نشریه معرفت کلامی
سال یازدهم شماره 2 (پیاپی 25، پاییز و زمستان 1399)

One of the most controversial philosophical and theological issue is the relationship between reason and religion that has a long history. The importance of this issue has made it one of the most important topics in the philosophy of contemporary religion. The question is whether revelation is sufficient to know religion or is it necessary to apply reason? Some thinkers believe that recognizing and accepting religion and faith is impossible without reason, but others see rationalism as endangering religion and faith, which can lead to eclecticism in religion. This paper studies the perspective of Mirza Mahdi Isfahani in this regard, which belongs to the latter category. Although he has presented logical arguments to prove God, he believes that it is impossible to know the existence and attributes of God with the intellect and the dark (material) human sciences. Hence, this makes man in need of unseen guidance and the existence of a revelatory religion. This idea has "circularity in argument or proof" problem because proving the authenticity and infallibility of the words of God, the Prophet and the Imam requires intellect.

The book of the essence of Christianity is one of Feuerbach's most prominent works in the field of theology. This book is important for two reasons, I) this book has been an influential source in the reflections of many materialist thinkers and critics of religion. II) in this book, Feuerbach critically analyzes the teachings of the Christian theology and, accordingly, presents his ideas about the popular religions. One of the main topics of this book is the notion of the conflict of love and faith in Christianity, the content of which is implicitly extended to all religions. Feuerbach believes that the main cause of "alienation", "violence", "divergence" and "moral vices" is the lack of the attention of the religions to love and their emphasis on religious faith. The main challenge ahead is to analyze Feuerbach's claim. The findings show that, despite its shortcomings, the book's analysis is contemplative and challenging in some cases. Of course, Feuerbach's critiques do not focus on the essence and truth of religion, but only on religious interpretations and knowledge.

The modern spirituality is a theory that has been proposed in recent decades by some Iranian modernist intellectuals. According to this theory, religious spirituality has lost its effectiveness for modern man and has caused him suffering and confusion. Based on the modern rationality, this theory seeks to provide a spirituality commensurate with the needs of modern man. In any case, emphasizing one of the fundamental issues of philosophy of religion (the relationship of reason and religion) and since the legitimacy of any intellectual and philosophical approach depends, at least, on having an internal coherence between the components of its theory, this paper tries to analyze the theory of modern spirituality from the point of view of internal coherence and harmony between the components. Using a descriptive-analytical and desk-research method, and presenting numerous pieces of evidence - such as refusing devotionalism, the unprovability of religious claims and etc. we conclude that, the modern spirituality has major drawbacks and ambiguities in this regard.

Dividing the creatures into abstract and material in philosophy and expressing their characteristics, some thinkers believe that in some cases there are conflicts between philosophical views and some religious texts (Quranic verses and narrations) on the characteristics of the incorporeal creatures. But is it fundamentally acceptable to divide creatures into abstract and material from the point of view of religious texts, so that it can be said that there is a conflict between religious texts and philosophical views in expressing their characteristics? To understand the view of religious texts about this division, it seems that we can examine three cases of verses and narrations, I) The cases in which the creation of the first creature of God Almighty has been discussed, II) The cases in which the existence and attributes of angels have been discussed, III) The cases that deal with the divisions of the universe and the types of creatures. It seems that the division of creatures into abstract and material can be obtained from the Quranic verses and narrations.

The existence of several souls for human beings is one of the issues raised in the legacy of Imamiyya narration, which is related to some theological issues. The sum of the narrations related to this subject contains details that each narration is enough to express some of them. This paper seeks to collect the narrations related to this subject completely and draw a comprehensive picture of the issue of the multiplicity of human souls in the Imamiyya narrations and verses of the Holy Quran regardless of their validation and interpretation to provide an initial summary of this issue. The results show that all human beings have at least two spirits called the spirit of life and the old spirit. In addition to this, God inspires the spirit of faith to the believers, inspires the Holy Spirit to the prophets, inspires the Holy Spirit, the spirit by the command of the Lord and the spirit of faith to the Prophet of Islam and his successors (PBUT).

One of the most difficult theological topics is explanation the fate of malformed humans (children, mad and fools) in the hereafter. This issue has been discussed both under the concept of "the intellectually poor individuals" and the narration of "ruf' al-Qalam" (those who are exempt from observing the commands of the Shari'a) in religious texts, and several narrations about the fate of these people have been directly narrated. Although the Quran does not explicitly mention the fate of malformed humans, several verses indicate a universal resurrection. Several destinies have been stated for these people in narrations. It can be deduced from the narrations that, resurrection is a universal phenomenon that includes malformed humans, but there is no consensus among the narrations about the status of these people in the hereafter. We examine the narrations based on four divisions. It seems that the most defensible view among the narrations is one of the two views, being silent about the issue and leaving the fate of these people to God, or considering all these people to be subject to divine mercy and enjoy happiness.

