Ali Shariati Quotes on Politics
Ali Shariati was an Iranian sociologist and Islamic political philosopher, trained at the Sorbonne under Louis Massignon and Jacques Berque, who became the most influential intellectual ancestor of the 1979 Iranian Revolution. This page collects quotes attributed to Ali Shariati on the topic of politics, drawn from across the philosopher's works.
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:
“The intellectual must descend from the academy to the street.”
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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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“Party ,' in the general vocabulary of world intellectuals, is basically a unified social organization with a ' world-view ,' an ' Ideology ,' a 'philosophy of history,' and 'ideal social order,' a 'class foundation,' a 'class orientation,' a 'social leadership,' a ' political philosophy ,' a 'political orientation,' a 'tradition,' a 'slogan,' a 'strategy,' a "tactic of struggle," and … a "hope" that wants to change the "status quo" in man, society, people, or a particular class, and establish the "desired status" in its stead.”
Ali Shariati, in: The Islamic Quarterly, Vol. 27-29, (1983), p. 215; as quoted in: Ali Mirsepassi (2000), Intellectual Discourse and the Politics of Modernization, p. 126. -
“Ali Shariati, in: The Islamic Quarterly, Vol. 27-29, (1983), p. 215; as quoted in: Ali Mirsepassi (2000), Intellectual Discourse and the Politics of Modernization, p. 126.”
Party ,' in the general vocabulary of world intellectuals, is basically a unified social organization with a ' world-view ,' an ' Ideology ,' a 'philosophy of history,' and 'ideal social order,' a 'class foundation,' a 'class orientation,' a 'social leadership,' a ' political philosophy ,' a 'political orientation,' a 'tradition,' a 'slogan,' a 'strategy,' a "tactic of struggle," and … a "hope" th -
“Quote in: Ali Rahnema An Islamic Utopian: A Political Biography of Ali Shariati. (2000), p. 258”
The sky was dark, the night was black, obscurity reigned, the gleam of the wolves eyes was the only light that came to sight, the howling of the jackal was the only sound to be heard, conspiracies were in the making while slanderers and the malicious were busily chattering -
“p. 49; as cited in: Ali Mirsepassi (2000) Intellectual Discourse and the Politics of Modernization, p. 126.”
Islam is the first school of social thought that recognizes the masses as the basis, the fundamental and conscious factor in determining history and society not the elect as Nietzsche thought, not the aristocracy and nobility as Plato claimed, nor great personalities as Carlyle and Emerson believed, not those of pure blood as Alexis Carrel imagined, not the priests or the intellectuals , but the m -
“In the world view of tauhid , man fears only one power, and is answerable before only one judge. He turns to only one qibla, and directs his hopes and desires to only one source. And the corollary is that all else is false and pointless all the diverse and variegated tendencies, strivings, fears, desires and hopes of man are vain and fruitless.”
p. 97; partly cited in: John L. Esposito (1996) Islam and Democracy. p. 25.