PAZHUHESH-DINI (RELIGIOUS STUDY)
Year:2007 | Volume:- | Issue:15|Papers Count:9

The question of resurrection and a new life after death has always occupied man’s mind being responded by men in various forms due to necessities of their time, thought, and environment. From the very beginning days of their prophecy, divine prophets constantly introduced the belief in another life as the second principle of their creed. Hence, the principle of resurrection has preserved its strength in all previous religions of the world being treated as a significant principle. Development of the dialogue among religions of the world and intention of theologians and thinkers of various religions to develop it on the one hand and their efforts for finding historical- canonical common points in all monotheistic religions on the other have prepared grounds for a thorough research in the texts of divine religions such as the Quran and Gospels. In this connection, the present essay investigates thoroughly the propositions of synoptic Gospels concerning resurrection, present their Quranic equivalent propositions, and concludes that the Quran and synoptic Gospels are common in some such notions as resurrection, that-worldly life, the coming world, the Day of Separation, judgment, divine justice, paradise, hell, and so forth.

Among pivotal subjects of the holy Quran is man who is endowed with some talents and preferences compared to other begins. Such preference facets relate to his spiritual, non-material dimension. The fundamental presupposition in the analysis of criteria of human, spiritual development is the pattern of behavior of Quranic examples. As developed human beings, prophets were endowed with some such criteria as intellectuality, faith, generosity, sincerity, and moderation. Those exalted human virtues are to be considered as preliminaries assisting men to achieve their ultimate goal- which is the state of proximity and servitude. Considering such distinguished facets as well as man’s natural dimension, the present essay investigates criteria of man’s spiritual development.

Among notable issues in the Islamic cultural realm is the significance of legal limits and criteria as well as of attempting precisely and perfectly to perform divine commands. On the other hand, because of man’s following his lusts and tendencies to individual, social freedoms, he sometimes breaks the law and then legally justifies what he has done in order to free himself from mental strain. In case of denial of relation between the faith and action, libertinism roots down in man’s soul as a mentality and philosophical, ethical, and theological justifications will be prepared in order to establish it. Consideration of the relation between faith an action, however, prevents from appearance of libertinism.

Comparing principles and methods of propaganda used in the Quran and the New Testament, The present research aims at presenting successful approaches and methods of propaganda taken into consideration by those two holy creeds. This research, therefore, merely deals with expounding common principles and methods and not with distinctions of the Quran in this realm because of its very rich content. Familiarity with the New Testament is important because it is among Abrahamic religions and is referred to in the Quran and hadiths – although it should be born in mind that Quran is absolutely free from distortion while existing Gospels only contain some reminder of Jesus’s teachings.

Muhammad, the holy prophet of Islam, is introduced as al-Nabiyy al-Ummii in the holy Quran. Correct understanding of the clause al-Nabiyy al-Ummii as a Quranic, Islamic belief concerning the prophet has always been a fundamental demonstration for Muslims in defending Islam. His illiteracy as a firm belief and an exceptional sign for genuineness of his prophecy has been a matter of consensus among all Muslims confirmed by historical reports and Islamic hadiths. Orientalists, who look critically at the Islamic history, also admit that there is no sign of any previous record for reading and writing of the holy prophet.

After the immigration of Muslims to Medina, Ansar assisted Muhajirun and the problem of the latter’s settlement was solved in a very short time due to some arrangement made by the Prophet. But their peaceful life with polytheists and Jews was in need of more fundamental plans which were actualized through conclusion of general treaty of Medina. While researchers have spoken a lot concerning that treaty, some orientalists have doubted its authenticity. Having investigated the authenticity of the chain of transmitters of the treaty, the present essay searches into it through perspectives of outstanding historians, hadith narrators, and orientalists and thereby concludes that the treaty had in fact included two agreements: (a) General treaty of Madina between the prophet and Muslims on the one hand and polytheists and merely Jews allied with Aws and Khazraj on the other, and (b) treaty of the Prophet with three main tribes of Jews of Medina i.e. Banu Qaynaqa', Banu Nadir, and Banu Quraydha called “agreement of Jews” – both being concluded at the beginning days of entrance of the Prophet to Medina. It seems that the application of the term Jews in a general way in the first treaty has caused the confusion and insertion of the second one into it.

Among various facets of the Quran as a miracle is its literal dimension, i.e. what concerns structure of Quranic terms of which being innovative points lying in the enchanting music of its words. What necessitates dealing with this aspect of the holy Quran is the existence of enormous secrets lying in the music of the holy Quran whose comprehension may clarify the secret why this divine book is a miracle. That field of Quranic studies is new having no notable background. However, references to that category of the Quran as a miracle can be found in some works of great scholars of eloquence such as Asrar al-Balagha and Dalail al-I’jaz by Abd al-Qahir al-Jorjani. It should be noted that among contemporary scholars, al-Sayyid al-Qutb is the one who has dealt with that subject more than others.