The research group has four members. Dr. Gholamhossein Javadpour is the head of the group.
Kalam represents itself with its subject, method, and end. Kalam is an Islamic branch of knowledge that tackles the Islamic religious beliefs, trying to explain or defend those based on Aql(intellect) and Naql(tradition). As early as in the times of the Abbasid Caliphate (750–1258 CE), almost one century after the emergence of Islam, the discipline of Kalam arose in an "attempt to grapple" with several "complex problems" early in the history of Islam. The method of the discipline can be found in Christianity and Judaism too entered into the Islamic world. Concerning the doctrines of the Quran and the Hadith and also Islamic inter-religion disputes, one can see different approaches of Islamic Kalam within Islam and also distinguishable from other traditions of Theology in other religions. Kalam was influenced by rational aspects of the philosophical movements including Peripatet, Sadra, and New Sadra schools. Different traditions of Kalam can be branch off based on numerous characteristics; based on Islamic schools and orders like Muʿtazila, Ash'ari, Shi'a,..., philosophical orientation, geography, like Schools of Baghdad, Hillah, Kufa, Rey,... .
As Kalam can be recognized as an intellectual and cultural heritage of Iran still ongoing, the research group of the Institute has considered two main objectives:
- To revive the historical heritage of the discipline
- To introduce and examine "the new problems of the Kalam"
The research group has been established three decades ago to fulfill the objectives. Dr. Mohaghegh Damad was the first head of the group, seeing Dr. Afzali as its next head. In the following table, find the group staff's interests:
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Kalam- Head of the Group: Abdollah Mohammadi
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Meysam Tavakoli Bina-Science and Religion
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Esmaeil Alikhani-Religion studies
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Gholamhossein Javadpour-Epistemology of Religion
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Abdollah Mohammadi-Methodology of Kalam
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