Journal of Imamiyyah Studies

Journal of Imamiyyah Studies

Analytical Study of Non-prophets' Unseen Knowledge in the View of Imamiyya and Other Islamic Denominations

Document Type : Original Article

Author
Assistant Professor, Department of Theological Denominations, University of Religions and Denominations, Qom, Iran
10.22034/jis.2023.399831.1895
Abstract
All Islamic theologians agree that the unseen knowledge is inherent to God, but there are many differences of opinion regarding the unseen knowledge of human beings; both prophets and non-prophets. Most theologians have accepted the unseen knowledge of prophets, but there are many differences of opinion about the unseen knowledge of non-prophets. Some, like Mutazilites and Maturidis, believe that apart from God, only the prophets have the knowledge of the unseen. Asharis, Ismailis, and Ibn Taymiyyah from the Salafism believe that in addition to prophets, non-prophets can also have unseen knowledge. Imamiyya also considers the unseen knowledge of the prophets to be certain and regarding non-prophets, they believe that the saints, especially the infallible Imams (AS) also have the knowledge of the unseen. However, some of them consider the scope of this knowledge to be limited and some consider it to be absolute. In this research, we first examine the knowledge of the unseen referring to the Holy Quran, and then, as an example, mention the viewpoint of the thinkers of each Islamic denomination and analyze and evaluate their arguments. The findings show that the view of Islamic denominations other than Imamiyya is facing many problems, and on the other hand, the view of Imamiyya is provable by referring to strong narrative and intellectual reasons.
Keywords
Subjects

The Holy Quran
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