The Foundations of the Relationship between Religion and Politics in the Project Known as Religious Intellectualism over the Last Three Decades

Fakhari, Morteza; Houshangi, Hamid

doi:10.30497/ipt.2026.250657.1080

The Foundations of the Relationship between Religion and Politics in the Project Known as Religious Intellectualism over the Last Three Decades

Document Type : Research Article (Political Thought)

Authors

Morteza Fakhari ¹

Hamid Houshangi ²

¹ Faculty of Islamic Studies and Political Science, Imam Sadiq (AS) University, Tehran

² Faculty of Islamic Studies and Political Science, Imam Sadiq (AS) University

10.30497/ipt.2026.250657.1080

Abstract

The current known as religious intellectualism, with the claim of reforming religious thought, addressed the problem of the causes of decline and the compatibility of tradition and modernity in Iran's religious society. Over the past three decades since the Islamic Revolution in Iran, this intellectual current has pursued a distinct intellectual trajectory—marking a significant departure from its predecessors—based on the specific religio-theological foundations observed in the views of the later figures of this current. This trajectory has been characterized in intellectual discourse as a movement toward a minimalist conception of religion. Given the status of this current in scientific and academic circles, and the necessity of evaluating the record of religious intellectualism with respect to its claim of reformist religious reflection, this article, through an examination of the views of prominent figures within this current, demonstrates that the religion-politics relations in religious intellectualist thought amount to a reconstruction of modern politics within the religious context of Iranian society.

Keywords

Religious Intellectualism

Religion

Politics

Religious Government

Subjects