Document Type : Research Article (Political Thought)

Authors

• Abdullah Binandeh ¹
• Jafar Hasankhani ²

¹ Ph.D. student in Political Sociology, University of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran

² Ph.D. student in Political Thought, Institute for Humanities and Cultural Studies, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

Reflection on Javad Tabatabai's views concerning Iranshahri political thought, along with certain critical remarks, constitutes the central focus of the present article. This article initially addresses the position of the discourse on Iranshahri thought and political thought within the entirety of Tabatabai's research project. Subsequently, following brief references to the characteristics of Iranshahri thought as its foundations, the elements (sing. mofrad) of Iranshahri political thought, based on these foundations, are extracted and inferred from his works.
The most significant elements of Iranshahri political thought, according to Tabatabai, can be identified as follows: 1. Ideal kingship possessing divine farr (charisma/glory). 2. The institution of vizierate. 3. The absolute, but not autocratic, nature of Iranshahri monarchy. 4. Realism, expediency, and the precedence of observing justice over Sharia (religious law). 5. Unity in diversity centered on the institution of kingship. 6. Tolerance. 7. The education of princes and future rulers. 8. Law as the will of God, enacted by the royal institution as God's representative on earth. 9. Religion as a part of national affairs and in service of national interests. 10. Emphasis on the disorders of the age as a negative aspect of the rearticulation of Iranshahri political thought in the Islamic era.
The ahistorical nature, subjective interpretation (tafsir bi'l-ra'y), imposition of presuppositions onto historical reality, ideological character, and the disregarding or omission of events and ideas contrary to his viewpoint are the most significant shortcomings in Tabatabai's views on Iranshahri political thought.

Keywords

• Iran
• Iranshahri Thought
• Iranshahri Political Thought
• Ideal Kingship
• The New in the Old

Main Subjects

• Political Thought