Contemporary Political Studies

Contemporary Political Studies

A Comparative Study of the Components of Islamic Governance in the Thought of Ayatollah Taleghani and Seyyed Qutb with Emphasis on Spriggans' Theory

Document Type : .

Authors
1 PhD student, Department of Quran and Hadith, South Tehran Branch, Azad University
2 University Of Assistant Professor, Faculty of Education and Islamic Thought, University of Tehran
3 Assistant Professor, Department of Quran and Hadith, South Tehran Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran
10.30465/cps.2025.51603.3545
Abstract
Abstract
From the time of the formation of the first human civilizations until today, the issue of governance has been one of the most important social and political issues of human societies, and throughout history, thinkers with different approaches have always presented their ideas for optimal governance. In the meantime, with the advent of Islam and the formation of the government of the Prophet of Islam in Medina, a different model was proposed regarding the issue of governance, and after the death of the beloved Prophet of Islam, with the emergence of differences among Muslims, many challenges arose regarding the way of Islamic governance. In this article, focusing on the views of two contemporary thinkers of the Islamic world, Seyyed Qutb and Ayatollah Taleghani, their thoughts related to Islamic governance have been examined; Both thinkers have explained Islamic governance by emphasizing the Qur'an and the socio-political interpretation of the Qur'an. The main question of the article is the question from the point of view of these two thinkers regarding Islamic governance, and the hypothesis of the article tests the idea that the ideal model of governance in the thought of Ayatollah Taleghani is drawn more by emphasizing the concept of councilism and in the thought of Seyyed Qutb by emphasizing the survival of the concept of Jihad. The method of this research, inspired by the theory of Thomas Spriggans, follows a four-stage study in the thought of these two thinkers, which first observes and identifies the problems and problems of Islamic societies, and in the second stage, analyzes and searches for the pathology and causes of the crisis, and in the third stage, the theoretical reconstruction of an ideal and desirable society from the perspective of Islamic governance, and in the fourth stage, provides solutions and offers treatment.
Keywords: Governance, Islamic governance, Shuraism, Jihad, Seyed Qutb, Ayatollah Taleghani.
 
Introduction
The style and manner of governance has also been one of the concerns of thinkers in the history of thought, and from ancient times until today, thinkers have always theorized on this issue. Since the advent of Islam and the sending of the Prophet of Islam; Also, the issue of religious governance has existed as an undeniable fact. The study of the history of Islam shows the differences in views and opinions of Muslims after the death of the Prophet (PBUH) until now, and this issue has become the basis for many intellectual and practical disputes and conflicts between Muslims. Unfortunately, in recent centuries, the situation of Islamic societies has fallen into severe decline, and this issue has made Muslim thinkers think about the pathology of the causes of decline and examine the ways to revive Islamic civilization. Ayatollah Taleghani and Seyyed Qutb were two prominent religious and political figures in our contemporary world who, with the slogan of returning to the Qur'an, both personalities presented a new reading of the interpretation of the Qur'an, different from the interpretations of the predecessors, which is known as social political interpretation among the interpretation approaches. The thoughts of these two Muslim thinkers are important in streamlining social and political developments in Iran and Egypt in the Islamic world and presenting different models of Islamic governance. The purpose of this article is to explain Islamic governance from the perspective of Ayatollah Taleghani and Seyyed Qutb in a comparative manner, although in terms of religious affiliations, Ayatollah Taleghani and Seyyed Qutb are Sunnis, and each of them grew up in their own environment. But the perceptions of these two can be examined in the form of a common approach under Islamic governance. The thoughts of Ayatollah Taleghani and Seyyed Qutb present a new reading of the optimal Islamic governance model based on Quranic teachings, which laid the groundwork for the activation of new religious thinking currents and different readings of religion in the form of political Islam thought in Iran and Egypt and, accordingly, the contemporary Islamic world. Although in the discussions of these two characters, issues related to sovereignty, freedom and justice and other social and political economic issues have been examined, but the new model of governance in the thought of Ayatollah Taleghani is drawn more by emphasizing the concept of councilism and in the thought of Seyed Qutb by emphasizing the survival of the concept of Jihad.
 
