Shariatism () is a body of ideas that describes the inspiration, vision, and the life work of Ali Shariati.

Neo-Shariatism

Neo-Shariatism is made up of a particular group of Shariati supporters who emerged in the 1990s, as a result of debates with post-Islamist intellectuals in Iran. According to neo-Shariatist views, the intellectual life of Shariati is divided into young and mature periods, separating his intrinsic and contingent ideas. Shariati is also considered an "unfinished project", meaning that "there is much unthought in Shariati's thought", and the burden to complete his project lies with the neo-Shariatist movement. There are two distinct trends in neo-Shariatism: one reads Shariati's works "

phenomenologically Phenomenology may refer to: Art * Phenomenology (architecture), based on the experience of building materials and their sensory properties Philosophy * Phenomenology (philosophy), a branch of philosophy which studies subjective experiences and a ...

within the intellectual context and horizon of his time and its impacts on the contemporary intellectual context and perspective", while the other tries to read Shariati within his "conceptual structure". This current has been described as "by far the most courteous opposition" to the Islamic Republic government, which in turn "has never treated them with the respect they deserved".

Criticism

Shariat's thoughts had been staunchly rejected by conservative clergy, his first opponents. Prominent contemporary preachers and orators (''vo'az'') such as Ahmad Kafi,

Mohammad Taghi Falsafi Mohammad Taghi Falsafi ( fa, محمدتقی فلسفی) was an Iranian Ayatollah and preacher. He was a campaigner against the regime of Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi. Many of his lectures was about psychology, ethics and mental development. During ...

, Javad Managhebi, Seyyed Ali-Naghi Tehrani, Haj Ashraf Kashani, Seyyed Ebrahim Milani, Qassem Eslami and Mohammad-Ali Ansari Qomi, accused Shariati of

heresy Heresy is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs, in particular the accepted beliefs of a church or religious organization. The term is usually used in reference to violations of important religi ...

, being a

Sunni Sunni Islam () is the largest branch of Islam, followed by 85–90% of the world's Muslims. Its name comes from the word '' Sunnah'', referring to the tradition of Muhammad. The differences between Sunni and Shia Muslims arose from a disagr ...

and even a Wahhabi and anti-Shia. By the early 1970s, a number of high-ranking clerics including

Abu al-Qasim al-Khoei Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Abu al-Qasim al-Musawi al-Khoei ( ; ar, أبو القاسم الموسوي الخوئي; fa, ; November 19, 1899 – August 8, 1992) was an Iranian- Iraqi Shia marja'. Al-Khoei is considered one of the most influential t ...

Mohammad Hadi al-Milani Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Mohammad Hadi Milani (; ; July 1, 1895 – August 7, 1975) was an Iraqi-Iranian marja'. al-Milani was also active in political and social affairs. When he moved to Mashhad, the Islamic seminary of Mashhad flourished. He cont ...

Mohammad Sadeq Rouhani Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Muhammad-Sadiq Husayni Rohani ( fa, ; 16 July 1926 – 16 December 2022) was an Iranian Shia marja'. Rohani resided in Qom. He claimed to have gained ijtihad from the grand Ayatollah Abu al-Qasim al-Khoei, at the age of ...

and

Muhammad Husayn Tabatabai Muhammad Husayn Tabataba'i or Sayyid Mohammad Hossein Tabataba'i (16 March 1903 – 15 November 1981) was an Iranian scholar, theorist, philosopher and one of the most prominent thinkers of modern Shia Islam. He is perhaps best known for his ''T ...

had issued rulings against Shariati.

Morteza Motahari Morteza Motahhari ( fa, مرتضی مطهری, also Romanization, Romanized as "Mortezā Motahharī"; 31 January 1919 – 1 May 1979) was an Iranian peoples, Iranian Twelver Shia scholar, philosopher, lecturer. Motahhari is considered to hav ...

who defended Shariati against Wahabbism and anti-Shia accusations, himself became a staunch critic of Shariati. He maintained that Shariati was inspired more by the theory of historical materialism than by Islam and found his view on Islam facile, divergent and sacrilegious and went further to refer to him as "damned person" (''mal'un'') quit

Hosseiniyeh Ershad The Hosseinieh Ershad or Hosseiniyeh Ershad ( fa, حسینیه ارشاد) is a non-traditionalist religious institute established by Nasser Minachi in Tehran, Iran. It was closed for a time by the Mohammad Reza Shah, Pahlavi government in 1972. ...

in protest to Shariati's lectures held there.

