Explaining Tawhidi Presuppositions in the Production of Religious Knowledge

Document Type : Original Article

Author

PhD in Qur’anic Sciences and Studies (Specialization: Management), Al-Mustafa International University, Qom, Iran

Abstract

Presuppositions constitute the unseen and implicit foundations of scientific inquiry; they shape the content of knowledge and influence the development of scientific disciplines, and scientific propositions are constructed upon them. Researchers inevitably encounter non-research factors that strongly affect the research process, among which presuppositions—arising from different environments and worldviews—play a significant role. In the domain of governing religious sciences, presuppositions are particularly decisive.
This study aims, using the ijtihadi (analytical–inferential) method and documentary research, to analyze how tawhidi (theocentric) presuppositions contribute to the establishment of indigenous knowledge. The research examines and explains both non-tawhidi and tawhidi presuppositions across several domains, and then analyzes their role in the transformation of scientific disciplines.
The findings show that areas such as the nature of properties (inherent properties of objects versus non-necessity and contingent properties grounded in divine agency), the status and value of the human being (a clever animal versus God’s vicegerent), God-centeredness versus human-centeredness (humanism and its derivatives—liberalism, secularism—versus servitude and devotion), creation versus emergence (random occurrence versus a created and purposive order), and self-governance versus divine governance of the cosmos (mechanistic autonomy versus divine lordship) are among the fields in which non-tawhidi and tawhidi presuppositions must be studied and analyzed.

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Volume 4, Issue 16 - Serial Number 16
Winter 2026
January 2026
Pages 121-161
  • Receive Date: 10 April 2025
  • Revise Date: 01 September 2025
  • Accept Date: 12 November 2025
  • Publish Date: 22 December 2025