https://jstmt.ut.ac.ir/ Social Theories of Muslim Thinkers en daily 1 Thu, 29 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0330 Thu, 29 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0330 https://jstmt.ut.ac.ir/article_105742.html Saadi's Gulistan, which contains the highest number of Persian proverbs of any single work and served as a primary educational text in Iranian maktabkhaneh (traditional schools) for centuries, played a crucial role in shaping this ethic. This article, using a grounded theory method, examined Saadi's social ethics in his book Gulistan, arriving at the concept of "social service" as the ethical type. Saadi must be considered one of the greatest architects of an "ethics of service" in Persian literature. With rare skill, he presented mystical and ethical concepts in both prose and poetry, offering them to the general public in a simple and enduring manner.The mystical-ethical perspective on "serving the people" (khedmat-e khalq), evident in Saadi's works and the Islamic-Iranian mystical tradition, is not merely a spiritual teaching; it has had profound social and ethical impacts on the structure and dynamics of society. These impacts can be outlined in three main areas: strengthening social solidarity, reducing inequality and injustice, and shaping the collective spirit of society.Service to the people, which has played an important role in Iranian history, has been accompanied by diverse and multifaceted cultural and structural developments, with endowments (waqf), Sufi lodges (khanqah), and religious alms (khums and zakat) being prominent examples. In Saadi's thought, serving the people creates a solidarity among members of society that is distinct from the superficial and self-interested solidarities of the modern world. https://jstmt.ut.ac.ir/article_108353.html Science begins with a problem, and social sciences with a social problem; therefore, social scientists in Iran must answer—or at least reflect upon—this pivotal question: Have we succeeded in "problematizing" Iran—in the same way that social sciences in the West succeeded in problematizing their own societies? This may well be the "zero step" in the formation of indigenous social sciences within any given context. In this study, we attempt to address this fundamental question. It appears that the initial step in tackling this issue is to formulate and develop a theoretical typology of the ideas put forward by those who have sought to realize this objective . For this formulation, we require a clear and—as far as possible—solid foundation; we have sought to derive this basis from the definition of the problem itself: namely, the obstacles to transitioning from the current state to the desired state. While the description of the current state is characterized by endless multiplicity, the desired state for Iranian society—as viewed through existing theories—can be categorized into three groups: modernization, "Iranization," or Islamization. Naturally, the theories falling under each of these three categories differ in at least two respects: first, their definition of the desired state (e.g., modernity); and second, the path to achieving that goal. For this reason, we have outlined the various narratives within each of these three categories, though we reserve a detailed examination of each for a separate study. https://jstmt.ut.ac.ir/article_107826.html This research aimed to examine the civilized state in the view of Ayatollah Khamenei, and specifically the role of the Islamic Republic government in the formation and advancement of the modern Islamic civilization, and was conducted using a qualitative method. For this purpose, the statements of the leadership of the Islamic Republic were examined during the five-year period leading up to the issuance of the Second Step of the Revolution statement in 2018. The results of the research showed that the state in Ayatollah Khamenei’s view should have characteristics that enable it to move to the extent of a civilization and not a national territory, which include: independence and non-dependence, supporting the oppressed and confronting the arrogant, creating a role for the people, a civilized approach to politics, a civilized approach to the economy, paying attention to the general culture of the society, scientific progress, and emphasizing managerial efficiency. In other words, as long as these characteristics do not exist in a state, it cannot be expected to have an effective approach and performance at the civilized level. Also, in his view, the modern Islamic civilization has requirements and prerequisites that include following Islamic law, maintaining unity among Islamic countries, the comprehensiveness of the Islamic program, and paying attention to its internal capacities. This research showed that the Islamic Republic government can act as an effective civilizational state as a pioneer of the modern Islamic civilization, considering the possibilities addressed in the constitution, as well as its internal capacities and regional and international status, and by strengthening the aforementioned civilizational components. https://jstmt.ut.ac.ir/article_108226.html The issue of gender pluralism is one of the serious challenges facing most societies today, including our own. This article examines and analyzes two foundational approaches to defining the human being and explores the implications of these definitions for understanding sex and gender. It juxtaposes the concept of “rainbow fluidity,” derived from Judith Butler’s theoretical framework, with the spiritual trajectory rooted in Transcendent Philosophy (ḥikmat-e motaʿāliya). Based on this comparative analysis, the notion of the “Illuminative body” is articulated in contrast to Butler’s idea of the “rainbow body.” Butler's perspective, by rejecting any essence for human