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Moḥammad Mojtahed Šabestari: the Search for New Modes of Being Muslim Has Been Approved for the Department of Religious Studies

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Moḥammad Mojtahed Šabestari: the Search for New Modes of Being Muslim Has Been Approved for the Department of Religious Studies Moḥammad Mojtahed Šabestari: The Search For New Modes of Being Muslim by SAMAN FAZELI B.A., Sharif University of Technology, 2013 M.A., University of Tehran, 2016 A thesis submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the University of Colorado in partial fulfillment Of the requirement for the degree of Master of Religious Studies Department of Religious Studies 2019 This thesis entitled: Moḥammad Mojtahed Šabestari: The Search for New Modes of Being Muslim has been approved for the Department of Religious Studies Aun Hasan Ali Deborah Whitehead Alireza Doostdar Date The final copy of this thesis has been examined by the signatories, and we find that both the content and the form meet acceptable presentation standards of scholarly work in the above mentioned discipline. Fazeli, Saman (M.A., Religious Studies) Moḥammad Mojtahed Šabestari: The Search for New Modes of Being Muslim Thesis directed by Assistant Professor Aun Hasan Ali This thesis is a reflection on the works of Moḥammad Mojtahed Šabestari. The aim of this study is to discuss how Mojtahed Šabestari’s ideas expand the horizons of being Muslim. This thesis specifically concerns one of Šabestari’s major ideas The Prophetic Reading of the World (Qerāʾat-e Nabavi Az Jahān). In his theory, Mojtahed Šabestari tries to understand the Quran free from all metaphysical presuppositions, as the speech of the Prophet. In the first chapter, I examine Šabestari’s relationship to philosophical hermeneutics and how Western philosophy becomes a way to rethink the concept of revelation among Muslims. The second chapter examines the evolution of Mojtahed Šabestari’s thought throughout his works. It aims to show how deeply Šabestari’s ideas are rooted in the Islamic tradition, despite influences from the West. The third chapter discusses the significance of new forms of mysticism in contemporary Iran and how these forms of mysticism construct the significance of Šabestari’s thought. Finally, in the conclusion, I address the significance of the concept of ambiguity in tradition and how Šabestari’s notion of ambiguity stands against Fundamentalism of the state and modernity. iii Acknowledgements I would first like to thank my advisor and friend, Dr. Aun Hasan Ali, whose teachings, knowledge, and kindness showed me the way. Without his help, I would not have proceeded in writing this thesis. I thank Dr. Deborah Whitehead, in whose seminars the idea of this thesis started to shape. I thank Dr. David Shneer, whose example as a scholar and a human being gives me hope to proceed. I thank Dr. Alireza Doostdar for all his insightful suggestions. Most of all I thank my wife Hasti, for whom I have no words to express my gratitude, and my mother, father, and sister whose kindness is beyond imagination. iv Table of Contents Introduction 1 Chapter 1 - Mojtahed Šabestari, Vaḥy, and the Western Tradition 10 Vaḥy in Modern Iran 10 Montaẓeri’s Treatment of Vaḥy 11 Ṭabāṭabāyi’s Treatment of Vaḥy 13 Soruš’s Treatment of Vaḥy 15 Mojtahed Šabestari’s Conception of Vaḥy 17 God and the Concept of Language 17 God’s Omnipotence versus Human Language 19 The Quran: The Prophet’s Narrative of the World 21 The Hermeneutical Constitution of Vaḥy 22 Mojtahed Šabestari and New Modes of Being Muslim 26 Chapter 2 - “Westoxication,” Islamic Tradition, and the Evolution of Mojtahed Šabestari’s Thought 29 Revolutionary Fervor: the 1960s to the 1980s 29 A Rebirth: 1990s 34 The Existential Turn 40 Mojtahed Šabestari Between Traditions 46 The Last Stage: 2000s 46 Nāṣer Ḵosrow and Vaḥy 48 “Westoxication” and the Islamic Tradition 50 Chapter 3 - Mojtahed Šabestari, Vaḥy, and New Mysticism 52 New Mysticism in Iran 53 New Mysticism and Metaphysical Religion 56 New Mysticism and Nature Religions 58 New Mysticism and Persian Literature 61 The Lover 62 v Mojtahed Šabestari and New Mysticism 64 Religious Experience 66 Mojtahed Šabestari as the Archetypal Lover 69 Mojtahed Šabestari as the Sage of New Mysticism 75 Conclusion 78 Bibliography 87 vi Introduction This thesis is a reflection on the works of the contemporary Iranian philosopher Moḥammad Mojtahed Šabestari (b. 1936).1 Šabestari received a complete traditional education in the seminary of Qom under leading authorities such as Moḥammad Ḥoseyn Ṭabāṭabāyi (d. 1981) and Ruḥollāh Ḵomeyni (d. 1989). After his studies in Qom, he worked in Germany as the director of the Islamic Center of Hamburg (Imam Ali Mosque Hamburg) for nine years (1970-1978). In Germany, he studied Western philosophy and modern Christian theology. He took a special interest in the ideas of Hans-Georg Gadamer (d. 2002), Paul