Selections from the Reciprocal Services Between Islam and Iran- Mutahhari

A school of thought can be such that it encompasses all the dimensions of man's existence. The comprehensive a school of thought or an ideology is; the likely it is to withstand the test of time. Hence, it would be better able to penetrate different civilizations. The ability of an ideology to “move" so to speak is related to the proofs that it presents that substantiate its beliefs. An ideology that stands on firm ground is the one that will be able to produce a civilization which is able to protect itself from the onslaughts of hostile elements.

Throughout history, Islam has shown that it is able to incorporate different cultural elements and imbibe them with the Spirit that pervades its own tradition. It has done so without being indebted to these foreign cultures or traditions. Through the pivotal concepts of Unity and more.

Justice that Islam ascribes to, it is able to utilize the potentials of these traditions for the advancement of its own lofty ideals. The civilization of Islam is based on Tawheed and this is not an entity that any one of the various subcultures of the Muslim world own to the detriment of the other.

The Iranian Nation was one of these civilizations that had been absorbed into that of Islam. The Persians were already distinct in having established themselves in history as a nation possessing a rich cultural and spiritual legacy. This allowed them to find a significant and lofty position in the civilization of Islam.

Prior to the Islamic Revolution in Iran and even today however, there are people that use the ancient civilization of Iran as a means to alienate the Iranian Muslims from their religion. They promote Iranian Nationalism and other such empty ideologies. It was in
reaction to this cultural degeneration that Martyr Murtada Mutahhari wrote his famous book "the Reciprocal Relations between Islam and Iran". It was the insight of thinkers such as him, along with other notable scholars especially the founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Imam Khomeini, which was able to annihilate these movements before they were able to infiltrate the Iranian nation. The only way we may give momentum to this movement started by such individuals is by establishing unity and promoting sincerity between Muslims.

What the esteemed reader holds before him is in effect the product of the International Center for Islamic Studies and the World Conference on Mutahhari's Thoughts. It has been translated by Maina Bukar and Idriss Tijjani. Parts of this book were previously translated and published by Ali Quli Qarai in the scholarly journal al-Tawhid. The present translators made extensive use of those parts and would like to commend Mr. Qarai for his excellent work. We hope that this work will secure its place among the lovers of wisdom and truth.