معرفت

ABSTRACTS

Morality and Mysticismby Professor Muhammad Taqi Misbah

One of the characteristics of Ibad al-Rahman (the servants of the Beneficent) is "moderate spending", in other words, they are so careful in spending that they refrain from extravegance and parsimony. Today the word "economy" is used to refer to this meaning, and the books of hadith have dealt with this issue, too.

Moderation is always recommended and it is approved by reason and the transmitted narrations of the Infallibles, as in the famous saying: "The best of the affairs is the most moderate one". This implies that moderation has a very wide scope which encompasses both obligatory and recommended acts of worship.

In view of the meaning in the Quranic verse 67 of surah Furqan, it is forbidden to disregard moderation in spending and it is incumbent upon one to observe it. Of course, there are different grades of its being forbidden or lawful. However, a true believer is one who always abides by his or her Lords orders and injunctions and never transgresses the limits of the Divine law.

All ethical schools especially Islam approve of moderation and refraining from going to extremes. When dealing with intervening problems, one has to take a sound decision and be careful not to concentrate ones attention on one of them and leave that which is much more important unsolved.

Key words: The servants of the Beneficent, spending, excess, moderation, intervening.

Recognition (of regimes, groups, etc,) in the View of Islam

by Abd al- Hakeem Salimi

Rocognition (of regimes, groups, etc.) in the view of Islam is one of the challenging issues in international law. The belief in the universality of Islam, law of Jihad (holy war) and dividing the world into two regions; namely, Dar al- Islam (the abode of Islam) and Dar al-Kufr (the abode of infidelity) have led some to assume that the idea of recognizing (regimes, groups, etc.) does not exist in Islam, and in order to justify what they hold, they say that Islam does not recognize all regimes.

Islams view of recognition has been ambigious because of lack of good understanding of international fiqh, failing to understand the true meaning of Jihad in Islam, the distinction between Islamic ideology and the conduct of the rulers of Islamic countries over the different historical periods and the unsound judgements of orientalists which are mainly based on historical events.

Shedding light on a number of issues like the reality of recognition, nature of Jihad essence of peace, types of foreigners, freedom of thought, universality of Islam and independence of nations; the author attempts to clarify the Islmaic viewpoint concerning the question of recognition.

Notwithstanding the views of orientalists and some Muslim writers, recognizing foreigners who do not show enmity to or fight Islam is not a problem in Islam. Therefore, an Islamic government can establish relations with other countries on the basis of "mutual respect" and "an eye for an eye" principle and it can sign agreements with them. The Islamic governments establishment of relation and signing agreements with other countries is an indication of recognition. To recognize or not to recognize a foreign regime is determined by the attitude of that regime towards Islam
and Muslims. The attention given by Islam to international relations and the great efforts made by the Prophet in this regard provide the Islamic Goverment with a good example to emulate. A great number of thinkers confess that the Prophet Mahammed is the founder of internatioal law.

Key words: recognition, jihad, peace, foreigners, freedom of thought, independence of nations.

The Philosophy of Islamic Dress Codeby Hameed Karimi

According to one of the Islamic rules, the dress code prescibed for women is different from that prescribed for men; it is incumbent upon man to completely cover his private parts during praying, during tawaf (circumambulation around the Kabah for hajj) and in the presence of non- mahrams, while a woman has to cover all her head and body except the face and the hands as far as the wrists. Hijab i.e. Islamic dress code has to be observed in many things: in ones dressing, in ones looks, in ones words and in ones conduct; a precept which has been confirmed by the Quranic verse 159, Surah Ahzab and the verses 30 and 31, Surah Noor, and also by the narrations of the Infallibles, consensus and conduct of those who abide by Islamic law.

Prescribing Hijab is intended to achieve spiritual purity, access to faith, safety from others covetousness, abandoning obscence behaviour, moderation in xpenditure, strong family relations, social stability and preservation of values.

As for the reason why Islamic law distinguishes between men and women in the way of dressing, it is because man, compared to women, has stronger carnal desires so that he can be moved by merely looking at the woman or hearing her voice, whereas a woman is known for her tranquility, graceful way of holding herself, beauty and inclination to win others admiration. Another factor is that man has much more things to do outside home than a woman.

The present essay elaborates on the above mentioned issues, and then points out to nine allegations raised against hijab and comments on them.

Key words: hijab, Islamic dress code, the philosophy of hijab.

The Basic Principles of Punishment in Penal Law

by Hussayn Ibraheempour Laylistani

The study of the reasons for punishment can be identified by investigating two things: its substructures and its effects, the first of which forms the basic part of the problem. Penal law introduces various views about the basic principles of punishment and these are expressed by the classic, neo - classic, positivistic and social-defending approaches.

Absolute justice or moral-centeredness, the mixture of these two with social usefulness, disregard of moral duty and finally attending to the dangerous situation of the criminal represent the basic principles of punishment proposed by the stated approaches, on which the present article elabarates.

Key words: basic principle, goal, calssic, neo--classic, positivistic, social usefulnees, dangerous situation.