مجلة اداب ذي قار (Mar 2024)
Western indicators in the thought of Dr. Ali Shariati
Abstract
Dr. Ali Shariati is rightfully considered one of the most prominent pioneers of the Islamic movement and its thinkers. His tremendous efforts had a significant impact on various social groups of the Iranian people, including the youth. His intellectual and political mobilization paved the way for the Islamic Revolution in 1979, earning him the title “Teacher of the Revolution” among the Iranian popular circles of that time. Shariati focused his efforts on awakening consciousness and returning to the self, opposing forms of alienation, imitation, and submission to foreign domination. He fought for human welfare, freedom, democracy, criticism of history and self, revolution against traditional institutions and structures, debunking of old and contemporary superstitions, and combating backwardness and tyranny… All these terms and expressions are what filled Shariati’s writings, which became his concern, the focus of his short life, and the goal of his vast intellectual effort. Shariati presented bold and profound treatments for certain phenomena, such as sectarian fanaticism, which he considered a product of periods of fragmentation and decline in Islamic history. He believed that Muslims must overcome it if they wanted renaissance and unity. He also fought against backwardness and superstition, which he criticized sarcastically, holding the clergy responsible for spreading and entrenching them. He also attempted to revive nationalism as an antithesis to Islamic belonging, the traditional and rigid religious institution, and many other issues he criticized and addressed with Western remedies based on his social studies in Western Europe, which lasted for more than five years. Alongside his intellectual struggle against Western intellectual currents and ideologies, Shariati worked on purifying and sifting cultural sources, reviving Islam as a vibrant and pulsating ideology in contrast to other ideologies, cleansing the religion from impurities, and separating the clear truths from the habits and illusions that were prevalent among the simple people. Thus, he worked on clarifying and polishing the face of Islam, showing its true image.
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