RELIGIOUS RESEARCH (PAJOUHESHHA YE ADYANI)
Year:2020 | Volume:7 | Issue:14|Papers Count:12

In his book Letters for The Prophet Muhammad; A Research into the Origins of Koran Amin Qazaei views Islamic rules as influenced by Judaism, contending that the present text of Koran consists of letters and annexes sent from a Jewish-Christian sect Ebionites to the Prophet of Islam. This study examines Amin Qazaei’ s claims using a criticalanalytic method and with a historical approach. Through the examination of the history of Ebionites and a comparative study of their religious teachings and Islam it is ascertained that there was no connection between the sect and the Prophet of Islam. Having a shallow knowledge about customs and rites of Ebionites and presenting rarely cited documents, Amin Qazaei has raised such unconfirmed hypotheses that one could say that his viewpoint on Koran lacks any scientific support.

The issue of exoteric path, esoteric path and mystical truth (sharī’a, ṭarīqa, ḥaqīqa respectively), is a matter of debate between Shia and the Gonabadi Sufism. Islamic and Shiite views not only do not lead to negation of exoteric path and jurisprudential decrees, but also strengthen adherence to them, both at the beginning and continuously. The Gonabadi Sufis are like Shia in the beginning, but, although in some of their words they also deem it indispensable to adhere consistently to the exoteric path, there is a contradiction of this view in some of their other words. Furthermore, in practice they do not treat as indispensable permanent and consistent adherence to exoteric path. This is why theosophy and Shiite jurisprudence regard as unacceptable some of the viewpoints of Gunabadi Sufism on the issue. The aim of this article is to set out Shia criticisms of the Gunabadi Sufism through examination of the latter’s viewpoint. First it differentiates the three above mentioned categories, and then shows the necessary connection among them, the stages of spiritual wayfaring (sūlūk)and the position of each of the three. Meanwhile, the position and role of qūtb in exoteric path will be elucidated. This basic research was conducted using the documentary research method by reference to books, internet bases and software.

In the story of Noah (PBUH) as one of its most salutary stories Koran clearly illustrates the opposition between the right and wrong, depicting, modeling and conducting symbolization for the posterity of significant and outstanding characters with regard to both sides of the opposition. Symbolization in the story of Noah has been conducted under the two categories of “characters” and “events”. Heroes or positive characters are Noah (PBUH) symbolizing adherence and resistance on the right pathway, and his few followers who stand for salvation and good ending. Antiheroes or negative characters i.e. the stubborn and unbelieving affluent (mala’) and extravagant (mūṭrīfīn), including the wife and son of Noah (PBUH), are the symbols of evading the truth and of the wrong. Furthermore, Koran has artistically conducted symbolization of some events in the story. The storm, ark, and age of Noah (PBUH) have long been considered the symbols of divine planning and wrath, salvation and safety, and divine destiny respectively. Attention to these symbolizations in Koranic stories helps a clearer depiction thereof in written and visual media.

The Society of Muslim Brothers, better known as the Muslim Brotherhood, is a major and most influential institution as well as cultural and political-social current in the Islamic world. Undeniable is al-Banna’s influence in the capacity of the founder on MB, especially through the mystical kind of his religious life. The impact of Sufism and mysticism on his religious approach went back to his teens, when he was officially an acolyte in a Sufi branch Tariqa Hisafiyyah Shadhiliyyah, and was influenced and taught by the latter’s Sheikh and founder. Since its inception, MB’s design and hierarchical system as well as the relationship of the members with each other and with the supreme guide (mūrshīd ām) all have been adapted from al-Banna’s religious Sufism-impacted life which penetrated the warp and woof of MB. His efforts to apply Sufi content and methods have always given rise to criticisms from the Salafis. Although MB came to distance themselves from Sufism and count as a Salafi denomination, the religious life which is influenced by Sufism via Hassan al-Banna in the inner layers of MB is still visible today. Emphasis on the Sufi and mystical approach in MB can form an obstacle to their being driven into Salafi extremism. This study shows and analyzes the role in founding MB played by Hassan al-Banna’s religious life deriving from Sufism and mysticism.

The general goal and destination of spiritual life in orthodox Christianity is expressed through the concept of theosis (or deification). Throughout Philokalia which is a large and respected collection in the mystical orthodox Christianity, it is proclaimed that human beings are creatures which are decided to become God. That is to say, what they are called to is not merely obedience towards God in the form of a morality-oriented lifestyle. But, rather, in addition to leading a moral life, they should immediately and in reliance upon their inner self and essence share the being and majesty of God who is a hypostatic union. From the perspective of Philokalia’ s authors and commentators, theosis is the prime message of the book and a theme which unifies and standardizes the huge text which is comprised from different texts. This article tries to explore theosis from different perspectives, and finally to reach a clear conclusion on the way it is possible in the view of the saints of Philokalia.

Using the descriptive-analytic method, this article aims to identify intra-religious factors involved in secularization within Catholicism. The research findings are included into three categories: the historical-inherited background, the biblical and theological background, and religious intra-structural factors (the institution of religion). Given that because of the churchoriented structure of Catholicism the community of believers had been more linked to the most tangible manifestation and external representative of religion i. e. the institution of religion than to theology and the historical background of the religion, the wrong performance of the institution played a more crucial part in discrediting religion than the two other factors.