beings, sees humans as constantly changing and fluidity, in which both sex and gender are things without substance and this is the product of performance. This perspective allows for all forms of sexual and gender multiplicities, viewing any opposition or rejection of these identities as bodily suppression. In contrast, the Transcendent Philosophy approach emphasizes the existence of an essence and substance for human beings, considers the human body as a alert, living, and intelligent reality that moves toward perfection and Within this process, bodily changes are defined in relation to the essence and totality of one's being. However, it should be noted that these changes do not negate the boundaries of being female or male. Thus, multiplicities in gender and embodied behaviors are formed within a defined and rule-based framework. That is, acquired conceptual inventions and exist alongside existential realities and are not independent of them. Therefore, in this article, which employs a qualitative content analysis method, while the rainbow fluidity approach defines humans as moving freely and chaotically, the Illuminative Conduct approach defines human movement within a systematic framework aligned with existential truths. This relational framework prevents bodily suppression and the imposition of unbridled changes on the body. https://jstmt.ut.ac.ir/article_108408.html This study aims to conduct a comparative analysis of the relationship between religion and democracy in the political thought of Davood Feirahi and Mahdi Haeri Yazdi, seeking to uncover the epistemological and methodological roots of their divergent perspectives. It systematically examines their respective attitudes toward formulating alternative political models to the theory of the Absolute Guardianship of the Jurist (Wilayat al-Faqih), while critically evaluating and comparing their strategies for articulating a religious framework of democracy. Employing an analytical and comparative method, this research investigates their approaches to the nexus between jurisprudence (Fiqh) and governance, explores the status of democracy within their theoretical frameworks, and delineates the fundamental distinctions between their views. The primary finding indicates that the central divergence between Feirahi’s theory of “Democratic Jurisprudence” and Haeri’s theory of the “Proprietary Agency of the Commons” (Wikalah Malikan-i Musha) originates from their differing definitions of jurisprudence and its relation to political authority. The overall conclusion demonstrates that while Feirahi conceptualizes jurisprudence as a sociopolitical discourse capable of democratic reconstruction and views the state as an institution regulable by democratic jurisprudence, Haeri categorizes politics within practical philosophy (Hikmat-i Amali), defining legitimate government through contractual representation (Wikalah) rather than guardianship (Wilayah), with a central emphasis on intrinsic rationality and justice. https://jstmt.ut.ac.ir/article_106413.html This study aims to examine Sayyid Qutb’s theoretical and normative conceptions regarding the nature of Islamic existence, with particular emphasis on his seminal treatise Ma‘ālim fī al-Ṭarīq (Milestones / Signposts on the Road), thereby contributing to broader scholarly debates on modern Islamic political thought and civilizational renewal. The study employs a structured qualitative content analysis grounded in Mayring’s (2014) methodological framework. Inductive open coding was conducted to identify core concepts, primarily Tawḥīd, Jāhiliyyah, and Sharī‘ah, which were systematically categorized into thematic dimensions through axial coding. Thematic synthesis was subsequently utilized to integrate individual ethical reform with socio-political reconstruction, ensuring methodological rigor, conceptual coherence, and interpretive transparency. The findings reveal that Qutb conceptualizes Islamic existence as an integrated onto-social system synthesizing doctrinal faith (‘aqīdah) with sociopolitical praxis. Central to his framework is the cultivation of a dedicated vanguard (al-ṭalī‘ah) tasked with initiating societal transformation through normative adherence to the Sharī‘ah. Rather than merely reactionary militancy, Qutb constructs Islamic existence as an all-encompassing civilizational project wherein personal morality, social institutions, and governance are harmonized under divine sovereignty (Ḥākimiyyah). Signposts on the Road functions simultaneously as a theoretical manifesto and a praxis-oriented blueprint, articulating a systematic paradigm for institutionalizing Islamic principles across personal and public domains. Qutb’s discourse offers critical insights for contemporary inquiries into Islamic governance, moral order, and civilizational revival, demonstrating how transcendental commitments are translated into concrete structural realities. https://jstmt.ut.ac.ir/article_108399.html Abdollah Javadi Amoli holds a prominent position in contemporary Islamic thought, having produced extensive and multifaceted works across theology and political philosophy. This study examines the relationship between Islam and political participation within his intellectual framework. Utilizing Quentin Skinner’s intentionalist-contextualist hermeneutic method, this paper posits that Javadi Amoli, situated within both traditional Islamic jurisprudence and the discourse of modern political philosophy, theorizes popular political participation as dynamic, extensive, and normative, anchored in ontological covenants and sociopolitical contracts. Critiquing strictly secular paradigms, he posits that participation extends beyond mere power struggles and partisan competition, being inherently guided by collective rationality, dynamic ijtihad, and ethical imperatives. The findings reveal that Javadi