A Quranic Analysis of the Foundations of Civilization in the Declaration of the Second Step with Emphasis on the Critique of Will Durant’s Viewpoint

This study examines and analyzes the foundations and principles of civilization in the declaration of the second step, which is rooted in the Quran and Hadith. The most important foundations of the declaration are science and research, spirituality and ethics, economics, justice and the fight against corruption, freedom and independence, foreign policy and lifestyle. Will Durant deals with the theoretical issues of civilization in a part of his book on the history of civilization. He has discussed economics, ethics, science, art and politics as the foundations of civilization. The subject of this research is the study of the foundations of civilization in Imam Khamenei’s thought and the analysis of the foundations of civilization in Will Durant’s thought. This research uses analytical-descriptive and critical methods while examining each of the above foundations and presenting the Quranic point of view, also analyzes and criticizes Will Durant’s point of view. The results of the research indicate that according to Imam Khamenei, the view of modern Islamic civilization should be linked to religion and Islam, contrary to Will Durant, who does not believe in a place for religion in civilization. The main axis of civilization is the Quran, which is a system-building, community-building and humanizing book; contrary to Durant’s view that the main axis is influenced by economics and other principles of civilization. Also, knowledge, ethics and politics have no place in existing civilizations as instances, but the new Islamic civilization moves based on standard science, standard ethics, government and standard politics.