An Analysis of Extrinsic Factors Prevailing on the Balanced Rationality of Moderation over the Excessive Textualism in the Mahdavi Studies of the Recent Century at Qom Seminary

In the Abrahamic religions - particularly Islam and Shiism- we encounter two general approaches and attitudes towards religious texts: "textualism" and "rationalism." The textualist approach gives centrality and authenticity to the text in understanding religion, emphasizing the subordinate nature of reason, while the rationalist (moderate) approach, while adhering to the text, also recognizes the importance of reason in discovering religious knowledge. In recent century, the Qom seminary has witnessed the presence of these two currents in the arena of Mahdism studies. The rationalist moderate movement has established reconciliation through criticism of the monolithic approach of extremist text-oriented thinkers, linking the beliefs of Mahdism to the balance between reason and scripture, and stability and dynamism. Scientific struggles have dominated the extremist traditionalist movement. This progressive research aims to discover the prevalence of the moderate rationalist movement over the extremist textualism orientation in the scientific domain of Qom Seminary in relation to Mahdism. It delves into describing and analyzing the implications of the prevalence of rationalistic thinking over textualism in this doctrine and is based on library and documentary studies; it will be descriptive-explanatory in terms of research methodology.