Amoli delineates two distinct yet complementary spheres: the divine domain (Amr-Allah) and public affairs (Amr al-Nas), wherein the latter affords exhaustive popular agency and systemic oversight (al-Amr bi-l-Ma‘ruf wa al-Nahy ‘an al-Munkar). Furthermore, while popular consent is indispensable for the operationalization and sustained legitimacy of religious governance, categorically precluding authoritarian coercion, rational and faith-based engagement serves as a benchmark for good governance. This participation legitimately operates across non-prescriptive socio-political domains, areas of religious permissibility (mubahat), and administrative decision-making, thereby conceptualizing political participation as an integral pillar of governance rather than a secondary formality. https://jstmt.ut.ac.ir/article_108521.html The inquiry into the fundamental drivers of societal progress and stagnation has long occupied a central position in social and economic thought. In contemporary literature, New Institutionalists such as Douglass North and Daron Acemoglu have sought to explain the divergent trajectories of societies by elucidating institutional mechanisms and demonstrating the correlation between the quality of political and economic institutions and developmental outcomes. Conversely, Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr advances a distinct framework of social transformation through a historical and analytical methodology centered on the pursuit of justice, public participation, and communal leadership. Employing an exploratory and comparative-analytical approach based on primary textual sources, this study critically examines these two paradigms. The findings reveal that al-Sadr, unlike New Institutionalists, conceptualizes institutions as inherently ideological and value-laden. He contends that institutional effectiveness and legitimacy cannot be objectively evaluated in isolation from a comprehensive ideological worldview and the fundamental criterion of justice. While New Institutionalism implicitly presupposes liberal capitalism as an indispensable prerequisite for development, al-Sadr posits that the normative evaluation of social systems based on justice must logically precede the appraisal of individual institutional arrangements. Furthermore, al-Sadr identifies the primary catalyst for societal transformation not merely in elite management, social pressures, or critical junctures, but fundamentally in inner human transformation and the ideological alignment of the community (Ummah). Within this framework, in contemporary Iran, the institution of Wilayat al-Faqih (Guardianship of the Jurist), the jurisprudence-based constitution, and the sociopolitical structure fostering public alignment with the Islamic system provide the institutional foundation for developmental progress. This structural alignment has enabled the country to overcome the historical cycle of dependency and underdevelopment, charting a distinct trajectory from secular models. Ultimately, al-Sadr’s justice-oriented theory presents a robust normative critique of secular functionalist institutionalism, offering a viable alternative developmental model for Islamic societies. https://jstmt.ut.ac.ir/article_108523.html This research aims to bridge a critical gap in the literature by developing a grounded theory regarding the social agency of women within the intellectual framework of Ayatollah Khamenei. Employing a systematic Grounded Theory approach through the processes of open, axial, and selective coding, the study analyzes all public statements and pronouncements by the Supreme Leader concerning women from 1989 to 2025 (1368–1404 SH). The findings are synthesized into a paradigmatic model in which the central phenomenon is identified as the ‘Identity- and Family-Centric Social Agency of the Muslim Woman.’ This phenomenon is shaped by various causal conditions, including religious and revolutionary obligations, national developmental imperatives, and the mandate for identity-building, all of which are situated within the context of the Islamic value system and revolutionary discourse. Furthermore, the model accounts for intervening factors such as the influence of dominant Western feminist discourses, societal misinterpretations, and inconsistent executive policies. Key strategies identified in response to these dynamics include the protection of religious identity, intelligent management of multiple roles, engagement in spheres aligned with innate nature and societal needs, collective revolutionary agency, and ideological resistance. These strategies yield multidimensional outcomes at the individual, familial, social, and civilizational levels. Ultimately, this research demonstrates that Ayatollah Khamenei’s perspective constitutes a coherent and pragmatic ideological system that is capable of offering a robust alternative civilizational model beyond mere description. https://jstmt.ut.ac.ir/article_108522.html Analyzing the social thought of Muslim thinkers is pivotal to identifying the indigenous potentials of Islamic social sciences. In this context, Mirza Mohammad Hasan Shirazi stands out as one of the most influential jurists (fuqahā) and religious authorities (marājiʿ) of the modern era, whose socio-political initiatives offer fertile ground for reconstructing an authentic social theory. This study aims to delineate and reconstruct the dimensions of Mirza Shirazi’s social thought by drawing on his lived historical experience, specifically through two pivotal milestones: his migration to Samarra and the issuance of the Tobacco Boycott Fatwa. Employing a foundational-interpretive methodology, the research identifies and systematizes the epistemic and non-epistemic factors shaping his thought. The findings reveal that Shirazi’s social thought is rooted in epistemic pillars such