A Survey on the Grounds and Reasons of the Emergence of Religions and Denominations from the Viewpoint of Quran (With an emphasis on Tabatabayi, s Al-Mizān Fi Tafseer -Al-Quran)

The emergence of all religions, denominations or sects, in addition to some special reasons behind that of each one, is the result of a set of common causes, historically interconnected. Through studying these historical and ideological causes one could find why a denomination or sect appeared, but in order to achieve a more exact and comprehensive outlook all of the common fields and reasons behind their appearance should be surveyed. Some of these common reasons proposed by the historians studying religions and denominations are: the effects of the environment, racial discrimination, misunderstanding the teachings of religion and not preserving the holy texts. According to Quran that accepts the general system of cause and effect natural events take place as a result of some definite causes. Quran certifies that the character of every human being is affected by the religion dominant in his or her age and the surrounding environment then as well. It also expresses racial discrimination and ignorant obedience to the ancestors as some of the causes behind the disputes and discrepancies amongst the followers of religions and denominations. Quran considers reasoning and logic as a way to perceive the facts including the rules of God. It declares that different approaches towards the Book and Tradition results in the appearance of new sects as well as misinterpreting the teachings of religion. Since Quran pronounces that except itself all of the Divine Books were subject to some sort of distortion throughout the history, any divergence in Islam is due to not preserving the texts or distorting them and preventing Hadithes to be quoted. Quran proposes some solutions for the divergences in religion such as personal interpretation of the texts, the most important of which is to refer to the “People of Remembrance” (Ahl-i Dhikr), while Allamah Tabātabāyi adds some more suggestions in his interpretation of Quran titled Al-Mizān Fi Tafseer-al-Quran.