A Comparative Study of the Criterion of Divine Pleasure (Riḍā) in the System of Intercession (Shafāʿah) from the Perspectives of ʿAllāmah Ṭabāṭabāʾī and Fakhr al‑Rāzī (Based on the Exegeses al‑Mīzān and Mafātīḥ al‑Ghayb)

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 PhD Student in Islamic Theology (Philosophy of Religion), Department of Theology, Payame Noor University, Tehran, Iran.

2 Department of Theology, Payame Noor University, Tehran, Iran.

3 Associate Professor, Department of Theology, Payame Noor University, Tehran, Iran.

4 Assistant Professor , Department of Theology, Payame Noor University, Tehran, Iran.

Abstract

Intercession (shafāʿah) is one of the core beliefs in the Islamic doctrinal system. According to the explicit statement of the Noble Qurʾān, its realization is conditional upon divine pleasure (riḍā). The verse, "And they do not intercede except for whom He is pleased with" (wa lā yashfaʿūna illā liman irtaḍā, Q. 21:28) indicates this dependence, yet the criterion (mullāk) of God's pleasure in this and other verses is not explicitly stated. This ambiguity constitutes the main problem of the present research. Employing a descriptive‑analytical method and a comparative approach, this article examines the views of ʿAllāmah Ṭabāṭabāʾī and Fakhr al‑Rāzī concerning the criterion of divine pleasure in the system of intercession, based on their respective exegeses, al‑Mīzān and Mafātīḥ al‑Ghayb. The findings indicate that both thinkers consider pleasure with the individual's religion as the criterion of divine pleasure. ʿAllāmah Ṭabāṭabāʾī, in addition to faith (īmān), regards purity of the soul (ṭahārat‑i nafs) as a primary condition. Fakhr al‑Rāzī, by contrast, relying on ḥadīth traditions, emphasizes heartfelt belief in divine unity (tawḥīd). Furthermore, both thinkers propose supplementary criteria such as righteous action (ʿamal‑i ṣāliḥ), piety (taqwā), truthfulness (ṣidq), emigration (hijrah), and striving (jihād). In ʿAllāmah's view, intercession includes sinning believers from among the "companions of the right hand" (aṣḥāb al‑yamīn), whereas Fakhr al‑Rāzī, within the framework of Ashʿarī foundations, considers intercession to be realizable also for immoral believers (muʾminīn‑i fāsiq). Overall, ʿAllāmah's perspective exhibits greater coherence with divine justice (ʿadl) and wisdom (ḥikmah).

Keywords

Main Subjects

References

 

