Analyzing the Issue of Political Development in Iran from the Point of view of Religious Intellectuals

After the arrival of modern ideas and new western civilization to Iran, some intellectuals sought to create modern national foundations at the cost of de-religiousizing Iranian thought. But another group called religious intellectuals sought to present new models of religion and modernity in order to establish a link between the two. This group was looking for a new interpretation of religion and in fact looking for modern Islam; Islam that can advance Iran's society in the modern era and cause Iran's political development. This group of intellectuals led the project of Islamic Protestantism. This group turned to the ideology of political Islam and their goal was to revive Islam as a social and political system against the western liberal system. This class of intellectuals were looking for a political and modernist interpretation of Islam and the establishment of the Islamic social system. Dr. Ali Shariati and Abdul Karim Soroush are two representatives of Iran's intellectuals who believed that a religious foundation is needed in order to achieve political development despite the contradictions in some views. In this research, the question raised is, what was the point of view of religious intellectuals in the political development of Iran? In response to the above question, the hypothesis was raised that religious intellectuals, considering the vital role of religion in the culture of our country, led the project of Islamic Protestantism and sought to present new models of religion and modernity and the link between the two in order to achieve political development. In this article, the theory of political development and the explanatory method are used to achieve political development through the link between religion and modernity, and the purpose of the research is to show the key role of religion and ideology in the process of modernity and political development of Iran.