The Impact of Sin on Knowledge according to Allamah Tabatabai

The present paper is going to examine the effect of sin on knowledge, whether direct or indirect knowledge, with an emphasis on Allamah Tabatabai’s viewpoint. In the domain of direct knowledge, the paper discusses such an effect in both the direct knowledge of the self and the direct knowledge of God. In the domain of indirect knowledge, it goes on to discuss it in terms of theoretical and practical reason. In fact, as the Koranic verses and the Islamic traditions have specified, God fearing results in increasing knowledge; moreover, it expresses itself in the form of self-controlling and in the acquisition of moral virtues. So, Allamah Tabataba`i holds that there is a concomitance between God fearing and the power of intellect in discursive discernment. This means that there is a mutual interaction between the power of reason and the observance of divine commands.