Why this book?
- This book presents a coherent picture of the foundations of Allameh Tabatabai's political thought.
- This work addresses the relationship between Sharia, reason, ethics, and government in Allameh's thought.
- The book examines Allameh's view on freedom, justice, and religious despotism.
- This research is useful for those interested in Islamic political philosophy and the social interpretation of the Quran.
About the book
"Political Reflections of Allameh Tabatabai," written by Mohammad Soroush Mahallati, is an attempt to illuminate the less-examined dimensions of Allameh Seyyed Mohammad Hossein Tabatabai's political thought. In this work, the author delves into topics that, within Allameh's exegetical and philosophical works, have provided important grounds for discussing politics, government, and society.
In various chapters, the book addresses topics such as the philosophy of government, justice, the relationship between jurisprudence and ethics, the domain of religion, religious despotism, freedom, the implementation of Sharia, and the relationship between revelation and opinion. In this analysis, Allameh considers a government desirable that is connected with human rights, reason, and the moral education of society.
Among the central points of the book is the examination of Allameh's view on the role of the people in government, his critique of religious despotism, and his emphasis on the place of ethics in a religious society. Soroush Mahallati also shows that Allameh presented noteworthy and distinct views on certain political issues, including the relationship between religion and government and the concept of freedom.
This book is worth reading for researchers of Islamic political thought, those interested in Allameh Tabatabai, and anyone interested in the relationship between religion, politics, and society in the contemporary Islamic world.
Instead of starting the discussion from a narration about who the ruler is, Allameh uses Quranic verses such as "As for the thief, both male and female, cut off their hands" to argue that the establishment of religion is the responsibility of "all the people." He says: On this basis, when people intervene in the affairs of government, they are intervening in "their own affairs," and no one has the right to stop them. Allameh's even more striking interpretation is that, from Islam's perspective, the executive power is not exclusive to one group; rather, all Muslims constitute the executive power... With this view, does any room remain for the concentration of power and the corruptions arising from it? This view is the product of paying attention to the Quran, and on this basis, Allameh diagnoses the pathology of the religious community and sees the cause of decline in moral collapse, not in jurisprudential collapse!
From the table of contents
- 1The Philosophy of Government
- 2The Value of Justice
- 3Allameh's Distinct View on the Relationship Between Jurisprudence and Ethics
- 4The Domain of Religion
- 5Religious Despotism from the Viewpoint of Allameh Tabatabai
- 6Allameh Tabatabai's Confrontation with Despotism
- 7Government and the Implementation of Sharia
- 8The Free-Thinking of Allameh Tabatabai
- 9The Theory of the Separation of Revelation and Opinion
- 10Allameh's Legacy for Our Today
- 11Allameh and the Theory of the Primacy of Education over Politics