The Place of Ibn ʿArabi in the Theologico-Political Thought of Ahmad Fardid

Abstract

Ahmad Fardid (1904/10-1994), a prominent Iranian philosopher, is considered by his followers and detractors to be among the most influential twentieth-century Iranian thinkers and philosophical the-oreticians of the post-revolutionary Islamic regime in Iran, which came to power in 1979. Fardid's intellectual and political legacy has been the subject of much controversy over the past several decades. His thought turns around a radical critique of modernity, humanism, modern science, and democracy, a critique in which Islamic mysticism, especially the thought of Muhyi al-Din Ibn ʿArabi (1165-1240) plays a prominent role. Synthesizing Heidegger's critique of metaphysics with Ibn ʿArabi's mystical system , Fardid developed a philosophy of history illustrating a gradual forgetfulness of Being. This paper aims to explore how Fardid made ideological and political use of Ibn ʿArabi's thought in his criticism and rejection of modern/Western thought and his defense of the Islamic Republic's ideology. We will demonstrate that Fardid's eclectic ideological undertakings significantly reflect his peculiar conception of the historical periods rooted in Ibn ʿArabi's school. 46 Bostani, Namazi Religiographies To cite this: Bostani, Ahmad and Rasoul Namazi. "The Place of Ibn ʿArabi in the Theo-logico-Political Thought of Ahmad Fardid." Religiographies, vol. 3, no. 2 (2024): 46-63. https://doi.org/10.69125/ Religio.2024.v3.n2.46-63.