SPECIAL REPORT

ISLAM/MOVEMENT

The continuing relevance of the

thought of Ali Shariati
Dr Ali Shariati, who died in London in June 1977,
was among the most important figures of the
Islamic Revolution in Iran, which unfortunately he
did not live to see; and yet, 30 years after his
death, his contribution and legacy are largely forgotten. During the 1970s, his lectures and writings played a crucial role in preparing young
Iranians, brought up during the secularising and
Westoxicated policies of the Shahs regime, for
the possibility of Islamic rule.
In this paper, Iqbal Siddiqui analyses major
elements of his thought, particularly his belief that
Muslims need what Dr Kalim Siddiqui would later
call an intellectual revolution in their understanding of Islam.
Ali Shariati died at only 44 years of age, in controversial circumstances in London on June 19, 1977, three weeks after
leaving Iran for exile. It is widely assumed that he was assassinated by SAVAK, although British authorities ruled that he
had died of natural causes. This early death may explain why
much of his work has a sense of being part of a work in
progress the work in question being Shariatis own intellectual development. His ideas clearly evolved over time, and
he was reportedly prone to thinking out aloud and developing
his ideas as he went. Unfortunately for those trying to analyse
his thinking, he never produced a major single work rounding
up the completed form of his ideas in even one of the many
areas in which he worked.
What we have instead are materials ranging from polemical pamphlets to the transcriptions of lectures, many of them
published without his knowledge and edited in ways that we
can only guess. Many of these were first published in underground, samizdat form, which process hardly lends itself to
the application of rigorous production values. The precise
dating of many works even in the authoritative 35-volume
collection of his works published after his death is often
unclear. These problems are compounded by two further considerations. Firstly, relatively few translations of Shariatis
works are available for non-Farsi-speaking Muslims, and the
quality of the translations is often uncertain at best.
Secondly, Shariatis work has become a highly politicised
issue in post-Revolutionary Iran because his writings have
been claimed and exploited by supporters of particular political positions, including opponents of the Islamic Revolution;
this, combined with the difficult relationship he sometimes
had with the Islamic establishment in Iran, has led to Shariati
and his legacy being viewed with unjustified suspicion by
some in the Islamic movement.
26

Courtesy www.irna.com

Nonetheless, Shariatis historical importance should not

be forgotten, and many of his ideas remain highly relevant
today. This analysis of his ideas is based primarily on four of
his works. The first is Man and Islam, a lecture reportedly
delivered at the Petroleum College of Abadan, although no
date is available.1 The second is Approaches to the
Understanding of Islam, which is a complete translation of
Ravish-i Shinakhti-i Islam, comprising two lectures given at
Husayniya-yi Irshad in Aban 1347/October 1968.2 The third
is Where Shall We Begin?, which is a lecture delivered at the
Technical University of Tehran in November 1971.3 The
fourth is What is to be Done?; this is a long lecture originally
given at the Hussainiyyah Irshad and published in English in
two parts, along with the lecture Where Shall We Begin?
However, the translation gives no date for the original lecture,
citing only Shariatis collected works.4
This selection of Shariatis works is intended to cover
1. Ali Shariati, Man and Islam in On the Sociology of Islam: Lectures by Ali Shariati,
translated from the Persian by Hamid Algar. Pub: Mizan Press, Berkeley, CA, 1979, pp.
70-81. (Another translation of this lecture appears in Man and Islam, a collection of
Shariati's writings translated by Fatollah Marjani (Filinc Publications, Houston, TX,
1981.) There is no substantial difference in meaning between the two translations.)
2. Ali Shariati, Approaches to the Understanding of Islam in On the Sociology of
Islam: Lectures by Ali Shariati, op. cit., pp. 39-69.
3. Ali Shariati, Where Shall We Begin? in What is to be Done? - The Enlightened
Thinkers and an Islamic Renaissance, edited and annotated by Farhang Rajaee. Pub:
The Institute for Research and Islamic Studies, Houston, TX, 1986, pp. 1-28.
4. Ali Shariati, What is to be Done? in What is to be Done? - The Enlightened Thinkers
and an Islamic Renaissance, op. cit., pp 29-70 and 103-160.
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September 2007

