Journal of Contemporary Islamic Studies
Volume:6 Issue: 2, Summer-Autumn 2024

In this study, with a critical approach, the view of Ḥasan Ḥanafī as for the relations between religious law and government is investigated; meanwhile, first, his approach toward the dual quiddity of politics/ religious law is explored, and then, the relations between these two for organizing issues like government (which is the pivotal issue of politics in modern era) are explored. Formation of modernity in modern era based on the Western, political order – which is managed in the phenomenon of government – suggested Muslims that the way to abandon the extant backwardness in Islamic societies is the provision of conventional answers (regardless of religion) to challenges such as the issue of government, legitimacy, and how it should be organized. Therefore, the political, social contemporary Muslim thinkers tried to face such challenges. The data of the present study is gathered using the library method and is explored with a descriptive-analytic approach. The most important result of this study is the attention of Ḥasan Ḥanafī to the political, the formation of efficient government, and all the more the pillars of legitimacy and acceptance of such a government in Islamic societies; he has tried – in his own view – to provide an updated answer to them, an answer which is based on the requirements of the society.

Thematic analysis is one of the common qualitative methods of analysis that is being used by the researchers of various fields of study to analyze various data. This causes suchlike Islamic studies not to be attended at the international level. The use of thematic analysis in the interpretation of the Qur’ān can help researchers understand it and its hidden layers better and deeper. This prevents them from being misled and drowned in the ocean of overt and covert themes of the Qur’ān and stops them from achieving an inaccurate understanding of the Qur’ānic themes and their relationships. This study set out to provide the researchers of Islamic resources with the what, why, and how of thematic analysis of interpretive texts in a concise and practical manner. This was done via a case study of the book Al-Mīzān fī tafsīr al-Qur’ān using the MAXQDA software. Since the correct implementation of the method is of utmost importance, every step of the process of investigating the interpretation of the Surah as-Saff (Qur’ān, 61) in Al-Mīzān fī tafsīr al-Qur’ān is reported by giving in the thematic analysis of the verses of this chapter. After analyzing the themes and codes extracted from the interpretation of the verses of Surah as-Saff (Qur’ān, 61), it was figured out that the main intention of the chapter is to express the believers’ duties, with the top duties being having faith in God and His Prophet (PBUH) and resolutely and persistently struggling for the sake of God. These have been called the most beneficial businesses. Of course, the other duties of believers can also be assigned to this theme.

In recent years, attention to the “contemplation in the Qur’ān” category has increased and has become a unique and frequent term in the Islamic world. Some contemporary Shiite Qur’ānic scholars have introduced Tafsīr al-Mīzān as a standard contemplationist writing. Of course, the reasons for this claim have not been clearly stated, and it seems that the proposition has been considered so self-evident and clear that there is no need for any argument! The following article, with the analytical-descriptive method and by examining dozens of works in the field of contemplation after analyzing the hidden or probable evidence of this view, emphasizes the inadequacy of this claim. ‘Allāma Ṭabāṭabā’ī, despite being aware of the exegetical approaches, named his work “tafsīr” and paid attention to the interpretive tradition of the past commentators, and unlike the works of the exegetes, he followed the conventional steps of interpretation in terms of the components of the method of interpreting the Qur’ān by the Qur’ān. Based on this, some similarities and convergences with the contemplationists in terms of backgrounds, foundations, methods, or results could not be a proof of al-Mīzān’s “contemplationistness.”

