Ma`rifat-e Kalami
Year:2017 | Volume:8 | Issue:1 (18) |Papers Count:8

Sheikh Hur al-Amili, a famous traditionalist of the second half of the 11th century, is both a traditionalist and a theologian who uses various methods to infer religious teachings and defend them against the opponents. He uses traditional and rational methods to achieve this aim. Addressing the position of reason from the perspective of Sheikh Hur al-Amili, the present paper reviews his various theological works and examines the functions of reason in his theological thoughts. The research shows through the documentary method that Sheikh al-Amili regards transmitted sciences as the main source for the inference of beliefs, but in practice, like other theologians, he has recourse to the threefold functions of reason. He makes use of the independent functions of reason, namely theoretical and practical reason, as well as the dependent function of reason, namely, instrumental reason. He attempted to infer religious teachings of Islam and Shiism by using various rational and traditional methods and defend them. He believes that there is no conflict between instrumental reason and the transmition of hadiths and that in case of conflict between theoretical and practical reason and traditions, the opposing traditions have to be allegorically interpreted.

The relationship between science and religion is one of the crucial issues in the contemporary intellectual environment. Alvin Plantinga has raised some important issues in this regard. He adopts two views and in these views, he believes that in some cases, the relationship between science and religion are in conflict with one another due to the principle of methodological naturalism in science. In his first view, which is based on a metaphor introduced by Augustine, he holds that today science consists in the city of man against the city of God; some scientific findings are contradictory to religious beliefs, this conflict is real and serious. Science and religion contradict one another and this contradiction has roots in methodological naturalism. However, he considers that the role which methodological naturalism has in some parts of science is justifiable. Using a descriptive-analytical method, this paper presents Planinga's viewpoint and criticizes it.

One of the Western views which adopts a naturalistic approach to exploring the "origin of religion", regards "the fear of natural events" as the source of religion. Referring to the Qur'an and narrations, this paper seeks to explain the Qur'anic view on this issue and investigate whether or not the fear of natural events is the origin of religion, tendency towards religion, and one's commitment to its practical rulings, and what in principle, is the Qur'anic viewpoint about the answer to these three questions? After explaining the related concepts, the author divides the discussion of this topic into three parts which are as follows: the first, that is "the early development of religion", which considers that fear does not play any role in the development of religion, rather, its development if ascribed to, God and His will. But in the two other parts, namely, "tendency towards religion" and "adherence to religious injunctions", it is argued that although fear is not regarded as a fundamental factor, its role cannot be completely ignored.

In the Shia sources of traditions, some hadiths consider the doctrine of negation of the Attributes as the most perfect form of monotheism and the system of monotheism. These narrations have been interpreted in different ways. For instance, Mulla Sadra and the commentators of his works try to apply these narrations to the theory of denotational objectivity, but some Shiite scholars, such as Sayyed Ahmad Karbala'i and Sayyed Mohammad Hussein Tabataba'i argue that these narrations are mainly concerned with the meaning of the theory of objectivity. In his correspondence with Sheikh Mohammad Hossein Esfahani and Allameh Tabataba'i, Sayyed Ahmad Karbala'i uses a mystical approach to discuss this subject in various works and through presenting rational proof and scrutinizing narrative evidence, proves the reasonability of his theory. After classifying and analyzing various interpretations of these traditions, this paper attempts to prove that among the views of Muslim scholars, the mystical interpretation of the mentioned traditions (especially the one with the assertion of Allameh Tabatabai) is more consistent with the doctrines of the Shia leaders about the relationship between the Divine Essence and Attributes.

Ghiyath-al-Din Mansour Dashtaki, a philosopher of the ninth and tenth century, is the first to provide an intellectual proof for the corporal resurrection of an elemental body. He bases his views on transmitted sciences and intellectual reasoning to prove his claim. This paper seeks to study Ghaith al-Din's arguments in favor of in proving the resurrection of the elemental body. His intellectual proof is centered on the continuation of the soul's attachment to the body after death, a perception which is criticized by Sadr al-Muta’ alehin and on his claim about the return of the soul to the material body after the formation of complete temperament in the Day of Resurrection, a view which is criticized by Aqa'ali Modarres. His recourse to Quranic verses for proving the idea of elemental body is not flawless. After criticizing and analyzing his viewpoint, we reach the conclusion that the rational and traditional argument he presents to prove the resurrection of the elemental body is incomplete.

Thinkers have different opinions about the reality of man. Some of them consider that the reality of man is his apparent body, and some others believe that there is another reality in addition to the apparent body. There is a wide disagreement among scientists on the quiddity of this other reality. Some consider it as a kind of material thing inside the body, and others regard it as non-material and abstract. This paper presents evidence based on transmitted science and intellectual reasoning to prove that the soul has an abstract nature. Using a method based on transmitted sciences, this paper cites several famous verses as an evidence. There are also some other verses that can be referred to in this regard. Making enquiry into the Qur'anic verses and taking into account the view of the Qur'an about the characteristic features of human beings, this research tries to prove the non-material rational domain exists in at least some people. The paper also presents evidence and reasons to which not much attention is given.

Bada’ (alteration in divine will) is one of the important issues about the relationship between the contingent and the pre-eternal. The main question of this article is; given the impossibility of the occurrence of change in the Divine Essence and Essential knowledge, how can we explain the truth of Bada’ and the way of the occurrence of obliteration and establishment? Is attributing Bada' to God real or metaphorical? In Mir Damad's philosophical system, there is a comprehensive explanation of the doctrine of Bada’. Bada’ in Mir Damad's view falls in the province of ontology, and indicates the limitation to the time of effusion placed by the Cause. Bada’ is conclusively connected the material world, and the world of sempiternity has nothing to do with Bada’. Using a descriptive-analytical method, this paper explains the idea of Bada’ in Mir Damad philosophical system. One of the most important results of this research is explaining the truth of Bada’ in the philosophical system of Mirdamad and the nature of attributing Bada’ to God. According to Mir Damad, gradual affairs are double-faced; that is, they are related to the world of sempiternity, as well as to the material world, and so, they are gradual and changeable. In the first facet, they are attributed to the constant right of the Necessary by-itself and, in the second facet, they are attributed to the temporal contingents to the Necessary.

Building up a picture of Divine Essential and Active Attributes and Trying to resolve the doubts about divine attributes have a prominent role in deepening religious beliefs and preventing any kind of deviation from religious beliefs. Although it is commonly believed that Divine Truth is a divine attribute, it may sometimes be in conflict with another religious belief, such as pardoning some sinners according to Divine will and not inflicting punishment on them. The Tafazoliyah, who believe in the permissibility of granting pardon, present various theories to show the consistency of this belief with the attribute of divine truth and the retribution referred to in the Quran and hadiths. Some of these theories are: the theory of the denial of considering all kinds of lying bad, the theory of creationism of divine retribution; the theory of the lack of the realistic property of the language of divine retribution; the theory of the denial of administering Divine retribution and relating it to the punishment which one deserves and the theory of the conditional property of divine retribution. The present paper, which is a library-based study based on and a descriptive-analytical method, considers the latter theory i. e., the conditional property of the verses, narrations on divine retribution and not generalizing them as a coherent theory which has a rational, Qur’anic and traditional basis, and regards the other four theories to be flawed.