Ali Shariati (1933–1977)

Este trabajo consta de dos partes que representan los puntos de vista de dos musulmanes iraní­es en Iqbal. Es un estudio interesante para aquellos interesados en diferentes perspectivas sobre Muhammad Iqbal y la influencia de su vida y trabajo en el mundo musulmán del siglo XX. -
This work is in two parts representing the views of two Iranian Muslims on Iqbal. It is an intriguing study for those interested in different perspectives on Muhammad Iqbal and the influence of his life and work on the 20th century Muslim world.… (meer)

I was introduced to Ali Shariati as a sociologist and intellectual of pre-revolutionary Iran. His impact was pervasive enough to produce Urdu translations of his work in Pakistan, so I was just curious to know how a sociologist could become as popular as Shariati was.
After reading this text, I am not sure I can answer that question, but what I can express is my utter disappointment with this text. This is a dull, basic reading of "Western" philosophy, and its dismissiveness should have been obvious to me by the title itself, but I was expecting something much more engaging. In one sentence, Shariati's issue with Marxism is its incapability to address the "mystic" and the "spiritual", and the reader is supposed to be convinced that these two elements are necessary for any society to function effectively -- actually, it is fruitless to disparage this text because it has the same arguments as any Islamist attempt at deconstructing "Western" ideologies: "too materialist", "where is the morality?", "our civilization is the best".
I am certainly not convinced that Shariati knew his history or his anthropology, and am deeply doubtful of his grasp of classical sociology.
This text can only be appreciated as a readable and perhaps as a more sincerely intellectual Islamist reading of Marxism and existentialism, so if you wish to write a thesis on Islamist readings of Marxism, this text is definitely a very good introduction.… (meer)