Islamic Political Thought

Balancing the strategy of countries against the power of competitors and threats in their operational environment. In the past, the balancing strategy of countries was very simple and based on military means. Today, with the changes that have been made in the nature of power, economic, political and cultural tools have also been proposed in addition to military tools. The change in the nature of power has led to the emergence of soft power alongside hard power, and the surrounding threats of the actors have also changed from hard to mixed. The question is, what is the strategy of the players in the face of the soft and negative threats of competitors based on Islamic discourse? In response to the question, the hypothesis is proposed that passive defense is one of the tools of soft and positive balancing strategy of countries in facing the power and soft and negative threats of competitors. The findings of the research using the qualitative analysis method indicate that the actors in the modern situation are facing emerging threats that are very different from the traditional threats and passive defense is one of the tools to face these threats which has been the attention of the actors for a long time and in the narratives. Islamic and the statements of the supreme leader of the revolution have also received much attention due to Islam's approach to defense against the threats of enemies.

This study explores the strategic integration of Islamic ideology as a national competitive advantage within the Axis of Resistance economies, defined by their shared ideological commitment to justice, independence, and resistance against imperialism, rather than specific geographical boundaries. A strategic framework is proposed that merges innovative ideas and existing knowledge to describe the competitive environment and future directions. The framework is customer-centric and capable of identifying and predicting potential changes in the competitive landscape over time. By leveraging the principles of justice, independence, and resistance against imperialism, Islamic ideology fosters unity and purpose among the populace, enhancing national competitiveness. The study also examines the historical and theoretical underpinnings of the Axis of Resistance through Immanuel Wallerstein's World-Systems Theory and Paulo Freire's Liberation Theology, highlighting the ideological and geopolitical dimensions. The economic implications are discussed, emphasizing the necessity of forming an economic resistance front to counteract international sanctions and economic warfare. The proposed framework underscores the importance of identifying unique capabilities, integrating ideology into strategy, and enhancing economic resilience. Future research should further explore the intersection of ideology and strategy, particularly in the context of emerging geopolitical and economic challenges, to provide valuable insights for policymakers and practitioners.

This article intends to study and reinterpret the concept of freedom, focusing on the Amir al-Mu'minin Ali (PBUH) ruling era. The main question of the research is whether it is possible to achieve a concept beyond Western nationalist freedom in the Alawi discourse. This research faces two variables in its analysis. The independent variable is the Alawi government, which needs to be reinterpreted with a historical explanation in drawing practical policy during the Alawi government. The dependent variable is the concept of freedom in a general sense, which has been emphasized in the meaning of freedom according to the Companions of the Contract (Hobbes and Locke). The assumption of the article is a discursive look at the concept of freedom and aims a modern reinterpretation of the practical policy of Imam Ali (PBUH), that is, a policy based on the social contract of obedience and security, to achieve an alternative meaning of freedom for a blissful life. The research findings show that freedom in the Alawi discourse, unlike the modern Western discourse, has an internationalist and universal meaning manifested in the field of action and practice in addition to thought and opinion. The research method is analytical-historical.

The issue of human rights is currently one of the challenging issues facing the Islamic countries in international forums. Although The human right issue has had a different background in each Muslim country individually, yet the Muslim Countries face more or less some  similar challenges as a whole. This article is an attempt to explore the process of human right evolution in these countries and to identify the challenges ahead. The article argues that the challenges are theoretical and practical ones. It also argues that some of them are domestic ones and some are imposed by outside world. The article regards the  approval of the Declaration of Human Rights in Islam at the meeting of foreign ministers of the Organization of the Islamic Conference in Cairo in 1990 as a turning point in the evolutionary process partly due to the realization of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, and partly to  the growing need and demand inside those countries.

Constitutionality, as a significant and influential event in Iran's contemporary history, has been repeatedly mentioned in the speeches of the Supreme Leader. His perspective on this critical historical phenomenon is the main subject of this article. This research aims to explore the Supreme Leader's opinions and views regarding constitutionalism, and the researcher used qualitative content analysis to explain and understand his opinions in this context. The primary question of this article is: What is the Supreme Leader's intellectual viewpoint on constitutionalism? To address this question, we analyzed the leader's statements and speeches from the onset of his leadership to the present and reached the following conclusions: The findings from this approach indicate that his three main perspectives on constitutionalism are “the religious and popular roots of the revolutionaries in Iran,” “the deviation of constitutionalism during the Iranians’ transformation,” and “British colonialism as the main obstacle to Iran’s evolution”.

In the present paper, “Self” and “other” and their relation have been questioned. 7 types of political confrontation between self and other and, in a wider scope, between “our” culture and “their” culture are perceivable: conquest, conversion, assimilation and acculturation, partial assimilation: cultural borrowing, liberalism, conflict, and dialogical engagement. The first six were dominant in political history of humankind. But the last type is the only appreciated one that provides the path of development and progress in the shadow of peace and security.Findings of this article show that although the dialogical engagement is not the dominant type, there are some prominent and obvious cases in the Islamic heritage. Scientific contestation of Imam Sadeq and Imam Reza (PBUT), the believers of other religions and even atheists as well as the encounter of Abū al-Rayhān Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Bīrūnī and Indians in his everlasting book, India are examples of dialogical engagement.