ISLAM/MOVEMENT
both major elements of Shariatis thought, the religious and
the social/political. Shariatis work is an example of the
irrelevance of this perceived distinction to Islam. Shariatis
understanding of religious issues such as the nature of
God, the origin of man, and mans relationship with God
reflect his broader concerns, being part of a greater body of
ideas which he attempted to present as a single, integrated
worldview. In Man and Islam, for example, Shariati is concerned not only with the Islamic view of the creation of man,
but with its implications for mans collective nature and role
in the world. His understanding of the process of creation is
basically orthodox in Islamic terms; it is his interpretation of
it, and the conclusions he draws, which are telling. While
many religious scholars stress Gods omnipotence and benevolence to man, and mans debt and subservience to Him,
Shariati emphasises the status and honour God grants man
and the qualities He gives him:
First God addresses the angels saying, I wish to create a
vicegerent for Myself upon earth. See how great is the
value of man according to Islam! Even the post-Renaissance
humanism of Europe has never been able to conceive of such
exalted sanctity for man.5

Central to Shariatis understanding is that man is bi-dimensional:

One dimension inclines to mud and lowliness, to stagnation
and immobility... But the other dimension, that of the divine
Spirit, as it is called in the Quran, aspires to ascend and
mount up to the highest summit conceivable to God and
the spirit of God.6

Shariati emphasises that all creation is part of a single

realm under God, which elsewhere he links to the Islamic
concept of tawheed (one-ness). The great and unique gift
God has given man is the freedom of choice. So far, so routine; but the conclusions Shariati draws are important, particularly the contrast he draws between stagnation and assertive
action, rather than the more orthodox pious and impious. And
what is the nature and object of this action?
From the point of view of Islam, man is the only being
responsible not only for his own destiny but also for the fulfilment of a divinely entrusted mission in this world; he is
the bearer of Gods Trust in the world and in nature.7

This action, then, is the pursuit of a Divine mission; and

what is this mission? For that, Shariati turns to the Quran,
and the Seerah of the Prophet (saw). And in them he finds
that, in contrast to the traditional understanding of Mans purpose as being to worship God, and to perfect his piety, in fact
Islam is a religion which will also be two-dimensional and
exert its force in the two different and opposing directions
that exist in mans spirit and human society.8 Thus:
As for the book of Islam, the Quran, it is a book that like the
Torah contains social, political and military provisions, even
5.
6.
7.
8.

Ali Shariati, Man and Islam, op. cit., p. 73.

Ibid., p. 74.
Ibid., p. 79.
Ibid., p. 80.

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September 2007

instructions for the conduct of warfare, the taking and setting

free of prisoners; that is interested in life, in building, in
prosperity, in struggling against enemies and negative elements; but it also a book that concerns itself with the refinement of the soul, the piety of the spirit, and the ethical
improvement of the individual.
The Prophet of Islam also possesses two contrasting
aspects, aspects which would be contradictory in other men,
but in him have been joined in a single spirit. For he was a
man constantly engaged in
political struggle against his
enemies and the disruptive
Unfortunately
forces in society, concerned
with building a new society
Shariatis writings
and a new civilisation in this
have been claimed
world; and also a guide leadby opponents of the ing men to a particular goal;
that is a man of prayer, piety
Islamic Revolution, and devotion.9

which has led to

Shariati and his
legacy being viewed
with unjustified suspicion by some in
the Islamic movement...

Thus does Shariati reach

a
conclusion
which
(although not without precedent) was radical in the context of Iran at the time he
was lecturing, and of the
understanding of Islam that
predominated there: that
Islam is a religion not simply of piety and scholarship,
but also of action and social
progress. Traditional Shii
scholars were politically quiescent, although some were
beginning to take a more assertive attitude; and Irans modern-educated youth were increasingly alienated from Islam as
taught in traditional institutions, regarding it as offering no
solutions to their modern concerns. Shariati tried to bridge
this chasm by presenting Islam as a total system which
included the essential elements of both religiosity and of
socio-political activism. In the process he opened himself
open to misunderstanding and criticism from many quarters.
For the traditional ulama, Shariati appeared guilty of
questioning their long-established interpretations of Islam. It
did not help that Shariati was prone to basic errors in his presentation of Islamic history and doctrine; but even without
handing the ulama that ammunition, Shariati would have
been attacked for criticising the scholars restrictive interpretations of Islam and political quiescence. At the same time,
some ulama were more balanced in their responses. Imam
Khomeini, for example who himself criticised some of his
fellow ulama on similar grounds found nothing objectionable in his writings and appreciated his contribution to the
Iranian Islamic movement.10 At the same time, Shariati was

9. Ibid., p. 80.
10. Imam Khomeini and Shariati never met or corresponded. There is no record of
Shariatis view of the Imam. Asked about Shariati after the Revolution, the Imam is
reported to have praised him, his writings and their contribution to the Revolution.
27