Materials & Methods
In this article, based on the theory of Thomas Spriggans, the study of four steps in situational analysis and providing a solution. Spriggans' model provides a specific framework to humanities researchers to answer four basic questions, which is also used in this article. Spriggans mentions four stages to understand political thought:
1- Observing and identifying problems
2- Analysis and search for the causes of the crisis
3- Ideal reconstruction of political society
4- Providing treatment
The application of the Spriggans method in this article allows us to gain a correct understanding of the views of these two figures in terms of content analysis, and to extract the views of Seyyed Qutb and Ayatollah Taleghani in the discussion of Islamic governance with Spriggans' four stages plan.
 
Discussion & Result
Ayatollah Taleghani's point of view in analyzing the situation of Muslims
Ayatollah Taleghani has raised several issues regarding the current situation in Iran and the most important issues in his lifetime: the issue of authoritarian rule and tyranny was one of the problems that Taleghani addressed, in Taleghani's opinion, one of the problems of Iranian society is tyranny. Religious and sectarian differences in Iran and the Islamic world and differences between intellectuals and religious people and clergy and different social classes is another issue that Ayatollah Taleghani pays special attention to in identifying and understanding the current situation of Muslims in Iran, and she believed that it leads to the loss of opportunities and opportunities. Taleghani considers the spread of new ideas such as Marxism and liberalism to be one of the fundamental problems of Iranian society, and by criticizing it, he tried to make the young generation aware of the deviations of these humanistic schools.
Pathology and cause of crisis in Islamic societies from the perspective of Ayatollah Taleghani
Ayatollah Taleghani points out three basic issues in the discussion of the pathology of Iranian society and the Islamic world; The first problem is the nation's ignorance of public duties and rights. The second problem is religious tyranny. According to Taleghani, one of the guardians of tyranny is the branch of religious tyranny. The work of this branch is to learn the contents and words of religion and decorate their appearance in a way that is interesting to the common people and deceive the people who are ignorant of the principles and foundations of religion and are not familiar with the call of the beloved prophets and make them obey them. The third issue is the religious, political and class differences by which the agents of tyranny maintain their power.
Theoretical reconstruction for the desirable and ideal Islamic society from the perspective of Ayatollah Taleghani
By studying the works of Ayatollah Taleghani in drawing a desirable and ideal society, we can point to four very important components in his thought:
1. The existence of divine traditions in the system of existence
2. Monotheistic political society
3. The image of desirable and undesirable political society in the Qur'an
4. Shuraism
Taleghani designs the basis of the administration of the Islamic society based on the Shura, and considers this system of Islamic Shura administration, which he gives reasons for it from the Quranic verses and the Prophet's life, to be superior to the existing democracy in the world, and considers it the cause of the growth of talents., the most shameless, the most stupid people are at the head. According to Taleghani, Shura is the main pillar of Islamic governance And the best way for the people to participate in government affairs is to observe the important Qur'anic and Islamic principle of Shura, which existed in the life of the Prophet and the pure Imams.
Ayatollah Taleghani's solutions for the transition from the current situation to the desired situation of the Islamic society
Ayatollah Taleghani believed that monotheism and its concept should flow in the body of the Islamic society and bring it from philosophical and theological discussions to the stage of society.
Ayatollah Taleghani emphasized the importance of education. Taleghani, in the guise of a scholar and qualified cleric, followed a project in which the issue of "education and training" is raised as a valuable and effective mission. He paid attention to extracting sources from religious texts that facilitate the human path to achieve perfection
Ayatollah Taleghani believed in organizational activities to achieve his goals, and during his lifetime, he strengthened this path by participating in the establishment of party and organizational meetings.
Sayyid Qutb's point of view in analyzing the situation of Muslims
