Strategic review of contemporary political narratives by Imam Mohammad Ghazali; Recommendations for Iran

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Assistant Professor of Political Science, Faculty of Law and Political Science, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad - Mashhad – Iran

2 PhD student in Political Science, Faculty of Law and Political Science, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad - Mashhad - Iran

Abstract
Islamic thought, caught in the straitjacket of tradition and modernity, has no choice but to critically reinterpret its own intellectual tradition. This reinterpretation is only possible through contemporary debates, and any reinterpretation of the past is used as a weapon in contemporary debates, redefining friend and foe. This article explains four strategic discourses: traditional, supra-traditional, modern, and postmodern, based on the level and scope of application, approach, and nature of the debate. Contemporary reinterpretations of Ghazali's thought, which have been identified in five groups: neo-Christian, neo-Peripatetic, neo-Ash'arite, neo-Mu'tazilite, and neo-Khosrowani, are evaluated against the strategic discourses. In each group, important thinkers and the main sources of readings of Ghazali are introduced, and the underlying points of their reinterpretations are discussed. Each group tries to attribute Ghazali's creativity in the context of Islamic intellectual currents to its own tradition and the decline of philosophical thought after him to Ghazali's influence by the views of the enemy.

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Volume 18, Issue 4 - Serial Number 72
No.72
Autumn 2023
Pages 7-34

  • Receive Date 27 February 2024
  • Revise Date 01 May 2024
  • Accept Date 14 May 2024