فهرست مطالب لیلا هوشنگی

Considering the importance of Ḏahabīya as the first Shiite Sufi order in Iran and the position of the issue of the supervision (Wilāyāt) of infallible Imam, which is the basis of Shiism, it is necessary to investigate this issue with the great mystics of this order in understanding the theoretical issues as well as Shiite treating path. In the 9th century, Ḏahabīya branched off from the Kubrawīya order and gradually the fundamentals of Shiism were strengthened in it, and it included all spiritual aspects, including the treating path of this order. Therefore, the main question of this research is: What is the relationship between Wilāyāt )guardianship( and practical conduct )suluk( in the Dhahabiyyah? This is more apparent in the works of Sheikh Ḏahabīya of the Qajar era. From the point of view of the Elders of this age, accepting the Imam's guardianship is a condition for entering the suluk, and this is effective in all the steps of it, i.e. repentance, manners and principles, reaching higher stages (Maqamat), and even the ends of suluk also end with the truth of Wilāyāt. This particular emphasis on the spiritual and heart connection with the Imam is considered a distinguishing feature of the teachings of Ḏahabīya. The most relevant works with the subject of the research belong to Abu al-Qasim Raz Shirazi and Majd al-Ashraf, therefore, the most references in this research are to the works of these two Ḏahabī's sheikhs. In this article, using the method of content analysis, the treating path reports related to the position of the Imam's supervision in the works of Ḏahabīya elders (Sheykh) of the Qajar era have been investigated.

Studies on appearance of Fundamentalism among different religious tradition has been emphasized in recent decades. In the Christian world and Evangelical Church, fundamentalism emerged in the 1970s and advocates for a literal interpretation of the Bible in religious and social life, often conflicting with modern aspects of society. The article explores the historical background and theoretical principles of fundamentalism, and compares its methods of interpreting the Bible to previous methods. It also examines the practical consequences of a fundamentalist approach, particularly in social life, education, and mass media. The article suggests that the emphasis on the inerrancy of the Bible has led to the attribution of social views and beliefs to the sacred text, resulting in condemnation of any opposing views. This has resulted in a sacred quarrel with others, and often led to violence.

The Bible, as a literary work, has a variety of literary genres that one of their most important genres is called “apocalyptic genre. The book of Daniel, writing at the end of second century BC, is known as one of the earliest Jewish apocalypses which like other apocalyptic writings has an unknown writer (Pseudonymity). One of the important feature of apocalyptic writing is symbolic expression which includes subjects such as the cosmogony, eschatology, prophesizing the world catastrophes, the resurrection, the final judgment of man and of the world. The present study is seeking to point to background of this research considering the importance of apocalyptic literature in Bible studies. Also this article seeks to point to introduce and express the characteristics of these genre and examine the common general forms and contents of the apocalypses. Moreover specially pay attention to the symbols of the Book of Daniel to the roots and uses in other Hebrew and non-Hebrew literature. This book is one of wisdom books which has been written for teaching wisdoms and moral values. Thus, such texts attract the readers to think more about symbolic concept of them.

Religion and its nexus with culture in explaining the women’s status in society can be examined from a new perspective; in particular, the most religious texts are written by men and the status of women has been affected by the masculine perspective of these texts. In feminist studies, however, a new approach has evolved reviving the women’s role in religious experiences in order to improve their positions in religious communities. Hence, in Christian studies, feminine investigations were conducted not only in New Testament but also in other religious texts, including the Apocryphal books. Even though the apocryphal texts were not considered canonical, the scholars think that they are so important because they reflect the ideas and beliefs of some elite members of the early Christianity. By investigating the views of the authors of these texts, a better model of women's religious experiences in that period can be grasped, in particular with respect to Mary Magdalene and her controversial personality. The descriptive-analytical method of this article at first throws some light on Mary Magdalene’s relationship with Jesus, and then paints a new perspective with respect to her personality conforming to the feminists’ four axes.

