The basics of the validity of Khabar al-Wāḥid (tradition narrated by a single source) have been discussed by contemporary Uṣūlī scholars in detail during the discussion of the subject of Qaṭʻ and Ḍann (certitude and presumption) in Uṣūlī books, and various criteria have been presented for accepting the narrations of Āḥād, such as the existence of definite evidence, the reliability of the narrators of the chain transmission, and assurance of narration issuance. Meanwhile, the theory of "agreement with the spirit of the Qurʼān and the Sunnah" is one of the emerging theories that tries to express a criterion for the validity of Khabar al-Wāḥid and to attributes its issuance and non-issuance to the holy infallibles (ʻA). Āyatollāhs Martyr Sayyid al-Ṣadr and al-Sīstānī are among those who support this theory. Of course, Martyr Sayyid al-Ṣadr has accepted the validity of Khabar al-Thiqah, along with it, raised the possibility of the completeness of this theory, but Āyatollāh al-Sīstānī has not accepted the validity of Khabar al-Thiqah and considers his only criterion in the validity of Khabar al-Wāḥid to be its spiritual agreement with the Qurʼān and the Sunnah. His main reason for proving the mentioned theory is the Mutawātir narrations (narrations narrated by several sources), which the contents of them is to obtain the Khabar in case of agreement with the Qurʼān and the Sunnah, and to reject it if it is contrary to the Qurʼān and the Sunnah. Since there is no correct and comprehensive explanation and analysis of this theory and its foundations in books and articles, even from the theory's cofounders, the present study, with the aim of explaining the contents of the theory and analyzing the limits and gaps of the evidence and in the shadow of describing and analyzing the Uṣūlī and narrative propositions and by collecting library data and by categorizing the narratives considered by the theory's supporters and by examining the way of their implication and explaining its various aspects, has tried to provide a correct explanation and analysis of the theory and to answer possible problems with the theory.

Since the beginning of the decadence of the Ottoman Empire, Iraqi society faced a major problem: the development of "national identity and the nation-state." The strategies of various Iraqi-political forces, from romantic nationalists to Baathist nationalists and political Islamists, despite many differences, were formulated on the centrality of preserving the nation- state of this country against other Western and Iranian ones, but the way this nation-state building was the subject of many disputes. This research analyzes Ayatollah Sistani's strategies in facing the problem of the nation - state building of the new Iraq, using the hermeneutic method of the Skinner. Therefore, the central question is, what are Ayatollah Sistani's strategies for the development of national identity and nation- state in Iraq? The findings of the research show that Ayatollah Sistani, while explaining the problem of the destruction of religious and national culture in Iraq, declares that the creation of national identity and nation - state in this country, through the three components of "the emergence of a righteous citizen" in order to cure the suffering of ethnic sectarianism, "the establishment of peaceful coexistence "It can be done to heal the pain of political sectarianism and to "establish new political institutions" to cure the pain of tyranny.

Sayyid bin Tawous' al-Lohouf is among the historiographies of martyrs dedicated to Imam Hussein (Sayyid al-Shuhada) in the seventh century, and had a great impact on composing and reciting the historiographies of martyrs afterwards. The present study uses an analytical-critical approach to pathologically review the approaches, presuppositions and effective ideas in Sayyid bin Tawous' reports and the traditional deviations in that book. According to the findings of this study, Sayyid bin Tawous' toleration, belief and interpretations govern the selection of traditions in al-Lohouf and – despite Sayyid's scientific and spiritual character as the most important factor for the popularity of his book – the reports transmitted in it are inconsistent with Sunnah, reason, definite events or other historical accounts, hence unacceptable. This is because they are based upon what was common among ordinary people, and thus, Sayyid's performance was not like traditionists and historiographers.

