Here is the English abstract of Seyyed Baqir Hosseini Karimi (Assistant Professor, Department of Islamic Teachings, University of Mazandaran)'s presentation at the 11^nd pre-con meeting of the conference “Imam Reza (PBUH) and Interreligious Dialogue" which was held in University of Mazandaran (Babolsar, Iran) on  December 19, 2023.

The Position of Woman in the Quran, Mysticism (ʿIrfān) and Demonstration (Burhān) from the Point of View of Abdollah Javadi Amoli

The Book of Woman in the Mirror of Majesty and Beauty is one of the most important works written in the contemporary period on the issue of women. In this work, Ayatollah Javadi Amoli first identifies and introduces women in the Qur'an, then under the title of “Woman in Mysticism”, he examines the personality of women from the perspective of pure Islamic mysticism and mystics who have flourished in the Islamic atmosphere. In the third section, the identity of women from the perspective of demonstration is explained by the intellect that is connected to revelation and not separated from it. In the final section, answers to the latest doubts and ambiguities in this field are also provided. In this paper, some of the most important points raised in this book are discussed. From a Qur'anic perspective, both men and women have a divine spirit. Both of them are the addressees of the Qur'an, and as a result, gender does not affect divine knowledge. The position of vicegerency of God is not specifically for men, although historically, men have often been in this position. In fact, the vicegerency of God is not conditional on gender, and those who have been vicegerents were chosen by God because of their humanity. Another point is that women have not been appointed as prophets with Shari'a. Since this was considered a heavy executive responsibility, this issue was not in line with the delicacy and feminine characteristics, and perhaps for this reason the Shari'a was not granted to them. However, this does not imply that men are closer to God. In mysticism, there is also no difference between men and women, and both can reach the highest levels of mysticism. Moreover, there is no reason that in rational and argumentative discussions, men's intellect is superior to women's. In general, it can be concluded that the differences between men and women are not a criterion for their superiority over each other, but rather these differences have simply caused men to seek closeness to God more through the path of intellect and women more through the path of the heart; but the point is that both paths are set by God and lead to Him.

Translator: Mahdi Qasemi