معرفت

ABSTRACTS

In Search of Divine Mercy (II)

Muhammad Taqi Mesbah

The present paper is a written version of Muhammad Taqi Mesbah's lecture entitled In the Search of Divine Mercy, addressed to students in the Qom Seminary School. It deals with the role of repentance in forgiving sins. In repenting, one should understand his humility and inferiority before the Almighty God, returning to Him with confidence and belief in His forgiving wrongdoings, and supplicating Him for overlooking his faults.

With an understanding of one's absolute poverty and desperation, an understanding of the Almighty God's infinite mercy, and returning to Him, there is the possibility of forgiving on the part of the Almighty God. Man should see himself as a helpless creature to whom all ways are closed off, as someone drowned in an undulant sea with no way out; in such a state, the only one whose doors are open to all is the Almighty God, and the possibility of repentance comes only from Him. This is the true meaning of repentance.

KEY WORDS: mercy, repentance, patronage, appeal for mercy, mercy        

Imam Ali's Thought and Method in Reforming Society

Mahdi Muhammadi Seyfar

The present research uses a documentary approach for investigating Imam Ali's thought and method in establishing Islamic State after years of being distant from political power, i.e. the Islamic State established in a society distanced from the Prophet's way of life after his departure. The Imam's governmental model is the same as the Prophet's, but how would he direct the society towards it? To answer, we referred to Nahj al-Balagha to realize Imam's thought and method.

It is known from the investigations that Imam's method in reforming society was a structural reform. He dealt with changing the structures and replacing the related emirs and the norms, considering some standards in selecting them and their treatment towards people so that they would influence people by their behaviors, and then the favorite functions through a change in people's behavior would be brought about. Firstly, in these reforms, he did not seek only to change the functions by changing the structures, but the individuals as agents and their relations were also of importance, and the favorite functions could be obtained through a change in them. Secondly, acting according to this method is spectacular in political and economic systems; however, in personal value system as well as social relations, its prominence fades out, for the cultural aspect of these three systems are preeminent and creating direct change in people through informing them is more emphasized.

KEY WORDS: Imam Ali, reforming society, Nahj al-Balagha, emirs   

Quran and Sociability

Fazel Hesami

Man is a social being, and thus different from other creatures due to those features he acquires in the process of sociability and socialization. Therefore, sociability is the meeting point of humanities and social sciences, and being aware of it is dependent on pursuing its meaning in this series of sciences. According to the concept of sociability, men get their social doctrines from environment and attempt in the process of sociability to assimilate themselves to the community; however, this process is a bilateral relationship, and the agents are in mutual interaction with the environment. The present article uses a theoretical-analytical approach to show, through a scrutiny in Quranic verses, that the holy Quran, while respecting the community of men, does not call all men to accepting all social doctrines; rather it favors abstaining from those doctrines which are inconsistent with Islam. Thus, in Quranic view, socialization is only favorable in groups of believers who base their norms and values on Islamic values, not in every social group.

KEY WORDS: Quran, sociability, political sociability, attitude, sociability of the agents, mass media, social control           

 A Review of the Humanities in Iranian Leader's View

Siyavash Pur-Tahmasbi/ Azar Tajvar

Humanities are the mother of all sciences, and improve the orientations and trends of all sciences. Unfortunately, however, due to the predominance of measurable and quantitative approaches which are economically profitable, matters such as individuals' spiritual development, intrinsic values in humanities and social sciences, and appeal of learning and research are easily neglected or overlooked, or underestimated.

In Iranian leader's view, the most important and authentic goal of sending prophets and the establishment of Islamic State is inviting men to worship God and helping them to grow in spirituality. To achieve this true goal, the movement and development of humanities to acquire knowledge in the context of religious culture is introduced as the necessary goal.

In view of the importance of humanities and their important role in the life, culture and civilization of the society, and considering their different nature, pattern of relationship, and scientific behavior compared to other scientific spheres, the present article tries to investigate Iranian leader's view on humanities and the role of collegiate persons in developing them.

KEY WORDS: humanities, Islam, Iranian leader     

A Reflection on Indigenizing Sociology in Iran

Muhammad Mahdi Foturechi/ Qasem Oweisi Forduie

Indigenization of sociology has been the principal concern for cultural planners and sociologists in Iran. A review of its historical background shows that before revolution, the idea of Indigenizing sociology and social sciences had often had a nationalistic or anti-western characteristic, executed in reaction to social impairments caused by industrialization of the society according to western models, and to inefficiency of sociology in encountering the modern issues. After the victory of Islamic revolution, however, Indigenization was proposed with political dimensions and in accordance with realization of the goals and causes of the revolution, with a view to Islamize universities and finally establishing an Islamic sociology.

