Reflections on the significance of Taleghani’s Social Theory

By: Seyed Javad Meynagh

After 50 years of living under the boot and heel of imperialism, we have no other purpose than achieving freedom.

Abstract

The question of religious intellectual tradition with the birth of Religious Paradigm in 1979 has got a completely different turn by transforming the question of religious discourses as disparate individual aspirations into a historical reality at a global level. Pondering upon the significance of the Religious Revolution of 1979 in relation to major key problems such as God, Man, Society, History, Ideology, Civilization, Culture, Morality, Humanity, Human Destiny, Religion, State, and so on has traditionally been part and parcel of Social Theory or Sociological Theories. But what we conventionally consider as the Tradition of Social Theory is mainly erected upon the mythos as well as logos and ethos/pathos of The Enlightenment Tradition which, in its best, is indifferent to other revolutionary paradigms in the history or, at worst, adversarial towards the others as it views them as competing discourses as well as inimical to its epistemic supremacy. Having these concerns in mind we have proposed a renewed approach to the Classics of Religious Revolution of 1979, which would enable us to estimate the importance, shortcomings, possibilities, challenges as well as vistas available at our disposal in encountering the key questions of humanity and its destiny intellectually at a global stage. In this brief essay we have looked at Taleghani’s discourse as a paragonic example in relation to certain sociological questions.

Introduction

There have been great many debates, discussions, books, articles, seminars, conferences on the importance of Religious Revolution in Iran in 1979 both locally, regionally and globally but there has been very little indeed about the intellectuals, thinkers, writers, theoreticians, theorists and ideologues in relation to social theory as an intellectual craft. In other words, there have been more than 30 years now since the Revolution has been established and even more than 6 decades of intellectual renaissance in Iran but we have not seen any major textbooks in English, German, French, or Spanish and Italian where we can find a systematic information about the classics of this modern revolution as we learn, after 200 years, of the classics of French Revolution – and how they shaped the tradition of secular social theory- and this itself is a sociological fact which requires a different study. It is very unsociological to ignore such a rich tradition which resulted in a revolution at the global stage and keep silent about the pens which fed the backbones of these movements of hearts and minds about 30 years ago. In order to rectify this lack of research within the parameters of social theory I have attempted to focus partially on one of the grand architects of Revolution, namely Ayatullah Seyyed Mahmud Taleghani (1911-1979) who is not only of great significance for students of social theory as he represents a different view on human nature, society, religion, God, civilization, government, freedom, emancipation and history but more importantly he stands for a worldview which the success of the Revolution truly impends on its incessant renewal within the system (internally) and Islamic world (civilizationally) and the world (as a human family), namely justice and freedom. In this essay Taleghani is not only important for us as a Muslim thinker who achieved a great deal during the revolution but he is more significant for us as an intellectual whose vista could be of revolutionary character for an intercivilizational understanding of social theory which is one of the most dire questions of our time. The absence of his contribution to the global social theory is reprehensible but more regrettable is how Iranian, in particular, and Muslim intellectuals, in general, have fared vis-à-vis Taleghani as a thinker of world significance. It is deeply regrettable to see students of humanities in Muslim countries read about social theory, social sciences and sociology but they never come across views presented by Taleghani and at the same time those who have managerial power within the society lament the lack of religious understanding among us and the rapid progress of mental secularization among the general population. Just a cursory look at the work of Taleghani would show to us that what we call religious understanding is not but the result of ‘Agahi’ (awareness) and that could not be brought about by either force or imitation. If the professors, teachers, researchers, and all of those who are in some ways involved with social sciences and humanities shy away from 1) systematizing 2) classifying 3) representing 4) explaining and 5) criticizing the discourse represented by Taleghani and his likes within the parameters of social theory at the universities and seats of higher learning then how would we expect the youth would become when the fruits of Agahi is planted in other soils, namely starting the history of sociology or social theory by A. Comte via Max Weber and end either in Giddens or Habermas and at the same time scream on top of our voice that the notions of freedom and democracy represented by England or Germany are western and not relevant for us. Of course their notions are western and if they were not that would have been a great problem which needed explanation. On the other hand, what is problematic here is our approach to these universal notions, which, either are forgotten or represented in an unfruitful manner. Why is that so? The obvious reason is that we don’t pay attention to our own history and those who have made our histories. I don’t argue that we should not read Giddens or Bourdieu but we should start where people like Taleghani stopped and along the way colonize other traditions for the constitution of our own ideals. We should be able to distinguish between the personality of Taleghani as a political activist and an intellectual, which is of significance for social theory. The former aspect could be read by anyone in biographical treatises but the latter should be claimed within the body of sociological knowledge as we can see the same process in other traditions in relation to the classics. For instance, Durkheim within the liberal tradition of sociology was not a pure scientist without any political interests. On the contrary he was very much involved in politics and even his social theory was constructed in a manner to further his political ambitions as he was a citizen who believed in ideals within his frame of reference. The same could be applied to Giddens, Habermas, Marx, Weber, Sorokin, Mills, Keynes, Wallerstein, and A. Gunder Frank and so on and so forth. But the systematizers of knowledge or normal scientists who came after these great thinkers don’t repudiate them on political bases but colonize them within the larger body of social theory paradigm as this is one of the most constructive approaches to the question of intellectual maturity. The current perplexities which we have among ourselves about the essential characters of key socio-economic-political concepts are only reflections of our negligence towards our intellectual genealogies and where the tasks have been left. To approach Taleghani is of another importance in our tumultuous time when Islam is represented as an irrational other at the global stage and some knowingly or unknowingly attempting to fuel this and those who benefit from clashes between traditions, religions, cultures, people and classes spread this irrational picture of Islam and all that has a ring of Islamicity. Under these circumstances a man like Taleghani occupies a very remarkable position and it would be great if we could reformulate his ideas within the parameters of social theory which is understood by the heirs of the Enlightenment Tradition as the peak of modern rationality. In other words, by being able to present a social theoretical picture of Taleghani we are not only doing an intellectual task but bridging between traditions, cultures of intellectualisms, civilizations and even religions.

