معرفت

Freedom and Religious Education (with emphasis on the religious education of young children and adults)    by Abdul Rida Zarrabi

This essay investigates the relationship between freedom and religious education. The first part discusses the meaning of such terms like freedom, education and religious education and points to the different views adopted by various educationists and philosophers, and then the Islamic perception of these terms is explained. This part also reviews the various definitions of freedom introduced by various philosophers and thinkers, such as Montesquieu, Plato, Erich Fromm, Kant, Spinoza and Rousseau, in addition to the Islamic perspective of freedom.
The second part deals with the relationship between freedom and religious education in the view of educationists and sheds light on the viewpoint of Islam about it.
The third part refers to two of the main factors which have great effect on religious education; namely, faith in Allah and an emotional motive. Faith contributes to one¨s recognition of the universe and leads to abiding by ontological guidance and moral standards. An emotional motive is of the essence to education. The teacher who lacks motivation for religious education cannot play an effective role in this regard. At the end the article states the main differences between thinkers about the suitable methods of religious education, the proper age of starting a religious education course and the extent of freedom to be givin to childern.
Key words: freedom, choice, education, teaching, freedom limits, religious education, faith and religious education, emotional motive and religious education, religious education of children.

Islamic Morality and Mysticism    by Professor Muhammad Taqi Misbah

One of the characteristics of the servants of the Beneficient (ibad al- Rahman) is that their concern about the chastisement in the hereafter krows no end. Consequently, they often plead with their Lord to grant them deliverance from it because they know that hell is a terrible abode to dwell in. As contemplative and thoughtful servants, they realize that the universe has not been created for nothing, and consider the Resurrection as an existential neccessity for the world of creation.
They believe that in the Resurrection Day good doers will be paid for and wrong doers will be punished for every atom¨s weight of good or evil. Therefore, their main concern is to attain deliverance from chastisement in the hereafter.
Fear is one of the main restraining factors. Hence, Allah refers to each of His prophets as "warner", giving them the responsiblility of warning people of committing evil, so that it may possible for them to find the right path.
The grades of warning differ according to the level of knowledge of people, and warning of the chastisement in this world, which is used to warn those who lack knowledge about the sublime Islamic knowledge, is considered the lowest of these grades.
Warning is, according to reason, acceptable because it contributes to preventing people from possible injuries. In spite of their inerrancy, eminent godly Muslims weep whenever they remember the Divine chastisement because it is too dreadful, in its duration and extremity to be compared with the chastisement in this world.
Key words: chastisement, hell, rationality, fear, warning, warner, reputation.

Heuristic Method    by Hadi Hussayn Khani

Nowadays, learner __ centred teaching motheds are of special interest to educational theorists. The present article expounds on heuristic method which is categorized as a learner __ centred method. The author makes a review of the definition, advantages and historical background of this method. Then, he points out to some of its restrictions.
Suggestions are given at the final part of the article concerning the best way of putting heuristic method in practice.
Key words: heuristic learning, direct method, learner__ centred methods, teacher__ centred methods, heuristic teaching, constructive learning.