https://jrm.ut.ac.ir/ Religions and Mysticism en daily 1 Wed, 25 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0330 Wed, 25 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0330 https://jrm.ut.ac.ir/article_106191.html This study offers a focused examination of how Moses Ḥayim Luzzatto (1707–1746) reinterprets three foundational doctrines of Lurianic Kabbalah—tsimtsum (divine contraction), shevirat ha-kelim (breaking of the vessels), and tikkun (cosmic restoration)—within his ethical–mystical system. In classical Lurianic cosmology, creation begins with the withdrawal of divine light and the subsequent shattering of primordial vessels, which scatter divine sparks throughout the cosmos. Humanity’s sacred task is to recover and elevate these sparks to restore cosmic harmony. Yet the precise degree of human participation remains ambiguous within the original Lurianic framework.Luzzatto’s major innovation lies in transforming the human being from a passive element in the divine drama into an active partner in the work of cosmic repair. Drawing on works such as Derekh Hashem, Mesilat Yesharim, and 138 Openings of Wisdom, he systematises Lurianic metaphysics into a rational-ethical structure in which every human action—fulfilling commandments, engaging in prayer, studying Torah, and cultivating moral character—becomes a metaphysical act that advances tikkun.In his conception, tikkun is both a cosmological process and an ethical obligation that shapes individual spiritual growth, collective moral development, and the historical unfolding of redemption. Through this synthesis of ethical praxis and cosmic myth, Luzzatto offers a coherent and dynamic model of mystical thought. His reinterpretation redefines Kabbalistic tradition and significantly influences later Jewish movements, including Hasidism and the Mussar movement.  https://jrm.ut.ac.ir/article_106190.html The amazing gift of imagination is one of the most valuable human assets and the foundation of the Sufi language of the mystics. The works of the Sufi masters are filled with profound divine and human thoughts in a language full of imagination. One of these greats is “Ruzbehan Baqli” whose element of imagination has a special place in understanding his system of thought. “Gilbert Durand” is a contemporary French theorist in the field of imaginative criticism who has done valuable work in understanding imagination and classifying images into two major systems of imagination: daily and nocturnal. In this study, we aim to present a new reading of imaginary figures in Ruzbehan's Risalat-ul-Quds using a descriptive-analytical method and the application of Duran's imaginary theory. The findings of the study show that due to the author's mystical spirit and the educational aspect of the work, there are many bipolar images in the text, in which the battle and conflict of these images can be seen. In the Duran's reading, the most prominent imaginary images of Ruzbehan tend towards the daily system of imaginations with positive values, and ascending forms (such as the kingdom, angels, the king, the heavens, the sky, the mountain, ladder) and spectacular forms (such as light, manifestation, beauty, beauty, bride, mirror, sun) are the most frequent images that Ruzbehan's refuge is from decline and darkness to ascension and light; therefore, it has enabled the author to control and overcome the fear of the passage of time and death. https://jrm.ut.ac.ir/article_106192.html This research employs a historical-analytical method to investigate the evolution of Sufism in Azerbaijan from the early Islamic centuries to the end of the 6th century AH, aiming to reconstruct the concrete contexts for the emergence of Sufi ideas in the poetry of Khāqāni Shirvāni. The findings indicate that Azerbaijan's unique geographical position as a frontier land created a suitable setting for the confluence and synthesis of pre-Islamic spiritual traditions, Christian monasticism, and Islamic teachings. This interaction transformed the region's Sufism into an original current, distinct from the dominant paradigms of Baghdad and Khorasan. Azerbaijani Sufism developed a unique identity characterised by its close connection with fotuwat (chivalry) and guilds, an emphasis on personal experience, and active social engagement. An analysis of hagiographies and historical sources reveals that this movement gradually gained a stable and influential structure through the establishment of khāneqāhs and circles of Sufi masters (mashāyekh), reaching its intellectual and social peak in the 6th century. The paper concludes that Khāqāni emerged not as an isolated poet, but as one of the most prominent representatives of this rich, multi-layered regional tradition, with his Sufism rooted in the spiritual and social Lebenswelt of Azerbaijan. https://jrm.ut.ac.ir/article_105577.html Tawakkul (trust in God) constitutes one of the foundational concepts in the tradition of Islamic mysticism and represents an elevated station (maqām) on the spiritual path toward God (sulūk ilā Allāh). This concept is intimately connected with notions