فصلنامه سراج منیر
پیاپی 13 (زمستان 1392)

The importance of the discussion regarding the essence of Quran arises primarily from the fact that part of the meanings and teachings of Quran are related to the essence of verses, and, also, the eternity of Quran has a collateral relationship with its essence. The essence of Quran can be studied from different aspects, though the first step in this regard is to understand the nature of Quran’s essence; an action which not only is efficient in understanding the range and levels of Quran’s essence but also plays an important role in understanding a correct way to interpret Quran and deal correctly with interpretive narrations. In different eras, scholars in various fields of Islamic sciences have proposed different definitions for the essence of Quran, but it can be derived from hadiths that this essence is both the concealed meanings of the verses and the teachings which cannot be initially understood. The present paper aims to investigate the conceptology of the essence of Quran based on narrations. As a result of this research, it can be concluded that the essence of Quran in narrations has been proposed in three forms: the evidence of verses, different meanings concealed from the words of verses and the deep meanings of Quran.

Regression and reincarnation are amongst the common terminologies in the literature of Islamic exegetes, prolocutors and philosophers. It is primarily necessary to expurgate the two subjects to find out the fundamental differences between them. Secondly, it is necessary to find out which concept is accepted by notable Islamic scholars and which is rejected by the key figures of hermeneutics, discourse and philosophy. The present paper aims to investigate the two notions and present the views of the scholars of this field. In general, regression is accepted by hermeneutics scholars as it is a Quranic fact, and the regression of certain people during Imam Mahdi’s (pbuh) Coming is, under special circumstances, confirmed by Shiite scholars. Reincarnation, however, in all of its forms, is rejected by Peripatetic philosophers and those following Mulla Sadra’s philosophy, even though some Orientalist philosophers have accepted certain forms of reincarnation.

Islamic management is based on a religious worldview which is derived from the implications of the Quran, Nahj al-Balagha and the narrations of the saints of God. As a result, managers of an Islamic society are required to possess certain features in order to be able to turn into managers, by extracting those implications and integrating them with their own innate personality abilities, who can fulfill managerial and divine responsibilities. They should also be able to pass by and avert the plague of such positions in the undertaking of their responsibilities by becoming familiar with them. This is essential since negative features in managers debilitate their personalities, hinder mutual and interpersonal interactions and mar relationships. In the present paper, identifying such plagues has been in focus, and in line with this purpose, definitions for management, manager and plague have been provided. Afterwards, some harms of management such as pride, ambition, etc. have been studied. Therefore, the viewpoints of Quran and Nahj al-Balagha, as well as those of notable scholars have been taken into account.

Islamc, besides its appearance, has internal, essential decrees, and sharia, though it is a knowledge of appearance, does not hinder the acquisition of internal knowledge such as doctrine and truth, as the relationship between appearance and the essence is a real relationship, not an artificial and contrived one. The essence guides and nourishes apparent actions, just as faith requires the internal actions of the heart, and intent is the spirit and origin of all actions. Seyyed Heidar Amoli has demonstrated that Sharia and its five ancillaries, namely, Prayer, Fasting, Hajj, Zakat and Jihad fall within three categories of Sharia, Doctrine and Truth. He, like other mystics such as Raseed ol-din Meibodi in Kashf ol-Asrar or Abu Saeed Abu al-Kheir, in proving this link uses this hadith from Prophet Muhammad, “Sharia is my saying, Doctrine is my actions and Truth is my Status.” As a result, mystics consider as one of the principles of conduct the harmony of the mystic’s conduct with the Quran and the hadiths.

An indisputable element in the destiny of humans is the law of heredity. Spiritual and ethical features, similar to physical features, are transferred, through hereditary elements (genes), from parents to children. Some people accept the exclusive role of heredity in determining the destiny of humans but from the viewpoint of some others, the law of heredity is only a basis and is effective in a person’s actions as a requirement and not as definite causality. As a result, it can be strengthened or weakened under the effect of environmental factors, especially upbringing methods; moreover, the humans’ willpower has a considerable role in their prosperity and adversity. It has been tried, in this research to review the place of heredity in the destiny of humans from the viewpoints of the science of genetics, the Quran and the narrations, and the result is that the element of heredity is not dominant on humans’ destiny and does not have an exclusive role in determining it. As a result, people with any type of heredity can be nurtured and are required [to obey the laws of religion], and one of the aims of the prophets is to reinforce desirable hereditary resources and modify disagreeable hereditary bases.

All throughout history, prophets and imams have nourished and flourished the treasures of human intellect by providing legislative guidance and showing the way. One of their aims on this path has been the formation of the utopia or the utopian society in which members of that society, free from any oppression or injustice, can move towards true perfection and divine knowledge. Moreover, apart from legislative guidance, the imam, through developmental and inner guidance, guides talented hearts and brings them to the desired [end]. This importance among the instances of an imam’s importance plays an important role in [helping] people progress towards Hayat-e Taiba [(The good life)]. In this paper, the fundamental question in focus read as “What is the role of imam’s guidance based on orders in the formation of the utopian society?” Based on the conducted research, achieving such a society requires constant preparation, guidance and training which cannot be undertaken by the ordinary human, and it should be taken up as a responsibility by a leader who possesses all [aspects of] human perfection and moral virtues, so that this leader can quench human innate nature’s thirst. An imam is a unique personality who, as an infallible person selected by the Creator and dependent on divine knowledge, by having all these features, can guide and train people and [help them] reach the desired [end]. Therefore, the importance of and imam’s guidance based on orders plays a significant role in realizing this deep-rooted human wish. The research method in this article is analytical-descriptive and data collection method has been library research.

In this paper, the narrations regarding Repentance and Forgiveness, which exist in reliable Hadith references such as Al-Kafi, Amali, etc., have undergone an evidence-based textual review, and it has been identified that the greatest doubts regarding the fallibility of Imams (pbut) are the narrations in which the Imams have admitted their sin and have asked for God’s forgiveness. As a result of evidential and textual reviews, it has been identified that most of these narrations are weak in terms of being constructed on documentary evidence, and, regarding their texts: 1) The subject of these hadiths is mostly about paying attention to God which draws others’ attention to this action; 2) the terms such as sin, repentance and forgiveness, used as evidence of fallibility, do not necessarily indicate fallibility and have different uses; 3) forgiveness of Imams (pbut) is a type of repulsive forgiveness which prevents the manifestation of sins; 4) repentance and forgiveness, in Quran’s view, is one of the greatest prayers, examples of which can be mentioned by referring to these points. All believers are called to forgiveness, and God loves those who repent.