One of the important topics in Sufism and Islamic mysticism is the ways to reach the truth. The MathnawīiMa'navi of Maulawi is one of the most prominent mystical works in the Islamic tradition, in which the goal of the mystic journey and the ways of arriving at the Truth are discussed. Considering the importance of the ways of attaining the truth on the one hand and considering the importance of The MathnawīiMa'navi on the other hand, this article aims to investigate "The Ways of Attaining the Truth in the Mathnawi of Maulawi" with an analytical method. Maulawi calls a person sometimes through action and performing religious duties, sometimes through knowledge, and sometimes through Grace and submission to the truth. According to the Mathnawi, there is a mutual and two-way relationship between these ways, so that the possibility of separating one from the other seems unreasonable. One who acts without knowledge is only in the realm of the external senses. Knowledge is born of action. Selfless action is the same as having knowledge. Also, grace is not realized in a field far from action and knowledge. Action and knowledge also evolve only with grace. This article, which is written with analytical-descriptive method, shows that Mathnawī I Ma'navi of Maulawi has presented a new theory and initiative in transcendental wisdom in the matter of attaining and the problem of ways of attaining the supreme truth. For this reason, it can be said that Maulawi was the first mystical thinker to introduce Seleucid thinking and important proof reflections about the truth and the ways to reach the supreme truth with these elements. Therefore, Mathnawī I Ma'navi of Maulawi has a metaphysical interpretation of religious practices.

Preservation of life and property against the risk of expressing opinions is an intellectual duty that the Imami jurists call it the taqiyyah rule. On the other hand, according to the famous scholar, Kohlberg, it was the Shia Imams (S.A) who used taqiyyah for the first time to justify their isolation and non-jihad, and therefore, due to the use of taqiyya, the jurisprudential texts of Imamiya are also not reliable. In this article, for the first time, with a descriptive-analytical method, we have examined Kohlberg's theory from the point of view of Imami jurists, and we briefly remind that by inferring from the jurisprudential works, including Imam Khomeini's ones, any person can use the intellectual rule of taqiyyah in order to avoid from harm or danger, but an Imam (S.A) or a jurist cannot use it to express the Imamiyya beliefs and laws, even in times of danger.

The rapid development of biotechnology and its presence in the various spheres of human social life brings new issues every day to different fields of science. Using a descriptive-analytical method, this research aims to answer the questions, “How is the embryonic life and when is the beginning of the soul, regarding the Qur’ān and Shiite Hadith?” and "Is determining the exact time of breathing soul in the fetus an intentional obligation or is it associated with symptoms that can be seen with the development of the fetus?" According to the Qur’ān and narratives, the embryo, a few days before the implantation stage, has vegetative life, not plant and human life. The embryonic cell, during the period when the physical creation of the fetus in the womb is not complete, does not have a human life. So it is not an actual human being. Then, the state in which the spirit is blown into the fetus starts with the movement of the fetus into the mother's body and is considered alive human. This honored soul (al-nafs al-muhtaramah) refers to a stage of embryonic development in which the human soul is blown up (wulūj). Additionally, acceptance of a specific time for breathing the soul is not an intentional obligation (ta'abbudῑ) and is an unchangeable matter, but the birth of the soul does not have a specific and definite time, such as the end of four months, etc. Also, the diagnosis of this natural phenomenon will be based on its natural symptoms, which may be before or after the age of four months or may be realized at different times in different cases and living conditions.

The published Leiden encyclopedia is one source of information about Islam in Western and sometimes even Islamic societies. The Islam encyclopedia established itself as a standard reference in open science very quickly because it incorporated the goals of disseminating knowledge of all aspects of Islam, including the founder of Islam, the content and related historical developments, the developers of Islamic teachings, and all aspects of Muslim culture. Given that "Islamophobia" is a part of the epistemic life of Western intellectual systems, it has been reflected in the compilation of the Islamic Encyclopaedia, as stated explicitly in the first edition of the Islamic Encyclopaedia. Based on this assumption and far from portraying Islamophobia, the current descriptive-analytical study is based on historical articles related to the beginning of Islam (EI2). It attempts to trace, analyze, and explain biased approaches to depicting Islam through the Islamic encyclopedia. The authors of the entries used the othering approach, the economy-oriented approach, the skeptical approach, the adaptation-oriented approach, and the secular approach to create an image of Islamophobia.

One of the premises of the argument from design is the need for the order of a designer. This premise has been explained in various ways, one of which is the calculus of probabilities. It posits that the likelihood of an ordered thing coming into existence by chance is so low that human beings consider it nearly impossible; therefore, this order requires an intelligent designer. However, some contemporary Muslim philosophers, such as Ayatollah Jawādī Āmulī, along with certain Western philosophers, have contested the validity of the calculus of probabilities. They argue that the calculus of probabilities does not reveal reality but is merely practically useful. They assert that undesigned states have the same probability as designed states. In this article, I address these objections, refute them, and ultimately demonstrate the soundness of the argument from design based on the calculus of probabilities.

Jābir bin Yazīd Ju'fī, a famous, virtuous, honored, and trusted follower and companion of Imams Bāqir and Sādiq (as) in the second half of the first century and the first half of the second century, has always been considered by Sunnis due to his narrations of Sunni Sheikhs. Although some Sunni scholars have praised him, most of them have weakened and blamed him in their Rijāl books, of which the lying and, subsequently, the fabricating accusation against Jābir are mostly seen among their opinions. Basically, their reasons for such an accusation are as follows: his belief in return (raj'at), his claim of reading tens of thousands of narrations by heart, his narration of the virtues of Ahl al-Bayt (as), and his narration of hadith such as Fadakīyah's Sermon, which was not pleasing to the followers of the Caliphs and Umayyads. This research aims to investigate and criticize these reasons.

The issue of "enjoining the good and forbidding the evil" is have an important issue that has been especially emphasized in Islāmīc teachings. The importance of "enjoining the good and forbidding the evil" is because this category leads to the growth and excellence of the individual and the society, which, of course, the culturalization of the good in the Islāmīc society requires the creation of a "critical" discourse and increasing the spirit of criticism. Therefore, the present article with a descriptive-analytical method and by collecting information using a library method and content analysis on the subject of "Research on the relationship between the famous and the conscious criticism with increasing the spirit of criticism with an emphasis on the statements of Amīr al-Muʻminīn ʻAlī (PBUH) in Nahj al-Balāgha" and the results of the research show that: in the thought of Amīr al-Muʻminīn (A.S.), commanding good and forbidding evil has a special place, and no action, in terms of spiritual value and the effects of it, can equal the position of commanding good and forbidding Denial does not occur, because many actions have individual effects, and their effects only belong to the individual himself, while commanding the good and forbidding the evil, in addition to individual effects, results in many social effects. And, of course, culturalization and the realization of the goals of the duty of "enjoining what is good and forbidding what is bad" require increasing the spirit of criticism among the people of society, which is directly related to the recognition of the nature of what is good, the adherence of the person who commands and forbids to the nature of what is good and what is bad, and audience awareness. If the rulers and the negative adhere to these components and requirements, it is possible to increase the spirit of criticism and to have a better effect of enjoining what is good and forbidding what is bad.

The research objective was to explain the relationship between religiosity and secondary school principals’ management effectiveness. The descriptive-correlation research method was used for this research,, and the target population was all principals of secondary schools in Zahedan, with 141 subjects (72 male and 69 female). Based on Singh and Masuku’s sample size table, 103 principals (52 male and 51 female) who formed the study sample were examined. A stratified and simple random sampling method was used. Data was collected using the religiosity questionnaire developed by Khodayarifard et al., as well as the school principals’ effectiveness questionnaire developed by Houghton and Neck. Pearson’s correlation coefficient and stepwise regression analysis methods were employed for the statistical analysis of the data. Research findings showed a positive significant relationship between religiosity and all its dimensions (i.e., religious understanding and belief, religious emotions, commitment to religious duties, and social pretense) and the effectiveness of principals. Results from the regression analysis also indicated that social pretense and adherence to religious duties explain 40.3% of the variation of principals’ effectiveness.

Tolerance as a moral and behavioral virtue position is in Islamic Thoughts. The Holy Qur’ān pays special attention to tolerance in dealing with others, such as religious and racial minorities, and the topic is mentioned as one of the missions of the holy prophets. The present study was a review of original Islamic literature, especially the Holy Qur’ān and Sunnah, to explain the scope and limitations of tolerance in Islam. In explicit verses of the Qur’ān and many narrations from the Imams, the peaceful life of Muslims with followers of other religions is emphasized. However, some conditions are mentioned for it.