Religious Inquiries
Volume:12 Issue: 2, Summer-Autumn 2023

This paper aims to investigate the challenges, strategies and prospects of interfaith dialogue in the post-truth age. Conflicting truth claims constitute one of the major obstacles in establishing dialogue and rapprochement among believers. Some members of faith communities have an exclusivist view of the truth, which prevents them from embracing other truths. This would hinder the progress of interfaith ecumenism. Using qualitative content analysis, the results of the current study show that the rise of post-truth poses additional challenges to the progress of interfaith dialogue since it evaluates the truthfulness of information based on personal believability and inclinations. In the age of post-truth, societal fragmentation is amplified as there are polarized conceptions of truth. Some strategies can be undertaken in response to these challenges, such as nurturing empathy, compassion, and religious moderatism through formal and informal education. In addition, critical argumentation and civil dialogue within academia should be adopted for a larger society. This paper argues that the prospects for interfaith dialogue in the post-truth age depend on the strength of civil society actors who can moderate the tension and polarization within the society by maintaining civility either offline or online.

Conceptual metaphors, as a cognitive process, have the potential to profoundly influence the culture of a society, serving as a reflection of its distinctive traits. According to the theory of "conceptual metaphor," the amalgamation of knowledge and culture gives rise to a unified concept. Therefore, conceptual metaphors not only have cognitive implications but also possess a cultural essence. Consequently, the origins of conceptual metaphors found within the Quran can be traced back to the age of Quranic revelation. This research aims to explore the influence of culture on the metaphors related to the Last Judgment. Specifically, it focuses on examining the legal-judicial system of the revelation era within its cultural context. The study investigates various aspects such as law and legislation, arbitration institutions, and claims processes during that era. Subsequently, the research analyzes how the cultural influence of arbitration manifested in the metaphors associated with the Last Judgment. The findings indicate that the Quran draws upon traditional cultural models to depict metaphors concerning the Last Judgment. It establishes new metaphors by establishing connections with its audience, while simultaneously endorsing and refining traditional models and dismissing inappropriate ones. Through the creation of fresh models, the Quran effectively conveys its fundamental principles to its audience. Thus, the metaphors employed to depict the Last Judgment not only reflected existing cultural models but also generated novel ones.

In light of the evolving nature of modern legal systems, certain aspects of Islamic law, such as the khums (one-fifth tax) and zakāt (alms tax), as well as discussions surrounding taxation and gender equality, have sparked debates within the realm of Islamic jurisprudence. This research aims to propose a suggestion that could potentially facilitate the rational integration of Islamic law with a Muʿtazilite approach, fostering greater compatibility between Islamic law and the legal requirements of public law in contemporary political communities. By focusing on the concepts of "rationality" and "human will," which hold paramount importance in Qāḍī ʿAbd al-Jabbār al-Muʿtazilī's theory, we aim to provide a legal and positive interpretation of the elements of his justice theory. This perspective may facilitate the coexistence of Islamic legal principles and the enacted regulations of modern legal systems.

The involvement of the millennial generation in some violent acts of extremism has become a serious problem for the security and peace of the Indonesian people. The effectiveness of the de-radicalization program implemented by the Indonesian government to cure the ideology of terrorism has been questioned by many parties. However, the concept of religious moderation proposed by the Ministry of Religion and confirmed in the 2020-2024 National Medium-Term Development Plan (RPJM) can be an alternative program that requires further reinforcement for the millennial generation in Indonesia. This program needs to be planned by the stakeholders in accordance with the character of the millennials by using social media like the one employed by communities and non-governmental organizations, such as the Center for the Study of Islam and Society (PPIM) the Peace Generation Indonesia, and the Young Interfaith Peacemaker Community (YIPC). This article focuses on three issues, namely: first, discussing the urgency of religious moderation values to be internalized for the millennial generation; second, the concept of internalizing the values of religious moderation for the millennial generation; and third, the strategy for internalizing the values of religious moderation for the millennial generation.