Tillich (d. 1965), and Karl Rahner (d. 1984). Šabestari is credited with introducing modern hermeneutics to the traditional centers of learning in Iran. He is also well-known to the Iranian public as one of the leading figures in the Iranian religious reform movement known as “religious intellectualism” (rowšanfekri-ye dini).2 Through a close reading of his works, I argue that Šabestari’s thought opens new spaces of religiosity in Iran and new modes of being Muslim. Around the time of the 2009 presidential election, Iranian society was filled with enthusiasm for political activity. In that environment, a lot of meetings were held by student organizations on university campuses hosting famous thinkers, political activists, and critics. Even though many politically radical meetings and speeches were tolerated by the Islamic Republic in that time, one speech, maybe the least political of all, aroused many hostile reactions and became highly controversial. 1 I follow the Encyclopædia Iranica in my transliteration of Persian. For Arabic, I use a modified version of the same system to distinguish between u and ū, as well as i and ī. 2 On religious intellectualism, see Mahmoud Sadri, “Sacral Defense of Secularism: The Political Theologies of Soroush, Shabestari, and Kadivar,” International Journal of Politics, Culture, and Society 15 (Jan 2001): 257-70; see also Kathleen Foody, “Interiorizing Islam: Religious Experience and State Oversight in the Islamic Republic of Iran,” Journal of the American Academy of Religion 83: 3 (September 2015): 599-623. 1 On March 2009, at the Isfahan University of Technology, Mojtahed Šabestari delivered a speech titled “Our Expectation of Prophets” in which he addressed several issues, including philosophical hermeneutics and understanding the Quran.3 These issues concern one of Šabestari’s major ideas and theories regarding the Quran, namely the Prophetic Reading of the World (Qerāʿat-e Nabavi Az Jahān).4 According to Šabestari, the Quran itself is not revelation (vaḥy), rather it is the result of revelation. He argues that the Quran is the Prophet’s “reading” (interpretation) of the world. As such, to understand the Quran, it is imperative to free it from any and all metaphysical presuppositions. To understand the Quran as a text in an intersubjective world, Šabestari argues, one must think of it as the Prophet’s speech.5 As we know, the premodern commentary tradition is based on the assumption that the Quran is the word of God, and this holds true for the majority of modern scholars as well. For Šabestari, this metaphysical assumption actually precludes the possibility of understanding the Quran. What we have before us is a text, and we have to treat it as the speech (both meanings and forms) of the Prophet 3 See Moḥammad Mojtahed Šabestari, “Enteẓār-e Mā Az Payāmbarān,” Vebsāyt-e Šaḵsi-ye Moḥammad Mojtahed Šabestari, http://mohammadmojtahedshabestari.com/%D8%A7%D9%86%D8%AA%D8%B8%D8%A7%D8%B1- %D9%85%D8%A7-%D8%A7%D8%B2-%D9%BE%DB%8C%D8%A7%D9%85%D8%A8%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%86/ (accessed October 10, 2018). 4 See Moḥammad Mojtahed Šabestari, “Matn-e Fārsi, Ālmāni, Va ʿArabi-ye Qerāʿat-e Nabavi Az Jahān (1)- Kalām-e Nabavi,” Vebsāyt-e Šaḵsi-ye Moḥammad Mojtahed Šabestari, http://mohammadmojtahedshabestari.com/%D9%85%D8%AA%D9%86- %D9%81%D8%A7%D8%B1%D8%B3%DB%8C%D8%8C-%D8%A2%D9%84%D9%85%D8%A7%D9%86%DB%8C- %D9%88-%D8%B9%D8%B1%D8%A8%DB%8C-%D9%82%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%A6%D8%AA- %D9%86%D8%A8%D9%88%DB%8C-%D8%A7%D8%B2/ (accessed October 10, 2018). 5 See Moḥammad Mojtahed Šabestari, “Qerāʿat-e Nabavi Az Jahān (2)- Kalām-e Ḵodā va Kalām-e Ensān- Pišfahm-hāye Tafsir-e Āzād Az Qorʾān,” Vebsāyt-e Šaḵsi-ye Moḥammad Mojtahed Šabestari, http://mohammadmojtahedshabestari.com/%D9%82%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%A6%D8%AA- %D9%86%D8%A8%D9%88%DB%8C-%D8%A7%D8%B2-%D8%AC%D9%87%D8%A7%D9%86-2- %DA%A9%D9%84%D8%A7%D9%85-%D8%AE%D8%AF%D8%A7-%D9%88-%DA%A9%D9%84%D8%A7%D9%85- %D8%A7%D9%86%D8%B3%D8%A7(accessed October 7, 2018); See chapter 1 for a detailed explanation of Šabestari’s theory. 2 (irrespective of its origin). Obviously, the idea that God reveals her words to humanity presumes that the existence of God has been established.6 According to Šabestari, however, in our time it is impossible to prove the existence of God.7 Indeed, the existence of different regimes of evidence problematizes the notion of proof itself. In any case, for Šabestari, it is impossible to understand a text based on the assumption that a god whose existence is not certain has revealed it. Understanding has to take place in an intersubjective space. As Šabestari notes, this does not mean that believing in God is meaningless nor does it mean that we cannot believe that the Quran is the word of God. While such beliefs are meaningful in their own right, Shabestari regards them as matters of faith.
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