1st January 2025
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The Problem of Evil

Spring 2022 Course: This is an introduction to the problem of evil that examines writings from ancient to present. ‘The problem of evil’ as the challenge of reconciling the existence of an absolutely perfect being (Omnipotent, Omniscient, and omnibenevolent God) with the existence of evil, suffering and sin has been one of the greatest problems of intellectual. The epistemic question posed by evil is whether the world contains undesirable states of affairs that provide the basis for an argument that makes it unreasonable to believe in the existence of God.

Islam

Spring 2022 Course: Islam is simultaneously one of the most frequently discussed and least understood of the world’s major religious traditions. It serves as an introduction to this religious tradition, including the foundational scripture (the Qur’an), the life of the Prophet (Muhammad), and major dimensions of Islamic thought and practice ranging from ethics/law and theology to mysticism and philosophy, as well as contemporary American Muslims. It is designed for any student (of any faith background, or none) who wants to learn about Islam, its essential teachings and its major sources.

The Era of Cooperation and Assistance

The book is a documentary of the agreeable years of constructive cooperation between Khomeini and Montazeri before and after the 1979 revolution. The Assembly of Experts recognized Montazeri as the next leader of the IRI. This hurried action proved to be detrimental to Montazeri, and did not bear any advantage for him at all. These resolutions were the brainchild of Ali Khamenei which were directed and realized with the assistance of Hashemi Rafsanjani. Compared to Khomeini, Montazeri had a relatively liberal mindset regarding domestic politics, public rights, and civil liberties.

Rational Perception in Ibn Sina and Mulla Sadra

The article zeroes in on the controversial concept of rational perception in Ibn Sina and Mulla Sadra’s receptive oeuvres, defining it as the complex abstraction, combination and production of universals. The role of sense perception, along with its relationship to intuition, features prominently here. The author emphasizes the break with Ibn Sina in his discussion of Mulla Sadra’s view of a certain mutability of the human soul and the three different worlds in which it exists. Emanation is posited as an existentialist relationship mired in activity rather than passivity.

Āqā ʿAlī Mudarris Ṭihrānī

Āqā ʿAlī Mudarris Ṭihrānī (1818-1889) was one of the most distinguished commentators of Mulla Sadra in Qajar period and made a valuable attempt to complete Mulla Sadra’s philosophical project. Although his philosophical writings never became as popular as Sabzawari’s, his scrutiny of philosophical matters is remarkable. As is evident from his writings, Ṭihrānī was familiar with a great deal of what was the current writings on hikma. Although he was an adherent of Mulla Sadra’s philosophy and logic, he used a large number of contemporary philosophical sources in his writings.

Statement on Palestine from North Carolina Academics

We, faculty from 19 colleges and universities across NC, are writing to strongly condemn Israeli attacks on historic Palestine, from the bombing of the Gaza Strip to the forced evictions in East Jerusalem, and to express our solidarity with the Palestinian people in their just struggle for liberation. We view this struggle for liberation as closely entwined with many struggles for racial and Indigenous justice in America, from Ferguson to Standing Rock. We reaffirm our commitment to combating racism in all its forms, including anti-Blackness, antisemitism, Islamophobia, and anti-Asian racism.

Genealogies of Pluralism in Islamic Thought: Shi‘a Perspective

Although there are a lot of verses in the Qur’an endorsing the notions of freedom, tolerance, diversity, and pluralism, all of these verses were abrogated by the Sword Verse, according to some major classical Sunni scholars. In Shi’a Islam, however, none of these verses were abrogated; the Qur’anic arguments on freedom and diversity are always valid since they are an essential part of faith; they cannot be abrogated. The political teachings of Imam ‘Ali Ibn Abi Ṭalib are very supportive of diversity and pluralism in the modern sense.

Toward Removing the Punishment of Apostasy in Islam

‘Freedom of religion’ is a strong principle in Islam. The Qur’an neither mentions nor prescribes any temporal punishment for apostasy. No one during the time of the Prophet was killed solely for apostasy. Abolishing all types of temporal punishments for apostasy: Acknowledgement of the alteration of the subject and context; the invalidity of akhbār al-haād in matters of critical importance such as the life of a human being; the invalidity of hadiths that run counter to Qur’anic dictates; and the abrogation of the punishments for apostasy because of ‘impairing’ Islam.

Shedding Light on the Covert Assembly of Experts

The book starts with shedding light on the the regulations of Assembly of Experts. The approval of the regulations relevant to Article 111 of the constitution (the right to supervise, impeach and depose the Leader) remains the greatest achievement of the Assembly to date. Both of Leaders of the I.R.I. refrained from any kind of cooperation with the ‘Panel of Investigation’. The most prominent advocator of actual religious authority as a binding requirement for qualifying a Leader was S. Ali Khamenei. He disqualified the leadership of himself 3 years earlier!

Human Rights and Reformist Islam

Human Rights and Reformist Islam translates the influential collection Haqq al-nas, and critiques traditional Islamic approaches to the question of compatibility between human rights and Islam, and argues instead for their reconciliation from the perspective of a reformist Islam. The book focuses on six controversial case studies: religious discrimination; gender discrimination; slavery; freedom of religion; punishment of apostasy; and arbitrary or harsh punishments. Critically compares Kadivar’s approach to Islam and human rights with those of five leading contemporary scholars: Mahmoud Taha, Abdullahi an-Na’im, Ann Mayer, Mohammad Shabestari and Abdulaziz Sachedina.
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Email: kadivar.mohsen59 (at) gmail.com

About

Mohsen Kadivar is a mujtahid, Islamic theologian, philosopher, writer, leading intellectual reformist, and research professor of Islamic Studies at Duke University.