Abdolkarim Soroush

Abdolkarim Soroush (born in Tehran in 1945) is an Iranian philosopher and religious thinker, known in the West as the "Iranian Luther" by supporters and critics alike. He is one of the most influential figures in Iran's progressive religious intellectual movement and is often regarded as the emblematic thinker of post-Islamism. His work spans the philosophy of science, religion and ethics, which is why it matters so much in debates about whether Islam can coexist with modernity and democracy.

Before turning to philosophy, Soroush studied pharmacy in Iran. He then moved to London, where he earned a master's degree in analytical chemistry and studied the history and philosophy of science at Chelsea College. There he encountered traditionalist writers such as René Guénon. After the revolution he returned to Iran, first drawn to Seyyed Hossein Nasr and later to Ali Shariati. He joined the Cultural Revolution Council, whose members were appointed directly by Khomeini, but over time he moved away from clerical power. In 1983 he was transferred to the Institute for Cultural Research and Studies and resigned from the council. During the 1990s he grew increasingly critical of the clergy's political role and co-founded the magazine Kiyan, which was shut down in 1998 by direct order of the supreme leader. Since 2000 he has held visiting posts at universities in the United States and Europe.

His thought starts from a distinction between religion as revealed and our understanding of it. That understanding is a human construction, finite and fallible, shaped by historical circumstances, and so it changes over time. This leads him to reject turning religion into a political ideology, since that narrows the freedom to interpret its tenets. In epistemology he draws on Kant's distinction between a priori and a posteriori knowledge. In politics he advocates religious democracy: religious values can inform public life in a society of believers, provided justice and human rights are respected. He also argues that democracy is violated when a belief is imposed or disbelief is punished.

His influence is measured both by the debates he provokes among followers and critics and by his place in contemporary discussions of Islamic reform.