AYATOLLAH MORTEZA MOTAHARI, DR. ABDOL-KARIM SOROUSH, AND THE DEBATE ON ISLAMIC DEMOCRACY

Abstract

The ideological and social changes of the past hundred years and the introduction of a secular religion combating the traditions started a big portion of modernistic endeavours in Iran. It was not only seen in the field of ideas and ideologies, but also in the policies of the governments which prioritized the modernization process in Iran. The result has been so far the creation of numerous modernist ideologies in Iran. With regard to their distance from established traditions, we can categorize these ideologies into several distinctive groups. One such group is the, religiously driven, Islamic thinkers who are further divided into traditionalists, reformists and modernists.  In this essay, the aim is to consider two Islamic thinkers; Ayatollah Mutahhari representing the reformists and Dr Soroush affiliated with the modernists on their views about democracy. We will try to answer the critical question of compatibility of Islam with democracy and find the relationship between Islam and democratic practice.