The promise of "fulfilling prayers under the dome", which is mentioned in some religious texts is one of the common beliefs of Imamiyya theology, which can be analyzed from the viewpoint of Allame Tabataba'i. According to Allame, the compatibility of "the fulfillment of prayer under the dome" with the system of causality can be considered as an alternative way for removing obstacles and preparing the conditions for the fulfillment of prayers. This compatibility can also be explained by expressing the Supreme Providence of Imam Husain (PBUH) and the spiritual closeness of the dome of his holiness to the Divine Treasures and its alignment with the Throne; the place of God's planning and kingdom. Allame's views show that, the intrinsic dignity of this place before the Ashura and its accidental honor, which is the result of divine manifestations on the hearts of martyrs and its closeness to the blessed body of Imam Husain (PBUH) and the descent of angels upon that place can strengthen the level of prayer and provide the ground for its fulfillment. The method of this article is descriptive-analytical and inferential desk-research.

The reality of animal suffering in nature has raised the suspicions of evil, which atheists see it as evidence of the existence of an exaggerated evil that is incompatible with God, or His attributes. Resolving this discrepancy has always been of interest to theists, but Islamic theologians have faced a more serious problem due to their emphasis on monotheism and the consideration of absolute attributes of "Knowledge", "Power" and "Pure Benevolence" to God. Desk-research studies show that the historical course of theologians' encountering with this issue is very different. Some of these views are, denying the resurrection of animals, believing in animals' reincarnation, calling their fate insignificant to God, believing in their resurrection and disagreeing on whether they are obligated or not. According to Allame Tabatabai in Al-Mizan Comantary, it seems, on a weaker level, animals are perceptive, autonomous and obligated, and on the Day of Resurrection, they will receive a ransom and cultivation of the soul for the suffering they endure.

The school of Wahhabism is one of the emerging schools of the Islamic world, which, like other schools, has a system of thought. One of the issues that is strongly proposed in the Wahhabi intellectual system is the possibility of vision of God Almighty on the one hand, and its realization on the day of resurrection for the believers on the other hand. In this matter, Wahhabis have relied on narrated evidences, which this paper examine them. The conclusive rational arguments show that the Wahhabi theory is invalid. Although their arguments sometimes have the ability to prove their claims in terms of semantics, but considering the problem of the effect of certain assumptions on the understanding of religious texts, there is no choice but to interpret those texts.

The relationship between theology and history, especially the role of theology in the study of the biography of the infallibles, is an important discussion in historiography. Using a rational-analytical method this paper studies the multidimensionality of historical phenomena, the presence of a series of unseen causes in historical developments and the need to pay attention to the axioms and the theoretical framework in science as evidence for the role of theology in historiography. In the next step, the necessity of systematic influence of theology on historiography was proved, the criterion of the influence of theology on history was explained and the preference of epistemological value was introduced as a criterion for the influence of theological propositions on historical propositions. Accordingly, the verbal propositions will be preferred to historical propositions, if the theological proposition is certain, but the historical proposition is uncertain; or the verbal proposition is suspicious but the historical proposition is probable (it means there is a 50% or less 50% chance of being true); or both are suspicious or probable, but the verbal proposition is more likely to be true than the historical proposition.

Unlike the Imamiyya, most Sunni sects have chosen the posteriori method based on factual events in the method of appointing the Imam. Accordingly, Ibn Abi al-Hadid believed that the Imam is appointed through the selection and allegiance of the elites or clear textual of the former Imam like Mu'tazilite. This study has been analyzed the method and content of Ibn Abi al-Hadid's argument about the method of appointment in determining Imam. It was found that in his method of reasoning he first considers clear textual a priori and necessary epistemological position, but he denies clear textual---intended by the Imamiyya, and proves clear textual in the sense of the covenant of the previous Imam for the next Imam. Therefore, in the continuation of his speech, he restricts the method of recognizing and proving the Imam in his choice, allegiance and clear textual in the sense of the covenant. Thus, he makes the epistemological status of clear textual posteriori and dependent on its ontological status. His denial and confession in realization of clear textual in the sense intended by the Imamiyya in different places of his speeches, has also caused contradictions and incoherence in the content of his argument.

Ghazi Abdul Jabbar Mu'tazili (415 AH) has criticized the views of the Imamiyya on the issue of Imamate in his book Al-Mughni, volume 20, chapter monotheism and justice. In response to this book, Seyed Murtada (436 AH) wrote al-Shafi fi al- Imamate. In his book, commentary of Nahj al-Balagha, Ibn Abi al-Hadid al-Mu'tazili (656 AH) has criticized some of the views of Seyed Murtada. These scattered reports, which are in fact a critique of al-Shafi'i fi al-Imamate, are the only remnants of the Mu'tazilites' criticisms and show how they approached and criticized this book. This study tries to collect, analyze and review the criticisms of Ibn Abi al-Hadid. He defends the main beliefs of the Mu'tazilites on the issue of Imamate and the legitimacy of the three caliphs and has criticized some of the principles and theology of Seyed Murtada. Ibn Abi al-Hadid in many cases considers the argument of Seyed Murtada stronger and sometimes he himself presents arguments in criticizing the words of the Abdul Jabbar Mu’tazili. As far as his beliefs allow, Ibn Abi al-Hadid has been fair in his criticisms, and his words are largely free of insults, humiliation and slander.