Biographical Notes

Ayatollah Mahmoud Taleghani (1911-1979) was an Iranian theologian, Muslim reformer, a senior Shia cleric of Iran and an innovative intellectual. He was born in the town of Taleqan in the Alborz mountains. In Iran he was known for his innovative theological views and incessant political struggle during Pahlavi Dynasty. In addition he was appreciated as one of the most socio-politically conscious theologians who established a new school of hermeneutics in relation to the text which came to bear fruits years later when Iranian intellectuals became more familiar with hermeneutical debates in Europe and America during 80s and 90s. Even in this way he was 50 years ahead than his time and contemporaries in Iran and Muslim World in general. Here I am not about to give a biographical account of his life as this is beside the main purpose of this brief essay but what is really fascinating in Taleghani’s biography is the spirit of his philosophy or the way he expressed what he firmly stood for. A man can stand for grand many beautiful things but represent them in a very ugly manner and he may not realize how detrimental he is going about and the damages he may cause in the name of lofty ideals against the very ideals he truly believes in and holds dear. In Taleghani’s biography one can discern a man who understands aesthetics as much as he cherishes steadfastness vis-à-vis injustice and despotism. Even in the middle of fights and struggles which one could easily forget the beauty of ethics and morality we can see the man above the fights and profanity. I guess it was not without reason that he could attract many people from all strata of life and unanimously win their trust by being called ‘Father’ even by his most fierce adversaries as they all discerned in him a man who did not fight for anything profane but what the struggle should lead to, namely freedom, justice, emancipation and beauty as well as truth. This biographical aspect of Father Taleghani is as much as important as his insightful views on God, Man, History, Government, Economics, Religion and Politics. Fortunately or unfortunately he did not construct his views within the peaceful context of academia or research centre as it is customary nowadays for intellectuals and philosophers around the globe. On the contrary, most of his productive years did coincide with the same years when either he was in prison or in the heat of battles. But again, the humane nature of his thought strikes one when one discerns the immense compassion within his discourses and compels us to believe that the cornerstone of his philosophy or what he considers as the only valid point of departure for any social theory is to be compassionate. The spirit of Taleghani’s social theory is amazingly emancipative in the most authentic sense of the term emancipation. It sets you free when dealing with modernity by distinguishing ‘the spirit of human innovation’ (existent in European spirit) from dogmatism as well as imperialism-cum-colonialism while approaching the religious tradition of Islam in the true spirit of ‘Tavil’- that is to say while cherishing the shell he does not act oblivious to the spirit of religion, namely Human Being. If he was sitting in Paris or New York in 90s or today and speaking in this spirit it would not be very surprising but this is the voice of a man who spoke 50 years ago in Iran where the reactionary forces of Despotism from within and masked Colonialism from without brought the ancient cradle of civilization into her knees. The biography of Father Taleghani is as interesting as his ideas are significant for anybody who is truly interested in classics of social theory within a global paradigm.

