Esoteric Imamate in Basā’ir ad-Darajāt and al-Irshad

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 alzahra university

2 Professor, Department of Quran and Hadith, Faculty of Theology, Al-Zahra University, Tehran, Iran

3 Professor, Department of Philosophy, Research Institute of Wisdom and Theology, Institute of Islamic Culture and Thought, Tehran, Iran

4 Associate Professor, Department of Quran and Hadith, Faculty of Theology, Al-Zahra University, Tehran, Iran

10.22034/jep.2022.312661.1365

Abstract

Amir-Moezzi, one of the most famous Shiite scholars in Europe, divides the Imamiyya into two traditions: non-rationalist esotericists and orthodox rationalists. It was limited to reasoning only. As a result, belief in supernatural and esoteric matters, including theology and the miraculous forces of the Imams, belongs to the early Shiites, and this belief was rejected in the Baghdad school.
In this study, Amir-Moezzi's claim about changing the concept of reason in the Qom and Baghdad schools was examined and criticized. Also, the narrations of the knowledge of the unseen and the supernatural power of the Imams in the two books "Basā’ir ad-Darajāt" and "al-Irshad" were analyzed and it was found that many narrations of the knowledge of the unseen and the power of the Imam have been designed in the Baghdad school. Also, by examining the theological opinions of Baghdad theologians, it became clear that their opposition to some esoteric teachings was not due to the supra-rationality of these beliefs, but due to differences in the acceptance of narrations, including the lack of authenticity of the single news.

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