Abstract

In this article, after providing a definition for religion, the writer argues that it is about four centuries that the western world has oppressed God, religion, and the holy prophets. The oppressors have replaced God by man, the holy prophets by intellectuals and geniuses,and the religions by the social- philosophical schools. Moreover, in order to wipe out the difference between the divine religions and human schools of thought, they have made some maneuvres, the last of which has been a kind of pluralism.Mulla Sadra says, "Islam is the last religion, and is higher and more complete than others. Being the last religion implies being the most perfect. Since Islam is a collection of all religions, it comprises all perfection and is beyond time and history; it is all religions without being any of them; and it includes all the perfections of other religions and lacks their defects".The essence of religion is beyond history; however, its existence is determined through historical periods. Such a claim is another interpretation of the issuMffieternityand atemporality, which have been referred to in Transcendent Theosophy. Moreover, as emphasized in different verses and traditions, according to the philosophy of the prophet's mission and the sending down of the holy book, it is a common and general principle that each prophet has come for a specific period, while Islam has emerged for all human kind and times. Nevertheless, pluralism does not agree with this interpretation of religion, nor does it agree with Islam's being the last religion, the rightfulness of religions, and the superiority of divine religions over non-religions. Consequently, philosophical pluralism brings about a kind of polytheism, and religious pluralism results in a kind of decline in the divine position.