such as faith (īmān), contentment (riḍā), delegation (tafwīḍ), and the abandonment of personal planning (tark al-tadbīr). Within the historical development of Sufism, particularly in the teachings of Abū Ṭālib al-Makkī and Muḥammad al-Ghazālī, tawakkul occupies a distinctive position, reflecting the relationship between the human being and God, natural causes, and rational deliberation. The objective of this article is to provide a comparative analysis of al-Makkī’s and al-Ghazālī’s perspectives on tawakkul in order to elucidate the extent to which al-Ghazālī drew upon al-Makkī’s teachings and how, through conceptual reconstruction, he rendered this concept compatible with the social and rational life of Muslims. Al-Makkī, in his Qūt al-Qulūb, regards tawakkul as one of the spiritual states (aḥwāl) of those brought near to God and the seventh station among the stages of the spiritual journey, achieved through severing attachment to worldly causes, contentment, and absolute reliance upon divine promise. Al-Ghazālī, influenced by al-Makkī, reinterprets tawakkul in his Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn within a rationalist and educational framework, integrating it with his ethical system. Employing a descriptive-analytical method and comparative approach, this article examines the degrees of tawakkul and its relationship to acquisition (kasb), sustenance (rizq), medical treatment, planning, and the question of human agency. The findings demonstrate that al-Ghazālī, while preserving al-Makkī’s ascetic tradition, recreates tawakkul as an ethical and social virtue, synthesizing it with practical rationality and individual responsibility. https://jrm.ut.ac.ir/article_105578.html Throughout history and across the geographical expanse of human habitation, penal codes and criminal statutes have consistently embodied the written and unwritten social contracts structuring society. According to these codes, peoples have voluntarily or by necessity relinquished a portion of their freedoms in order to attain ideals such as security, justice, the harmonization of conflicts, interests, and beliefs, and social welfare. The institution of laws and unwritten statutes likewise existed among the ancient Iranians, and the surviving texts attest to the Iranians' pioneering commitment to dād (law) and legal order. This article examines the principal Zoroastrian legal sources—the Avesta, Pahlavi texts, and the Rivāyāt of Dārāb Hormazdyār—spanning approximately 2,500 years (800 BCE to 1700 CE), employing a comparative method to report and compare the punishments for specific social crimes and sins such as homicide, adultery, sodomy, apostasy, sorcery, natural medical treatment by physicians, abortion, and others, which in Zoroastrian law were deemed margarzān (deserving of death in this world) and subject to eternal torment in the hereafter. Beyond these, there exist other capital offenses related to individuals' mistreatment of nature, which fall outside the scope of this article. A survey of Mazdean sources reveals that the motive or purpose underlying these laws was the creation and preservation of the extended family, the consolidation of kinship, and the stability of the social order in pastoral and agricultural communities, as well as mythological beliefs. In the majority of these, signs of patrilineality and patriarchy are evident. Remarkably, over this 2,500-year span, no significant transformation occurred in these laws https://jrm.ut.ac.ir/article_105579.html In the Hebrew Bible, certain behaviors of the prophets are reported which, in Jewish exegetical sources—particularly the Talmud and Midrash—have been interpreted as errors. These sources have addressed and explained such behaviors through multilevel and diverse approaches. Given Moses’s unparalleled status in the Torah, the examination of his errors and the exegetical methods of dealing with them holds particular significance. The present article, adopting a descriptive-analytical approach, investigates these errors and their interpretations in the aforementioned sources. According to the Talmud and Midrash, the prophets are immune from error in receiving and transmitting revelation, yet in human affairs, like other human beings, they may be subject to lapses. The reporting of these lapses in Scripture serves an educational function: preventing excessive sanctification of the prophet and offering a model of repentance and return for others. The Torah reports eight errors of Moses, all but one of which occurred after the commencement of his prophetic mission. According to the Talmud, Moses’s error in breaking the Tablets is explained as follows: through this act, he temporarily denied the formal descent of the Torah so that the people might be preserved from the punishment for idolatry. An examination of these exegetical explanations demonstrates that Moses’s errors did not arise from carnal desires. The Imāmiyya emphasize the absolute infallibility (ʿiṣma) of the prophets and consider the attribution of errors to them as evidence of the corruption of