Locating Fitrah Concept in Socio-Religious Debates during the Second Pahlavi Era

Before the coronation of the Second Pahlavi, religious literature rarely noted the concept of Fitrah. After coronation of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi in September 1941, however, the term and its theorizations found wider recognition in those magazines and newspapers aimed at promoting religious ideas. Gradually, Fitrah became a key concept in two significant ways: making a case for religion against criticisms raised by Marxists and secular critics of religion on one hand, and criticizing reactionary and superstitious interpretations of the religion on the other. Hence, Fitrah became so significant a tool in socio-religious struggles that it was called “the mother of all problems” of Islam by Morteza Motahari right before the Islamic Revolution. After the revolution, however, its moment was gone and the functions it had in pre-revolution era went obsolete. Thus, again, the concept was marginalized altogether. This paper investigates the socio-religious functions of Fitrah in the Second Pahlavi era.