ISLAM/MOVEMENT
attacked by other non-traditional intellectuals in Iran for his
appeal to Irans Islamic traditions, which many in particular those influenced by Marxist ideas regarded as part of
Irans problems, rather than their solution. A similar division
can be found among academics who have discussed Shariatis
works. Those who attempt to approach him as a religious
intellectual have criticised him for theological innovation,
as though theology cannot be a work in progress and interpretations that differ from traditional wisdom must automatically be invalid. At the same time social scientists approaching
his ideas have had trouble accepting the fact that, for a believer, there is ultimately a position beyond which certain propositions must be accepted a priori.
By far the greater part of Shariatis work concerns the
social and political action which he believes to be an essential
and integral part of Islam. The other three works under discussion all focus on this element. Two of them, Approaches
to the Study of Islam and Where Shall We Begin?, examine the
state of Muslims present existence, the state of their understanding of Islam, and why Islam as it is presently understood
does not address the issues confronting modern societies.
This is perhaps the core of Shariatis thought. The third
paper, What is to be done?, elaborates some of the answers to
these questions, proposing programmes of intellectual work.
Nowhere, however, does Shariati address the explicitly political questions that seem to emerge naturally from the social
issues he raises. This is usually attributed to the circumstances in which he wrote, in Iran under the extremely repressive regime of Reza Shah Pahlavi. Shariati had served his first
term in jail upon his return from Paris in 1965, for his political activities there, and so knew the risk he was taking in raising political issues; indeed, lectures such as these were to
cause the Hussainiyyah Irshad, where he lectured, to be
closed down in 1973, and himself to be jailed again in 1975.
Having said that, these writings do not give the impression of
disguising a more directly political programme, and there is
evidence that he deliberately withdrew from the political
implications that certain of his supporters drew from his work
in the early 1970s, when he refused to endorse, even implicitly, the activities of the Marxist fedayeen, who were supported by many who attended his lectures.
The reason for this may be found at the beginning of
Approaches to the Understanding of Islam. Here Shariati
explains his emphasis on intellectual work at a time when others were disparaging that in favour of action; he argues that
Iranians complain about the problems besetting their society
without understanding their causes, and that such an understanding, and planning on its basis, are required before any
effective action can be undertaken. Shariati is equally clear
on what the basis of these discussions must be, and where the
solutions must be found: We are a religious society; the basis
of our work must be religious; but we do not know our religion...11
11. Ali Shariati, Approaches to the Understanding of Islam, op. cit., p. 41.
28

Again, Shariati briefly reminds his listeners of the true,

dynamic, bi-dimensional nature of Islam, concluding:
The duty of todays intellectual is to recognise and know
Islam as a school of thought that gives life to man, individual and society, and that is entrusted with the mission of the
future guidance of mankind...12