Classics and Revolution

There is an intimate connection between great social changes and the birth of classics in humanities and cultural sciences and any paradigms of significance within intellectual activities. The modern Western secular classics are more or less a consequence of French Revolution and this revolution was the harbinger of a new world order based on a particular worldview. The Religious Revolution of 1979 in Iran is a unique sea-change within, not only Iran (or even the region and only among Muslim Communities across the globe) but, as a world-shaking reality in the strongest sense of history. This revolution with all its particularity has a very general characteristic and that is emblematic of all unique historical events and that is its paradigmatic fashion which is not realized by many who live within its vicinity and only understood by those who are either geographically distant or historically distant and with the elites who have a sense of ‘historical transformation’. These elites when use words to describe the ebbs and flows, which are about to come and the changes which are incumbent upon the 1) nation, 2) community, 3) region, 4) globe, and 5) humanity do constitute the backbones of classicality as they are conscious part of what is taking place amidst us. Most of contemporary studies of Religious Revolution of 1979 are either consciously aimed to cover this global significance of this historical episode or don’t understand this event in its transformational fashion as they use either French Revolution as the prime paradigm and through the classics of that revolution attempt to formulate this revolution and its future path or are simply oblivious to the uniqueness of this new world order and its unfolding worldview. Now the burden of the question is not upon those who are either adversaries or ignorant about the significance of this historical episode but the problem is why we have not captured what has been depicted by classics of the religious revolution which took place in 1979 in Iran. The main problem is why we have not been able to systematize what was captured and expressed in full by pioneers of the revolution in a very comprehensible intellectual manner. Once we are able to classify and represent the views, ideals, goals, aims, strategies, aspirations and the meanings of the revolution as they appeared in the Classics of Religious Revolution – and not the classics of France, Germany, England or even America- then we may be able to estimate the weight of our heritage within the history of humanity in a larger time-span than what we are used to now. In this sense we consider Father Taleghani as a classics as he was not only fighting a political regime but he was conscious about the significance of the historical event which was about to come and he could sense the global consequences of this revolution. He did not view the history of Iran as an internal issue but envisaged it as part of world history and in the midst of revolutionary movements he spoke of a ‘responsibility’ (Masoliyet) that

… the history of the world has endowed upon us. I hope God would assist us to carry this historical responsibility by succeeding in an honorable manner. (Taleghani, 1979. p 51)

This very term, namely historical responsibility is not how one understands the concepts a) history and b) responsibility within the paradigm of classics of secular modernity of French Paradigm but it has a very clear genealogical antecedent, which we need to discover. I only demonstrate this in a very sketchy fashion as this should be a project to re-excavate our true classics which gave birth to the Religious Revolution of 1979. In a speech given at the eve of Fortieth of Imam Hossein in 1979 Father Taleghani spoke of the global significance of Islamic Revolution by arguing that

… Islamic Revolution of Iran is going to transform the world order … . (1979. p 33)

But very quickly and equivocally he lays bare the genealogical background of this revolution by saying that

… we are the heirs of the School of Hossein. (1979. p 33)

