Journal of Religious Studies
Year:2013 | Volume:6 | Issue:12|Papers Count:10

Akbar Shah, one of the greatest Mughal kings, came to the power in 1556 C.E., when different religious groups of India were engaged in bloody wars due to their different beliefs. To solve this problem he tried to focus on the teachings of Islamic mysticism and philosophy. With the help of his officials especially his minister Abu'l-Fazl 'Allami, he developed a political system which was based on tolerance and he called it Sulh-e-kul (Universal Peace). For actualizing this system, he provided a unique opportunity for the scholars to work on the different theories of utopia in order to develop a practical system for making a united country in which different religious group could live peacefully. In this respect, his close advisers, who were inclined to Islamic mysticism, played an important role. However, this system had tough opponents among orthodox Islamic scholars; therefore after Akbar’s death it was immediately abolished. But the ideas of Akbar about Universal Peace and Religious Tolerance, based on mutual respect, did not vanish. It became a basis for developing new modern theories such as pluralism, inclusivism and religious tolerance.

Against theories that express Augustine's conversion to Christianity as an instantaneous event, there are evidences that prove it as a gradual and time-consuming process. There were contextual factors- including religious policy of that time, the economy, his family, and his own personal experiences- that made the Christianity as the strongest possibility for his conversion; because in all of these factors Christianity was the focal point. Also other factors such as his own spiritual crisis and quest, the activities of Christian missionaries, and interaction with persons who had converted to Christianity or hearing their stories, made him more and more eager, so that he decided to accept his feeling about Christianity. Eventually, the well-known experience of hearing the voice of the baby made him to convert to Christianity. However his internal development did not cease at this phase; it continued until he reached to an inner peace and did exercise strong influences on Christian theology.

Religion, as an important pillar of human life, has been studied from different perspectives, e.g. sociological, anthropological and etc. In this respect, the thoughts and viewpoints of great classic sociologists such as August Comet, Karl Marx, Emile Durkheim and Herbert Spencer and also other scholars such as Clifford Geertz (the great contemporary anthropologist) were curial elements in forming and developing the religious sociology and anthropology. The present paper tries to analyze the viewpoints of Emile Durkheim and Clifford Geertz on religion. So we firstly deal with the definition of religion and its origin and function and finally we compare their views on these subjects.

The concept of God is the most important concepts in the sacred texts. In these texts the attributes and characteristics of God are told through the names, so that each name describes an aspect of God. In Avesta, as a sacred book, God has several names included Ahura Mazda and 101 other names. Ahura Mazda, in Gahan, is God of wisdom who creates heaven and earth. So the universe, which is full of goodness, is considered as the act of God. Ahura Mazda is infinite and limitless but the cosmos is finite and limited. Ahura Mazda is self-existing God and Amesha Spantas, the divine sparks and manifestations depend on Him. Therefore, Ahura Mazda is inherently creative and benevolent and these attributes are manifested through Spanta Mainyu, His holy wisdom. This article tries to survey the names of God in Avesta and its interpretation.

Zoroastrianism, Zurvanism and Mithraism have been combined with astrological beliefs in such a way that it is nearly impossible to grasp these schools and religions without having knowledge about astrological beliefs. Ikhwan al-Safa, a mystical and esoteric association in tenth century in Basra and Baghdad, wrote 52 epistles full of religio-astrological beliefs and thoughts. For example their theory of Prophetic Cycles was developed to explain the cosmic cycles and the sacred history. Observing similarities between ancient Iranian religions and Ikhwan al-Safa and after surveying the religio-astrological elements of Iranian millenarianism (especially that of Zoroasterianism and Zurvanism) and Ikhwan al-Safa’s Prophetic Cycles, we decided to compare these two religious traditions. In the present research, by using scientific and historical references, we have tried to recognize and analyze the common roots of these beliefs and thoughts in the both traditions. The most significant achievement of this research is presenting a new method for comparison between the ancient Iranian concept of ontological levels and Ikhwan al-Safa’s concept of celestial souls. Moreover, by surveying the role of the archetypes of infinite Time and eternal Place in the immaterial and material world, we could make a comparison between Yazatas and Ameshaspentas of ancient Iranian religions and Ikhwan al-Safa’s concepts of Universal Reason, Universal Soul and Celestial Souls.

One of The charges against ‘Ayn al-Quzzat Hamedani was propagation of Isma‘ili doctrines, especially the doctrine of infallible Imam. His idea about the necessity of master’s guidance for aspirants provided the pretext for his opponents to accuse him. In fact, there are close similarities between these two concepts, i.e. Imam in Shi’ism and Master in Sufism, because both Sufis and Shiites believe that there is an esoteric knowledge beyond the external world which could be acquired only by a few men. Consequently, as they say, people need Imam/Master as the successor of the prophet to teach them the secret truths and to uncover the esoteric meanings of Holy Quran. Since Imam/Master’s knowledge is inspired by God Shiites/aspirants should obey him without questioning. However, this doctrine is completely rejected by the majority of Sunnis.

Some customs of present Iranians, like Norouz ceremony and Haft-sin, Chaharshanbe-suri, the customs of Arafe/Alafe on the last night of the year, Yalda and some other ceremonies, has been retained from the ancient Iran. Zoroastrians of Iran have preserved these ancient customs more than other groups, so the consideration and deliberation of Zoroastrian ceremonies will help us to analyze the Iranian ceremonies as a whole. However, the contemporary Zoroastrian rituals, in some respects, differ from the rituals and customs mentioned in middle Persian texts. Moreover, these rituals are not the same in all Zoroastrian regions of Iran (i.e., Kerman, Yazd and etc). In this paper, the common customs of present Zoroastrians and the important elements of their rituals are studied, so we can survey the development of their customs and make a comparison between them.