A COMPARATIVE INTRODUCTION TO THE NATURE OF UTOPIA IN THE THOUGHT OF FARABI AND NASIR AL-DIN TOUSI

Utopia is the society that man has always sought to establish; an ideal، hoped-for society that any human would desire and long for; a place where all people live together happily، in health، and free from paucity or ignorance. The idealism in seeking the establishment of the utopian، ideal government that corresponds such idealistic prospects has ceaselessly occupied thinkers’ minds. Muslim thinkers of the Islamic philosophy have made great attempts to bring about Utopia. Farabi and Nasir al-Din Tusi are among the thinkers that theorized Utopia and paved the way for major developments either in philosophy، legislation، and theory، or in practical and governmental areas. Farabi mainly rests on philosophy and brings philosophical and theoretical discussions in his sketches of Utopia. Nasir al-Din، on the other hand، depicts a Utopia with practical، legislative features; in his theory of Utopia، he has developed a Shiite theory of Imamat through some philosophical-theological debates. The present study discusses that، despite the commonality that stems from the dissemination of Farabi’s model of Utopia to that of Tusi، the two thinkers remain distinct; one in his philosophical and theoretical approach and the other in his practical، legislative thinking.