Seyyed Hossein Nasr Seyyed Hossein Nasr (; fa, سید حسین نصر, born April 7, 1933) is an Iranian philosopher and University Professor of Islamic studies at George Washington University. Born in Tehran, Nasr completed his education in Iran and the United St ...

, a

traditionalist Traditionalism is the adherence to traditional beliefs or practices. It may also refer to: Religion * Traditional religion, a religion or belief associated with a particular ethnic group * Traditionalism (19th-century Catholicism), a 19th–cen ...

thinker associated with the

Pahlavi dynasty The Pahlavi dynasty ( fa, دودمان پهلوی) was the last Iranian royal dynasty, ruling for almost 54 years between 1925 and 1979. The dynasty was founded by Reza Shah Pahlavi, a non-aristocratic Mazanderani soldier in modern times, who ...

, opposed Shariati not only because of his anti-establishment views, but also due to his modernist outlook. Nasr accused Shariati of being a "subversive Islamic-Marxist attempting to infiltrate the ranks of religious forces" and in 1970 resigned from his position in Hosseiniyeh Ershad in response to Shariati comparing the third Shi'ite Imam

Husayn ibn Ali Abū ʿAbd Allāh al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib ( ar, أبو عبد الله الحسين بن علي بن أبي طالب; 10 January 626 – 10 October 680) was a grandson of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and a son of Ali ibn Abi ...

with

Che Guevara Ernesto Che Guevara (; 14 June 1928The date of birth recorded on /upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/78/Ernesto_Guevara_Acta_de_Nacimiento.jpg his birth certificatewas 14 June 1928, although one tertiary source, (Julia Constenla, quoted ...

Abdolkarim Soroush Abdolkarim Soroush ( ; born Hossein Haj Faraj Dabbagh (born 1945; fa, حسين حاج فرج دباغ), is an Iranian Islamic thinker, reformer, Rumi scholar, public intellectual, and a former professor of phil ...

maintains that the ideas of Shariati could be interpreted as "reducing Islam to a totalitarian ideology".

Influences

The first person to influence Shariati was his father Mohammad-Taghi, as he describes: Another person was Abolhassan Foroughi, who Shariati studied under his guidance for a short period of time, but with a deep impact. During his youth, he was also strongly inspired by Mohammad Mosaddegh, his neutralist foreign policy doctrine and the

Movement of God-Worshipping Socialists Movement of God-Worshipping Socialists ( fa, نهضت خداپرستان سوسیالیست, Nahzat Khoda Parastan-e Sosialist) was an Iranian political party. The party was one of six original member organizations of the National Front. The party ...

which supported Mosaddegh. In an article entitled '' My Idols'', Shariati eulogized his self-described teachers. He names sixteen contemporary individuals and thirteen historical figures who have influenced him. Among the latter are prophets of Abrahamic religions:

Abraham Abraham, ; ar, , , name=, group= (originally Abram) is the common Hebrew patriarch of the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In Judaism, he is the founding father of the special relationship between the Jew ...

Moses Moses hbo, מֹשֶׁה, Mōše; also known as Moshe or Moshe Rabbeinu (Mishnaic Hebrew: מֹשֶׁה רַבֵּינוּ, ); syr, ܡܘܫܐ, Mūše; ar, موسى, Mūsā; grc, Mωϋσῆς, Mōÿsēs () is considered the most important pro ...

Jesus Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...

and

Muhammad Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 Common Era, CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Muhammad in Islam, Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet Divine inspiration, di ...

. Shariati also praised the house of the latter:

Ali ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib ( ar, عَلِيّ بْن أَبِي طَالِب; 600 – 661 CE) was the last of four Rightly Guided Caliphs to rule Islam (r. 656 – 661) immediately after the death of Muhammad, and he was the first Shia Imam. ...

and his wife Fatimah, and their son Husayn and daughter Zaynab. Others in the list are

Socrates Socrates (; ; –399 BC) was a Greek philosopher from Athens who is credited as the founder of Western philosophy and among the first moral philosophers of the ethical tradition of thought. An enigmatic figure, Socrates authored no te ...

and

Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a śramaṇa, wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist tradition, he was ...

, as well as

Ayn al-Quzat Hamadani Ayn-al-Qużāt Hamadānī, also spelled Ain-al Quzat Hamedani or ʿAyn-al Qudat Hamadhani (1098–1131) ( fa, عین‌ القضات همدانی), full name: Abu’l-maʿālī ʿabdallāh Bin Abībakr Mohammad Mayānejī ( fa, ابوالمعال� ...

