نشریه نظریه های اجتماعی متفکران مسلمان
سال سیزدهم شماره 4 (پیاپی 31، زمستان 1402)

As one of the main foci of the development of the modern western world, the city has attracted the attention of western thinkers such as Max Weber, Karl Marx and Georg Simmel. On the other hand, in the Islamic-Iranian tradition, there has been an understanding of the city under Madinah which has caused the theological reflections on the city to become a wide field when Muslims face the Western world. The purpose of this article is to use the comparative-historical study method to show the pattern of Muslim scholars such as Abu Nasr al-Farabi in the confrontation with the Greek Polis and use it in today's confrontation with modern city ideas. For this purpose, we have firstly examined Farabi's critical encounter with the Greek Polis and secondly compared Farabi's idea with Georg Simmel's view. With a critical description, Georg Simmel describes the characteristics of modern city culture and life and explains its components such as the centrality of monetary economy, increasing individuality and alienation, and the like. In the conclusion, according to the insights of this comparative study, other researchable topics in this field have been pointed out regarding the situation of Islamic-Iranian cities in the face of modern cities.

The purpose of this article is to investigate the role and influence of wisdom, thinking-centeredness, and rationality in the design of utopia according to Farabi's theory as one of the main underlying factors in designing utopia (in moral dimensions). In addition, the character of the influence of rationalism on the ethics of societies, which has been investigated in Farabi’s moral legacy, is analyzed. The article uses an analytical-rational methodology that employs various conceptual, propositional, and system analyses. Farabi has described society as a structure or system and an ordered set, and his discussions refer to a collective order comparable to that of the cosmos. Accordingly, to create a more ideal society, some thinkers have argued that reason and logic are the most important factors, not only for individuals and their moral values, but for the entire system as a whole. This is reflected in the qualities of the Utopian leader (who possesses the maximum level of rationality) and the citizens’ morality. In order to attain their ideal state and become the epitome of virtue, citizens  must use their intellect (nous) to make consistent and long-lasting judgments and evaluations. The intellectual virtues that result from practical reason are intended for both citizens and their domestic and public affairs, and both individual and social happiness depend on wisdom. However, reason and rationality are not the only factors that contribute to the health and contentment of citizens and society, but they are the most crucial ones that generate additional elements.

How the reciprocal rights and responsibilities of citizens and the government are one of the most essential topics in the soci​al sciences and politics, particularly in contemporary societies. Parallel to the transformation of political and social structures in societies and the emergence of the modern government, the concept of citizenship and the role of the citizen as one of the most crucial social elements in the modern society, as well as the political and social rights and reciprocal responsibilities of the government and citizens, became the focus of social scientists and political philosophers. In this regard, we will analyze the issue of citizenship from the perspectives of Alasdair MacIntyre and John Rawls as representatives of the two approaches, collectivism and liberalism, and compare Farabi's views to these. Farabi's formulation of relations draws people from Medina with the concept of “Ahal al-Madina.” The comparative study of the terms “citizenship” and “citizen” allows for a more accurate comprehension of the relationships between individuals in civil life. In this study, a descriptive, analytic, and comparative investigation of the fundamental components of the concept of citizenship and its related dimensions in the thought of Farabi, Alasdair MacIntyre, and John Rawls has been undertaken. The findings of this study indicate that Rawls and McIntyre have profoundly different views on the framework of the concept of citizenship. However, in certain aspects, such as the priority of the public good over individual rights and interests, Farabi’s and McIntyre’s ideas are similar and closely related.

Backwardness and lack of development is one of the primary concerns of all Muslim thinkers, including Hanafi and Ardakani, and each of them offered a variety of explanations and contributing factors. Understanding the scope and reality of the Islamic world and posing the appropriate query are more important than the solution and what should be done. Using the qualitative analysis method described in this article, Hanafi and Davari Ardakani collected the essential data and information from books, articles, and other written sources and compilations. The importance of understanding the West and its modernity and culture is emphasized in the works of Davari and Hanafi, who believe that a significant portion of the problems confronting Islamic societies are the result of the incorrect design and imitation of the cultural and philosophical foundations of Western modernity. In certain periods of modern history, this resulted in the field of philosophical and political thought in the Islamic world being regarded as the most crucial path forward for Islamic societies in the plan for cognitive reconstruction of the Islamic world. According to Hanafi, the most significant factors of degeneration are the categories of reconstruction of Islamic religious epistemological foundations, dogmatism and self-righteousness, the superiority of transferable sciences over rational sciences, the rule of enlightened attitude, nationalism, and the absence of a rational approach to the Quran. Ardakani’s evaluation also identifies the lack of a development policy and a critical philosophy as obstacles to development.

