determinations. Having surveyed Sadras ideas on intellect, on the question of the unification of human souls with active intellect, we conclude that Sadra also did not believe in a universal soul.

God presented His religion to Prophet Mohammad in the "Quranic revelation" and "commentating revelation. The prophets household, as his inheritors, have a major part of commentating revelation in the shape of special religious doctrine, in which Quranic exegesis holds a significant part. Therefore, besides benefiting from the Quran, it is necessary to take in to consideration the speech of the Imams as the interpretors of the divine verses. In Due to the importance of the era of Imam Bagher and Imam Sadegh in the history of Islam, and the role of their traditions in development of traditional texts. This text demonstrates how the Imams have implemented several interpretative methods to illuminate the divine speech.

Among the important subjects of Quranic sciences, we should mention knowing the occasions of revelation of verses and chapters, and whether they are Meccan or Medinan. This information has a main role in finding out the meanings and significance of verses. Quranic scholars seem to use two methods in recognizing verses as Meccan or Medinan: First, hearing the tradition (sama) and transmitting it (naghl); second, deduction. In the latter method, because of several factors, such as inadequacy of texts and disagreements and inconsistency of the traditions, they try to establish some principles and criteria with respect to the characteristics of the style and the context of verses, so they canfind out whether they are Meccan or Medinan verses. Nevertheless, explicit knowledge and certainty of the occasions of revelation of many verses can not be attained, and there are some obscurities, so that there are different viewpoints. Also there arefour points of view about Al-Ensan Sura: 1- It is a Medinan sura with a special occasion of revelation; 2- It is a Meccan sura without any special occasion of revelation; 3- The first part of the sura (verses 1-22) is Medinan and the last verses are Meccan; 4- It is a Meccan sura with a special occasion of revelation In this article, we try to examine these viewpoints and point out that the status (shan) of revelation does not necessarily mean the occasion (sabab) of revelation, and in this regard the fourth attitude seems to be more justified than the other three.

The Islamic legal system, according to its five legal schools of thought, has prescribed particular financial privileges for women that are unique in comparison with western legal systems; these privileges are the "mahr" bridal-gift and "nafaghe" alimony. Mahr is an obligatory gift that belongs to the bride. The assignment of mahr is not essential for the correctness of the marriage contract, but upon marriage, the husband binds himself to give "mahr al-mithl" to his wife immediately. "Nafaghe" has been defined as the responsibility of the husband to prepare his wifes needs (food, clothing, lodgings, etc.); therefore, the woman is not responsible for her expenses, even if she is financially in a good position. Besides, there are many special laws for persons who fail to pay nafaghe and mahr. Unfortunately, however, although the existence of such financial rights are indicative of privileges for women and are aimed at strengthening their position in the family, in some cases it seems that despite several Quranic verses and documents, in order to protect the husbands right, som laws and, consequently, civil laws overlook womens rights.

One of the most significant subjects of Islamic Theology (Kalam) is Leadership. The difference in Moslems ideological point of view about this issue has resulted in theprimary fraction among Moslems. As such, they are divided into two sections: Shiite and Sunnite. Frome the standpoint of the theologists of Shi ite, the legitimacy of Imamate and the succession of the Prophet is based on the Divine Text (Quran). though in some dimensions, it needs peoples acceptance and allegiance. One of the most important reasons that Shi ite theologists bring for the leadership of Ali; (P. b. u. h.) is the Hadith of Qadir, which is a valid hadith. if there is any disagreement among Moslems regarding its validity, it is about what it signifies. The Sunnite deny its signification to leadership. The Shiite takes it as a direct indication to leadership. Thereby they must answer this question: Why did not the followers of the Prophet practice it after him? The present article studies the political and social conditions of Medina in the last years of the Prophets life, the important roles of different tribes, and the reasons for the neglect of the Hadith of Qadir. At the same time, it clarifies the ideological standpoint of Shi ite thinkers about the Hadith of Qadir. It is hoped that in the process of this historical study, valuable answers to Islamic issues might be reached.