Hallaj Al-Hallaj ( ar, ابو المغيث الحسين بن منصور الحلاج, Abū 'l-Muġīth Al-Ḥusayn bin Manṣūr al-Ḥallāj) or Mansour Hallaj ( fa, منصور حلاج, Mansūr-e Hallāj) ( 26 March 922) ( Hijri 309 AH) was a Per ...

and Suhrawardi. During his time in France, Shariati was exposed to new ideas which influenced his world outlook. Among his contemporary influences, Shariati names Louis Massignon (with whom he had worked),

Georges Gurvitch Georges Gurvitch (russian: Гео́ргий Дави́дович Гу́рвич; October 20, 1894, Novorossiysk – December 12, 1965, Paris) was a Russian-born French sociologist and jurist. One of the leading sociologists of his times, he was a ...

(who he hailed as "world's genius of sociology"), Frantz Fanon (a friend of his), Alexis Carrel,

Jean-Paul Sartre Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre (, ; ; 21 June 1905 – 15 April 1980) was one of the key figures in the philosophy of existentialism (and phenomenology), a French playwright, novelist, screenwriter, political activist, biographer, and litera ...

Jacques Berque Jacques Augustin Berque (4 June 1910, Molière, Algeria – 27 June 1995) was a French scholar of Islam and sociologist of the Collège de France. His expertise was the decolonisation of Algeria and Morocco. Berque wrote several histories on th ...

, Albert Schweitzer, Claude Bernard, Henri Lefebvre, René Guénon,

Jean Cocteau Jean Maurice Eugène Clément Cocteau (, , ; 5 July 1889 – 11 October 1963) was a French poet, playwright, novelist, designer, filmmaker, visual artist and critic. He was one of the foremost creatives of the su ...

and Kateb Yacine. Shariati mentions a "fanatic Catholic" he had met, Solange Bodin, from whom he had learnt "the art of seeing". He says Bodin unknowingly made a spiritual impact on him with her premature death, which was quite traumatic to him. He also lists individuals such as Carola Grabert and Jacquline Chezel who had toured him in arts and that part of his intellectual formation came from artistic appreciation, citing paintings of

Picasso Pablo Ruiz Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and Scenic design, theatre designer who spent most of his adult life in France. One of the most influential artists of the 20th ce ...

Chagall Marc Chagall; russian: link=no, Марк Заха́рович Шага́л ; be, Марк Захаравіч Шагал . (born Moishe Shagal; 28 March 1985) was a Russian-French artist. An early modernism, modernist, he was associated with se ...

van Gogh Vincent Willem van Gogh (; 30 March 185329 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who posthumously became one of the most famous and influential figures in Western art history. In a decade, he created about 2,100 artworks, inclu ...

Tintoretto Tintoretto ( , , ; born Jacopo Robusti; late September or early October 1518Bernari and de Vecchi 1970, p. 83.31 May 1594) was an Italian painter identified with the Venetian school. His contemporaries both admired and criticized the speed with ...

and Lacroix as his favorites. According to Ervand Abrahamian, Shariati was interested in studying Western

orientalism In art history, literature and cultural studies, Orientalism is the imitation or depiction of aspects in the Eastern world. These depictions are usually done by writers, designers, and artists from the Western world. In particular, Orientalist p ...

, French sociology and radical Catholic theology (in particular liberation theology). He read ''

Esprit Esprit or L'Esprit may refer to: * the French for Spirit; as a loanword: ** Enthusiasm, intense interest or motivation ** Morale, motivation and readiness ** Geist "mind/spirit; intellect" * Esprit (name), a given name and surname * ''Esprit'' (m ...

'' magazine, which he had been familiarized to by Louis Massignon, and attended lectures of

Raymond Aron Raymond Claude Ferdinand Aron (; 14 March 1905 – 17 October 1983) was a French philosopher, sociologist, political scientist, historian and journalist, one of France's most prominent thinkers of the 20th century. Aron is best known for his 19 ...

Roger Garaudy Roger Garaudy (; 17 July 1913 – 13 June 2012) was a French philosopher, French resistance fighter and a communist author. He converted to Islam in 1982. In 1998, he was convicted and fined for Holocaust denial under French law for claiming that ...

Georges Politzer Georges Politzer (; 3 May 190323 May 1942) was a French philosopher and Marxist theoretician of Hungarian Jewish origin, affectionately referred to by some as the "red-headed philosopher" (''philosophe roux''). He was a native of Oradea, a ci ...

and

, among others. Kürşad Atalar compares Shariati with Algazelus with regard to their shared view on the duty of being a " responsible intellectual" and a "truth seeker". He also maintains that Shariati's positions was in line with Muhammad Iqbal (who Shariati regarded a "responsible intellectual"). Shariati was influenced by

Mahmoud Taleghani Sayyid Mahmoud Alaee Taleghani ( fa, محمود طالقانی, , also Romanized as Seyed Mahmūd Tāleqānī; 5 March 1911 – 9 September 1979) was an Iranian theologian, Muslim reformer, democracy advocate and a senior Shi'a Islamic Scholar ...