In contemporary studies, different perspectives can be found in discussing the role of women in religious communities and the impact of religion on how women are socially represented. Some scholars have considered religion as a tool to suppress women and for this reason, they tried to reduce its value in the eyes of faithful women. While others, duo to the significant population of faithful women, have considered religion as a kind of factor in reviving the status of women. In the feminist approach, by using modern study methods, the sacred religious texts, especially Christian texts, are read, understood and analyzed in order to explore the impact of religion on the position of women in the light of a new perspective. In this study, an attempt has been made to first discuss the apostolic role that women have played with Jesus Christ in the New Testament. Then we are going to examine the report of the four Gospels about Mary of Bethany and Mary Magdalene, who accompanied Jesus on his travels and find a model based on a feminist approach for the presence of faithful women. both women played a dynamic role in various social activities and in various religious fields, both practical and theoretical. Hence, they have attracted the attention of feminist scholars. Also, in this research, an attempt is made to study the components of female faith in a descriptive-analytical method.

The aim of this study was to investigate the position of women in the mysticism of Christianity and Islam. The studied population was the famous mystical women who had special influence on the mysticism of these religions. The sample subsummed Teresa of Ávila and Catherine of Siena in Christianity and Rābiʿa al-ʿAdawiyya and Imaneh Khatoon in Islam. The research was designed as analytical descriptive. To collect data library approach and taking index cards based on the views of sacred and written texts that had dealt with the history of mystics. The data was analysed by using qualitative method. The findings indicated that not only the women were capable of intuition from the point of view of the founders and the holy books, but also the field of activity of these mystical women in the two mentioned religions had similarities. These similarities were examined in three areas: celibacy, which provides women's independence, the dynamic role they played in the executive affairs of mystical centers, and the position they gained in deciphering and intuition. Hence, these mystical women in these contexts were able to be active alongside with the men in the religious community.

The God introduced by the Muslim mystics has an individual existence and unity. Kashf al-asrār (The Unveiling of Secrets) by Ruzbehan Baqli is about his mystical experiences of the Truth, the manifestations of God and ways of guiding the holy travelers (sālek) towards Him. The purpose of this study is to answer these questions: To what extent does Ruzbehan follow the Muslim mystics about the individual God? To what extent is his epistemological background and his familiarity with Quranic verses and the Tradition (hadith), effective in shaping his mystical experiences about the individual God? How can the idea of individual God in Kashf al-asrār be analyzed from an epistemological point of view? By using analytical-descriptive method, the present article examines the views of Ruzbehan Baqli about the manifestation of God and how He is present in the world. God appears in the form of an individual One and manifests Himself in the shape of sage, shaykh, shepherd, musician, beautiful Turkish man, dancer, cupbearer, muezzin, butcher, lion, red rose, light, valuable and expensive stones, for directing and attracting Ruzbehan toward Himself. The findings reveal that on the subject of individual God, Ruzbehan follows the tradition of the Muslim mystics; he expresses this individuation in different ways; the Holy Quran, the Tradition (hadith) and the ideas of the mystics of the past have influence in shaping his thoughts; and finally, his ideas are justifiable from an epistemological point of view.

In most religious traditions, including the Abrahamic religions, the issue of salvation is of particular importance. In the doctrine of salvation, repentance is regarded as one of the ways to achieve this objective. Given the position of Jesus Christ as the Savior and Son of God, the topic of salvation is extensively discussed in Christian theology and ritual practices. In the Orthodox Church, Christian rituals including confession and icons are crucial for achieving salvation and defining Christian faith. The present article carefully investigates the usage and connotation of the two basic concepts of salvation and repentance in the Old Testament. Also, the spiritual and physical salvation of the sinful is man has been examined through its descent and relation to Christology according to such prominent church fathers like Irenaeus, Origin and Anselm. John of Damascus—a prominent eighth-century theologian and the last Greek church father—has specific and influential views on the status of the icons the relationship of this subject with salvation as well as the role of repentance have been carefully examined in the collected works of this theologian.

“Wisdom”, is an important key term with considerable and various semantic implications in religious texts, and, consequently, in the field of comparative studies of the Qur‟an and Torah. This concept has common implications in these texts, yet it has features which make its functions distinct in each text. Generally, in both holy texts, “wisdom” has a moral nature, and is in close relation with practical philosophy. “Wisdom” is regarded effective in human guidance and happiness and is a kind of internal vision and insight. However, in the Qur‟an, “wisdom” is not a personified and individual concept; rather, it is applied as a revealed thing (a revelation), an attribute of the Qur‟an and an adjective for" God" and some people such as Luqman, while in the Torah, "Wisdom" has is personified in the form of the feminine incarnation. Regarding the function of “Wisdom” in the Hebrew holy book (the Tanakh), “Wisdom” concerns the creation of the world and human guidance, while the most essential functions of this concept in the Qur‟an are judgment and resistance against sensuality. The present article studies wisdom in the Torah with an emphasis on some wisdom books such as Proverbs, Job, Ecclesiastes, and Solomon‟s Song of Songs, which have protected the oral tradition of “Wisdom” in the first Jewish Community. In the Qur‟anic application, taking into account the high frequency and derivations of the word “wisdom” based on the commentators‟ views, we have tried to examine the various semantic implications of wisdom.

