Hi Mohsen,Mohsen wrote:As I said before there is nothing I want to oppose you, there is a gap ,but it is very narrow , I try to narrow down the distances between the two idea , but if the ideas was the same and there was no tensions ,how could I broke your resolution !!?
So many thanks for your patience. As you've put it, the gap between us is narrow. I am happy that we are trying to narrow it as much as possible. I hope we will seal the gap completely. It depends on your seriousness in filling the gap.
I do believe in 'Shafaat'. You should have noticed that I have great faith in 'Shafaat'! Therefore, you shouldn't have chosen a special verse from the Holy Koran to prove it to me! There are many verses in the Holy Koran in agreement and disagreement with 'Shafaat'. It shows that the subject needs to be dealt carefully. In my last post I wrote 'شرطها و شروطها". Unfortunately, you didn't pay even little attention to it.
Dear Mohsen, let's have a constructive negotiation. First, let's list what we(you and I) have in common: 1) We are both Muslim. 2) We both believe in the Holy Koran. 3) We are both Shiite. 4) We both believe in "Shafaat'. Oh, we have many things in common; for example, we are both male, we are married, etc. I have only selected some views related to the subject we both share.
What is the main dissension? I think the main difference between us relates to the different angles we are looking at 'Shafaat'. You are looking at it from an angle that the majority of Iranian and ordinary Shiite people look at it. I am also an Iranian and I have looked at that angle too. However, I am trying to look at it from another angle. Changing looking-angle doesn't necessarily mean denying other views! Quite the contrary, if we approach the subject from different angles, we increase our knowledge of it. Let's use different frame of references. It will give us more filed of views, and shed light on the issues.
What is wrong with the angle that the majority of Iranian use for looking at 'Shafaat'? Unfortunately, the vast majority of Iranian Shiite people have a wrong understanding of 'Shafaat'. They think 'Shafaat' is using their influence with important people(prophets, Imamas, good people,...) in order to make God change his idea about them. This is called 'Pulling strings' in English and its Persian equivalent is 'پارتی بازی'! This wrong understanding of 'Shafaat' has a lot of negative and destructive effects, and encourages people to commit sins.
Why do Iranian people think like that? That's a complicated issue, but I personally believe the lack of democracy for thousands of years in Iran has made people use their influence with important people who had have a sort of connection to the king as the most important person of the society! There are many sayings, proverbs, stories, etc. in our literature which agree with this idea. In our society, the closer someone was to king, the more money and positions s/he received! Unfortunately, the vast majority of Iranian people think of God as a large king; prophets and Imams as his helpers in the both worlds; particularly on judgement day! They think the same judging system or benefit-distributing mechanism is used by God in both worlds!
I have been teaching at different universities for years. You cannot believe what students write in their papers instead of answering to the questions. You cannot even imagine who calls and bargains for getting extra marks. You cannot guess what kinds of excuses the students make to justify their shortcomings. Many friends of mine are teaching at different universities in different countries. I am in contact with them. They laugh at me when hear these things! Why? Pulling strings is a virtue in our society. For the same reason we say; "I love Imam Hussein, I love Ali, .."(PBU them). We don't notice that loving someone gives many responsibilities and provides many commitments. We don't care about those commitments and responsibilities!
Brother Mohsen, please refer to ' Hekmat-e 37 in Nahjolbalaghe'. Read it, think about it, and dig it! It gives a lot of amazing lessons and insights to us!
Brother Mohsen, please don't mix 'Shafaat' and 'Mojeze' together. What Jesus has done were his 'Mojeze' by the power and blessing of God! Now, Jesus is doing nothing! When Moses dropped his stick by the order of God, it became a large dragon and swallowed all the magics. After that, God asked Moses to take his stick. Moses afraid of it and took the stick by using his hat! Moses is in the grave now, and his stick does nothing! We should think of these events. They all give us useful lessons.
Finally, dear Mohsen, I do believe in 'Shafaat', but under special conditions and circumstances. I disagree with the belief of the majority of Iranian people in it. I believe, 'Shafaat' with right understanding creates positive results in a society. However, wrong understanding of it causes us to kiss soil, metals, stones, with the lips which are-sometimes- coated by wine , and hope for fooling God by using the influence of Prophets and Imams. We think God has got the same emotions that we human beings have. Therefore, we think it is possible to make God and his governors(Prophets and Imams...)emotional in order to blackmail them!
The way God governs the universe is different from the ways that Iranian kings used to do! This is the main point!
All the best,
Behnam, 24 April, 2015