This seems to have been

the main object of Shariatis
work; if Shariati did not forThe duty of
mulate a political programme
todays intellectual of any kind, and refused to
is to recognise and give his support to any existing programme, it may have
know Islam as a
been not only out of caution,
but also because he did not
school of thought
consider that the necessary
that gives life to
understanding had been
man, individual
achieved. It may well be that
this is an area which he would
and society, and
have addressed had he lived
that is entrusted
longer; although in that case
with the mission of his ideas would have been
by the Islamic
the future guidance overtaken
Revolution, and one can only
of mankind...
speculate about how he might
have responded to that.
In other writings, Shariati
appears to have approached the question of the intellectual
work required in different ways, which may reflect differences in the audiences he addresses (virtually all Shariatis
works are transcriptions of lectures) or a maturation of his
thought over time, or both. However, a number of themes can
be found running through them all. Among them are two
main ones: first, a need to understand and counter the impact
that Western colonialism had on both Iranian society and the
minds of Iranians, both intellectuals and generally; and second, the need to achieve a better understanding of Islam, of
why Muslims have failed to fulfil their historic mission, and
what is required for this to change.
In his understanding of the West, Shariati may be considered to be following the lead offered by Jalal Al-e Ahmed in
his famous polemic Gharbzadgi (Occidentosis or
Westoxification), published in the mid-sixties.13 In Where
Shall We Begin?, for example, Shariati discusses and criticises the impact of Western ideas of sexual freedom and the supposed emancipation of women, and also the idea that eastern
languages need to be modernised by the adoption of Western
scripts, as has been done to Turkish.13 But a concern with the
impact on the minds of young Muslims of the pervasive influence of Western ideas, and the distance being created from
12. Ibid., p. 41-12.
13. Jalal Al-e Ahmad, Occidentosis: A Plague from the West, Translated by R. Campbell,
Edited by Hamid Algar (Berkeley, CA: Mizan Press, 1984).
14. Ali Shariati, Where Shall We Begin?, op. cit., p. 12.
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ISLAM/MOVEMENT
Islam, runs through much of his work. In Approaches to the
Study of Islam, for example, he offers brief critiques of the
understandings of the processes of social change in various
Western systems of thought, before putting forward his own
Islamic understanding.15 His last major work, Marxism and
Other Western Fallacies, written during his final imprisonment, addressed these issues in far more detail.16 Abdulaziz
Sachedina, an Iranian academic who knew Shariati in the
1970s, recalls him complaining that Iranian youth were so
shallow and so enamoured of Western ideas that they only
accepted the validity and value of their own spiritual legacy
if it was recounted on the authority of a Western scholar or
with reference to a Western school of thought.17
Shariatis greatest concern, however, was to persuade
Iranian Muslims of the value of looking to their own Islamic
heritage, rather than importing foreign ideas that were both
vehicles for foreign control and unworkable in the Iranian
environment. This involved two elements: first, seeking an
understanding of Islam which was relevant in the modern
world; and second, explaining why this was so different from
the traditional version being promoted by established ulama.
Shariatis understanding of Islam undoubtedly evolved over
time. We have seen how he presented Islam as a religion of
action and social justice in Man and Islam. In Approaches to
the Understanding of Islam, having emphasised the need for
analysis and understanding of society, and then critiqued
Western understandings of the processes of social change, he
then comes to discuss Islam itself. He now argues, on the
basis of his reading of the Quran and Islamic history, particularly the history of the Prophet Muhammad (saw) and the
Ahl al-Bayt (the Prophets family) that in Islam the basic
motor of social change are al-nas, i.e. the people:
It is for this reason that we see throughout the Quran
address being made to al-nas, i.e. the people. The Prophet
is sent to al-nas; he addresses himself to al-nas; it is al-nas
who are accountable for their deeds; al-nas are the basic factor in decline in short, the whole responsibility for society and history is borne by al-nas...18

The task for which the people -- i.e. humanity as a

whole -- are responsible is the application of the principles
and guidelines that Allah has offered to mankind to the ordering of society in this world. This requires, Shariati tells us,
the dynamic study and understanding of Islam by a particular
kind of intellectual in order to respond to challenges of
human progress. Man has been given the gifts of knowledge
and freedom of will to decide how to use these gifts, but the
best option is in line with the guidance offered by Allah.18
15. Ali Shariati, Approaches to the Understanding of Islam, op. cit., pp. 43-47.
16. Shariati, Marxism and Other Western Fallacies: An Islamic Critique, translated by
R. Campbell, edited by Hamid Algar. Pub: Mizan Press, Berkeley, CA, 1980.
17. Abdulaziz Sachedina,Ali Shariati: Ideologue of the Iranian Revolution', in John
Esposito (ed), Voices of Resurgent Islam, Oxford University Press, New York, 1983, p.
197.
18. Ali Shariati, Approaches to the Understanding of Islam, op. cit., pp. 48-49.
19. Ibid., pp. 50-51.
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September 2007

This includes a methodology, expounded in the Quran and

demonstrated by the Prophets and other great figures of
Islam. The key need at this time, therefore, is the study of
Islams history:
The choice of correct method is the first matter to be considered in all the different branches of knowledge literary,
social, artistic and psychological. The first task of any
researcher must therefore be the choice of the best method of
research and investigation... We must make full use of the
experiences of history, and we must consider ourselves
obliged, as the followers of a
great religion, to learn and
know Islam correctly and
far Shariatis
methodically.20

By
greatest concern,
however, was to
persuade Iranian
Muslims of the
value of looking to
their own Islamic
heritage, rather
than importing foreign ideas which
were both vehicles
for foreign control,
and unworkable in
the Iranian environment.

It was when Shariati began

on this enterprise that he found
himself getting into trouble.
Inevitably he had to face up to
the reality that unfortunately
the study of the Quran and the
study of Islamic history are
very weak, as they presently
exist in our corpus of Islamic
studies.21 He also had to
attribute the present plight of
Iranians to a failure of traditional Islamic leaders, who had
evidently failed to live up to
the standards of Islamic scholarship and leadership required.
To explain this Shariati developed the understanding of
Alawi Shiism and Safavid
Shiism Alawi Shiism
being the ideal example of
dynamic Islam represented by Imam Ali (ra), and Safavid
Shiism being the stagnant version that emerged once the
ulama of Iran had accepted patronage from the Safavid
monarchy in the sixteenth century.22 There are strong parallels here with the Sunni understanding that the quality of
Islamic leadership suffered when the khilafah was converted
to monarchy by the Umayyads. But it was new in Shii
thought, and was bound to attract the anger of many in Irans
Shii religious establishment.
Shariati argued instead that Muslims need a new kind of
leadership, embodying the dynamic, open-minded, selfless
and visionary qualities of Alawi Islam. He characterised
these leaders as roshan-fekr, usually translated as enlightened, although the instinctive association with the European
enlightenment must be resisted. In Where Shall We Begin?,