The present article uses a theoretical approach for investigating the process of indigenizing sociology before and after Islamic revolution, with a review of opponents and proponents' views; it studies and scrutinizes the empirical background of this notion, seeking to enumerate the most important obstacles of realizing indigenization of sociology in Iran, and presenting some mechanisms to this end.

KEY WORDS: indigenizing, indigenization, being indigenized, nativism, Islamic revolution, cultural revolution, Islamizing           

Indigenizing Knowledge or Producing Knowledge

Hassan Farahani

The translation movement resulted in opening new ways to the intellectual world; in the sphere of producing knowledge, however, it resulted in ever increasing stagnation and even intellectual dependence as well as the emergence of a new phenomenon called intellectual colonialism. The need to modernism in humanities would be met not by translation and anomalous import of western thoughts, but by producing knowledge and theorization.

The discourse seeking indigenization of social sciences and humanities in Iran seems to have involved in some sort of confusion, for however the parameters of western theories are modified, a new issue would emerge which must naturally go through theorization process. Unfortunately, we do not distinguish between question and problem, and many researches in the sphere of humanities and social sciences are answers to questions not solutions to problems, while our difficulty is related to "problem-solving". The present article uses a theoretical approach, aiming at investigating the process of indigenizing and producing knowledge in Islamic Iran.

KEY WORDS: translation movement, question, problem, indigenizing, producing knowledge

A Critical Review of Sociological Theories on Iranian Islamic Revolution

Hassan Yusuf-zade

The present article is a critical study of the analytical and theoretical approach of sociological theories on Iranian Islamic Revolution, reviewing them from two viewpoints: extra-paradigmatic and intra-paradigmatic. The role and status of Intelligentsia, as the linking point for introducing western theories, in selecting and purposive translation of western scholars' views on important evolutions of the world – especially Iranian Islamic Revolution – have been emphasized, and the writer has tried to present these reviews in accordance with investigating the possibility of indigenizing social sciences.

KEY WORDS: Islamic Revolution, Shiism, Islamic awakening, intellectual        

Cultural Engineering and the Role of the Elite

Muhammad Fuladi

Human is a social being with thoughts, values, beliefs as well as material and spiritual achievements, the whole of which is called "culture". This social being enjoys a cultural system, and it is only he who is capable of making culture. Culturalization is made through the system of sociability and the mechanism of learning the method of social life. The system of sociability also contributes to transition, institutionalization, and endurance of social beliefs, values, norms and customs. Lack or weakness of management in this sphere can also lead to some sort of cultural disjoint. In this case, the institutions responsible for culture in society as well as divergence or parallel working of these institutions, lack of a single and coherent management, etc. would prepare the ground for identity crisis, presenting wrong models which are inconsistent with national, indigenous and religious doctrines. Thus, management and engineering of the culture in society becomes necessary.

The present paper uses a theoretical and analytic approach for investigating the efficiency of the institutions responsible for culture, management and engineering of the culture, as well as the elite's role in it.

KEY WORDS: culture, sociability, culturalization, cultural engineering, engineering the culture, the elite, cultural system

The Reasons for Inefficiency of Struggle with Contraband

Mahdi Subhani-najad/ Abdullah Afshar

The present study, conducted through a documentary analysis method, deals with the most important economic, political, and cultural-social reasons for the phenomenon of contraband, the effective background for inefficiency of the systems of struggling with contraband and its consequences, and some of the major mechanisms for struggling in this dimensions. To answer the questions of the research, all existing documents and evidences related to this phenomenon were gathered through data-gathering forms, and analyzed through a qualitative method. Among the findings of this study are the most important reasons for emergence of this phenomenon (such as evading payment of tariff, money-washing, unemployment, mismanagement and monopolies, using foreign products, advertisements, official corruption and bureaucracy), the most important backgrounds for inefficiency of the systems of struggling with contraband (strong attraction of unemployed people to free regions, predominance of the culture of contraband, luxury model of consumption, lack of an anti-value approach to contraband, domestic consumerism, using luxury foreign products, etc.), the major consequences of contraband (reduction in productive funding, eleimination of job opportunities, underground economy, threatening national security, renting, escaping law, luxury and consumerism), and the major ways for struggling against this phenomenon (development, privatization, funding, removing unnecessary rules, improving consumption model, introducing the proper model for consumption, saving foreign exchange, etc.).

KEY WORDS: contraband, pathology, reasons, inefficiency of struggling, consequences, mechanisms