Preface: Late Sayyid Reza Al-e Muhammad, son of Sayyid Aqa, was amongst the researchers and scholars who lived in anonymity and studied the history and culture of Arasbaran without letting anyone knowing about it. He was born into an old, established, and devout family in Ahar on 16 February 1934. He studied numerous books, including Sarf-e Mir, Nisab al-Sibyan, Gulistan, Ahsan al-Murselat, Abwab al-Jinan, and Kalila and Dimna and learned to read the Holy Quran under his father’s tution. Later, he expanded his knowledge of literature and sciences under Shaikh Ja’far Ijtihadi, Shaikh Hassan Barqi, and Sayyid Ja’far Bani Hashim and left for Tabriz in 1951 to join its seminary. There, he settled in Hassan Padeshah School and received tuition from Mirza Imran Alizadeh, Mirza Ali Asghar Baqmishe’i, Sayyid Mustafa Mowlana, Sayyid Ibrahim Darwaze’i, Mirza Ali Akbar Ahari – called Nahvi - and Mirza Abolfazl Sediq Sarabi….

One of the classic Arabic-to-Persian dictionaries that is very important in Persian lexical research is al-Sami fi al-Asami written by Abul Fazl Ahmad b. Muhammad al-Midani (518 AH). There are many old manuscripts of this text, the oldest of which is dated back to 537 AH and is kept in the Asian Museum of the Academy of Sciences of the . The noticeable feature of this manuscript is that pronunciations of its Persian words have been determined some of which have been specific to the scribe's region of birth and living. Another crucial aspect of the manuscript is the existence of some of Sistani words. These words have not been used in other manuscripts of the text and have been found only in Sistani texts, especially in Mohdhab al-Asma. In The Book of Al-Saidnah, it has also been specified that some of them are Sistani. Consequently, it can be said that some other words which were not found in other sources may be from the Sistan region. This hypothesis became stronger when some of these words were also found in contemporary Sistani dictionaries. Considering that few of Sistani texts have been left from the past, the existence of such manuscripts and research into them is very critical. Also, due to the fact that this manuscript is old, correct, complete, and it has pronunciation, al-Sami fi al-Asami should be edited based on it, but with caution; especially in cases where different words have been used in other manuscripts.

Islamic Sciences and Culture Academy hosainyousefzadeh@yahoo.com Some people like Khayyāṭ, ʾAshʾari, and Ibn Taymiyya have claimed that some Shiite scholars, such as Sayyid Murtaḍā, have been influenced by the theological (kalāmī) views of rationalist Muʾtazila. Some great scholars of Imamiyya such as Shaykh Mufīd have rejected this claim. In this paper, I will compare the views of two figures, the Shiite scholar, Sayyid Murtaḍā, and the Muʾtazila theologian, Qāḍī ʾAbd al- Jabbār, in order to show that Sayyid was not influenced by Muʾtazila in general and Qāḍī ʾAbd al-Jabbār in particular. Moreover, he has defended the original thoughts of Imamiyya, though he defended Imamiyya with the common theological methods of his own time. Sayyid Murtaḍā is alleged to have been a pupil of Qāḍī ʾAbd al-Jabbār, but considerable differences between these two figures can undermine this claim as well.

Abū Isḥāq Ibrāhīm b. Nawbakht was a philosopher and a scholar of Kalam whose life history is subject to much controversy. In this paper, I will draw upon various pieces of evidence to show that Nawbakhti was a scholar contemporary with Sayyid al-Murtaḍā and Abu al-Ḥusayn al-Baṣrī. Moreover, I seek to scrutinize his influences on issues of Kalam, especially among later scholars, as well as his importance and his scholarly and historical place, through a comparison of his views with those of Sayyid al-Murtaḍā (an early scholar of Kalam) and 'Allāma al-Ḥillī (a later scholar of Kalam).

