A comparative study of the intellectual foundations of Islamic civilization in the thought of Ayatollah Khamenei and Seyyed Qutb

Sayyid Qutb as one of the prominent Egyptian thinkers and Ayatollah Khamenei as one of the most influential Shiite scholars in the present age are among the thinkers who have paid special attention to the approach of civilization and the realization of Islamic civilization. The main question of this research is about the intellectual foundations of Islamic civilization in the thought of the Supreme Leader and Seyyed Qutb and the commonalities and differences between them. In the present study, the method of qualitative content analysis and document collection and libraries have been used to collect data to extract and present the most important intellectual foundations of modern Islamic civilization from the perspective of Ayatollah Khamenei and Seyyed Qutb based on his collection of works. The findings of the study indicate that although Seyyed Qutb and Ayatollah Khamenei have common concerns and seek to create a strong Islamic civilization, but in its foundations are clearly different from each other. Ontologically, these two ideas are based on monotheism and are based on the principle that Islamic civilization is two-dimensional and includes the material and spiritual realms. In the foundations of epistemology, these two thinkers agree on the possibility and necessity of knowledge, but in terms of sources and methods of knowledge, they have different views. In the foundations of anthropology, in terms of what, the high position of man in the system of existence and its existential end, the similarity of thought is seen, but regarding the human will, there is a serious difference between them. The will of man is interpreted in Sayyid Qutb's theory under the monotheism of actions and the continuation of the divine habit; However, Ayatollah Khamenei believes that the main role of that training is the will and decision of man himself. In the teleological discussion of both theories, the pursuit of happiness and attainment of happiness in this world and the hereafter is understood, and both believe with immaterial ends that the ultimate goal of Islamic civilization is to achieve worldly and otherworldly happiness. Both thinkers ontologically believe in the duality (material and spiritual) of the system of existence and consider the spiritual aspect more important than the material aspect. What is clear is the complete separation of the views of Seyyed Qutb and Ayatollah Khamenei in teleology and the creation of the utopia. The utopia of Sayyid Qutb is the first Islamic society and the era of the Caliphate, but the utopia of Ayatollah Khamenei will be created in the end times and with a view to the future.