Building up a rational theology, Jonathan Edwards believed that reason is capable of vindicating biblical teachings. He thus concurred with those who regard religious faith as possessing a cognitive side. In Edward’ s theology, however, the elements of “ experience” and “ feeling” also have an un-ignorable status. Like Friedrich Schleiermacher, he considered the religious experience or spiritual feeling as the substance of religious faith, insisting that if man is deprived of existential limpidity, he cannot perceive the beauty of religious teachings. In Fact, purity of thought is not merely a product of rationality, but also needs a guided and pure heart free of any sins and wrong dispositions. Edwards believed that to acquire knowledge of God and of his words, man first should purify his volitional and emotional areas and avoid sin. In fact, it is our emotions and deeds which stamp their influence on our thoughts, and man’ s reason has always followed his dispositions. Edward’ s theology unveils heart’ s domination and reason’ s submission. The story of man is he thinks about and regards as true that which he likes. Edwards maintained that to prove religious belief, first one needs to be a believer rather than a philosopher and theosophist. It is the pure heart which straightens the reason so it finds its way towards the right religious thoughts. Using the descriptive-analytic method, this research explains the pure heart and straight reason and the impact of the heart on the reason in Edwards’ s theology.

The Apocalypse of John is classified as one of the apocalypses in Judeo-Christian tradition which is mainly about the events of the End Times. Modern scholars almost agree that the writings in question always reflect the social situation of their own periods of time, which is known as “ the situation of crisis” . As the author of an apocalypse, John also refers in the first part of his book, namely “ the letters to the seven churches” to the social situation of the Christians who resided in the seven cities of Asia Minor towards the late first century. Some of the author’ s implicit and explicit references suggest that the Christians were in unfavorable situation with regard to their social status and adherence to their Christian beliefs. This article is seeking to find out the reasons of such situation for the Christians of the region by the use of the letters, as the internal evidence, and some historical reports, as the external one.

Although each and every nation’ s history of literature reflects their actual history, there is the question why the Persian literary tradition did not have the same weight that the ancient Persian government as one of the then two world superpowers did. The main question of the present article is whether Avista as the most important literary text of ancient Persia is a product of the Sassanid era, or writing of the book dates back to the life span of Zoroaster. There are two different answers to the question. According to the first, Avista existed in oral form and then was written in the Sassanid era when Avistan alphabet was coined. According to the second, however, Avista had been a written literary text since Zoroaster which was destroyed as a result of Alexander’ s invasion of Persia. To examine the two answers, the article used the library research method with a focus on primary and secondary documents. The first answer is critiqued before the second is confirmed based on documentation. Next it is claimed that the special attention to Avista during the Sassanid dynasty was accounted for by the necessity of compiling fragmented Avista’ s texts in order to establish an official religion in harmony with the Sassanid centralized government.

The reason for convergence, and the way divergence took place in Islam are the issues that have as long a background as the history of the religion, especially because, as Koran says, all human beings first formed one nation who came to diverge as a result of their differences. Thus, the prophets were God-appointed to eliminate the causes of division and establish unity among humankind again. Disconnection or connection in each and every society depends on the latter’s thoughts and beliefs. To establish an Islamic and united society first we should seek to reform the thoughts and beliefs of Muslims so as to be able to root out division of beliefs. The present article first explains and analyzes the primary causes of divergence among Muslims during the event of Saqīfah, the rule of the Ūmavīds and regression to the aristocracy of the Age of Ignorance (jāhīlīyyah). Next it examines the root causes of the decline of the Islamic societies with its main analytic focus on: abandonment of Islamic jurisprudence and ījtīhād; syncretism and metamorphosis of religious concepts; divisive theosophical disputes; the infiltration of foreigners’ thoughts.

Located 60 kilometers to the south of Qazvin, Teppe Zaghe is a low area of 15-hectre breadth which has been explored during14 archeological seasons. This article is allocated to a significant set of finds on the site: anthropomorphic boot figurines. The reason for conducting this study was to test an atomistic, meticulous and objective study of a type of anthropomorphic figurines in Teppe Zagheh in relation to archeological intra-site contexts, so we can reveal the ontological meaning of the presence of boot figurines from within the contextualist study. This research merely focuses on statuettes known as boot figurines, describing them in a classified manner according to variables of size, exhibition of organs, the context of the find, sex organs, adornments, fractures and special features. The three main contexts on the site in relation to the figurines are: the totality of the location of Teppe Zagheh, the engraved monument, and the archeological guess k. To explore the meaning of the figurines within an archeological framework they were placed in the contexts of “ the animist world” , “ life cycle” , and “ ecological relations” . The result of the research is that the anthropomorphic boot figurines in the context of the location of Teppe Zagheh in the fifth/sixth millennium BCE provided room for thinking the unthinkable.

Although a comparative study of mysticism in two different schools of thought faces many difficulties, the large number of similarities in theoretical foundations among the schools of mysticism and mystical characters encourages researchers to conduct such studies. Always there is room for a study of Mani and Rumi as the two characters in Persian mysticism. The theoretical foundations of Manichaeism are fundamentally mystical. Asceticism, austerity, vegetarianism, purification of the soul, good deeds, uprightness, cleanness, belief in absolute separation of light and darkness, and of good and evil, as well as the significance of acquisition of knowledge in achieving salvation are central to Manichaeism. According to Manichaeism, knowledge about the divine essence is the basic condition for salvation, and therefore beliefs deriving from the religion are worthy of attention in the field of epistemology. On the other side, Rumi as one of the mystical poets, perhaps the greatest of them, has introduced an order into his mystical attitude whose origins continue to be the subject of scientists’ meditation. Asceticism, purification of the soul, chivalrousness, and separation of light and darkness in Rumi’ s thought as well as the separation of man from his origins, indifference towards the material world, and especially the significance of knowledge of God and self-knowledge are very important components of the structure of the epistemologies of Mani and Rumi. Having explored the epistemological elements of the mysticisms of Mani and Rumi, the present article tries to find links that might exist between the two views.