Scripture. https://jrm.ut.ac.ir/article_105580.html The present study examines the influence of the Iranian Mithraic cult, or the solar religion, on the mythology and symbols of ancient Russia, with a focus on Vladimir’s Pantheon in Kiev. Vladimir Sviatoslavich, known by the legendary epithet ‘Sun King,’ established a pantheon for the purpose of unifying the Slavic tribes, in which, besides Perun, deities such as Khors and Dazhbog were also present. Linguistic and mythological analyses demonstrate that ‘Khors,’ a word of Iranian origin, entered the Russian language through the Ossetic language and corresponds to the sun deity. Furthermore, notable similarities are observed between the birth myth of Dazhbog and the legend of Mithra’s birth from stone. Additionally, the symbolic role of the horse in the funerary rites of ancient Russia, adopted from the Ossetians and Alans, bears a close relationship to the concept of Mithra’s solar chariot. Nevertheless, the adoption of Christianity in Russia led to the widespread suppression of ancient cults and mythologies, which has resulted in severe limitations upon the archaeological and historical heritage related to this subject. This research aims to answer the question of which deities of Vladimir’s Pantheon were influenced by the Mithraic cult. Accordingly, since no tangible heritage from that era has survived, through the aid of available linguistic and historiographical sources—such as the Primary Chronicle (Tale of Bygone Years) and the Tale of Igor’s Campaign, which provide limited information about Vladimir’s Pantheon in ancient Russia—it has been demonstrated that Khors and Dazhbog have roots in the solar cult. The article also addresses the connection between the horse in Slavic mythology and the solar cult. https://jrm.ut.ac.ir/article_105582.html Arbāb Kaykhusraw Shāhrukh is among the figures who played an influential role in introducing the Zoroastrian religion to contemporary Iranians and in deepening the inclination of nationalists toward this faith. The question addressed in this article is: How did he present the Zoroastrian religion in such a manner as to exert such influence within the Iranian context? To address this question, we have examined his most important work on the introduction of Zoroastrianism, the book Furūgh-i Mazdayasnā (The Radiance of Mazdayasna), and have undertaken a qualitative analysis of its content. The findings of this research demonstrate that, in engaging with Iran on the threshold of modernization, he employed four key strategies. First, by emphasizing the connection between Zoroastrianism and the national and ancient identity of Iranians, he prepared the ground for nationalists to return to this faith. Second, through an innovative approach, he presented Zoroastrianism as a monotheistic religion and, by utilizing Islamic theological terminology, facilitated its comprehension for the general public. Third, he focused on the ethical and practical teachings of this faith—particularly the principle of good thoughts, good words, and good deeds—to present it as a practical guide for modern life. Finally, by citing Western attention to Zoroastrianism, he introduced it as a religion consonant with scientific findings and modern Western civilization. Consequently, the success in reviving Zoroastrianism was achieved not by presenting a traditional reading but by offering a modern, national, and ethical interpretation aligned with modernity. This research highlights Arbāb Kaykhusraw’s contribution to the formation of modernist Zoroastrian discourse in contemporary Iran. https://jrm.ut.ac.ir/article_105583.html The present study seeks to illuminate the relationship between man’s inclination toward woman and the pursuit of truth through the intersecting perspectives of psychoanalysis and Islamic mysticism, focusing particularly on the anima of the Perfect Man (al-insān al-kāmil) as presented in Ibn ʿArabī’s Fuṣūṣ al-Ḥikam. Employing a method of reflective comparison and the identification of shared conceptual structures, this research explores the epistemological coherence between Jungian psychology and Ibn ʿArabī’s mystical philosophy in understanding this connection. By defining anima as an archetypal figure within the collective unconscious, the study demonstrates that intuitive knowledge and the apprehension of truth emerge precisely through this feminine psychic dimension. The anima functions not only as a mediator of religious experience but also as the agent of individuation within the psyche. From Ibn ʿArabī’s viewpoint, woman represents receptivity within existence and serves as the locus of self-knowledge, which is itself the gateway to the knowledge of the Divine. Pure and complete vision (shuhūd) becomes possible only when reason assumes a state of receptivity—an idea consonant with the concept of ummiyya (prophetic unletteredness) as found in Islamic thought. The study concludes that the anima of the Prophet, as delineated by Ibn ʿArabī—being the epitome of the Perfect Man—constitutes the very foundation of his truth-seeking nature. In a dynamic equilibrium with his