THEOLOGICAL- DOCTRIANAL RESEARCH (THE ISLAMIC SCIENCE QUARTERLY)
Year:2009 | Volume:4 | Issue:14|Papers Count:9

Akhlagh Naseri is one of Khajeh Nasir Eldin Tusi’s influential works on the subject of wisdom and morality, written in Farsi in an eloquent style, which has drawn the attention of men of letters and a number of well-known orientalists. In his book, considered as the first treatise out of a triple treatise on morality and classified as didactic prose, Tusi attempts to present a logical approach for self-training and soul elevation.The present article intends to elaborate Khajeh Nasir’s outlook on the issue of morality and his approach in the formation of the literary-scientific style of Akhlagh Naseri, the special attention of the distinguished literary and religious figures, the effect of Plato’s moral outlook on Khajeh Nasir and finally the reflection of Khajeh Nasir’s moral thoughts in his work.

Spirituality is organized based on a firm belief in the occult and metaphysical world and requires a special attention to one’s inward world. Having tendency to spirituality signifies one’s faith in the occult world, including faith in God, the Almighty, Doomsday, man’s spirit, to name just a few, and thus, spirituality without faith in the occult world makes no sense. This tendency for the whole human beings- both traditional and modern man- is built upon a number of principles, such as the genuineness of spirit, the genuineness of man’s nature, the genuineness of the occult world, etc. It must also enjoy some elements, including intellectuality, moderation, obedience, and some practices which manifest themselves in personal, social, material, and spiritual grounds.The present article intends to survey the issue of spirituality in the holy Quran based on the mentioned principles, elements and practices so as to criticize the negative attributes of the secular spirituality in one hand and to elaborate on the affirmative attributes of spirituality, presented in the holy Quran, what can cover all aspects of man’s life based on intellectuality, volition, affection and pure faith due to its extensive realm.

With regard to the perpetuity and eternity of Islam and the spiteful attempts of its enemies to taint its image and to ascribe violence to the holy Prophet, this question is raised that how did the holy Prophet and Muslims treat their opponents in the process of Islam expansion?This article intends to rebut the ascription of violence to Islam through the evidences extracted from the holy Quran verses and the tradition of the holy Prophet of Islam and the infallible Imams. The holy Prophet’s approach was always based on logic, wisdom, reasoning and peace, whereas a survey of Judaism and Christianity history illuminates that they had a dark past marked with violent wars and blood-shed. In his letters sent to the rulers of his own time and treaties signed with different tribes, the holy Prophet has used the language of leniency. He has also treated the prisoners of war gently and mercifully. Besides, the principles of foreign policy and international commitments of Islamic countries, derived from the tradition of the Holy Prophet and Islamic rules is a true indication that the violence some malicious orientalists ascribe to Islam is dead wrong.

Hermeneutics or the theory and methodology of interpreting holy religious contexts exists in the whole schools of thought. Hermeneutics in Islam is to survey the holy Quran depth, extensiveness and immortality. The present article studies the lexical definition of Hermeneutics, the Quranic origin of Hermeneutics and is distinction with the act of commentary. In the tradition and viewpoints of a number of mystics, the conformity of Quranic verses interpretation with the definite principles of revelation has been stressed and the groundless interpretations have been reproached.The main assumption of the present article is founded on the fact that the mystics have got a specific approach in the holy Quran interpretation. This article is descriptive and based on library research and the study of authentic mystic sources.

One of the essential issues in the history of discourse analysis, which has always caused much debate, is the study of Divine Word. Accordingly, the howness and whatness of revelation as the manifestation of the Divine Word has always been treated through physical and metaphysical approaches. To criticize the physical approach, the present article surveys the internal and external concepts of revelation. This article also intends to rebut both the view that thinks of the holy Prophet as a productive bee, being active in producing revelation and the view that thinks of him as an imitative parrot, and since the proponents of the physical approach have adhered to the viewpoints of a number of influential philosopher and mystics, the writer of this article briefly refers to the views of Ibn Arabi, Molavi and Mola Sadra.

Mysticism is one of the constructive desires in man’s nature, concerned about man’s spiritual welfare. It is man’s enthusiasm for attaining spiritual elevation that has brought about his special attention to mysticism; however, this tendency has to originate from its genuine sources, be immune from extremes and act in conformity with the criteria of perfect man. Nevertheless, the course of these qualities have occasionally been perverted by the pretenders, and as a result, they have been driven toward destructive desires. The present article not only studies the exigency and key role of mysticism in the way of man’s soul elevation, but also introduces its genuine sources and the criteria of constructive mysticism based on the Islamic teachings and elaborates on the outlook and practical manner of Imam Khomeini, as a sample of grand muslim mystic.

Self-recognition is one of the essential concerns, which has fully occupied the mind of the philosophers throughout different ages. It is also accounted as a scientific issue, which has caused much public debate among the whole peoples. The present article studies the outlook of two theologians with regard to self-recognition. To begin with, the views of Sheikh Sohrevardi, the martyr, with regard to “self” and its relation to the issues of ‘occurance and antiquity’ in addition to ‘attachment of soul and body’, ‘observation of soul’ and ‘prosperous self’ are studied, and secondly, Sadr Ul-Motaalehin Shirazi’s views in the same areas and their distinctions with those of Sohrevardi are elaborated.