نشریه ادیان و عرفان
سال پنجاه و یکم شماره 2 (پاییز و زمستان 1397)

Salvation is one of the most fundamental issues in the Abrahamic religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In these religions, God put Adam into paradise or the Garden of Eden. Adam disobeyed God's command commandment through the Devil; Consequently, he was expelled of it. In fact, all human beings descended. Hence, human being needs to be saved and return to paradise. In Islam, God has revealed the Qur'an to save all humanity. In the Holy Qur'an, the salvation of the prophets and believers is mentioned. Given the importance of salvation in the Holy Qur'an, it is obvious that it should be considered in the Quranic commentary. One of the interpretations that have examined this issue in detail and in terms of interpretation and mysticism is the interpretation of Kashf Al-Asrār Wa ʿUddat Al-Abrār (“The Unveiling of the Mysteries and the Provision of the Pious”) by Abu’l-Faḍl Rashīd Al-Dīn Maybudī. This article, written by descriptive and analytical method, explains the role of God in eternal bliss and eternal affliction‚ the relationship of obedience and sin with happiness and cruelty, the role of prophets in happiness and cruelty, and ... in this commentary. In Maybudi’s view, although God has determined the sayings and the deeds of his servants in the eternity, and creates them in the servants at the time of acting‚ the servants acquire them. Meybudi considers the same acquisition as the cause of being rewarded and punished. He also considers reward and punishment as relating to the decrees of obligation and not to the decrees of determination. In Meybudi’s view, they are based on commandment and prohibition and not on divine grace and abandonment; because determination is principle and deed is branch‚ and reward and punishment relate to the decrees of the branches and not to the decrees of the principles.

The central issue of this article is whether one can consider the experience of Beauty or love in Plato as a religious experience. First, it describes different views on the religious experience. Then it deals with Plato's view on beauty and love and their relationship. Finally, by proving the divinity of Beauty in Plato, the article shows that if religious experience is the encounter of the experiencer with the Divine being, God, who manifests itself in various forms, and that encounter is accompanied by a direct conscious of the divine being, then the experience of Beauty or love in Plato can be considered as a kind of religious experience. However, the claim of this article is merely that the experience of beauty or love is one of the examples of religious experience and does not imply a specific epistemological view of religious experience. But the adoption of any epistemological view of religious experience logically involves an experience of beauty or love.

One of the basic concepts of Christianity and Islam is the "Covenant". The significance and position of this concept in these religions raises these questions: what is the doctrine of the Covenant and what kind of relationship between God and Man is in these two religions. In response to this question, the hypothesis evaluated in a comparative and analytical research is that in both of them the Covenant means the interrelationships between God and Man and the main meaning of it is that God gives life to man and wants to obey Him purely. There are various types of covenant in Christianity, but in Islam there is only one type. This study concludes that the meaning of the Covenant in Christianity is Jesus Christ himself, but in Islam, more attention is paid to human being and the Prophet is only the reminder.

In dealing with supernatural facts, the mystics find the experiences that deserve to be described as mystical experience. Mrs. Underhill (1875-1941), the contemporary English mystic scholar, in her extensive research on Christian mysticism, has studied mystical experience. After the great inner transformation, she turned from atheism to deeply religious and mystical beliefs, and by compiling numerous books and articles, was among the most influential scholars of the twentieth century in Christianity. This article tries to explain her perspective about the mystical experience and its realization. It presents a clear picture of its nature by expressing the types, signs and characteristics of the mystical experience. With considering the mystical-psychological doctrines and accepting the role of the subconscious and inner senses, she believes that occurring of the mystical experience through universal and internal journey is possible. In internal journey, the mystic achieves a skill through which he abandons constraints like "for me, from me, me ...", and by extending his character, receives an internal revelation. In the course of the external journey, the Salek leads the area of consciousness to the unity through the "discovery of God in creatures". Then he realizes the real presence of unity in the plurality. The main characteristics of the mystical experience are the mystery, inconsistency, the sense of objectivity, the feeling of passivity and irresistibility and awareness of the mechanism of the epistemic layers of the universe. They help to realize the mystical experience.

The study of the Imami Shi'ism in Tabarestan and their establishment and consolidation is one of the important disputations of Shiite history in Iran. Therefore, the main question of this research is how the Imam of Shiism is transformed from the stage of deployment to its stabilization in that region. Looking for this question, this article proposes that Tabarestan, due to its specific political and geographical conditions, the acceptance of the Shi'a Alavid immigrants, activities of the Shiite scholars and support of the local rulers, has proper conditions for establishment and consolidation of Shiism. This research, by using of descriptive and analytical method, explains the process of the settlement and consolidation of Shi'ism in Tabaristan.  In this regard, the research findings shows that the residence of some followers of the Imams in Tabarestan, the propaganda activities of Alavid Sadat, the presence of religious scholars and Shi'ite leaders and their propaganda activities in Tabaristan, and the support of the rulers of Albawandi, Marashi and some Padosbani rulers of Shi'amami consolidated Imami Shi'ism in the early nineteenth A.H. in Mazandaran.

Quranic verses and Narratives of the Prophet and Religious judgments indicate that Islam has paid much attention to the social presence of the Muslim individual, and they consider that the isolation is unnecessary. For this reason, the scholars and jurisprudents, who are critics of Sufism, are suspicious to this Way. The existence of isolationist behaviours in some Sufi classes has led their critics to recognize mysticism and spirituality as contradictory to social sensitivities and the mystic neglect from the environment of their society is considered as the cause of many social and political abnormalities and therefore opposes the promotion of mystical behaviours. This is while the mystic in this regard show that: (1) that are in conflict with absolute omnipresence, such as the conversation that emphasizes more and more before the seclusion, or the doctrine of sacrifice (2) The rest and isolation are bound to the degree of the individual and for a limited time, and this observation is incompatible with ascetic isolation; (3) In the field of beliefs and motives, they do not regard the community as filthy and accused, but they are suspicious of themselves and their motivation is to protect others, and It differs with the isolation from suspicion of the congregation; their goal is also to achieve inner solitary, not separation from the congregation; (4) In the Sufis' view, the solitary has its precedence in the Quran and the tradition and is not opposite of sharia. In their rituals, emphasis is placed on the keeping of the law, especially collective worship, such as prayer and Friday prayers. In addition, the presence of a Sufis in social and political areas is an indication of the falsehood of the claim by the critics of Sufism to accuse it of monasticism.

Aziz al-din Nasafi is a seventh century prolific writer and a mystic, who has dealt with education in his works. His style is didactic. There are an educative intention and a didactic approach in his works. According to Nasafi, instructin of Sufism has theoretical and practical approaches. In this research, this matter will be studied. The results of this study indicate that his works include both the intention of teaching and the didactical method of his own time. Issues related to the educational aspect of Nasafi's works are: "Nasafi and Teaching of Science", "Nasafi and Teaching of Practice," and finally "Nasafi's Teaching Method." Teaching science is related to the teaching of theoretical Sufism and the teaching of practice related to the teaching of mystical journey. The method used in this essay is descriptive and analytical.