References

The Noble Qurʾān. (al‑Qurʾān al‑Karīm)
Ibn Durayd, Muḥammad b. Ḥasan. (1987 CE). Jamharat al‑Lughah [The Compendium of Language]. Beirut: Dār al‑ʿIlm lil‑Malāyīn.
Ibn Fāris, Aḥmad. (1983/1984 [1404 AH]). Muʿjam Maqāyīs al‑Lughah [Dictionary of Analogical Measures of Language]. Qom: Maktab al‑Iʿlām al‑Islāmī.
Ibn Maʿrūf, Muḥammad b. ʿAbd al‑Khāliq. (n.d. [bī‑tā]). Farhang‑i Kunz al‑Lughāt [The Treasure of Languages]. Translated by Riḍā ʿAlawī Naṣr. Tehran: Maktabat al‑Murtaḍawīyah.
Ibn Manẓūr, Muḥammad b. Mukarram. (1993/1994 [1414 AH]). Lisān al‑ʿArab [The Tongue of the Arabs]. Beirut: Dār Ṣādir.
Anṣār Muḥammadī, Sayyid Jalīl. (2016 [1395 SH]). “Tabyīn‑i Maqām‑i Riḍā dar Qurʾān‑i Karīm” [Elucidation of the Station of Divine Pleasure in the Noble Qurʾān]. Ḥusnā, 8(29 & 30), pp. 166–191.
Ījī, ʿAḍud al‑Dīn. (1907/1908 [1325 AH]). Sharḥ al‑Mawāqif [Commentary on the Stations], with glosses by Mīr Sayyid Sharīf Jurjānī. Qom: al‑Sharīf al‑Raḍī.
Bustānī, Fuʾād Afrām. (1996 [1375 SH]). Farhang‑i Abjadī [Alphabetical Dictionary]. Translated by Riḍā Mahyār. Tehran: Islāmī.
Ḥasanī, Yūnus. (2019 [1398 SH]). “Taḥlīl‑i Maʿnāshinākhtī‑yi ‘Riḍwān’ dar Qurʾān‑i Karīm” [A Semantic Analysis of ‘Riḍwān’ in the Noble Qurʾān]. Maʿrifat [Knowledge], No. 265, pp. 45–55.
Ḥasanʹzādih, Mahdī; Shāmlī, Naṣr Allāh; and Ḥusaynī Shāhrūdī, Sayyid Murtaḍā. (2018 [1397 SH]). “Lāyih‑hā‑yi Maʿnāʾī‑yi ‘Shafāʿah’ dar Qurʾān” [The Semantic Layers of ‘Intercession’ in the Qurʾān]. Taḥqīqāt‑i ʿUlūm‑i Qurʾān wa Ḥadīth [Qurʾānic and Ḥadīth Sciences Research], 15(2), pp. 67–97.
Ḥuwayzī, ʿAbd ʿAlī b. Jumʿah. (1994/1995 [1415 AH]). Tafsīr Nūr al‑Thaqalayn [The Exegesis of the Light of the Two Weighty Things]. Qom: Ismāʿīlīyān.
Dihkhudā, ʿAlī Akbar. (2011 [1390 SH]). Lughatnāmah [Dictionary]. Tehran: Muʾassasah‑yi Intishārāt wa Chāp‑i Dānishgāh‑i Tehran.
Rāzī, Fakhr al‑Dīn Muḥammad b. ʿUmar. (1999/2000 [1420 AH]). Mafātīḥ al‑Ghayb [Keys to the Unseen]. Beirut: Dār Iḥyāʾ al‑Turāth al‑ʿArabī.
Rāzī, Fakhr al‑Dīn Muḥammad b. ʿUmar. (2017 [1396 SH]). Sharḥ Asmāʾ Allāh al‑Ḥusnā [Commentary on the Most Beautiful Names of God]. Egypt: Maktabat al‑Kullīyāt al‑Azhārīyah.
Rāghib al‑Iṣfahānī, Ḥusayn b. Muḥammad. (1991/1992 [1412 AH]). Mufradāt Alfāẓ al‑Qurʾān [Glossary of Qurʾānic Terms]. Beirut: Dār al‑Shāmīyah.
Rāghib al‑Iṣfahānī, Ḥusayn b. Muḥammad. (1995 [1374 SH]). Tarjumah wa Taḥqīq‑i Mufradāt‑i Alfāẓ‑i Qurʾān [Translation and Research of the Glossary of Qurʾānic Terms]. Translated by Ghulām Riḍā Khusrawī Ḥusaynī. Tehran: Murtaḍawī.
Sarshār, Muzhān. (2015 [1394 SH]). “Riḍā (dar Qurʾān wa Ḥadīth)” [Divine Pleasure (in the Qurʾān and Ḥadīth)]. In Dānishnāmah‑yi Jahān‑i Islām [Encyclopedia of the Islamic World], Vol. 20. Tehran: Bunyād‑i Dāʾirat al‑Maʿārif‑i Islāmī.
Shamkhī, Mīnā, and Fāyiẓī, Ṭayyibah. (2019 [1398 SH]). “Bāzpazhūhī‑yi Shafāʿah az Dīdgāh‑i Qurʾān” [A Re‑examination of Intercession from the Qurʾānic Perspective]. Pazhūhish wa Muṭāliʿāt‑i Islāmī [Islamic Research and Studies], 1(3), pp. 97–112.
Shīrwānī Shīrī, ʿAlī; Ḥaydarī, Fāṭimah; and Rāmaz̤ānī, Muḥaddithah. (2019 [1398 SH]). “Maʿnāshināsī‑yi Mafhūm‑i Riḍā dar Qurʾān wa Riwāyāt wa Istikhrāj‑i Dalālat‑hā‑yi Tarbīyatī‑yi Ān” [Semantics of the Concept of Divine Pleasure in the Qurʾān and Traditions and the Extraction of Its Educational Implications]. Rahyāft‑i Farhang‑i Dīnī [Approach to Religious Culture], No. 7, pp. 7–32.