animus, it leads him toward spiritual wholeness and full individuation. Thus, the Prophet’s purified visionary capacity is portrayed as inseparable from the operation of his anima, bridging the Jungian notion of individuation (tafarrud) with the Sufi understanding of spiritual realization (fardiyya). Consequently, a deep correspondence emerges between psychological individuation and mystical selfhood, culminating in the full vision of Reality and the perfection of witnessing in the feminine. https://jrm.ut.ac.ir/article_105584.html Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German Lutheran theologian, engaged in resistance against the excesses and injustices of the regime during the rise of the Nazi government. Luther’s Two Kingdoms doctrine afforded the state considerable latitude and shielded it from religious protest and the institution of religion. Bonhoeffer, drawing upon the Barmen Declaration, offered reflections on the relationship between state and religion in his works The Cost of Discipleship and Ethics. The problem addressed in the present article is to demonstrate, through a descriptive and analytical method, how Bonhoeffer was able to present an alternative reading of Luther’s Two Kingdoms doctrine by employing the doctrine of mandates and commitments, and how the Barmen Declaration became a window for his views on this teaching. Although he preserved the distinction between these two institutions and other spheres of human life, he endeavored to emphasize the connection and relation of the aforementioned realms to Jesus Christ and to stress the moral accountability of both state and church. Bonhoeffer’s formulation of this doctrine does not regard the state as a secular institution, yet its connection with the religious domain does not violate the independence of either religion or sovereignty. Furthermore, Bonhoeffer’s emphasis on the service of both institutions in Christ places them alongside one another despite their distinction. Nevertheless, Bonhoeffer’s limited opportunity to develop his Ethics and this subject left certain ambiguities in his views on the matter. https://jrm.ut.ac.ir/article_105585.html The present study undertakes a critical discourse analysis of Imām Ḥusayn's sermon as recorded in Tuḥaf al-ʿUqūl, examining the role of language in representing power relations and critiquing the political hegemony of the Umayyads. This sermon was delivered under circumstances in which the Umayyad power structure had been consolidated through religious legitimization, the co-optation of aligned elites, and the suppression of dissent. In this discourse, Imām Ḥusayn, employing linguistic and rhetorical mechanisms, challenges the prevailing order and reminds social actors of their moral and social responsibilities. This research adopts a qualitative approach based on Fairclough's three-dimensional model—description (linguistic analysis), interpretation (discursive context), and explanation (the relationship between discourse and power)—and supplements the analysis with van Dijk's socio-cognitive model and Wodak's discourse-historical approach. Data have been extracted from the sermon text and its intertextual layers with relevant historical sources, focusing on lexical choices, syntactic structures, semantic collocations, and polarization mechanisms. The findings reveal that the high frequency of obligative verbs, reproachful interrogative sentences, contrastive pronouns, and collocations related to concepts of 'truth' (ḥaqq), 'oppression' (ẓulm), and 'responsibility' function as linguistic strategies that hold religious elites accountable and disrupt the naturalization of power discourse. The study concludes that this sermon presents an alternative discourse grounded in justice, awareness, and social activism, wherein language transcends its role as a mere vehicle of meaning to function as social action and a potential agent of transformation. https://jrm.ut.ac.ir/article_105586.html The question of death and the anxiety arising therefrom constitutes one of the most fundamental human concerns throughout history. Existential psychology regards death as the primary source of anxiety and holds that confronting it represents the most consequential human experience. In Islamic mysticism (taṣawwuf), death is conceived not as an end but as a bridge toward union (wiṣāl) with Ultimate Reality. ʿAṭṭār Nīshābūrī's Tadhkirat al-Awliyāʾ, as one of the most distinguished works of Persian mystical prose, contains narratives that reflect various manifestations of death anxiety and the strategies employed to confront it. This study employs qualitative content analysis within the framework of existential psychology to examine death anxiety in the hagiographical accounts of ten renowned mystics presented in this work. The findings reveal three principal levels in the management of death anxiety within these narratives: (1) the level of negation, wherein conventional mechanisms of eschatological reward and punishment are rejected (as exemplified by Rābiʿa al-ʿAdawiyya); (2) the transformative level, wherein death-awareness