20. Ibid., p. 60.

21. Ibid., p. 63.
21. Sachedina, op cit., p. 207. Shariati published a series of lectures specifically on
Alawi and Safavid Shiism, which unfortunately are not available in English (cited in
Shariati, What is to be Done?, op. cit., p. 69, fn. 22).
29

ISLAM/MOVEMENT
Shariati writes:
What is an enlightened soul? In a nutshell, the enlightened
soul is a person who is self-conscious of his human condition in his time and historical and social setting, and whose
awareness inevitably and necessarily gives him a sense of
social responsibility. And if he happens to be educated, he
may be more effective and if not perhaps less so. But this is
not a general rule...23

Many of Shariatis writings discuss this idea, and call for

young Iranians to aspire to these qualities. As examples, he
constantly refers back to
Islamic history and great figures of the past. This is an
What is an
area in which his ideas
enlightened soul?
appear to have evolved conIn a nutshell [...] a
siderably over time.
In
Approaches to the Study of
person who is selfIslam, he gives a simple list
conscious of his
of the areas of study in which
traditional Islamic studies
human condition
have been deficient.
In
in his time and hisWhere Shall We Begin?, he
torical and social
talks of an Islamic reformation and an Islamic protessetting, and whose
tantism, which appear to be
awareness
explicitly related to EuroChristian precedent. In the
inevitably and necpaper What is to be Done?,
essarily gives him a
he presents his vision of a
sense of social
programme of research for
Hussainiyyah Irshad that
responsibility...
appears to be the closest
thing he produces to a programme of action. Notably, however, despite his criticisms of
the Shii establishment, accusations that he is anti-clerical
appear to be inaccurate, given his emphasis on knowledge of
Islam. Rather his drive seems to be to create a new kind of
ulama, with a better understanding of Islam than their predecessors, who are capable of taking on the responsibilities that
their predecessors failed to carry out.
This is another area in which we may draw parallels with
the ideas of Imam Khomeini. The emergence of a new class
of intellectually and political aware and responsible ulama to
positions of leadership in Iran was one of the achievements of
the Islamic Revolution, even if it has not proceeded as
smoothly as some might like. Ironically, perhaps, one reason
for this has been the continuing presence of ulama who have
failed to rise above the ossified attitudes condemned by
Shariati, and who have benefited from the success of the
Revolution, and even taken it as confirmation and legitimisation of their traditional positions. Debate between different
understandings of the role of ulama continues in Iran to this
23. Ali Shariati, Where Shall we Begin?, op. cit., p. 4.
30

day, complicated both by the broader contexts of the Iranian

political situation and the traditions of the Shii Islamic establishment against which they take place. The fact that
Shariatis writings and ideas have been largely removed from
this debate because of their appropriation by opponents of the
Revolution is a major loss to the Islamic movement.
Shariati was an intellectual first and foremost, whose
thought was ultimately directed to a regeneration and rebirth
of Islam and Muslim society. Few of his ideas were totally
original; many have precursors in other Muslim thinkers,
many of them Sunni, such as the Punjabi poet-philosopher
Muhammad Iqbal, whose work was well-known and influential in Iran. Many were also strongly influenced by his studies of Western philosophies and ideologies, although critics
overstate the matter when they suggest that Shariati basically
took a mishmash of Marxist and other ideas and gave them an
Islamic veneer. There can be little doubt, given Shariatis
background in a traditional Islamic environment and the
strength of emphasis on Islam in his writings, that he was first
and foremost a Muslim concerned, like so many of his contemporaries all over the Muslim world, to address the sorry
plight that Muslim societies found themselves in, and to seek
solutions in Islam. Shariatis great contribution was to
express these ideas in a Shii environment; he will always be
remembered because of the Islamic Revolution which came
so soon after his premature death, and which many believe
was only possible and successful because of the commitment
to Islam as a dynamic force for change that his ideas had
engendered among a generation and a class of young Iranians
who would otherwise have become even more alienated from
Islam than they had already become before Shariatis work.

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