Salman Rezvani has been engaged in scientific and research activities in the field of media and art for more than 20 years.  We talked with him about the challenges facing jurisprudence. The director of the fundamental research office of the Islamic Media Research Center believes that the challenges of drama jurisprudence and art jurisprudence will not be solved as long as we pay more attention to concepts than visual narration. In this conversation, he stated less mentioned points regarding jurisprudence and the challenges and solutions to these challenges. The details of the exclusive conversation of the Institute of Contemporary Jurisprudence Studies with the Director of the Basic Research Office of the Center for Islamic Media Research are as follows:

Research Center for Contemporary Jurisprudence Studies: What are the most important challenges facing drama jurisprudence?

Rizvani: One of the basic challenges facing the jurisprudence of drama is that in explaining our religious teachings, we pay more attention to concepts than to visual narratives. That is, we mainly try to propagate and promote religious teachings only through concepts. This issue has caused us not to pay much attention to the issue of illustration and visual arts. To fight this challenge, the seminary needs a basic effort. In my opinion, the roots of the problem are not in jurisprudence and we must not look for it here, but before that, we must change or at least develop our general view towards the explanation of religious teachings. That is, in addition to paying attention to the conceptual aspects of religious education, we must also pay attention to the artistic and visual aspects.

Basically, we do not pay attention to the problem of imagination, dreams and visual narratives. For this reason, we have completely neglected the artistic and theatrical aspects of religion. Perhaps we have objections with the field of art and drama. Of course, in some of the narrations that are found in our religious sources, it is not compatible with the image. For instance, the traditions that indicate that there must not be images of spiritual beings in religious places and those who make images have been criticized. Maybe in the past centuries, because of the function of these images and representations, you wanted such a look to exist; But now and in the current situation, basically, the field of visualization and image has undergone a fundamental transformation. Many of these arts have undergone a fundamental change, both in their goals, in their functions, and in the audience’s encounter with them. For this reason, dynamic Shiite religion and jurisprudence must also correct its view;  Thus, one of the serious challenges of governance is the same old view and attitude in the seminary. Perhaps from here we can reach a pathology that has caused a significant stuttering in the field of our communication with the audience.  Today’s audience has an undeniable connection with the language of images, while we still insist on presenting the concept of religious teachings, which is not logical at all.

&&&

Contemporary Jurisprudence Studies Research Center: Apart from the general challenges of emerging jurisprudence, such as the lack of specific rules, lack of sources, lack of scientific writings, etc., what are the specific challenges facing jurisprudence?

 Rizvani: These challenges that were mentioned in the question and other such challenges are the result of the same fundamental challenge that has shaped our approach to presenting and explaining religious teachings in the form of concepts and ignoring visual narratives.  When the religious institution basically does not believe in art and performing arts, does not believe in visual narratives, it is basically impossible for visual rules to be formed and scientific writings to take place.  All of these are the result of more fundamental factors that were mentioned earlier.  Before we deal with the jurisprudence of drama, we must go back two steps further and discuss issues related to the wisdom and philosophy of art and performing arts, as well as the ethics of drama.  That is, if we define religion in the three areas of beliefs and words, values ​​and ethics, and the area of ​​jurisprudence, we should start the discussion of performing arts from two stages earlier than jurisprudence.  Many topics of art and drama should be discussed in the sciences of theology and moral philosophy.  The macro-narratives of our religious concepts should be moved from the realm of concepts to the realm of visual narratives and at least develop, if not transcend conceptual presentation.  Basically, today’s language in communication is the language of images, and the audience can establish a stronger and stronger connection with religious teachings than any other method with this language and method.  Today’s audiences prefer to sit at the feet of visual explainers instead of conceptual and theoretical discussions;  Therefore, the field should do basic thinking for this serious challenge so that these previous areas such as the wisdom of the performing arts and the values ​​and ethics of the performing arts are not taken into consideration. Fundamentally, the issues are not formed so that the jurisprudence wants to move in that direction.  The domain must enter into the issues of art wisdom in a serious manner.  Must provide acceptable theoretical processes.

It should open its place in the main texts and educational body of the field.  The students will also get to know the language of images so that later on in solving jurisprudential challenges and creating special rules for jurisprudence, there will be success and openness and it will show itself in the scientific writings of the field.