"Islamic Unity" was one of the currents of thought in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Under this title, for a while, the ideal of unity of Islamic countries was included in the work plan of thinkers and even political activists of the Islamic world. In the meantime, Iran and the Ottoman Empire played a more prominent role as two independent Islamic countries. The role of Sayyid Jamal al-Din Asadabadi and Sultan Abd al-Hamid II in this regard is especially noteworthy, as the Islamic Unity is associated with the name of Sultan Abd al-Hamid II, and its definition and description is not possible without mentioning Sayyid Jamal al-Din Asadabadi. In this article, we intend to examine the similarities and differences of Islamic Unity from the perspective of Sayyid Jamal al-Din Asadabadi and Sultan Abd al-Hamid II, using library resources and descriptive-analytical method. The findings show that Islamic Unity was not a homogeneous idea and according to the social and geographical position of its preachers, different definitions have been proposed. This is also true of the understanding of the well-known and main preachers, namely Sayyid Jamal and Sultan Abd al-Hamid, and undoubtedly Islamic Unity considered by Sayyid Jamal al-Din, apart from many similarities, differed from Islamic Unity in the view of Sultan Abd al-Hamid.

begins with “yā-man arjūhu li kulli khayr”(O He Whom alone I hope for all good things) cited along with its manner of recitation by Shaykh ‘Abbās al-Qummī in his Mafātīḥ al-Jinān (lit. keys to the gardens of Paradise) from Iqbāl al-A‘māl by Sayyid Ibn Ṭāwūs. The states of Imam Ja‘far al-Ṣādiq (‘a.s.) while reciting this du‘a, as Ibn Ṭāwūs has reported, suffers from ambiguities removal of which to discover the truth requires research and analysis. Making a search in the Imami old hadith texts indicates that such texts similar to this du‘a with differences in the text, isnad, and way of recitation have been transmitted in such sources as al-Kāfī, Rijal al-Kashshi, and Miṣbāḥ al-Mutahajjid. There exist evidences indicating that among the old sources the closest [i.e. the most similar] text to [that of the] Iqbāl al-A‘māl by Sayyid Ibn Ṭāwūs is the report of al-Kashshi. Allamah al-Majlisi in his Zād al-Ma‘ād has combined the report of Sayyid Ibn Ṭāwūs and that of al-Kashshī and seemingly by means of the traditions contained in the Kitāb al-Du‘ā’ of al-Kāfī, has commentated the ambiguous phrases in Sayyid Ibn Ṭāwūs’s report. The manner prevailing among the devotees while reciting this noble du‘a originates from what Allamah al-Majlisi has prescribed in his Zād al-Ma‘ād. This study indicates that although Allamah al-Majlisi has been somehow rightful in commentating the ambiguous phrases of Ibn Ṭāwūs’s report, his prescription seems partially incompatible with the text of [the du‘a in]  Iqbāl al-A‘māl. An investigation of the isnads of this du‘a shows that none of the versions of du‘a has an authentic isnad. However, the indications and evidences including the quotations of such personalities as al-Kulaynī, al-Kashshī, Shaykh al-Ṭūsī and Ibn Ṭāwūs can altogether bring about this certainty that such purports have been on the whole issued from Imam Ja‘far al-Sadiq (‘a.s.), although such a certainty is not gained with respect to the details related to it (including its recitation in a particular time or in a specific manner).

The validation of exegetical narrations has long been discussed. Sayyid al-Murtaḍā ‘Alam al Hudá, as a prominent Shiite scholar in the fifth century, is one of the Qur'anic scholars whose views on this issue are of particular importance. This article, which is organized in a descriptive-analytical method by referring to the works of Sayyid al-Murtaḍā, has examined his approach in validating exegetical narrations. It seems at first glance, that since exegetical narrations are considered as traditions with a single narrator (Arabic: اخبار آحاد, Romanized: Akhbār Aḥād) and Sayyid al-Murtaḍā does not consider tradition with a single narrator which causes conjecture for knowledge and action. He should not give credit for exegetical narrations, but the findings of this article indicate that Sayyid al-Murtaḍā’s view can also be cited in exegesis; if the tradition with a single narrator is accompanied by conjectures that excludes (removes) it from being suspicious. Conjectures such as: the existence of traditions in ḥadīth works and Shi'a (Shiite) principles, knowledge providing of the content of the tradition, conformity with the apparent of the Qur'an, conformity with the ruling (verdict) of reason, conformity with the principle of the Justice of God, and Imami consensus can remove the narration from being conjecture. In fact, Sayyid al-Murtaḍā believes in a symmetrical validation approach in evaluating ḥadīths in contrast to the narrator validation approach.