"The idea of unity" was formed among Muslim elites from the beginning of the confrontation of Muslims with colonial modernity. Imam Khomeini (RA) as one of the most important preachers of this thought, from a forward-looking perspective, has a special plan for the administration of the Islamic world in the post-Unification period. In this article, while considering the political and social conditions governing the Islamic world after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, we will examine and explain two issues: First, what is the Islamic unity from Imam Khomeini's point of view and how will it be realized? Then, if this union is realized, what is the model for managing it. Finally, the dimensions of the idea of forming an Islamic state with free and independent republics as a model for the administration of the Islamic world in the post-unification stage have been explained and examined, which gives an image of a union with a confederal system. In this research, data collection and analysis have been done by using documentary method and historical analysis."The idea of unity" was formed among Muslim elites from the beginning of the confrontation of Muslims with colonial modernity. Imam Khomeini (RA) as one of the most important preachers of this thought, from a forward-looking perspective, has a special plan for the administration of the Islamic world in the post-Unification period. In this article, while considering the political and social conditions governing the Islamic world after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, we will examine and explain two issues: First, what is the Islamic unity from Imam Khomeini's point of view and how will it be realized? Then, if this union is realized, what is the model for managing it. Finally, the dimensions of the idea of forming an Islamic state with free and independent republics as a model for the administration of the Islamic world in the post-unification stage have been explained and examined, which gives an image of a union with a confederal system. In this research, data collection and analysis have been done by using documentary method and historical analysis.

The relationship between knowledge and value is a subject of interest within the realm of transethics. To that end, Soroush has put forth the theory of knowledge and value separation. The purpose of this article is to delineate the fundamental components of Soroush’s theory through the application of descriptive-analytical methodology. Five factors, according to the research findings, influenced Soroush’s conception of this notion: adhering to positivists’ definitions and differentiations of sciences; the notion that the deduction of “must” from “is” violates the principles of logic; believing that values are nothing more than credits; consider scientific ethics to be an impersonal branch of ethics; the conviction that scientific ethics and determinism are inextricably linked. As evidenced by the research findings, deriving “oughts” from “beings” does not necessitate a connection between knowledge and value; rather, it enables the development of ethics through reliance on facts (beings) rather than determinism and impersonality. In reality, the moral provisions are the same necessity that exists between human action and its consequences. Science can also encompass non-experimental knowledge; it comprises experimental knowledge as well as intellectual, mystical, narrative, and philosophical knowledge.

Although Farabi did not explicitly identify himself as a social psychologist, thematic analysis and interpretation of his writings and works reveal an obvious similarity and synonymy between certain of his points of view, connotations, and departure points and those found in social psychological contexts. With this in mind, the primary objective of this article is to unveil those concealed facets of Farabi's idea and thought that, in a social psychological sense, contrast and resemble other such ideas and thoughts. We utilized a combination of thematic analysis and technical analysis of triangulation in order to achieve this objective. The information was collected from a vast array of credible sources, including six books authored by Farabi and articles and commentary pertaining to his ideas and works. The data's validity was validated in accordance with the standards suggested by Lingen and Goba. The methodology employed for data processing and interpretation was Strauss's three-stage data coding technique. Open coding, axial coding, and selective coding established the framework for deconstructing, analyzing, conceptualizing, and classifying the data, as well as identifying the most significant themes, in accordance with this methodology. Individual themes constitute components of a thematic field in the context of thematic analysis. The thematic field comprises all data that are considered materially relevant or germane to the theme and serve as the foundation or foreground from which the theme itself emerges as the focal point. Consequently, the following ten primary themes emerged as a result of thematic analysis:Elme Madanieh (science of expected behavior);Nature of man;Collectivism vs individualism;Social nature of man and his needs for association/ cooperation;Homogeneity of society and organism;Type of communities and societies;Group impact and its role in socialization of individual;Normlessness and deviant behavior;Protective and risk factors;Leadership and characteristic of good leader.

The Islamic revolution that transpired in Iran posed a difficulty for the theorists of the revolution in their way of thinking. Revolutions of the past were either predicated on modernity or did not oppose it; they consisted of simple uprisings of the peasant or worker multitudes against the owners of property and power. However, during the Islamic revolution, the populace, leadership, slogans, and ideology were all in good standing with Shiite Islam. “Hossein Kechoyan” is the name of one of the philosophers who has contributed to the study of jihadi Islam. “The nature, reflection, and obstacles of the Islamic Revolution in the thought of Hossein Kechuyan” is the subject of this article. By employing the text hermeneutic method and documental information collection, an effort is made to comprehend the Islamic revolution theory and the progression of Quechuan history. The hermeneutic approach employed in the article revealed that Kechuyan believed that the Islamic revolution brought about a paradigm shift in the definition of revolution; its religious and cultural character contributed to its ability to dominate history; and as a result, it is regarded as one of the greatest revolutions. Because the great revolutions, by virtue of their civilizational essence, possess the capacity to exert influence over subsequent revolutions and alter the methodologies and demands of the movements. The article’s novelty lies in its examination of an Iranian theorist specializing in revolutionary theory.