as the Uṣūlī-Ijtihādī tradition and a conception of religious authority as the institutional continuation of the Infallibles’ mission. Concurrently, this thought crystallized through dynamic engagement with the non-epistemic realities of his era, notably institutional stagnation within the hawza, sectarian fragmentation, and colonial encroachment. Ultimately, his social thought unfolds across three core dimensions: institutional reform of the seminary, fostering social unity among Muslims, and resisting colonial hegemony. Together, these elements form a coherent framework aimed at safeguarding the identity of the Islamic Ummah and revitalizing its socio-civilizational agency in the face of modern challenges. https://jstmt.ut.ac.ir/article_108524.html The Islamic Revolution of Iran was one of the most significant political and social developments of the twentieth century. It emerged in the context of the political, cultural, and moral crises that characterized the Pahlavi era. This study examines the causes of the Islamic Revolution from the perspective of Mohammad Taqi Misbah Yazdi, using Thomas Spragens’ crisis theory as its analytical framework. It employs qualitative documentary analysis and draws on primary sources, including Misbah Yazdi’s written works and public speeches. The analysis applies the four stages of Spragens’ crisis theory, namely, diagnosing the crisis, analyzing its causes, envisioning an ideal society, and proposing solutions, to examine the structure of Misbah Yazdi’s political thought. The findings show that Misbah Yazdi regarded the rule of the Pahlavi regime as the fundamental crisis facing Iranian society. He attributed this crisis to political authoritarianism, anti religious policies, cultural corruption, and the spread of secular and non Islamic ideologies. From his perspective, the Islamic Revolution constituted a comprehensive response to these crises and an attempt to reconstruct society on the basis of Islamic values and teachings. He envisioned the ideal society as one established through religious government, the implementation of Islamic laws, and the cultivation of individuals committed to monotheistic principles. Key elements of his political thought, including the absolute guardianship of the Islamic jurist, known as Wilayat al Faqih, opposition to secularism, criticism of Marxism, and rejection of religious pluralism, were largely formulated in opposition to competing intellectual currents. The study concludes that, despite certain initial limitations, Spragens’ methodology provides a useful framework for the systematic analysis of contemporary Islamic thought. It also demonstrates how this framework can clarify the relationship between historical crises and the political and social solutions proposed by intellectual figures. https://jstmt.ut.ac.ir/article_107628.html Futuwwa guilds represents one of the oldest ethical, social, and economic systems in Iranian history. It has attracted scholarly attention since the earliest academic attempts to understand pre-modern Iranian culture. In particular, the existence of written futuwwat-namas (manuals of chivalry) from various historical periods, along with the interest of European orientalists in exploring futuwwa and its guild-based manifestations, have contributed to this scholarly focus. Despite the expansion of literary studies involving the collection and critical editing of futuwwat-namas, and the inclination of social sciences to examine guild futuwwa as a form of socio-economic institutional and a culturally-developmental indigenous capacity, existing research appears to overlook the cultural-historical narrative of how this phenomenon emerged. Thus, this article attempts to investigate the history of the origin and the formation of Futuwwa guilds, focusing on how futuwwa, initially a personal and ethical agenda of conduct, gradually transformed into a socio-economic institution. The article uses an Inductive-analytical method and library-based sources, and concludes that the jurisprudential approach (as a realistic, individual, and microscopic encounter) intended to teach business and transactional rulings to market practitioners, fundamentally differs from the Sufi-futuwwa approach (as a mytho-theological, macroscopic encounter) which sought to imbue professional and occupational identities with spiritual meaning. https://jstmt.ut.ac.ir/article_107657.html Mirza Ṣādeq Mujtahid Tabrizi was one of the prominent Shiʿi jurists of the Constitutional period in Iran who initially supported the Constitutional Movement but gradually distanced himself from it after the establishment of the constitutional system and the clarification of its aims and trajectory. He subsequently articulated a set of critical views against constitutionalism. His ideas, grounded in Shiʿi political theory, primarily focus on analyzing the incompatibility between constitutionalism and the Sharia. Drawing on the approach of the history of political thought, this study seeks to address the following question: from Mirza Ṣādeq Mujtahid’s perspective, what are the main components and constitutive elements of constitutionalism, and how do its core concepts—such as the constitution, elections, freedom, and justice—relate to the teachings of the Sharia?. The findings of the study indicate that Mirza Ṣādeq Mujtahid, relying on the fundamental categories of Shiʿi political theory, regarded the essential elements of the constitutional political system—including legislation, the holding of elections, the establishment of a parliament, and the recognition of freedom and justice—as standing in direct opposition to the Sharia’s principles for governing society. In his view, the Sharia has a divine origin, whereas constitutionalism has a satanic origin, and the two are therefore inherently incompatible and can never be reconciled.