Religion and Politics in Ayatollah Taleghani’s Modernist Thought
Subject Areas : علوم سیاسی
Seyed Mohammad
Ebrahimi Hosseini
1
(Ph.D. Candidate of Iran Issues, Department of Political Sciences, Mashhad branch, Islamic Azad University, Mashhad, Iran)
Ali Asghar
Davoodi
2
(Department of Political Science, Mashhad Branch, Islamic Azad University, Mashhad, Iran (Corresponding author))
Saeed
Gazrani
3
(Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science, Mashhad Branch, Islamic Azad University, Mashhad, Iran)
Keywords: religiosity, Politics, Religious Modernism, Ayatollah Taleghani, Shura,
Abstract :
Two religious modernism movements were formed in Iran since the Persian Constitutional Revolution. Centering on “Tawhid” (oneness) and “reason” and referring to the Quran, one movement focused on religious reform through confronting different forms of polytheism and stamping out superstitions attributed to Islam and Sharia. On the other hand, another movement was formed that came to be known as religious intellectualism and reform. It stepped in a tangible and realistic path, which the society and the young generation needed, and distanced itself from abstract, philosophical, and “Kalami” notions cut off from concrete actual challenges. Ayatollah Taleghani and Mehdi Bazargan were the prominent pioneering figures in this school of thought. Taleghani was a follower of Grand Ayatollah Sheikh Naini and put forward a new form of Quranic studies in his modernist religious thought. Moreover, he suggested new models for the common and accepted religious and political notions, among which “shura” [consultation] was the most important with its highlighted position in the political and governance system. This descriptive-analytical study aimed to examine the relation between religion and politics in Taleghani’s thought through library research. The results indicated that in his view, religion possesses components that should be studied through a new perspective and used to challenge politics, particularly governance.
