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In
Theocratic Secularism, author Naser Ghobadzadeh questions the religious logic used to legitimize the rule of the clergy in Iran. Ghobadzadeh argues that orthodox shi'ism considers the institution of government to be outside the realm of religion and religious leaders. Coining the term 'theocratic secularism', Ghobadzadeh ultimately argues for the re-instatement of a form of political secularism in Iran.
List of contents
- Introduction
- Part One: The Formative Period of Shi'ism
- Chapter 1: The Sorrowful Age of Presence
- Chapter 2: The Minor Occultation: Collaboration and Survival
- Chapter 3: The Age of Perplexity: From Moderate Shi'ism to Twelver shi'ism
- Chapter 4: The Major Occultation: The Ulama and Interaction with the Usurper
- Part Two: The Contingent Rise of Governmental-Shi'ism
- Chapter 5: The Political Germination of a Religious Doctrine
- Chapter 6: Wilayat-i faqih: The Elephant in the Room
- Chapter 7: The Creeping Entrance of the Idea of Wilayat-i faqih
- Chapter 8: The Genie is out of the Bottle
- Conclusion
- Bibliography
About the author
Naser Ghobadzadeh is a senior lecturer at the National School of Arts, Australian Catholic University. Naser's interests lie in the study of Islamic political theology, secularism, and Middle East politics. Ghobadzadeh holds a Ph.D. (University of Sydney, 2012) and an M.A. in Political Science (Shahid Beheshti University, Iran 2001). Ghobadzadeh has written three books including Religious secularity: a theological challenge to the Islamic state (2015), Caspian Sea: legal regime, neighbouring countries and US policies (2005 - in Farsi) and A study of people's divergence from ruling system (2002-in Farsi). He is also co-editor of The Politics of Islamism: Diverging Visions and Trajectories (2018).
Summary
For more than forty years, there has been a religious government in Iran that claims to be rooted in shi'i political theology. In this book, Naser Ghobadzadeh intends to show that this reading of shi'i political theology is a fundamental deviation from orthodox shi'ism.
The principle of theocracy is one of the most fundamental principles of the shi'i orthodox belief system, but its realization in practice depends on the return of the Twelfth Imam. Until that day, the institution of government and political leadership falls outside the scope of the authority of religious leaders. Naser Ghobadzadeh shows that governmental-shi'ism is less than half a century old and that its formation was not the product of a transformation in orthodox shi'i political theology. Rather, governmental-shi'ism was born in the political arena and has been able to survive because it profits from government resources.
Coining the term 'theocratic secularism', this book argues for the re-instatement of a form of political secularism in Iran.
Additional text
Ghobadzadeh has meticulously probed the history of Shiʼite tradition to underscore the idea that 'theocratic secularism' is embedded in the Twelver Shiʼi theology. The book traverses painstakingly through Iranian and Western sources to demonstrate that Islamic government is a modern construct, and it is inconceivable for it to exist legitimately during the occultation of the Twelfth Imam.