becomes the primary catalyst for spiritual and moral transformation (as seen in Fuḍayl ʿIyāḍ, Ibrāhīm Adham, and Dāwūd Ṭāʾī); and (3) the transcendental level, wherein death is interpreted as union and perfection of the path (as demonstrated by Ḥallāj and Bāyazīd Bisṭāmī). This classification demonstrates that ʿAṭṭār, through his narration of the saints' lives, transforms death anxiety from a psychological threat into the driving force of mystical wayfaring (sulūk). Accordingly, Tadhkirat al-Awliyāʾ offers a rich paradigm for 'authentic living in the light of death,' possessing analytical value from both psychological and mystical perspectives. https://jrm.ut.ac.ir/article_105587.html This research rethinks the problem of contemporary human loneliness using a descriptive and interdisciplinary critical analytical approach. It demonstrates that Relation-Based Therapies (RBT) while effective in improving interpersonal skills and reducing social isolation, fail at a deeper level to heal existential suffering and the void of lived meaning. By distinguishing between isolation, painful loneliness, and conscious solitude (Khalwat).and reviewing theoretical and empirical evidence regarding the consequences of loneliness, it is argued that one-sided reliance on external bonds can lead to dependency, traumatic transference, and inefficiency in specific situations. In contrast, the Islamic philosophical-mystical tradition offers an alternative strategy: Khalwat, not as passive withdrawal, but as a systematic capacity for emotional self-regulation, metacognitive awareness, purification of attention, and meaning recreation. Based on this, Khalwat is a tool for transforming the suffering of loneliness into the blossoming of creativity, a source of personal growth, and openness to the sacred realm. Instead of fleeing from the other, it provides the possibility of an authentic encounter with the self and a realignment of one's relationship with the social world. The article's innovation lies in formulating Khalwat as a philosophical-psychological mechanism that can be considered a complement to relation-based therapies; an alternative that, while explaining its theoretical foundations in the wisdom and mystical heritage, offers a fresh response to the crisis of modern human loneliness and opens new horizons for an existential understanding and confrontation with loneliness. https://jrm.ut.ac.ir/article_105588.html This research examines the reasons for the formation of the Islamic Revival movement with an identity politics approach in Iran during the Pahlavi regime. This article uses a comparative historical method to show the similarities and differences between this movement and the «new religious movements in the world. Giddens considers three factors to be effective in the formation of new religious» movements: 1-The process of secularization in society 2-Rapid social changes 3-A sense of alienation from the mainstream of govermence. A historical review of the Pahlavi era shows that the factors that formed the Islamic Revival movement are also similar to the above three factors in some cases, namely, the modernization of Iran at that time was accompanied by rapid social changes and the phenomenon of secularization, and because the teachings of Islam have influenced the formation of the cultural identity of Iranians for centuries, the secularization of society caused an identity challenge for most Iranians. They felt a sense of alienation towards these actions and joined the clergy to overcome this feeling. Regarding the difference between this movement and the new religious movements, factors such as the «uneven development policy» in the Pahlavi era and the clerics' specific attitude towards development can be mentioned. https://jrm.ut.ac.ir/article_105590.html The present study aims to explicate the educational implications of mystical pedagogy based on Ṣadrā’s theory of knowledge by intensification (ʿilm ishtidādī) through a descriptive-analytical method. Emphasizing the correspondence between the ontological degrees of human existence and the gradational hierarchy of being, knowledge, truth, love, felicity, and delight, Mullā Ṣadrā, by means of taʾwīl (spiritual hermeneutics), constructs a renewed vision of the human being and the process of educating the soul. In his system, the highest form of education is mystical education, which unfolds within the existential-epistemic framework of intensificational knowledge aimed at the perfection of the human soul. Throughout the pedagogical journey, the human learner ascends, through the intensification of knowledge and meditative interpretation, to higher degrees of being and truth, thereby attaining perception, felicity, and joy appropriate to those existential levels. The findings reveal that a mystical-educational model grounded in the Sadrian theory of intensificational knowledge implies several key points: pedagogical pluralism, educational justice, the mystic’s qualification for leadership of the virtuous city, a distinction between mystical and ethical action, and the repudiation of violence.