Contemporary Jurisprudence Studies Institute: Jurisprudents often do not have a good relationship with the performing arts (including theater, cinema and television).  In your opinion, what presuppositions and bases have caused this judgment on their part?

Rizvani: One of the reasons why the performing arts, including theater, cinema and television, have not established any dialogue with the field of religious education is that the philosophical fields are not close to each other.  Basically, philosophers of art do not have a positive view of religion and consider religion as an obstacle on the way of art, or religious thinkers do not have a positive view of the fields of art and consider them outside of rationality, ethics and religious values.  Of course, this issue has historical roots.  Such communication and understanding has not taken place in the intellectual background of human history;  But the religion of Islam, at least in examples, has proven that wherever the will of religious thinkers has turned towards art, we have witnessed many blessings.  Especially during the Safavid period, religion and art of their world became closer to each other.  They also used the capacity and created very beautiful works.  It seems that according to the provisions of the rule “Al-Nas Ahadin Ma Jhelwa Beh”, this lack of knowledge between the two areas has caused many misunderstandings to take root and the results show itself in the lack of understanding.  The solution is to create a transformation, both in terms of vision and approach, in both areas.  Religious thinkers and religious scholars should understand the arts, especially the new arts, many of the functions of these arts should be redefined.  For example, music definitely still has a playful one-dimensionality, but it has also acquired new dimensions in our time.  In the media, a main element is the creation of meanings and the artistic presentation of concepts.  Music is responsible for a part of conveying meaning.  Definitely, this function is an important function and one should think about it and write theological, moral and jurisprudential rules.  These should be regularized with religious sources.  Let’s note that the evolution of the subject is involved in the evolution of the sentence.  Construction in the subject follows construction in the sentence.  These constructions have happened.  Certainly, in the attitudes of religious scholars, these events should show their influence in the redefinition of jurisprudence.  Although the jurisprudential discussions of the show are a background discussion that stops at clarifying the role of many issues in the field of judicial issues;  Therefore, until general and theoretical attitudes are not reformed, I think it is unlikely that jurisprudential attitudes will be reformed.

Research Institute of Contemporary Jurisprudence: In terms of research, what challenges does the research in the field of drama jurisprudence face and how can these challenges be overcome?

Rizvani: My interest and my field of study is art, for more than twenty years I have been trying to bring artists and religious thinkers closer to each other.  As this effort deepened and developed, misunderstandings decreased.

It is clear that some of these misunderstandings have historical roots.  In the words of one of the artists who said that as long as we consider the scholars to be petrified and as long as the scholars consider us outside the religion, these two fields will not come close to each other.  It should be accepted that neither artists are outside of religion nor scholars are people of tajjr.  It is necessary for this to happen.  Basically, the need of our society today is to solve the concerns of the audience, to develop, explain, propagate and deepen religion.  These issues create the requirement for seminaries and art fields to resolve these misunderstandings as soon as possible.  The Supreme Leader has a valuable statement: “Every idea and revolution that does not fit into the form of art will not last”;  Therefore, if the institution of religion wants to maintain its permanence, it should approach art and arm itself with its language.  Religion and religious teachings should be combined with art and artistic issues.  Our religious knowledge and concepts should benefit from the extraordinary capacities of art.  Because art also deserves to be drunk from the source of religion so that it gains depth and penetrates the souls and hearts of people and leads them from instincts to the divine nature.  This capacity exists in both religion and art, which has been neglected due to historical mistakes.  The necessity of today’s society requires this meeting.

Therefore, we need to move our cultural approaches towards visual narratives in the discussion of cultural foundations.  According to one of the thinkers, today the system of the Islamic Republic must define the story of the future, and this definition and narration of the future causes the believer’s audience to move towards the future based on the religious model.  To create this narrative, we need to process its theological, moral and jurisprudential rules so that we can picture the future well.  Religious knowledge and religious concepts should fly towards the audience on the wings of the image, and the audience should put the light of their thoughts in the thought sphere of these images and move towards their realization.  The institution of religion must define the image of religion, which itself requires a philosophical, value, and jurisprudential theological system, in which jurisprudence ranks third in this process;  Therefore, we should not beat Serena over her head.  I hope that with the efforts of religious scholars and thinkers in the field of art, one day we will witness this auspicious event.

It should be noted that this conversation was achieved with the participation of Ijtihad Network.