Journal of Religious Studies
Year:2013 | Volume:7 | Issue:13|Papers Count:7

In Holy Quran (68: 42) one of the characteristics of the Day of Judgment has been described as “the day when the leg shall be bared” which is a metaphor for removing the veil of Glory, and subsequently the humiliation of creatures are shown by general command for prostration. In this research, by taking advantage of mystical principles and traditional commentaries, four propounded questions about these verses (68: 42-43) are responded: the generality of this command, benefit and sagacity of prostration, polytheists' disability, and whose presence to prostrate. By referring to the Hadith Tahawwol (a tradition about God's self-transmutation at the Resurrection) -upon which Ibn al-Arabi's theory of Ilah ul-Motaghid were developed- and the other traditions mentioned under these verses by other commentators, author comes to the conclusion that the interpretation of “the leg shall be bared” is associated with divine theophany in the form of Perfect Man. According to Hadith Tahawwol, God reveals Himself to each group of people, but they keep on denying Him until He transmutes Himself into a form that has the mark which they recognize. However, the Day of Judgment is the field where monotheists are detached from others. Hence, a particular theophany is needed by which monotheists start prostrating and others fail to do so. Concerning the fact that in Shiite tradition the phrase “saq al-arsh” has been interpreted as the meeting place of the light of oneness (Tawhid) and the Mohammadian light, and “Kashf saq” has been interpreted as the authority and guardianship of Shiite Imams, and with regard to what is narrated in Bukhari's Sahih one can interprete the verse as the epiphany of universal guardianship. Therefore, prostration in the Day of Judgment before this Truth is like angles’ bowing down to man.

Bhaktior Loving Devotion is one of the most important terms in two major Hindu sects, i.e. Vaishnavism and Shaivism. Early Indologists considered bhakti as an unbridled and irrepressible feeling which is in contrast with jnana (knowledge) or rational knowledge of God. However Hindu sages and scholars, such as sankra and Ramanuja, never consideredjnana and bhakti detached from each other, but believed that these two are always complementary. Their only disagreement is about the subject of bhakti, while sankra emphasized nirguna-bhakti (devotion to divinity without form) Ramanuja believed in saguna-bhakti (devotion to a personal form of God).

This article tries to review Desert Fathers’ life, teachings and thoughts. Desert Fathers, such as Anthony the Great, St. Pachomius, St. John Cassian, St. Macarius, Origen, Simeon and etc, are considered as the real representatives of Christian monasticism. Among them, Anthony as the founder of the Eastern monasticism emphasized gnosis and St. Pachomius is remembered as a great collector of monastic rules. The concept of desert plays an important role in Desert Fathers’ literature, it also includes other elements such as emphasizing asceticism, poverty and worship. They believed that fasting, praying, hospitality and humility are the best ways for controlling the self. Moreover, their words are full of references to the mystical and theological teachings such as, trusting in God, believing in Trinity, loving Christ, loving poor people, reciting the Bible, patience, piety, self-control and etc.

Jewish Ethics as one of the oldest ethical traditions has had a great impact on ethical schools and therefore it attracted a lot of interest from the scholars. Despite this fact, the original source of the Jewish ethics, i.e. the Old Testament, and its function has often been disregarded and as result there are not enough scholarly works on this subject. Although the Old Testament is not considered as an ethical book and there is no specific section devoted to the ethical teachings in it, by analyzing its legal orders, sermons and narrations one can infer a great number of ethical teachings. This essay tries to provide a general overview of ethical aspect of the Old Testament, its features and problems and refer to some examples of ethical and educational instructions of the book and finally divide its ethical messages in several classes.

Fearing of God or the unseen world and having mercy on people are two common teachings of the major religions of the world. Both of these teachings release mankind from arrogance and egoism. The development of the religious thoughts of ancient Israelites and some of their neighbor civilizations, from 1500 B.C.E., is best shown in the books of the Old Testament. The present study tries to survey the concept of beneficence in 39 parts of the Old Testament and analyze its juridical and ethical elements. It also provides some examples from these parts including kindness to the parents, elderly, workers, slaves, and etc. Moreover, this article surveys the decrees pertaining to beneficence such as paying tithes, leaving fields and crops for the poor in the seventh year of planting, forgiving people’s debt in their seventh year of indebtedness, and etc. Finally it is shown that the expression of Jewish Superiority, according to the Old Testament, does not imply racism and discrimination against other people.

There are three main sources for Baktashiyya's doctrines: Sufi and mystical teachings based on tolerance and esoteric interpretation, Shiite teachings based on the love of Ali and the members of the household of the prophet and some teachings of other religions, especially the Christian Trinity. According to the findings of our research, previous studies on the history of Sufism in Asia Minor have not depicted a clear picture of the historical development of the Baktashi order. In fact, the development of the doctrinal beliefs of the Baktashi order could be traced back to the geo-political structure of the Asia Minor, the spirit of tolerance prevalent there and the activities of some Ghali sects. Therefore the influence of the Sufi orders and the teachings of other group such as Shamanists, Buddhists and Christians on the Baktashi order can be seen as the result of the heterogeneous society of that region. This article tries to survey the influence of the deferent religious group on the Baktashi order.

Bayazid Basṭami is one of the greatest and the most famous mystics of 2nd-3rdA.H./9th C.E. that his connection with Imam Ja'far sadiq has been accentuated by many Sufi writers and Shiite scholars. It is also mentioned that he has been at Imam's service for while. However, there is no consensus about the historical accuracy of these narrations among contemporary scholars. But due to the fact that there were several people by the names of Bayazid and tayfur in 2nd-4th A.H./9th-10th C.E., all of them apparently were among Bastami's family, it seems that their words and biographies have been mixed up in the early sources. It should be mentioned here that some of Bayazid's associates, such as Ibrahim Satanba, lived in the 2nd century and also Bayazid's nephew- Abu Musa- who passed away in the half of 3rd century, was at the age of twenty-two during the death of Bayazid. Moreover some sayings and teachings of Bayazid has been rooted in Shiite Imams' traditions, especially that of Imam Ja'far sadiq.