Gnosticism as an important and effective school have been studied frequently. It is mainly due to its influences on several mystical and religious traditions. In this article we study the role of women in Gnostic traditions by considering the mutual relation between religion and society. In the first two centuries A.D., based on the teachings of two Gnostic teachers, i.e. Simon Magus and Valentinus, a particular attitude was taken towards the role of women by the Christian theologists. Thus, the Gnostic worldview and theology spread to explain the position of the female element in the divinity. Moreover, the role of wisdom (often characterized by the name of Sophia), in the process of creation, was emphasized. In a reciprocal way, this theology, based on the female divine personality, affected the activities of women in religious society and the understanding of the scriptures.

The term "Celestial Kingdom" is used in the Quran and in the Gospels as well. In Islam, several interpretations are given to this term; such as, great kingdom, throne, the wonders of the heavens and the earth and treasures. In the mystical Quran commentaries, kingdom is always to mean metaphysical world and inner state of the world. Witnessing this kingdom requires knowing the names of the Divine actions and the oneness of God (Tawhid). This objective can be realized by performing voluntary acts, grace and guidance according to Divine Command. Also, realization of the heavenly kingdom is accompanied by changes in the degree of the soul according to the levels of existence. In Christianity too, there are several interpretations of the kingdom, such as the kingdom of Christ in the apocalypse and the kingdom of God. But, in the mysticism of oriental Christianity, "kingdom" is used to mean an inner entity associated with intuition, unity with God and the Trinity. The attainment of this aim requires performing voluntary acts and supported by the grace of the Holy Spirit. If one wants to be prepared for celestial kingdom, one's soul must change through divine grace.

It seems that the attitude of man towards nature, the physical world and the environment is the root of present environmental crisis. Considering the comprehensive presence of religion in all aspects of past traditional societies lives, it is obvious that to understand the relationship of man and nature, therefore to determine his attitude in each religious tradition, one has to reconsider the teachings which are commonly found in religious texts and shape the spiritual paradims. The present paper tries to look for such teachings considering the importance of the prosperity of land and emphasis on protection and preservation of water, plants and animals in the Gathas of Zaratostra, new Avesta, and other important Zoroastrian texts such as DÊnkard, Minouye Kherad, and Shāyast nāshāyast. It also tries to analyse the relationship of man and nature through the laws and regulations in these texts which can affect the environment directly or indirectly, and to give a wholistic view of the attitude of the Mazdeans towards nature. Furthermore, this paper is going to consider the views of religious man, and general affects of the function of faithfuls on environment through a new look on these texts and Zororastrian cosmology.

Since Islam has a special emphasis on marriage, so different opinions of the Sufi scholars is worthy to be studied. The Muslim scholars has studied the bachelorhood or monasticism and marriage from different aspects. There is an extensive discussion on the impression of the monastic life of Christians on Sufism. In this article, we have tried to study this impression briefly and on the other hand, review in detail the works by such great Sufi scholars as Hojviri, Mohammad Ghazali, Sohrevardi, Molavi and Molla Mohsen Feiz Kashani, in order to review their views on the influence of marriage on the mystics and their progress in their mystical ways. Some of these Sufis have preferred to live a bachelor’s life since they considered marriage as an obstacle to access to intimacy of the God. On the opposite, another group of married Sufi scholars say marriage is not an obstacle to attaining highest levels of theosophical ranks. These views can be classified as the advantages and disadvantages of marriage, advantages of bachelorhood, and recommendations on living a bachelor’s life. It should be noted that Sufi scholars have provided traditions attributed to the Prophet (PBUH) on each viewpoint they have maintained in order to show the unity of Sharia law and Sufi traditions.