Bijan Abdul Karimi is one of the Iranian Muslim thinkers who has many criticisms of the idea of religious science. These critiques are of two types: critiques based on continental philosophy, which Abdul Karimi is philosophically affiliated with, and critiques that are more in line with analytical philosophy. In this article, his criticism about the ambiguity of the meaning of the idea of religious science is proposed and evaluated. Abdul Karimi believes that: 1. The abundance of views about the concept of religious science shows that this idea was not based on a clear knowledge system (Episteme) but based on suspicion (Doxa); 2. The analysis of the meanings of science and religion shows that the idea of religious science is a paradoxical concept resulting from the mixing of different levels of consciousness. In this article, the brief history of religious science is shown and it is revealed that 1. Some of the definitions presented by Abdul Karimi are not related to the flow of religious science, and 2. the idea of religious science is not a paradox and does not mix levels of knowledge.

Given the pivotal significance of Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi in the aftermath of the Arab revolutions in 2011, his prominent status among Muslim Brotherhood supporters, and his interactions with the Syrian government during this time, we have devised a research approach that combines comparative research methodology for analysis with library and documentary studies to gather information and address the research questions. The results of this study suggest that his political stance on the Syrian crisis contradicts the epistemological, ontological, anthropological, and methodological underpinnings that govern his Islamist discourse. This demonstrated that he has strayed from the primary frameworks of his political Islam discourse, despite his moderate stance prior to the aforementioned developments. Overall, it appears that Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi is swayed by political movements and groups, the absence of an accurate political vision, and the inflammatory atmosphere that followed the Arab Spring. Additionally, the historical experience of the Brotherhood in Syria, the opportunity presented by the Arab Spring, and the protests in Syria all play a role in shaping his perspective. He regarded it as an appropriate venue for overthrowing the governing authority in that country and instituting a system of governance based on the Brotherhood's discourse.

What is the correlation between metaphysics and politics? Is it possible to identify metaphysical underpinnings that could assist in elucidating the essence of political matters, or does politics, in its contemporary sense, lack philosophical, theoretical, or metaphysical foundations? The purpose of this research is to provide an answer to the question of what metaphysical or theoretical foundations Islam places on politics. Before we can address this crucial inquiry, we must first examine the fundamental categories of knowledge that exist within the Muslim faith: theoretical wisdom and practical wisdom. Through an analysis of the knowledge process and the interconnection between philosophy and theology, it is possible to deduce that “philosophy in the specific sense” or “theology” serves as the primary origin of metaphysical propositions that influence politics within the Islamic worldview. These propositions have endowed politics with an entirely new essence.

An aspect that is both significant and often overlooked in the convergence of Islam and modernity is the interaction between Islamic scholars and modern concepts. This interaction has been instrumental in shaping the advancement of modernity and its implementation within Muslim societies. The concept of "nation" is among those that have bestowed upon the Muslim countries of the Middle East a distinct international perception. Regarding this, every Shi'i cleric has endeavored to delineate the demarcation between themselves and this notion by offering a religious and Shi'i perspective on this contemporary concept. Naini, a renowned scholar of the constitutional era, put forth one of these groundbreaking conceptual encounters within the framework of choice theology in the book. We will analyze this notion in the forthcoming article through the lens of "Historical Sociology" and employ the "thematic analysis" technique. In conclusion, this study demonstrates that Naini, in employing the "acceptance and appropriation" strategy, initially embraced the entire notion and the resulting nation-state order, upon which he constructed his theory. Additionally, it challenges the "ideological aspect" and endeavors to offer a fresh interpretation of this notion while preserving the Islamic and Shi'i perspectives on emergent modern phenomena and concepts, including the nation and state.

A recent, relatively common conception of the expediency in the Islamic Republic's governance experience is the secular one. According to this conception, the formation of the expediency requires going beyond the existing capacities of Shia jurisprudence and recognizing the common secular reason in the governance. Contrary to this approach and in response to it, this article argues this concept arises from a problem expressible in a jurisprudential framework: the separation between the domain of the government and the domain of interpersonal interactions, the refusal to infer relations regarding the government from legitimate contracts in the domain of individual interactions, and ultimately the priority of the first over the second in the cases of conflict. So, the regulation of property limits, environmental protection, and in general, the preservation and protection of the interests of Islam, cannot be inferred from the rights and powers related to interpersonal relations; Rather, the government in this sense is a condition for the realization of rights related to interpersonal relationships. Therefore, this conflict can be formulated in the form of conflict between private and public rights and the priority of the latter over the former, considering the purposes of Sharia; The distinction between public and private right is necessary for the concept of government, which neglecting it leads to the refusal to infer the government and its affairs from jurisprudential evidences and ultimately leads to a secular interpretation of government.