Serati Interpretation of the Political Thought of Ali Shariati

Document Type : Research Article / Original Article

Authors

1 Professor, Department of Political Science, Allameh Tabataba'i University, Tehran, Iran.

2 M.A. in Political Thought in Islam, Allameh Tabatabaei University, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

Ali Shariati is one of the influential thinkers in the contemporary history of Iran and the Islamic world. Considering the social and political circumstances of his time, he sought to redefine Islamic concepts in a way that addressed the needs of society. Serat (the path), a central metaphor in the intellectual framework of Muslim thinkers, also holds a pivotal role in Shariati’s thought. This research seeks to answer the core question: "What role does Serat play in the political language and thought of Ali Shariati?" This study endeavors to present a new formulation of his thought by employing the metaphor of Serat as the source domain and political thought as the target domain. Through an analysis of Shariati’s ideas, we conclude that he conceptualized various concepts, such as religion, movement and institution, intellectuals, Alavid Shiism and Safavid Shiism, and others, as manifestations of Serat. By utilizing these concepts, a comprehensive analytical framework and ten foundational pillars rooted in the Serat metaphor have been extracted from Shariati’s political thought. This research adopts a qualitative content analysis methodology, enabling a deep examination of texts, identification of thematic parallels, and systematic evaluation of key terms to arrive at a structured analysis of his ideas within the domain of Serat.

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Main Subjects

References

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Social Theories of Muslim Thinkers
Volume 16, Issue 1
March 2026
Pages 153-170

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History

  • Receive Date: 01 June 2025
  • Revise Date: 24 December 2025
  • Accept Date: 25 December 2025
  • Publish Date: 21 March 2026

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