Seyyed Qutb, one chapter of his book "The Future in the Realm of Islam" has discussed the state of the world today, a world that has mobilized civilization against humanity and instead of deriving its life plan from God, people's weavers have made themselves a life plan and fallen on the current path, a path that is doomed. One of Seyyed Qutb's innovations is the use of the word "Jahilit" about the state of the world today; From his point of view, the society of ignorance is any society that does not serve God alone. Then he concludes that by defining all the existing communities and governments, they are all Jahili communities In line with Sayyid Qutb's social discussions and expressing the characteristics of Jahili society, one of the important issues raised by Sayyid is the distance of the Islamic Ummah from the Qur'an.
Pathology and cause of crisis in Islamic societies from Seyyed Qutb's point of view
In his numerous books, Seyed Qutb tried to diagnose and explain the cause of crisis and backwardness in Islamic societies, and as a concerned thinker, he has expressed deep issues in this field from a political, social and cultural perspective. In his works, Qutb criticized modernity and its negative effects on Islamic societies. He believed that modernity has weakened Islamic values ​​and created identity crises in Islamic societies .he also emphasizes the need to criticize Western economic and social teachings and believes that Islamic principles should be used to create a comprehensive system.
Reconstruction of a desirable and ideal society from Seyyed Qutb's point of view
Sayyid Qutb believed that Islamic civilization should be revived. The purpose of the ideology of Islam is to create a possibility to preserve the honor and respect for all human beings, Islam has a goal and plan for the present and future of the human race and to restore its true value and honor, so that it can achieve a high position and a high rank and save it from ignorance and the life of the ignorant that has kept it in a stage of animal humiliation and lowliness. Seyed Qutb, as one of the pioneers of contemporary Islamic thought, proposed the concept of "pure Islam". He believed that Islam should be used as a comprehensive political, social and economic system
Seyyed Qutb's solutions for the transition from the current situation to the desired situation of the Islamic society
The necessity of jihad and resistance
At the end of the book "The Future in the Realm of Islam", Seyyed Qutb talks about the necessity of "continuous, difficult and risky jihad" for which Muslims must be equipped. For this jihad, he mentions only one necessary equipment: complete familiarity with the facts of Islam and learning the religion at a high level. The struggle and jihad that Seyyed Qutb puts forward to change the existing situation does not have a reform aspect in the specific sense of the word, but this struggle must transform societies before building a desirable Islamic society. Seyyed Qutb introduced the concept of "struggle" as a basic principle in the life of Muslims. He considers Islam's program in the struggle to include two parts: calling and enlightening to reform beliefs, as well as fighting against systems and dominions that are barriers to people's awareness. According to Sayyid Qutb An avant-garde group is needed to make the resurrection of Islamic countries a necessity, and after that sooner or later the world will come under the control of Islam.
 
Conclusion
In this article, one of the most key concepts of Islamic political thought, namely the concept of governance from the point of view of two contemporary thinkers, the late Ayatollah Taleghani and Seyyed Qutbmod, is a comparative study. Paying attention to these two thinkers is important from two aspects, and explaining their thoughts in opening the horizons and delineating the developments that have occurred in the Islamic world, especially Iran and Egypt, provides a new framework for reflection and analysis. Both thinkers were concerned with providing a way for the Islamic nation to escape from the current situation, and with religious and Quranic backgrounds, they attempted to diagnose and solve problems and provide a solution for the Islamic nation. Inspired by Thomas Spriggans' model of four steps of thinking, they proposed an introduction to the crisis, then a pathology and causes of the crisis, and in the third step, a proposal for a theory and a desired goal, and finally a solution and path from the current situation to the desired situation were stated, citing the works of the two thinkers. The focal point and focus of Ayatollah Taleghani's discussions in presenting the path is the issue of shuraism, but in Sayyid Qutb's view, the issue of jihad is a priority and this jihad should be carried out by the vanguard group to create culture. Therefore, Ayatollah Taleghani pays more attention to the masses of the people, while Sayyid Qutb follows the elitist view in the course of political and social developments.
Keywords

Subjects


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