Islamic Political Thought

Political rights are one of the achievements of modernity that emerged in the realm of Iranian political thought concurrently with the Constitutional Movement and have been recognized as one of the components of the modern state in Iran through an evolutionary process. This article examines the historical and intellectual contexts of Iranians' confrontation with the issue of political rights on the threshold of modernity. The main question is why and under the influence of what factors were modern political rights proposed in the Iranian-Islamic tradition as a suitable strategy for transition from traditional order to the modern one. This research, utilizing Alasdair MacIntyre's perspective and referring to the documents and writings of the Constitutional Revolution era, descriptively and analytically explains the transition of the Islamic intellectual tradition based on the people's political rights. The article argues that on the threshold of constitutionalism, a combination of intertwined political crises (despotism and dominance of Western powers) and economic crises (poverty and societal backwardness), alongside the Iranian people's familiarity with new political concepts and institutions, resulted in epistemological crisis of the tradition, thereby facilitating the transition to a new political order. Indeed, the acceptance of the rights and political freedoms, and the establishment of a new political order grounded in these principles, has been regarded as an idea to overcome the epistemological crisis of the Islamic tradition, particularly in the absence of a local alternative or the inability to realize one.

One of the key issues in international relations is the emergence of a new global order and the gradual transformation of power structures from a unipolar-multipolar system to a multipolar system. This significant and fundamental shift has driven national and transnational actors, particularly those dissatisfied with the status quo, to actively participate in this process and strive to become influential discourses and active players in the new international system.This article seeks to elucidate the ideal international system from the perspective of Ayatollah Khamenei's resistance discourse and to present his strategies and approaches for achieving the envisioned outcomes in the second phase of the Islamic Revolution. From his perspective, the ideal international system is based on a just global order, democracy, and mutual cooperation, pursuing objectives such as ensuring security, peace, and the prosperity of nations.This system, in particular, emphasizes the principles of dignity, wisdom, and expediency, the authenticity of identity, and the independence of nations. It seeks to fulfill human rights and the rights of nations, achieve unity, and uphold spiritual and divine values.The key endogenous strategies of the resistance discourse include the establishment of a model system, the explanation and teaching of resistance knowledge aligned with human nature, and the implementation of the resistance model in new geographical regions while considering the cultural and indigenous conditions of those areas.Additionally, the exogenous strategies involve strengthening the connections between various centers of resistance and establishing a comprehensive, coordinated system to supervise, guide, and lead all resistance fronts.

Can we conceptualize resistance in theories of International Relations? Are there theories which directly or indirectly refer to resistance against the dominant international system and guide the oppressed how to resist and revolt against the oppressors? Regarding this question, it seems that there are some reflectivist theories that have the capacity to conceptualize resistance implicitly or explicitly, namely Gramscianism, Poststructuralism and Postcolonialism. Gramscianism teaches us that the only way to challenge the hegemonic position of the ruling class is a counter-hegemonic struggle in civil society. Poststructuralism emphasizes using ‘genealogy’ and ‘deconstruction’ methods to discredit such dichotomies as the developed and the underdeveloped, the modern and the pre-modern, the civilized and the barbaric, which the dominant discourse makes us take as given and natural; and Postcolonialism utilizes ‘hybridity’ as a sign of the agency of the colonized and their ability to resist domination. This article aims to investigate how these theoretical approaches help us defy the domination and subordination hierarchy in global system and open up alternative ways to understand world politics.

The United States has historically aimed to establish power and dominance within the global multipolar system. Following the fall of the Soviet Union, it emerged as the new unipolar hegemon and sought to prevent the rise of rival superpowers by leading the hegemonic system. Consequently, limiting the emergence of new powers became a fundamental aspect of U.S. foreign policy, guided by a realist approach in its national security documents. In this context, addressing the promotion and export of the Islamic Revolution—an ideological and liberating movement that conflicts with the interests of the hegemonic system—became a priority. To counter the Islamic Revolution gaining power , the U.S.-led hegemonic system devised and executed strategies across nine areas: political, economic, cross-border, social, cultural, spatial, territorial, military, and science and technology. During this process, various complex methods were employed, including "influence" tactics, building a global consensus against the Islamic Revolution, and fostering sentiments such as Islamophobia and terrorism. This research aims to analyze these strategies descriptively within the theoretical frameworks of Patrick Callahan's " Theories of America's World Role " and Joseph Nye's "Future of Power."

This study explores the capacities of practical theology in the foreign policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The significance of this topic lies in the potential of practical theology to offer a novel framework for understanding and implementing Iran's foreign policy. The main question of the article is: What are the capacities of practical theology in the foreign policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran? The research follows a descriptive-analytical approach, and data have been collected through library research and expert interviews. The research process includes examining the concepts of practical theology and foreign policy, analyzing expert perspectives, and identifying the capacities of practical theology in three main areas: shaping national identity and interests, guiding foreign policy behavior, and offering a new definition of the international order. The article’s main contribution is presenting a new perspective on integrating practical theology with foreign policy, which could enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of Iran’s foreign policy while also providing a basis for more active Iranian engagement in shaping the future global order

This paper addresses the contemporary crisis of Islam in relation to the use of social media, aiming to study the religious and doctrinal concepts disseminated across several Islamic websites. The objective is to identify the most prominent electronic networks contributing to the process of Islamic preaching and guidance, and to highlight the concepts, beliefs, and jurisprudential rulings they offer. Furthermore, the paper examines the extent to which these contents align with the core values of Islam, as well as their impact on audiences and followers. It also explores the challenges associated with utilizing these platforms to spread the Islamic message. The research on this topic required the use of various methodologies, such as the historical and descriptive approaches. Additionally, the comparative method was employed to present examples of moderate Islamic websites and to compare jurisprudential rulings with other Islamic sources in the case study. This study revealed numerous controversial issues presented by Islamic websites, based on various sources related to the Prophet’s traditions and the accounts of the Companions. These issues represent one of the main causes of the contemporary crisis in Islam, which is the focus of this study. the adoption of extreme religious discourse promoted by these websites, along with the vilification of Islamic websites that may differ in some rulings, perspectives, and religious jurisprudence, leads to a deviation from the goal toward which humanity should be heading—establishing a tolerant divine message.