's ideas. Some scholars have connected views of Shariati to others like

Friedrich Nietzsche Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (; or ; 15 October 1844 – 25 August 1900) was a German philosopher, prose poet, cultural critic, philologist, and composer whose work has exerted a profound influence on contemporary philosophy. He began his ...

Michel Foucault Paul-Michel Foucault (, ; ; 15 October 192625 June 1984) was a French philosopher, historian of ideas, writer, political activist, and literary critic. Foucault's theories primarily address the relationship between power and knowledge, and how ...

and Edward Said.

Legacy

Impact on the Iranian Revolution

People influenced by Shariati

Figures who are regarded to have been influenced by thoughts of Shariati, include: * Abolhassan Banisadr *

Mir-Hossein Mousavi Mir-Hossein Mousavi Khameneh ( fa, میرحسین موسوی خامنه, Mīr-Hoseyn Mūsavī Khāmené, ; born 2 March 1942) is an Iranian reformist politician, artist and architect who served as the forty-ninth and last Prime Minister of Ira ...

* Mohammad Hanifnejad *

Gholam-Abbas Tavassoli Gholam-Abbas Tavassoli ( fa, غلامعباس توسلی) (23 May 1935 – 16 October 2020) was an Iranian sociologist, ''emeritus'' at University of Tehran and chancellor of Isfahan University. Tavassoli was a senior member of the Freedom Moveme ...

Hashem Aghajari Seyyed Hashem Aghajari ( fa, سیدهاشم آقاجری, born 1957) is an Iranian historian, university professor and a critic of the Islamic Republic's government who was sentenced to death in 2002 for apostasy for a speech he gave on Islam ur ...

Zahra Rahnavard Zahra Rahnavard ( fa, زهرا رهنورد; born Zohreh Kazemi; 19 August 1945) is an Iranian academic, artist and politician. Rahnavard is a university professor, artist under house arrest from February 2011 to May 2018. In 2009, Foreign Poli ...

Tahereh Saffarzadeh Tahereh Saffarzadeh ( fa, طاهره صفارزاده , 1936 in Sirjan, Kerman Province, Iran – October 25, 2008 in Tehran, Iran) was an Iranian poet, writer, translator and prominent university professor. Education She received her BA in E ...

Majid Sharif Majid Sharif ( fa, مجید شریف; January/February 1951– November 19, 1998) was an Iranian translator and journalist who was one of the victims of the Chain murders of Iran. He was a follower of the late Islamist modernist leftist theoreti ...

* Maghsoud Farasatkhah * Mohammad-Amin Ghaneirad *

Mahathir Mohamad Mahathir bin Mohamad ( ms, محاضير بن محمد, label= Jawi, script=arab, italic=unset; ; born 10 July 1925) is a Malaysian politician, author, and physician who served as the 4th and 7th Prime Minister of Malaysia. He held the office ...

* Ezzatollah Sahabi * Habibollah Peyman *

Abdulaziz Sachedina Abdulaziz Sachedina is Professor and International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT) Chair in Islamic Studies at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. Biography He has been a professor for 33 years, beginning in 1975. He annual ...

Amien Rais Muhammad Amien Rais (born 26 April 1944) is an Indonesian politician. He was one of the leaders of the reform movement that forced the resignation of President Suharto in 1998. Amien Rais was the leader of Muhammadiyah, one of the two biggest ...

* Suroosh Irfani *

Chandra Muzaffar Chandra Muzaffar is a Malaysian political scientist, and an Islamic reformist and activist. He has written on civilization dialogue, human rights, Malaysian politics and international relations. Career Muzaffar was the first Director of the ...

Latif Pedram Abdul Latīf Pedrām ( fa, عبداللطيف پدرام; born 29 July 1963) is a politician and a Member of Parliament in Afghanistan. He emerged as a controversial figure in the press and political circles for campaigning for women's personal r ...

İhsan Eliaçık Recep İhsan Eliaçık (born December 23, 1961) is a Turkish Islamic theologian and writer. He is the founder of the Turkish Islamic socialist organisation Anti-Capitalist Muslims. He has over 20 books, including a translation of the Quran into ...

