فصلنامه اندیشه نوین دینی
پیاپی 63 (زمستان 1399)

The symbolic attitude of the language of Quranic stories has been raised by modern thinkers such as Mohammad Ahmad Khalafallah. In this article, in an analytical-descriptive way, while pointing to the unrealistic approach to the language of religion and the historical propositions of religious texts in the Western world, the view of Ahmad Khalfatullah has been critically viewed firstly and, then, relying on the views of neo-Sadrian thinkers such as Allameh Tabatabai, Shahid Motahhari, Ayatollah Mesbah, and Ayatollah Javadi Amoli.  This view has been evaluated. Findings of the research show that the view of Khalafallah is in conflict with the  manner of those of reason and rational arguments such as the argument of wisdom and also is in clear conflict with the verses referring to the attributes of the Qurchr('39')an (such as Hakim, Aziz, Furqan) and the verses referring to the aims of the Qurchr('39')an. In addition, the stories of the Qurchr('39')an have both positive and negative attributes, such as the description of the truth, which negates the claim of Khalafallah on the stories of the Qurchr('39')an and clearly proves their realistic state.

Richard Bell considers the Qurchr('39')an to be the product of the Prophetchr('39')s personal experiences and thoughts on the spiritual poverty of the people of Mecca. This study has given a critical consideration on Bell`s view on the nature of revelation and prophecy analytically and descriptively. The research findings show that Richard Bell considers the nature of revelation as discovery and intuition and believes in the revelation`s state of being influenced by the culture of the time and in non-speech state of the Qurchr('39')anic words. And again, in the field of prophecy, he has given argument against infallibility of the Prophet in receiving and communicating revelation. He has viewed for the Prophets not being a Jewish, a Christian and ummi. Bell`s view is refuted by Shiite priciples of thought and as viewed by Shiites, the Quranic text, like its maaref, has been revealed from God and, contrary to what he said, the Prphet is taken as being infallible in receiving revelation and communicating it.

Dr. Abdul Karim Soroush, on the subject of the relationship between religion and power, is of the view that Islam is a violent religion and the God of Islam is a powerful and violent ruler. He has introduced the Qurchr('39')an as a frightening letter and Muhammad as an armed mystic and a power-hungry and authoritarian prophet. Soroush also called the prophetic government a violent and authoritarian government; Thus, according to him to champion the political and governmental imitation of the prophetic government in todaychr('39')s world is a blunder and dangerous, for it would lead to the formation of authoritarian and violent governments. The authors of the paper attempts to examine his account from two intra-religious and extra-religious perspectives. In dealing with this problem, the authors of the research paper have applied analytical-critical method. The research findings show that some of the claims made by Dr. Soroush are weak and baseless, including that; Soroush has chosen a special interpretation of history, that is, the structure of the authoritarian Muhammad, and has looked at historical Islam only through this lens. Moreover, contrary to his claim, the Qurchr('39')an is a collection of good news and warnings, and many verses in it signify love, mercy and affection.

The purpose of this article is to understand the nature of revelation on the basis of the relationships between dream and revelation as found in the religious texts and the ability to deduce from them. The method of studying this issue is interpretive-analytical, which, based on the appearances of religious texts on the relationship between revelation and dream and the sayings of commentators in this regard, seeks to find the possibility or impossibility of using dreaming for attaining knowledge of revelation. By the findings of this study some typological similarity and relationship between revelation and dream have been found as weakness of the external senses, the interpretability of some true dreams and revelation, and the revelation`s being sent in a dream. True dreaming is also considered a part of prophecy in religious texts. Accordingly, dreaming can help to attain some knowledge of revelation, and this method should be used, but in revelational attitude of dreams of fallacies such as the fallacy of "essence and quality", "magnification", "minimization", "allegory" may be formed.

The main issue of the present study lies in the fact that God does not need man`s worship, but why did He command him to humiliate Himself? The answer is that humiliation before God is the very dignity and transcendence of man. This claim has been studied by philosophical explanation and descriptive-analytical method and has been proved by quoting verses and hadiths. This study has been founded on the philosophical teaching of  fully dependent existence of the caused in relation to its cause. While explaining this issue, it is explained that man is the act of God and of a fully dependent existence; And just as the existence of a relation is fully dependent on the existence of its corresponding independent cause, so the knowledge to the existence of the former is based on the knowledge of the latter. In this study, we come to the conclusion that man, by receiving the creational and legislative humiliations by God, becomes acquainted with the truth of his relationship, and consequently with the independent and needless nature of God. Since the realization of the present knowledge has no meaning without an existential unity of the knowing and the known, he finds a conscious existential connection with the independent existence of God and attains divine honor.