Shaybānī, Isḥāq b. Mirār. (2015 [1394 SH]). Kitāb al‑Jīm [The Book of Jīm]. Cairo: al‑Hayʾah al‑ʿĀmmah li‑Shuʾūn al‑Maṭābiʿ al‑Amīrīyah.
Ṣadūq, Muḥammad b. ʿAlī [al‑Shaykh al‑Ṣadūq]. (1993/1994 [1414 AH]). al‑Iʿtiqādāt [The Doctrines]. Qom: al‑Muʾtamar al‑ʿĀlamī lil‑Shaykh al‑Mufīd.
Ṣadūq, Muḥammad b. ʿAlī [al‑Shaykh al‑Ṣadūq]. (1992/1993 [1413 AH]). ʿUyūn Akhbār al‑Riḍā (ʿalayhi al‑salām) [The Sources of the Traditions of al‑Riḍā]. Mashhad: al‑Muʾtamar al‑ʿĀlamī lil‑Imām al‑Riḍā (ʿalayhi al‑salām).
Ṣadūq, Muḥammad b. ʿAlī [al‑Shaykh al‑Ṣadūq]. (1996/1997 [1417 AH]). al‑Amālī [The Dictations]. Qom: Muʾassasat al‑Biʿthah.
Ṣadūq, Muḥammad b. ʿAlī [al‑Shaykh al‑Ṣadūq]. (2008/2009 [1430 AH]). al‑Tawḥīd [The Doctrine of Divine Unity]. Edited by Sayyid Hāshim Ḥusaynī Ṭihrānī. Qom: Muʾassasat al‑Nashr al‑Islāmī.
Ṭurayḥī, Fakhr al‑Dīn b. Muḥammad. (1996 [1375 SH]). Majmaʿ al‑Baḥrayn [The Confluence of the Two Seas]. Tehran: Murtaḍawī.
ʿAskarī, Sayyid Murtaḍā. (1999 [1378 SH]). ʿAqāyid‑i Islām dar Qurʾān‑i Karīm [Islamic Beliefs in the Noble Qurʾān]. Translated by Muḥammad Jawād Karamī. Tehran: Majmaʿ‑i ʿIlmī‑yi Islāmī.
Qāḍī ʿAbd al‑Jabbār b. Aḥmad. (2001/2002 [1422 AH]). Sharḥ al‑Uṣūl al‑Khamsah [Commentary on the Five Principles]. Edited by Qiwām al‑Dīn Mānkadīm. Beirut: Dār Iḥyāʾ al‑Turāth al‑ʿArabī.
Qurashī, ʿAlī Akbar. (1992 [1371 SH]). Qāmūs‑i Qurʾān [Qurʾānic Lexicon]. Tehran: Dār al‑Kutub al‑Islāmīyah.
Qurashī, ʿAlī Akbar. (1996 [1375 SH]). Tafsīr Aḥsan al‑Ḥadīth [The Best of Traditions Exegesis]. Tehran: Bunyād‑i Biʿthat.
Ṭabāṭabāʾī, Sayyid Muḥammad Ḥusayn. (1995 [1374 SH]). al‑Mīzān fī Tafsīr al‑Qurʾān [The Balance in the Exegesis of the Qurʾān]. Translated by Sayyid Muḥammad Bāqir Mūsawī Hamadānī. Qom: Daftar‑i Intishārāt‑i Islāmī.
Ṭabāṭabāʾī, Sayyid Muḥammad Ḥusayn. (2009 [1388 SH]). Insān az Āghāz tā Anjām [Human Being from Beginning to End]. Qom: Būstān‑i Kitāb.
Ṭabāṭabāʾī, Sayyid Muḥammad Ḥusayn. (2009 [1388 SH]). Rasāʾil‑i Tawḥīdī [Treatises on Divine Unity]. Qom: Būstān‑i Kitāb.
Ṭabrisī, Faḍl b. Ḥasan. (1994/1995 [1415 AH]). Majmaʿ al‑Bayān fī Tafsīr al‑Qurʾān [The Gathering of Elucidation in the Exegesis of the Qurʾān]. Beirut: Muʾassasat al‑Aʿlamī lil‑Maṭbūʿāt.
Ṣāḥib b. ʿAbbād, Ismāʿīl b. ʿAbbād. (n.d. [bī‑tā]). al‑Muḥīṭ fī al‑Lughah [The Comprehensive in Language]. Beirut: ʿĀlam al‑Kutub.
Māturīdī, Abū Manṣūr Muḥammad. (2005/2006 [1426 AH]). Taʾwīlāt Ahl al‑Sunnah (Tafsīr al‑Māturīdī) [The Interpretations of the Ahl al‑Sunnah (al‑Māturīdī’s Exegesis)]. Beirut: Dār al‑Kutub al‑ʿIlmīyah.
ʿIlm al‑Hudā, Sayyid Murtaḍā [Sharīf al‑Murtaḍā]. (1984/1985 [1405 AH]). Rasāʾil al‑Sharīf al‑Murtaḍā [The Epistles of al‑Sharīf al‑Murtaḍā]. Qom: Dār al‑Qurʾān al‑Karīm.
Muṣṭafawī, Ḥasan. (n.d. [bī‑tā]). al‑Taḥqīq fī Kalimāt al‑Qurʾān al‑Karīm [The Investigation into the Words of the Noble Qurʾān]. Beirut: Dār al‑Kutub al‑ʿIlmīyah.
McDermott, Martin. (1993 [1372 SH]). Andīshih‑hā‑yi Kalāmī‑yi Shaykh Mufīd [The Theological Thoughts of Shaykh al‑Mufīd]. Translated by Aḥmad Ārām. Tehran: Intishārāt‑i Dānishgāh‑i Tehran.
Nawawī, Abū Zakarīyā Yaḥyā b. Sharaf. (1971/1972 [1392 AH]). al‑Minhāj Sharḥ Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim b. al‑Ḥajjāj [The Method: Commentary on Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim b. al‑Ḥajjāj]. Beirut: Dār Iḥyāʾ al‑Turāth al‑ʿArabī
Theology Journal
Volume 12, Issue 23 - Serial Number 23
January 2026
Pages 205-227

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics