Spektrum Iran

Abstract Two hundred years ago, the first comprehensive work on Persian literature
titled the History of Persian Literature was published in Vienna. The author
was student of a school founded by Maria Thereza, named the Royal
Academy of Eastern Languages, or in short, “School of Translators”. The
famous orientalist and royal interpreter, Joseph von Hammer-Purgstall
(1856-1774) worked for 25 years to publish this book. By publishing his
works in the first half of 19th century, he made a major contribution to
acceptance and efficacy of Persian literature in German-speaking world.
The present paper studies the backgrounds of publication of this book, and
especially its seventh chapter, which discusses Persian language in Qajar
era.

Abstract Gnostic religions have been widely expanded in various parts of the ancient
Mesopotamian lands, also in northern Syria. This distribution of thoughts,
according to many scholars, influenced the great religions such as Jewish
and Christian. Manichaeanism is one of the most important religions in the
ancient world that developed in Mesopotamia; hence, many of Mani's
thoughts are combined with Gnostic ideas. One of the intricate and
mysterious Manichaean beliefs is the universal eschatology and the story of
life after death. Studying and comparing Gnostic thoughts of individual
eschatology, leads to the idea that the Gnostic beliefs affected the formation
of the eschatological beliefs of Manichaeanism. This paper mainly studies
the presence of Gnostic thoughts in Manichaeanism; and through
descriptive-analytical approach, examines gnostic thoughts and beliefs of
the individual's eschatology in religious texts. Finally, by analyzing and
comparing Mani's thoughts, the influence of Gnosticism on Manichean
thought is rebuilded.

Abstract This paper studies a set of Qur’an fragments in Kufic, at the end of which
some colophons attributed to the script of one of the Shi’ite Imams have
been added. The author first introduces ten manuscripts, their physical
features and the contents of these Qur’anic manuscripts along with their
pictures. Then, analyzing of the colophons of the manuscripts, the author
shows that the colophons attributed to Imams have been added later than
the original time of the manuscripts. All of these colophons come with
sentences signifying the visiting and sealing of manuscripts by the Safavid
king, Šāh Ismāʻīl (rule 1487-1524 A.D.). The author shows that this is also a
kind of forging occurred later than the Šāh Ismāʻīl era in order to increase
the financial and spiritual value of manuscripts.

Abstract Mullā Ṣadrā’s commentary on Kulainī’s Kitāb al-Kāfī deals with three of the
eight books of its uṣūl part – Kitāb al-ʿaql wa faḍāʾil al-ʿilm, Kitāb al-tawḥīd,
and Kitāb al-ḥuğğa. The discussion is dominated by several principal themes:
the nature and manifestation of God’s unity, His essential and active
attributes, creation of the world and its constituents, modulation of
existence, substantial motion (as the pivotal feature of the corporeal and
psychic world), human knowledge and its salvatory role, prophethood and
imamate. This paper shows that like al-Ġazālī, in his exegesis, Ṣadrā treads
the path of wide generalizations and approximations, but places these in the
context of Twelver Shīʿism. However, the principal difference between alĠazālī
and Ṣadrā consists in the latter’s endorsement of philosophical
demonstration (burhān) as a valid method of unification (tawḥīd). According
to Ṣadrā, logical reasoning can point to the uniqueness of the source of
existence – however, it falls short of providing the unifier with a vision of
the individual oneness (al-waḥda al-shakhṣiyya) of existence.

Abstract Ibn Bābawaih’s al-Faqīh has received much attention by scholars in the field
of Shiʻi studies, especially, Western-language authors. However, his several
other collections of the Imams’ aḥādith have received less attention.
Focusing on Ibn Bābawaih’s Kamāl ad-Din and ʻUyūn Aḫbār ar-Riḍā, texts
assembled in the first suggest that what seem today to be some very basic
points of Twelver Shiʻi doctrine were, in fact, both disputed within the
community and under challenge from other discourses outwith that
community. According to this study, portions of the second (ʻUyūn Aḫbār
ar-Riḍā) suggest that some segments of the community were coming out of
the period of al-Ḥaira addressed by Kamāl.

Abstract New issues and contingencies have forced Muslim jurists to engage in fresh scholarly research and iğtihād, so as to order to provide timely and relevant guidance to their followers. This paper will initially examine the arguments of various contemporary Muslim thinkers who call for a re-evaluation of traditional iğtihād and devising new strategies for a new form of iğtihād. These scholars have also called for a rethinking of the epistemological basis and hermeneutical tools inherent in Islamic legal theory (Uṣūl al-Fiqh). Jurists who argue for the renewal of iğtihād, also maintain that the interpretations of Islamic revelation were interwoven to the specificity of those times and places. Jurists can only pronounce general principles, not rulings that are to be enforced at all times and places. For them, the real test for any legal system is its practical implementation in the community of believers. The applicability of Islamic law in modern times needs to be explored in the light of its relevancy in the context of the contemporary reality of nation-states which insists on the equality of all citizens regardless of their religious and ethnic affiliations. Many scholars also argue that hermeneutical principles within iğtihād allow for a different and more vibrant interpretation of the Islamic message.