The Extent of Government Intervention in Culture according to Religious Sources; Case Study of Imam Ali Compendium

The course followed by the Islamic Revolution is to reach the new Islamic civilization. The stages of this evolution are: The Islamic Revolution, the Islamic system, the Islamic State, the Islamic society, and finally the new Islamic civilization. Now in the third phase of modern Islamic civilization, the burden of achieving the Islamic state is on the shoulders of the officials, especially the scholars engaged on humanities. One of the areas which is inevitably under the impact of the government is the dominant cultural atmosphere of the society. The question that arises here is that based on genuine religious sources, where are the limits of government intervention? The subject of this study is determining the extent of the government’s intervention in the field of culture. Based on our findings, such factors like education, guidance of the people, setting the ground for conducting one’s religious duties, and fighting against heresies, determine the levels of government’s intervention in the field of culture. This intervention usually starts with wise sayings but culminates in armed confrontation. And the subtle point is that each of these methods must be utilized in one specific situation, but extending this method to other domains may result in irreparable harms.