* Ehsan Shariati (neo-Shariatist) * Sara Shariati (neo-Shariatist) * Susan Shariati (neo-Shariatist) * Hasan Yousefi Eshkevari (neo-Shariatist) *

Taghi Rahmani Taghi Rahmani ( fa, تقی رحمانی) is an Iranian journalist, writer and nationalist-religious activist. Shireen Hunter describes Rahmani as "a contemporary Iranian intellectual and author of books on religious intellectualism and reason". ...

(neo-Shariatist) *

Bijan Abdolkarimi Bijan Abdolkarimi ( fa, بیژن عبدالکریمی; born 1963) is an Iranian philosopher, thinker, translator, and editor. His main interests are ontology, political philosophy and the critique of religious and intellectual traditions. H ...

(neo-Shariatist) *

Ahmad Zeidabadi Ahmad Zeidabadi fa, احمد زیدابادی (born 21 July 1965 in Zeidabad, Sirjan) is an Iranian journalist, academic, writer and political analyst and the secretary general of Office for Strengthening Unity. He is one of the notable figures ...

(neo-Shariatist) *

Narges Mohammadi Narges Mohammadi (; born 21 April 1972) is an Iranian human rights activist and the vice president of the Defenders of Human Rights Center (DHRC), headed by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi. In May 2016, she was sentenced in Tehran to 16 ...

(neo-Shariatist) *

Reza Alijani Reza Alijani ( fa, رضا علیجانی) is an Iranian journalist, writer and nationalist-religious activist. Alijani has been described as " Neo-Shariatist" and a leading post-Islamist intellectual figure. Alijani has spent years in jail sinc ...

(neo-Shariatist)

Outside Iran

;Arab world Many of Shariati's works has been translated into Arabic in

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...

, where he is a widely-known and controversial figure with mixed reception. In

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

, Shariati's works are among those read and circulated by Ennahda Movement. Members of

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

's banned organization, Islamic Choice, were interested in works of Shia thinkers such as like Shariati. ;Afghanistan In

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

, Shariati is well-known, particularly among Hazara people. Many leaders of Nasr group were influenced by Shariati's thoughts. ;East Asia Since 1989, IQRA Press has published translations of Shariati's works both in Bahasa Melayu and

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

, where figures such as

and Jomo Kwame Sundaram have hailed Shariati as a "

martyr A martyr (, ''mártys'', "witness", or , ''marturia'', stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an externa ...

". In

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

, Shariati is among foreign Muslim thinkers whose ideas have made a strong intellectual impact, appealing to students and young intellectuals. ;Indian Subcontinent Shariat's most important books have been translated to

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
''

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

. In 2020, Pakistan's Prime Minister

Imran Khan Imran Ahmed Khan Niazi ( ur}; born 5 October 1952) is a Pakistani politician and former Cricket captain who served as the 22nd Prime Minister of Pakistan from August 2018 to until April 2022, when he was ousted through a no-confidenc ...

quoted Shariati to pay tribute to Iqbal and shared the article in his Twitter account. ;Turkey Some books of Shariati have been translated into

Turkish Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...

. Shariati serves as the "chief influence" on the organization

Anti-Capitalist Muslims The Anti-Capitalist Muslims (), also known by their official name Association for Struggle Against Capitalism (), is a Turkish people, Turkish Islam, Islamic Left-wing politics, left-wing political organisation. They advocate a Spirituality#Isla ...

. According to Georg Leube, Shariati's post-modern literary style which "blurred the lines between transmission, critique and original thought", can be seen in ''

The Black Book Black Book, Black book or Blackbook may refer to: Film * ''Black Book'' (film), a 2006 Dutch thriller film by director Paul Verhoeven ** ''Black Book'' (soundtrack), soundtrack of the 2006 film * ''The Black Book'' (serial), a 1929 American ...

'' of Orhan Pamuk, although it is unknown whether Pamuk have read the works of Shariati or is actually influenced by them. ;South Africa The Muslim community in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

was not familiar with Shariati until 1979, when Iranian revolutionary books and magazines were flowing into the country. It has been suggested that youth organizations such as the Muslim Youth Movement of South Africa (MYMSA), the Arabic Study Circle (based in

Durban Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...

) and the Muslim Teachers' Association (in

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

), as well as

Qibla The qibla ( ar, قِبْلَة, links=no, lit=direction, translit=qiblah) is the direction towards the Kaaba in the Sacred Mosque in Mecca, which is used by Muslims in various religious contexts, particularly the direction of prayer for the s ...

which borrowed some of the concepts in his works.

References

{{reflist Eponymous political ideologies Islamic socialism Liberal and progressive movements within Islam Iranian Revolution

Neo-Shariatism

Criticism

Influences

Legacy

Impact on the Iranian Revolution

People influenced by Shariati

Outside Iran

See also

References