Ali Shariati Quotes on God
Ali Shariati, the Iranian Islamic political philosopher, developed a revolutionary understanding of God and religion, and the quotes gathered here present it. Shariati's central distinction, marked here as attributed, is between two religions that must never be confused: the religion of the oppressed and the religion of the oppressor. He invoked the God of the oppressed, and read the Islamic doctrine of tawhid, the oneness of God, not merely as metaphysics but as the political principle of human unity. He held that faith is a living movement rather than a fixed creed, and that each generation must rediscover its faith for itself or lose it. Shariati also tied genuine religious awareness to social responsibility. Drawn from Religion versus Religion and his lectures, these passages present God as the God of the oppressed and faith as a force for human liberation and unity.
Quotes
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Attributed to Ali Shariati:
“There is the religion of the oppressed, and there is the religion of the oppressor; do not mistake them for each other.”
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Attributed to Ali Shariati:
“Islam is a movement before it is a creed.”
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Attributed to Ali Shariati:
“Tawhid is not only metaphysics; it is the political principle of human unity.”
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Attributed to Ali Shariati:
“Each generation must rediscover its faith for itself, or lose it.”
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“The enlightened soul is a person who is self-conscious of his "human condition" in his time and historical and social setting, and whose awareness inevitably and necessarily gives him a sense of social responsibility.”
Where Shall We Begin,1997-2013 | p. 1; as cited in: Robert Deemer Lee, Overcoming tradition and modernity: the search for Islamic authenticity, (11997), p. 127. -
“In the tradition of Abudhar, who is my mentor, whose thought, whose understanding of Islam and Shi'ism, and whose ideals, wants, and rage I emulate, I begin my talk with the name of the God of the oppressed (mustad'afan). My topic is very specific.”
Where Shall We Begin,1997-2013 | p. 1 Lead sentence.