State Formation and the Challenge of Legitimacy: The Confrontation Among Sadr's Divine Sovereignty, Hegel's Absolute Reason, and Foucault's Power/Knowledge
Document Type : Research Article (Political Thought)
1
Associate Professor, Department of Foreign Languages, Language Center, Imam Sadiq University, Tehran, Iran
2
PhD student in International Oil and Gas Contract Management, Imam Sadiq University, Tehran, Iran
10.30497/ipt.2026.249530.1063
Abstract
This research conducts a comparative study of the foundations of legitimacy and the nature of the state in the political thought of Ayatollah Seyyed Mohammad Baqir al-Sadr, focusing on his key works such as al-Islam Yaqud al-Hayah (Islam Guides Life). It contrasts his thought with the teleological political philosophy of Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel—who views the state as the manifestation of "Absolute Spirit"—and the deconstructive genealogy of Michel Foucault, who understands the state as a mechanism of "Power/Knowledge." The main challenge addressed here is comparing Sadr's conception of appointive and divine legitimacy, which operates through "the Ummah's caliphate" and "the supervision of religious authority," with Hegel's rational and historical legitimacy. Additionally, the research examines Foucault's critical analysis of how religious and jurisprudential institutions such as the Zone of Silence are transformed into instruments of governmentality and biopolitics in the modern Islamic state. The findings reveal that Sadr's effort to reconcile popular acceptance with divine legitimacy i.e., the theory of "Atmosphere of Infallibility" faces fundamental challenges when confronted with Hegel's logic of rational despotism which claims itself to be the very truth and Foucault's instrumental logic which subordinates all knowledge to power.
Mozaheb,M A and Khorshidiathar,A . (2026). State Formation and the Challenge of Legitimacy: The Confrontation Among Sadr's Divine Sovereignty, Hegel's Absolute Reason, and Foucault's Power/Knowledge. Islamic Political Thought, 13(1), 71-87. doi: 10.30497/ipt.2026.249530.1063
MLA
Mozaheb,M A , and Khorshidiathar,A . "State Formation and the Challenge of Legitimacy: The Confrontation Among Sadr's Divine Sovereignty, Hegel's Absolute Reason, and Foucault's Power/Knowledge", Islamic Political Thought, 13, 1, 2026, 71-87. doi: 10.30497/ipt.2026.249530.1063
HARVARD
Mozaheb M A, Khorshidiathar A. (2026). 'State Formation and the Challenge of Legitimacy: The Confrontation Among Sadr's Divine Sovereignty, Hegel's Absolute Reason, and Foucault's Power/Knowledge', Islamic Political Thought, 13(1), pp. 71-87. doi: 10.30497/ipt.2026.249530.1063
CHICAGO
M A Mozaheb and A Khorshidiathar, "State Formation and the Challenge of Legitimacy: The Confrontation Among Sadr's Divine Sovereignty, Hegel's Absolute Reason, and Foucault's Power/Knowledge," Islamic Political Thought, 13 1 (2026): 71-87, doi: 10.30497/ipt.2026.249530.1063
VANCOUVER
Mozaheb M A, Khorshidiathar A. State Formation and the Challenge of Legitimacy: The Confrontation Among Sadr's Divine Sovereignty, Hegel's Absolute Reason, and Foucault's Power/Knowledge. Islamic Political Thought. 2026;13(1):71-87. doi: 10.30497/ipt.2026.249530.1063
Islamic Political Thought