A Study of the Political-Social Movements of the Clergy

A correct understanding of Iran’s political-social developments is among the urgent needs of the present generation, and its connection with religious associations of the society makes it doubly required. Since the clergy during the glorious Islamic Revolution were deemed as one of the specialized classes of the society in religious, scientific, political and social respects, the internal movements within this organization—which play a role in the fate of the social-political system of Iran—gives us a more correct understanding of various issues of the society and the sort of encounter with scientific, political and social events. It is not fully possible to know these intellectual movements accurately and tell their stories realistically, since there are no written sources about them to be described with; rather they are processes in reaction to a variety of developments and events. Of course, with some leniency, we can classify the intellectual movements of the clergy in the Islamic Seminaries of Iran from different viewpoints. This paper will examine these movements from five viewpoints; each with their own pluralities. It needs to be mentioned that because of the ambiguity of these viewpoints and for the sake of brevity, I have avoid mentioning names of people who were active in these movements, and I have restricted myself to the description of their intellectual principles and fundamental approaches.