Mahmoud Taleghani: A Pioneer Thinker of Social Islam in Contemporary Iran

ABSTRACT The confrontation and comprehension of the Islamic world with regard to Western modernity, which has been unfolding for nearly two centuries, has obliged Muslim thinkers to study and reconceptualize this complex intersection of ideas. Ayatollah Mahmoud Taleghani was one of the most prominent figures of jurisprudential Islam, who adopted a modern interpretation of Islam and Shiism as part of the Iranian Islamic tradition. This article analyses the viewpoints of Taleghani, as a pioneer of this form of social Islam in contemporary Iran, focusing on Taleghani's thoughts under five different headings: the historical circumstances of Iran, his system of knowledge, his priorities for norms, his approach toward government, and public policy.