For those who have become deafened by the rhetorical uses of these key terms it may not be very obvious what Father Taleghani meant by we are the heirs of the School of Hossein and how is this school connected to the world history and its future course? These are questions which are not obvious if we are not familiar with his frame of reference which is deeply connected to issues of society, God, nature, human self, justice, religion, ideals, history and awareness. To delineate each of these paradigmatic concepts within the classical parameters of Father Taleghani is beyond the scope of this brief essay but it is a task which has not only intellectual merit but it is of vital significance for all religious thinkers of contemporary era as this revolution is not only confined to the historical Islam or the history of Iran but the destiny of spirituality is incumbent upon how we manage to institutionalize the message of the ‘Irfan Tradition a la Enlightenment tradition. I call the main message of 1979 revolution ‘Irfan in relation to the French Revolution which was called Enlightenment Tradition as the main body of classics of 1979 saw the future of humanity deeply connected to the realization of ‘Irfan (but not in the sense of Sufism and Orders). On the contrary, what they all had in mind was the question of ‘Agahi’ and conscious approach to the Ultimate Reality individually and finally a collective attempt to work for a just society based on spiritual values that would gradually further the realization of human potentials.

The Project of Taleghani

Any thinker has a grand project which has defined concepts with various key problematiques and in this sense Father Taleghani is no exception. In other words, he was always concerned with few grand questions and defined his intellectual activities within his society in reference to those imperative problems. He himself states that

… I have always attempted to familiarize the youth with the source of religion, origin of religion, primary principle of religion, Koran, Prophetic Tradition, Imamate Tradition and Islamic Society based on Justice. This is the most important question. Until our society is not familiarized with these sources … we look like dormant agents. (1979, p 35)

But what is the most important question for him when he speaks of these sources as we know that these sources were available to everyone and many were teaching these issues too. In other words, what makes his approach any different than the others? There are two questions which make his approach different than many unclassic thinkers; the first one is the question of awareness or Agahi and the second one is the significance of consciousness in the erection of just society. In other words, Taleghani believes that once we are consciously familiarized with the sources of religion and able to remove the superstitious webs of any kinds then we should ask

… what are the main goals of Islam? … what kind of society is intended to be realized by Islam? … what kind of Man is intended to be actualized by Islam? (1979. p 35)

These are essential dimensions of his social theory and one should add two further substantial aspects to the system he proposed and worked for during his lifetime. One is the question of emancipation or freedom and the other is justice-cum-qest. In other words, his social theory would not be complete without these two key concepts which are of great significance for his understanding of human self, human society and the revolution.

Taleghani and Freedom

In his view, above everything else, even above the questions of Justice and Qest the Prophets brought up the question of human freedom. (1979. p 40) It is a grave mistake to

… consider human being as an economic being. (1979. p 41)

Man based on his instinct is

… free and aspires for freedom. If the main question was to have food and shelter then the birds which are in cage would be better off to stay in cage as they have easy access to food and safe shelter. But even for birds we see that the food and shelter are not enough to keep them pleased in the cage. All the time they attempt to find away to escape from the metal-walls of their cage. As you see even animals desire freedom. A cat, for instance, which is hungry when you put a piece of meat before it all the time looks around lest you catch him or in any way deprive him from movements. If you do so it will leave the meat and start hitting itself here and there until it finds away out. Imagine you invite someone to your house for a meal but at the same time you insult him. Do you think he will eat the meal you made for him? It is wrong to consider Man as a homo economicus. (1979. p 41)

In Taleghani’s view the main reasons for the previous revolutions around the globe was to have freedom which would even ensure the economic justice. But after a short while

… economic question overshadowed the question of Freedom … and within the Capitalist system the ruling classes through economic power deprived people from Freedom … . (1979. p 42)

Taleghani and Justice

Above he argues that within the Capitalist system people have been deprived from exercising their freedom by being manipulated in the hands of ruling elites. This may sound anathematic by liberal or secular thinkers as they may argue that the only system which ensure at this historical juncture the best for humanity is the liberal system of politics and capitalist system of economy. Regardless of what the modernist thinkers may argue about the sanctity of their systems both politically and economically the main question here is in what sense Father Taleghani thinks this system is ‘inadequate’ or ‘counter-productive’ for the growth of human self as well as the human society.

Father Taleghani uses two terms in discussing issues related to the social justice. One is the term ‘Adl which could be freely translated as ‘Justice’ and the other is ‘Qest’ which may not be translated as Justice alone. Although it may have the necessary elements of justice, just, adequacy and so on but it is not confined to these dimensions alone. For instance, the Laotsian term of Tao may be translated as ‘Heaven’, Sky’, ‘Way’ but it is not only confined to these terms as it has a very paradigmatic meaning within the Chinese Cosmology. I think Taleghani had a more profound question in mind whenever he used the term ‘Qest’ in relation to both society and man as well as in criticizing the shortcomings of both Communism-Socialism as well as Capitalism.

