Religious Transformation and Ideological Reconstruction: Ali Shariati’s Intellectual Project in Pre-Revolutionary Iran

Abstract

Abstract

Abstract Religious intellectualism emerged in twentieth-century Iran as a distinctive response to modernization, political authoritarianism, cultural dependency, and the search for new forms of collective identity. Among its most influential representatives was Ali Shariati, whose reinterpretation of Shi’i Islam sought to reconcile religious tradition with the intellectual, political, and social challenges of the modern world. Rather than treating Shariati primarily as an isolated intellectual figure, this article situates him within the broader sociological phenomenon of religious intellectualism that developed in pre-revolutionary Iran. Drawing upon Shariati’s writings together with historical and secondary sources, the article examines the social conditions that shaped his intellectual formation, the ideological assumptions that informed his reinterpretation of religion, and the methods through which he sought to transform religious symbols into resources for social mobilization and political action. Particular attention is given to the relationship between religion, identity formation, modernization, and ideological reconstruction, as well as to the trajectory of the religious-intellectual movement before and after the 1979 Iranian Revolution. The article argues that Shariati is best understood not simply as a religious reformer or a revolutionary ideologue, but as a religious intellectual whose work reflected broader attempts to reconstruct religious tradition under conditions of rapid social transformation. His significance therefore lies less in resolving theological questions than in demonstrating how religion may function simultaneously as a source of collective identity, moral legitimacy, and political mobilization. By situating Shariati within the wider sociology of religious intellectualism, the article contributes to understanding the interaction between religion, modernity, and ideological change in contemporary Middle Eastern societies.