Nowadays the escalating conflicts between the followers of different religions have given rise to insecurity in the world. Considering the religious texts and thoughts and their impact on the external interaction, can be effective in recognizing the causes of differences and solving them. In Judaism, ((Foreigners)) are the people other than the Jews and there is a dual view in dealing with the foreigners. As mentioned in some parts of the Hebrew holy text (Tanakh) and Talmud, on the one hand the foreigners differ from the Jews and are inferior to them in terms of race and on the other hand they are considered as respected creatures of God. Due to their belief in the racial purity and excellence of their own people, Jews have an inappropriate attitude towards foreigners. Research into the Jewish scriptures show that one of the most important reasons for the inappropriate attitude of the Jews towards the foreigners is relying on wrong beliefs penetrated into their religious texts. On the contrary, Quran considers all mankind as the same and does not regard any special race superior to the others. Rather, only piety, faith and good deeds are the criteria for superiority.

Considering the importance of the manifestations of religious art in the great religious traditions of the world and their role in strengthening the religious beliefs of the faithful, the paper examines the subject from different aspects including the manner of relationship of religions manifestations with Divine theology and Divine presence, the relationship of these religious works with religious acts and rituals, aesthetic aspects and many issues. Using an analytical-theoretical approach, the paper conducts a brief investigation into the theoretical principles on the religious art in the Imamite tradition and Orthodox Christians to study the position of figurative narrations, religious symbols and icons and their role in the preaching of beliefs to the followers of the two ancient and wealthy traditions. Of course, owing to the wide range of religious artworks, emphasis is put in Imamites on presenting a vivid picture of the Event to Ashura and in Orthodox Christians of Crucifix. In the historical investigation of each of these instances, the general view of each religious tradition has been expounded.

In the eighth century A.D. disputes over iconoclasm caused a gap between the Roman Catholic Church and Byzantine Church. In the eleventh century A.D. the Orthodox Church officially declared its separation owning to the dispute over iconography. This paper investigates the relation between theoretical foundations of iconography and the Bible.Based on Orthodox theology, most of Christian doctrines in the Bible have somehow expressed themselves in the icons. Therefore, iconography has been regarded as a kind of visual interpretationˮ of the Bible. On the contrary, the Bible is considered as a written iconˮ of Jesus Christ, and such, equal respect is paid to the icon and the Bible. In addition to theological issues, artistic aspects of icons as signs of religious or sacred art have been taken into consideration. By virtue of the images in the Bible, the narrative and non – narrative images of God, Jesus Christ, man and semiology, the aesthetic aspects of the icons have also been discussed. These icons do not have ornamental applications; they are symbols of written texts and verbal traditions.

Religious rites are usually the first expressions of a religion which an observer comes in contact with and therefore, researchers on religions study them as the most important mainfestations of a religion. In Christianity too, rites and particularly the Holy Communion enjoy a prominent place. In the Orthodox church by differentiating between the “Theological” and “non-theological” elements, the importance of the icons is specially emphasized. The icons as the loci of deification, are also considered as an inseparable part of the Orthodox theology. In this paper, we are trying to elucidate the Orthodox church’s interpretation of the icons and their function as symbols with spiritual significance. The basic aim of performing the rites in this church, is simulating God and Christ and therefore, deification. This teaching as the most fundamental principle of Eastern Orthodox church’s theology and mysticism, signifies the realization of the unity with God and receiving the gift of deification.

Considering the importance of glad tidings and warnings as a main strategy the prophets employed to guide their people towards the right path and prevent them from deviation, an attempt has been made in this paper to investigate the outstanding cases of glad tidings and warnings in the holy Quran and to compare them with the cases mentioned in the Old Testament, especially in the Isaiah book which is a highly important part of this collection. Besides discussing differences and similarities, the common grounds of this strategy are pointed out. Regarding the different cultural, social and political conditions of the present time and due to the need for promotion of spirituality and moral and religious issues, reintroduction of such methods taken from religious traditions can definitely be useful in various areas of education and psychology.

In British India, Moslems according to political & social conditions began cultural activities, especially the thinkers established institutions for Islamic education. Among the first Islamic schools in the midle of 19th century, Dar ul-ulum of Deobands has a special position.Its founders has used the new system of instruction, but they insisted on the old Islamic books for instruction. Also they tried to train students in a Islamic atmospheres. Few decades later, many of graduated students, as Ulama played a great role in social-political movements in India. They, as a new social class, tried to revive social identity of Moslems in modern society. At the same time they insisted on the Islamic tradition that based on their sacred Book, Quran, and also Hadith.