An Analytical Examination of Social Communication and Religious Proximity System with Emphasis on Allameh Tabatabaei's Viewpoint

Through examining the works of Allameh Tabatabaei about the links of the Islamic community, a system of religious proximity can be extracted for the social communication and interactions of the Muslim person or the Islamic community. The system of religious proximity determines the degree of attachment and convergence of people in different layers in a macro network of interaction. The system of religious proximity is organized in four layers: human, religion, denomination and faith. Proximity, in these four levels, is constructive and has a longitudinal relationship, and in interaction and action with each other, they establish the system of religious proximity. The general focus of the system of religious proximity in the four aforementioned levels will be "divine guardianship". At the human level, "Istkhlaf (inheritance of power)", at the religion level, "General Prophecy", at the denomination level, "Particular Prophecy" and at the faith level, "Visayat (executorship) and Imamate" are central. This study was conducted with analytical-descriptive approach and using the works of Allameh Tabatabaei and library sources. Allameh considers human existence worthy of honor due to the high capacity of the divine caliph. At the religion level, he considers the general principles of divine religions to be fixed and the existence of inherent differences between them as a violation of divine purpose, and at the denomination level, Allameh's thought and Tafsir Al-Mizan are placed in the category of proximity interpretations. In addition, at the level of faith, he expresses the highest degree of convergence among the believers, focused on the Ahl al-Bayt. In general, the system of religious proximity determines the position of human brotherhood, the convergence of divine religions, the unity of denominations and the unity of faith.