rabiʿa al-aʿdawiyya (717-801 a.d.) the first female sufi in the muslim world, who introduced the concept of ‘love’ into mysticism, was popular for her witticism, sharp reprimands of her contemporary male sufis and her gender-bending practices. in ʿattar’s tadhkirat al-awliya, rabiʿa is portrayed as a challenger of the established gender norms of her day. rabiʿa’s crossing of gender boundaries a...

this essay is about mulla sadra and allameh tabatabaei’s views on the concept and extension of the “world of zar (pre-existence)” (the pervading meaning of verse 172, al-araf, holly quran). in this research, based on sadra and tabatabaei’s basic thoughts and by using the descriptive and analytic method the following results have been achieved: 1. the existence of the world of zar is proved by s...

The association of twins with health-giving powers is widespread in mythology, folklore, and religion. The Ashvins of the Rig-Veda, the classical Dioscuri, and the early Christian saints Cosmos and Damian are among the many examples of twins divinely empowered in the area of health and fertility. A characteristic set of attributes of twins recurs in different mythologies of wide distribution. I...

S ince 1991, I have needed a new pacemaker every five years on average. Last week I needed a replacement, my fifth. Because the wire that for 20 years connected the pacemaker to the inside of the heart started to show signs of wear and tear, it had to be replaced as well. The operation, especially the wire replacement, was delicate and critical. Luckily, it was successful without complications....

muslim philosophers have since their long history encountered lots of severe surges of doubts and oppositions, so they did their best to remove them all through deep investigation which brought about the progress of islamic philosophy both in quantity and quality. muslim philosophers were sometimes challenged by such questions as, determinism, the temporal creation of the world, the otherness o...

Can humans acquire knowledge of ultimate reality, even significant or comprehensive knowledge? I argue that for all we know we can, and that is so whether ultimate reality is divine or non-divine. My strategy involves arguing that we are ignorant, in the sense of lacking public or shared knowledge, about which possibilities, if any, obtain for humans to acquire knowledge of ultimate reality. Th...

the subject of divine will is discussed in three views of imammieh, moatazeleh, and ashaereh scholars. in views of them, god has will, however, there are differences between their beliefs: is divine will a substance attribute or an attribute surplus to substance is divine will an ancient or created attribute is divine will an affirmative or privative attribute is divine will a real or unreal at...