Sociological analysis of the origin of religion is one of the fields of extra-religious studies, the achievements of which are usually considered in opposition to intra-religious ideas. The problem of research is the evaluation of the findings of sociologists of religion from the perspective of religious thought. In this regard, with a descriptive-analytical method, the main axes of some religious sociological ideas have been evaluated according to the principles of Quran and Hadith. The research findings indicate that the most fundamental concerns that have led sociologists in the modern age to confront religion are based on the three axes of materialistic ontological paradigm, anti-revlational sensory epistemology and evolutionary anthropology. From a religious point of view, the unseen itself is an important and essential part of existence, and the intellect itself is an intra-religious argument; as understood in the study, man and religion may not be taken as a product of evolution. Rather, they both originate from the unseen and immaterisl world.

This article compares the theories of the great Islamic and Western philosophers, professor Motahhari and Rousseau on social determinism. The purpose of this article is to clarify the differences or possible commonalities in their views on social determinism. Therefore, this research has used analytical-descriptive method, using library studies and examining the works of these two philosophers, to study their arguments and foundations. The research findings show Rousseauchr('39')s basics in the form of a triangle whose base is the originality of society. On the other hand, the principles of Motahari in the negation of social determinism are expressed in the form of five angles, in which the principle of nature has a fundamental role.

The Holy Quran has divided human groups into several cases. These human divisions are in line with the guiding and educational goals of the Qurchr('39')an. The question of this research is how the groups mentioned in the Qurchr('39')an reflect the Infallibles (AS)? This research, which has been done by library and descriptive-analytical methods, focuses on the division in Surah Al-Waqichr('39')ah, the views of Sunni theological commentators such as Fakhr Razi, Zamakhshari, Samarkandi, Al-i Ghazi and Alusi with the interpretations of Shiite theological commentators such as Tusi, Tayeb and Tabatabai has evaluated to show how this interpretive approach has identified the groups in the verse. The results of this study show that in these interpretations, two general views about the case studies of the former and the close ones have the highest frequency. The first view was analyzed and accepted with different explanations and the challenges and drawbacks of the second view were expressed.

Manchr('39')s inevitable encounter with hardships and sufferings is one of the general divine Sunnah known as the law of ibtilā. Theologians have considered pain as a reflection of divine wisdom and have explained the why of evils. Some narrations refer to people who live in complete peace in this world and the hereafter; the appearance of these narrations contradicts the generality of the law of ibtilā, which has religious and intellectual support. The purpose of this study is to provide a correct concept of these narrations, in addition to resolving apparent conflicts, to suggest a solution to get rid of the sufferings ahead. Using the method of library and content analysis, this article tries to find the common ground between them and the pervasive law of ibtilā, while expressing the validity of the narrations of "those free from calamity" in the shadow of presenting the correct meaning of these narrations. The findings of the research show that the validity of the narrations of " those free from calamity " may not be refuted. The concept of "ʿāfiyat" mentioned in them contradicts its meaning in the eyes of the general public, scholars and other narrators, and is in line with the general law of ibtilā.

The purpose of this study is to investigate how Professor Mohammad Taqi Jafari uses the works of world literature writers in explaining religious and moral issues. The method of this research is library-based and descriptive and its scope includes: Sharh Masnavi Manavi, Sharh Nahjul Balagha and Jafari`s art books. Findings show that the most frequently used works in this area by Professor Jafari has been those of Tolstoy and Victor Hugo, and on the other hand the works of people such as: Sadeq Hedayat, Kafka, etc. have not been used, because Professor Jafari believes that these works are in the field of absurdist literature. Also, considering that the description of Masnavi was written before the description of Nahj al-Balaghah, they have been overlapped in the use of literary examples and in some cases they are the same. It is suggested that considering the fact that among the commentators and commentators of religious sciences, no one like Mohammad Taqi Jafari has used literature and art in explaining religion, his works should be used more in the books of Islamic education departments of universities.