Modern theology and philosophy of religion are seriously concerned with the problem of meaningfulness and verifiability in the sphere of religious propositions. The present article briefly deals with certain views regarding this problem which, owing to the wide variety of related theories and ideas in this field, and their links in epistemology, philosophy of science, and philosophy of mind, will be confined to a brief description of these theories, together with a general analysis of them. To serve the above purpose, the article centers mainly around the two following trends and in so doing, explains their major characteristics of them: (1) the positivist attitude (dealing with the criterion of scientific discourse), (2) the analytic-functionalist attitude to propositions. This will be followed by the writers emphasis on the fact that despite the seeming variety of the views mentioned in the article, they are all and one based on positivism. The article will in turn deal with the problem of knowledge and the analysis of its components, in order to prove the meaningfulness and verifiability of religious subjects and propositions. This will also be reinforced through certain evidential instances. It should also be noted that the article points out the necessity of making a distinction between "meaningfulness" and "verifiability."

The words "Jadal ", "Jedal" and "Mojadalah": disputation, contention and argumentation, have risen from the word of "Jadal" whose meaning is "Fatl: twisting meaning that two people twist each others words. So the lexical meaning of Jadal is the intensity of enmity, conversation and debate, and giving reasons against each other. The terminological meaning of this word is manner of discussion (dialectic), the art of throush reasoning question and answer, and the Socrates method of conversation, which was asking many questions and rising contradietions for defeating the other side of dialogue, and in this manner defeating them. The word Jadal (dialectic) and its derivations have been used in the Koran 29 times; Its usage is in rightousnes and evil disputation, and also it means "defence" In this article, the meaning of dialectic has been compared in "logic" and the "Koran" and while studying different kind of "Jadal" used in Holy Koran, samples of the divine verses have been stated which have not been mentioned by other scholars previonsly.

The source for all our Islamic sciences, whether ideology, ahkam, or Islamic behavior, is the Holy Koranand the Prophets sunna; there is agreement between both Shiite and Sunni schools regarding the immunity of the Holy Koran from distortion and falsehood. The same, however, cannot be said about the Holy Prophets sunna, in spite of the efforts of his companions. The circulation of false traditions began, sporadically, during the Prophets lifetime. And after he passed away it increased, especially during the Umayyid period. Hundreds of false traditions were spread for various reasons such as political, cultural, religious, and financial motives. The present article briefly investigates some of the most common motives for spreading false traditions.

Perception the goals and meanings of verses involves considering the style (Syagh), that is paying attention to the verses before and next to a verse (Aya), and to the general harmony of verses. Therefore considering a verse separately and interpreting it without paying attention to the general direction of verse, its styles and harmony have no consequence except getting far from the real goal of Koran. Considering the importance of the subject, this article along with explaining the literal and idiomatic meaning of the style and presenting the various view points in this respect, investigates the role andplace of the style in Tafsir Tabari.

Children are the men and women of future societies, and the preservation of human life is dependent on their existence. In Islamic law, also, some rights are given to this group, one of which is the issue of guardianship. However, guardianship is one of those problems regarding which Islamic jurisprudence has delivered different viewpoints. And some of these viewpoints, which are used as the basis of guardianship in our civil law often force the mother to forego her rights in order to be able to maintain her right of guardianship. Hence,finding a new approach regarding guardianship necessitates the dynamic evolution of the jurisprudence perspective in light of consensus attempts in this respect. In the present article, besides addressing common jurisprudence ideas, a new option has been set forth. We hope that, considering the importance of this subject, qualified authorities will follow up this subject and give helpful viewpoints toward this objective.

One of the famous rules of the jurisprudence is the Ferash Rule, which is extracted from a famous Prophetic hadith «الولد للفراش و اللعاهر الحجر» According to this rule, when there is doubt about the paternal ancestry of a child, it could be confirmed under some conditions. Since, according to the Islamic law, this rule confirms the legitimate ancestry of a child and the newborn has afamily tie with the spouse, this rule is called the Ferash Rule. Articles 1158 and 1159 of the Iranian civil law stem from this rule, and article 1322 of the same considers it precisely among the legitimate proofs. In this article, the jurisprudential evidence of the Ferash Rule, its legal place, the conditions of its realgation, its content, its domain and its ways are clarified. The different aspects of child ancestry relative to this rule are studied too.

Every child is the fruit of its family, and its first teachers and guardians are its parents. Both father and mother are responsible for a childs development. But what will happen to a child whose parents get divorced? Would both parents be eligible and responsible for the guardianship? If both parents die, could the paternal/maternal grandfather play their role? Would not it be ignoring a mothers affection to separate her from her child? The present article, entitled "Guardianship from the Perspective of Islamic laws and jurisprudence, " explores the above-mentioned questions.