In his view the question of Qest is not confined to the fair and just distribution of goods within the social system. On the contrary, the fair economic system is just when and only when it is an expression of the Qest which means

… each person with his/her particular features, characteristics, talents and abilities will find the right/adequate place within this planetary context and be able to enjoy the divine bounties in realizing the wonderful possibilities …. Which each of us is potentially capable of … . Once we are able to tune our individual and collective faculties and systems into such a cosmological sense of justice then we can see that we have Qest and that means we have been able to internalize the cosmic harmony in our society, self, history and so on. (1979. p 37)

In other words, what he considers as Cosmic Justice is another term for the Divine Order which we can discern in all the cosmos. But there is a huge difference between the human world and non-human world and that very essential difference conditions the very idea of cosmic justice within the paradigm of human existence. It is correct to say that we need social justice and it is again accurate to argue that this social justice needs to be recast in the light of the position of human being within the larger context of reality but it would be incorrect to assume that these could be brought about without any sense of consciousness or Agahi in its highest form, which, for Taleghani, is incumbent upon

… cleansing of human societies from any kinds of polytheism, antagonism … and even more importantly we need to cleanse our mind, soul and whole existence from all kinds of distortions, which chain us down … (1979. p 38)

What is the frame of reference which Taleghani thinks all our endeavors should be inspired by? Before answering this final question it would be more appropriate to ask what is Man for him and if this human being has any ideal or aspirations?

In Taleghani’s view what we call humanity, human self or human being is not only related to the corporeal sense of being. On the contrary, he envisages for humanity three main aspects: 1) Intellect, 2) Reason, and 3) Aim. Once man is able to use his abilities in a right fashion the aim of humanity is solidarity/unity, peace and cordial togetherness (and not only mechanic association). (Taleghani, 1964. p 13) The anthropology of Taleghani is only perfectly understood when we realize that the entire project is hinged upon Unicity or Tawhid as it is understood mainly by Muslim intellectuals. In other words, the answer to the above-mentioned question is Unicity, namely the frame of reference through which Taleghani appreciates ‘transformation and perfection of human existence’ (1964. p 11) is Tawhid. How is this related to the idea of Islamic Revolution of 1979 and in what sense the idea of classicality is connected to Taleghani’s social theory in particular and sociology in general are questions which will be addressed in the upcoming essay of mine. But to conclude one should emphasize that what makes him distinguished both from other Muslim thinkers and contemporary religithitousthinkers or even present intellectuals is the spirit he embodies, namely the emancipative spirit which endows a peculiar flavor to any topics he touches upon. The religion he represents is not the religion of letters and sanctity of the past but the religion of spirituch endows a which itself is the result of human consciousness and at the service of human existence. In other words, all the essentials of religion are unworthy if the man is not conscious and free because the bottom-line of all divine messages is to set him free so Man can ‘stand up’ (Qiyam) for Qest (Harmonic Justice). (1979. p 36) For it will not be Qiyam if it is not conscious and chosen freely and it will not lead to Qest if the move is deprived of these two essential components, which, ultimately would mean the society we live in is not a just society but an unjust social order. The fact that it is an unjust social order is not only of political significance but of great eschatological importance too as any unjust society deprives us from realizing the best wonderful possibilities within us individually and collectively. In other words, the lack of integral approach to politics and social order are secondary issues when one realizes that in Taleghani’s view the gravest problem is when man is deprived of freedom and choice. As long as others decide for you tacitly or otherwise we are living in an unjust society and when we live in such a society the most important aspect of our religiosity is suspended as well. What is the most essential aspect of religion? The idea of Unicity is what gives meaning to all our endeavors and struggles. Once that is not in place it is like drawing a triangle without an angle!

References

Taleghani, Seyyed Mahmud. Ghrorbaniyan-e Rah-e Haq. 1964.

Taleghani, Seyyed Mahmud. Jihad and Shahadat: Islamic Revolution of Iran. 1979.

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