An Analysis of Shari at Sangelaji's Intellectual Activities

Shari’at Sangelaji is one of the best known people during the reign of Rezâ Shah Pahlavi who promoted the idea of religious reform in contemporary Iran. In the present article, the author intends to investigate Shari’at Sangelaji’s intellectual life, his views on Shiite Imamite and monotheistic teachings in order to provide an outlook on his ideas and thoughts. To this end, the author tells about Shari’at’s life and promotional activities, his teachings for religious reform such as fighting superstitions as well as the principles of his teachings. Among the other discussions that will be set forth in the present article are the Pahlavi state’s view of Shari’at, identifying the origin of his idea of religious reform by introducing his teachers and their beliefs,including Sheikh Hasan Sangelaji and Seyed Asadollah Kharqâni and the relation between the idea of religious belief of Sheikh Hadi Najmâbâdi and his idea of religious reform. Finally, the author will end his article by expressing how Shari’at’s idea of religious reform relates to the teachings of Wahhabism and by introducing the names of some who were taught in his school.