Among the personalities who have realized...

Among the personalities who have realized, for the past three decades, the importance and exigency of creating this connection and have exerted many efforts in this direction is the erudite scholar, prominent philosopher and outstanding jurist [ faqih ], Ayatullah Muhammad Taqi Misbah Yazdi.

On the issues surrounding the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution[^6] during the first years of the Islamic Revolution and established at the order of the Imam Khomeini, Ayatullah Misbah was given special attention by the eminent Imam in guiding and setting the program of this movement. This is a testimony and confirmation that the distinguished professor has been involved in this venture for many years.

Along this line, for more than a year, a number of the wary, concerned and committed scholars in the university has set up a center with the aim of holding cultural activities. One of its activities is to hold monthly sessions in the presence of Ayatullah Misbah Yazdi. In these sessions, the distinguished professor tackles issues suggested by the other professors.

On account of the academic standing as well as the importance of these discussions in the current conditions of the society, the host of these sessions, namely, the Mobilization Center of Professors of the University of Science and Technology [ kanun-e basij-e asatid-e daneshgah-e ‘ilm va san‘at ] has insisted that the collection of the distinguished professor’s lectures in those sessions to be published according to the chronological order of their presentation.

Thanks to God, through the effort of Hujjat al-Islam wa’l-Muslimin Shaykh Muhammad Mahdi Nadiri Qummi, a faculty member of this Institute and one of the outstanding students of Professor Yazdi, now we can offer to all those who are interested nine of these lectures in the form of the present book. We hope that in the future we will be able to continue presenting these discussions to the academic and cultural centers of the country and all the academicians and knowledge-enthusiasts.

Imam Khomeini Educational and Research Institute 1382 AHS (2003) [^1]: Professor Ayatullah Murtadha Mutahhari (1298-1358 AHS) was born in Bahman 13, 1298 AHS [February 3, 1920] in the village of Fariman near Mashhad to a family of clergymen. At the age of 12, he went to Mashhad where he learned the basics of Islamic sciences and then moved to Qum where he attended the class sessions conducted by the great authorities of the theological center.