۱.
The current known as religious intellectualism, with the claim of reforming religious thought, addressed the problem of the causes of decline and the compatibility of tradition and modernity in Iran's religious society. In its later phase following the Islamic Revolution in Iran, this intellectual current has pursued a distinct intellectual trajectory—marking a significant departure from its predecessors—based on the specific religio-theological foundations observed in the views of its later figures This trajectory has been characterized in intellectual discourse as a movement toward a minimalist conception of religion. Given the status of this current in scientific and academic circles, and the necessity of evaluating the record of religious intellectualism with respect to its claim of reformist religious reflection, this article, through an examination of the views of prominent figures within this current, demonstrates that the religion-politics relations in religious intellectualist thought amount to a reconstruction of modern politics within the religious context of Iranian society.
۲.
This study explores the role of cultural diplomacy in Al-Farabi’s political philosophy, specifically the strategic function of orators and poets in his “virtuous city.” By analyzing Farabi’s theory of the imaginative faculty (al-quwwah al-mutakhayyilah), the research argues that these groups are central to governance, serving as intermediaries who translate intellectual truths into sensory and persuasive forms. The study posits that Farabi’s framework offers a pre-modern model of cultural diplomacy—not as mere artistic exchange, but as an epistemological process for communicating rational truth across communities, thereby integrating aesthetics into the structure of ideal governance.
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The central problem of the present study is the conceptual elucidation of resistance within the intellectual framework of the Islamic Revolution. Since resistance is essentially a negative and relational concept that acquires meaning only in relation to a significant Other, understanding it requires identifying and elucidating this Other. An examination of Ayatollah Khamenei’s writings reveals that the fundamental Other of resistance is Arrogant Domination(Istikbār) (arrogant domination). As a Quranic concept, this study employs a thematic analysis of the Holy Quran to elucidate its semantic and substantive dimensions, examine how arrogant domination establishes political and social authority, and clarify its methods of governance. By turning away from monotheism, arrogant domination seeks to define itself as the source of right in existence. In the social sphere, it manifests in the attempt to impose its will as the organizing axis of social life, establishing an order independent of the monotheistic order as a “natural” order governing society. Under such conditions, resistance means striving to establish an order formulated by religious law which, through its intimate association with truth, can bring about a humane order and stability. Accordingly, a deliberate and intelligent confrontation must be undertaken with all instruments that facilitate the governance of arrogant domination.
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The study critiques individualistic interpretations of autonomy in liberal thought and reconstructs freedom from an Islamic perspective to derive implications for political education in Iranian Islamic society. Using conceptual analysis and a comparative-critical approach based on Bereday’s model, it examines the anthropological, epistemological, and axiological foundations of liberal autonomy and Islamic freedom. Findings show that liberal autonomy, grounded in individualism, self-foundation, and personal choice, creates challenges for social bonds, moral authority, and religious life. In contrast, Islamic thought defines freedom as liberation from servitude to anything other than God and a path toward perfection, termed “Rabbani Freedom.” The study develops this concept across cognitive, moral-spiritual, and political-social dimensions and proposes implications including insight, responsibility, and council-based participation for political education.
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While unilateral and multilateral sanctions remain controversial under international law, political jurisprudence provides a distinct framework for analyzing their legitimacy. This study investigates the status and scope of sanctions in Shi’i political jurisprudence, specifically identifying the principles governing their imposition by an Islamic state. Employing a descriptive-analytical method based on Shi’i jurisprudential sources, the research categorizes sanctions into four types: (a) restrictions on economic relations facilitating foreign domination, (b) arms and military embargoes, © the seizure of hostile state assets as countermeasures, and (d) sanctions on dominance-based political relations. Findings indicate that these measures are not only legitimate but may become a religious obligation under specific conditions. However, their application is strictly conditional upon principles of proportionality, the distinction between combatants and civilians, and the preservation of humanitarian exemptions (e.g., food and medicine). The study concludes that Shi’i political jurisprudence recognizes sanctions as a legitimate foreign policy tool, provided they remain bound by ethical, legal, and humanitarian constraints.
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Democracy in contemporary Muslim political thought is not a fixed concept but a contested and historically embedded one that has been continuously redefined in the context of encounters with political modernity. This study employs Reinhart Koselleck’s conceptual history framework to analyze the transformation of the concepts of “the people” and their relation to democracy. Within this approach, political concepts are understood as temporal structures that emerge from the tension between the “space of experience” and the “horizon of expectation.” The central question is how differences in historical experiences and political expectations among Muslim thinkers have produced plural interpretations of both “the people” and “democracy.” The research adopts a conceptual-historical analysis of selected texts by contemporary Muslim intellectuals. The findings demonstrate that the concept of “the people” evolves across four configurations—ummah, nation, legal-political subject, and social actor—while democracy likewise shifts through four stages: rejection, controlled incorporation, political right, and social practice. The study concludes that debates over democracy in the Muslim world are fundamentally temporal and conceptual struggles over the possibility of political futures.
