محمد اکبری

The belief in Mahdism and the advent of Imam Mahdi (AJ) is one of the fundamental principles of Shia Islam, accompanied by various signs in narrative sources. The city of Basra in southern Iraq is one of the regions that holds a special place in the narrations concerning the signs of the advent. This article, titled "A Critical Review of Narrations on the Signs of the Advent in Basra," examines four categories of narrations, each of which refers to specific events in this region; the " Khasf of Basra," (land sinking) the reading of a letter of dissociation from Amir al-Muʼminīn (PBUH), the destruction of Basra, and the emergence of an individual from the lineage of the Prophet who causes the city's ruin. The present study, the authenticity of the chain of narrators ( Sanad ) and the semantic import ( Dalālah ) of these narrations were evaluated using a Rijālī and analytical approach. The findings indicate that most of these narrations are either transmitted as Mursal (lacking a full chain) or Marfūʻ (with an incomplete chain) or include narrators who are Majhūl (of unknown status) and unreliable. Consequently, from a Rijālī perspective, they lack sufficient credibility. Furthermore, a semantic analysis reveals conceptual ambiguities and, in some cases, conflict with clear interpretive principles. The conclusion of this study is that these narrations cannot be used with scientific certainty as credible signs of the advent. The central message of this article is to emphasize the necessity of a critical approach and to avoid unsubstantiated historical and geographical applications.

The issue of the nature of revelation and the position of the Prophet of Islam (PBUH) in the process of receiving and communicating it is one of the most important issues in the philosophy of religion and Islamic theology, which has always been a point of convergence for traditional and modern viewpoints. Abdolkarim Soroush, relying on hermeneutical principles, the psychology of religion, and religious empiricism, has proposed a theory that considers the Prophet not merely a passive recipient, but a central agent in the production of revelation. This viewpoint has significant consequences for understanding the nature of the Quran, the position of prophethood, and the concept of revelation. In contrast to this view, Allamah Ṭabāṭabāʼī , relying on transcendent philosophy, offers a theory based on which revelation is a trans-human reality, independent of the Prophet's mind, and its reception is of the type of presential knowledge and spiritual intuition. This article, using a descriptive-analytical method and a comparative approach, compares the epistemological and ontological foundations of these two viewpoints and attempts to critique Soroush's theory from the perspective of Islamic philosophy, especially the interpretive and theological views of Allamah Ṭabāṭabāʼī . In the process of analysis, the methodological differences between the two intellectual systems are first explained, and then the internal coherence of both theories is evaluated by examining Quranic, interpretive, and rational sources. The results of the research show that Soroush's view, due to its neglect of the ontological levels of revelation and its ambiguity in the relationship between human experience and divine speech, is not consistent with Quranic principles and the interpretive system of Islamic tradition. In contrast, Allamah Ṭabāṭabāʼī' s theory has greater conceptual coherence, the support of religious texts, and deeper philosophical grounding, and is able to provide an intra-religious and rational answer to the questions of religious modernity.