Quran, Culture And Civilization

Quran, Culture And Civilization

The Criterion for Individual and Social Religiosity Based on Quranic Culture and Islamic Traditions

Authors
bagher ebrahimi 1
sayyedahmad aghili 2
sayyedmostafa tabatabae 3
1 Assistant Professor, Department of Islamic Studies, Center for Islamic Studies and Persian Literature, Isfahan University of Technology, Isfahan, Iran.
2 Associate Professor of History, Center for Islamic Studies and Persian Literature, Isfahan University of Technology, Isfahan, Iran.
3 PhD Student in Islamic History, Department of History, University of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran.
10.22034/jksl.2025.542028.1501
Abstract
Among the important subjects addressed under various headings in numerous Quranic verses and Islamic traditions are the characteristics of religious individuals. Many studies have likewise examined criteria of religiosity, but their principal focus has been the collection of believers' attributes. A review of this literature indicates that the foundation and primary criterion of religiosity has either been overlooked or has not received sufficiently precise attention. Using a descriptive-analytical method, this study draws on Quranic verses, Quran-based exegeses, and Islamic traditions to explain the true meaning of a religious person and identify that person's characteristics. The study concludes that, after affirming divine unity and accepting prophethood, the essential pillar of religiosity is the acceptance of the guardianship of God's divinely appointed authority and the infallible Imams. Only when this foundation is present does divine testing acquire meaning; without it, one does not possess the qualification required to enter the sphere of divine testing and advance in rank. Other criteria mentioned in the Quran and Islamic traditions therefore occupy a position subsequent to this primary criterion. The article examines this criterion and its place in the religiosity of individuals and society.
Keywords
Religiosity
Islamic culture
divine testing
guardianship
Subjects
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  • Receive Date 19 August 2025
  • Revise Date 07 October 2025
  • Accept Date 18 November 2025
  • Publish Date 23 September 2026