Absurdity is a crucial philosophical problem that has widespread social consequences. In this paper, I discuss three accounts of absurdity: Purposelessness of the world, lack of reasonability and seriousness, and failure and boredom. I suggest that to discuss absurdity, one should look at the question of meaning in life as the question of narrative of life. Narratives are the way to make life intelligible and understandable. However, contradictory narratives to meanigful life necessitate criteria for evaluating different narratives. I take a step toward such criteria that covers both subjective and objective aspects of truth to evaluate narratives. For doing so, I try to make a connction between Narrative and Understanding. Moreover, the theoretical and practical reasoning establish a ground to evaluate narratives. I argue that based on the criteria, one can prefer a meaningful narrative of life. One of the important resources for meaningful narrative is religious faith. Faith can introduce new realities and also new interpretations of different aspects of life and hence help to develop a meaningful narrative of life.

Throughout history, there have been various attempts to deconstruct the text of the Holy Quran. One of the more recent theories is Soroush's Prophetic Dream theory, which suggests that the Holy Prophet received and perceived the revelations in a dream-like state. The theory in question aims at deconstructing the nodal points of Islam such as revelation, prophet, and the Holy Text, as well as constructing a new discourse. This study aims to analyze the above theory using Laclau and Mouffe’s theory of discourse, as well as Derrida’s deconstruction. Discourse theory applies deconstruction in order to show how rival discourses strive to gain their voice. In this sense, the first step towards discourse-construction is to deconstruct the dominant discourse and then articulate a new one. The present study finds that the birth-place of the Prophetic Dream theory is the deconstruction by which Soroush will be able to put the moments in crisis and also to articulate the floating signifiers in the field of discursivity.

Justice is of utmost significance in the Holy Qur'an as it is concerned with one of the most crucial matters. The Qur'an emphasizes that the prophets had a fundamental responsibility to uphold justice. This study aims to offer a contemporary and practical interpretation of Quranic justice as a research problem. The primary objective of this article is to elucidate the theoretical and practical dimensions of justice and elaborate on its portrayal in the Holy Qur'an. To begin, a comprehensive literature review is conducted, identifying four interrelated Arabic concepts, which are commonly translated as "justice" in English. Subsequently, the article examines the concepts of justice in two distinct sections. The first section delves into the meaning of justice and explores its various theoretical dimensions as depicted in the Holy Qur'an. The second section illustrates the practical aspects of justice within the Holy Qur'an. From this analysis, it is concluded that considering these concepts as interdependent provides profound insights into the responsibility of both prophets and individuals to establish social justice. Furthermore, this article presents a novel definition of justice from a socio-political standpoint.

This article is focused on the influence of Iranian motifs and themes on Biblical characters in the Babylonian Talmud (Bavli). Through a comparison of the Bavli’s account of Solomon with Iranian accounts of the mythical figure of Jamšīd, it will be demonstrated that the latter figure helps us understand the differences between Biblical and Talmudic accounts of the former. This approach suggests that studying the impact of the Talmud and Midrash on Islamic tafsīr or exegesis—and consequently, Persian literature—may be a fruitful avenue for Iranists to explore. The main goal in this paper is to depict how Babylonian Jewish sages, who were familiar with Iran’s literature and culture, used this knowledge to create transformed versions of well-known biblical figures, such as King Solomon, and furthermore, show that these Sasanian rabbis as composers of the Bavli played a significant role in the long and complicated transformation process that occurred from the Avesta to classical Persian literature.

This article is focused on the influence of Iranian motifs and themes on Biblical characters in the Babylonian Talmud (Bavli). Through a comparison of the Bavli’s account of Solomon with Iranian accounts of the mythical figure of Jamšīd, it will be demonstrated that the latter figure helps us understand the differences between Biblical and Talmudic accounts of the former. This approach suggests that studying the impact of the Talmud and Midrash on Islamic tafsīr or exegesis—and consequently, Persian literature—may be a fruitful avenue for Iranists to explore. The main goal in this paper is to depict how Babylonian Jewish sages, who were familiar with Iran’s literature and culture, used this knowledge to create transformed versions of well-known biblical figures, such as King Solomon, and furthermore, show that these Sasanian rabbis as composers of the Bavli played a significant role in the long and complicated transformation process that occurred from the Avesta to classical Persian literature.