Top 27 Quotes & Sayings by Abdolkarim Soroush

Explore popular quotes and sayings by an Iranian philosopher Abdolkarim Soroush.
Last updated on December 21, 2024.
Abdolkarim Soroush

Abdolkarim Soroush (عبدالكريم سروش Persian pronunciation: [æbdolkæriːm soruːʃ]; born Hossein Haj Faraj Dabbagh, is an Iranian Islamic thinker, reformer, Rumi scholar, public intellectual, and a former professor of philosophy at the University of Tehran and Imam Khomeini International University. He is arguably the most influential figure in the religious intellectual movement of Iran. Soroush is currently a visiting scholar at the University of Maryland in College Park, Maryland. He was also affiliated with other institutions, including Harvard, Princeton, Yale, Columbia, the Leiden-based International Institute as a visiting professor for the Study of Islam in the Modern World and the Wissenschaftskolleg in Berlin. He was named by Time magazine as one of the world's 100 most influential people in 2005, and by Prospect magazine as one of the most influential intellectuals in the world in 2008. Soroush's ideas, founded on relativism, prompted both supporters and critics to compare his role in reforming Islam to that of Martin Luther in reforming Christianity.

In order for answers to become clear, the questions have to be clear.
Establishing an equilibrium between the Islam of truth and Islam as an identity is one of the most difficult tasks of religious intellectuals.
After the 9/11 incidents, Islam has become a big question mark among westerners, especially Americans. The mass media constantly raise the issue of relationship between Islam and terrorism.
People first concern themselves with meeting their basic needs; only afterwards, do they pursue any higher needs. — © Abdolkarim Soroush
People first concern themselves with meeting their basic needs; only afterwards, do they pursue any higher needs.
One of the achievements of the reform movement is that people realize that they can be democrats and remain faithful Muslims. Democracy is now an established idea.
Religion forbids us from assuming a God-like character. This is especially true in politics and government, where limiting the power of the state, division of powers, and the doctrine of checks and balances are established in order to prevent accumulation of power that might lead to such Godly claims.
Arresting development, attacking science, and glorifying poverty is not the answer to the vices that attend prosperity.
It is up to God to reveal a religion, but up to us to understand and realise it.
In many of the things that people do, they themselves are the centre of attention, but they inscribe some other name on their banner.
It is impossible to advance new theories... when you are under the influence of a particular view, or under the pressure of a particular dogma.
A realistic view of humanity will stop the proliferation of impossible injunctions.
Islam, or any religion, will become totalitarian if it is made into an ideology, because that is the nature of ideologies.
People should know what they want, not just what they don't want.
When I have an idea, I'm like a pregnant woman. I just have to deliver.
God manifests himself in each historical period according to the understanding of the people of the era.
As a result of the awareness and consciousness of decline, an awareness and consciousness of a national ethnicity or an Islamic identity also came into being.
The clergy earns its living from religion. If your interests are secured through religion, then you will defend your interests first, and religion will become secondary.
We coin concepts and we use them to analyse and explain nature and society. But we seem to forget, midway, that these concepts are our own constructs and start equating them with reality.
We no longer claim that a genuinely religious government can be democratic, but that it cannot be otherwise.
Human beings can remain spiritual and religious while enjoying the benefits of rational administration of their affairs.
We must break problems down into small, digestible bits. We must define the concepts that we use and explain what components they consist of. We must tackle small problems.
That President Mohammad Khatami's policies have been blocked is the bitterest incident in the contemporary Iranian history. This means that the wishes of millions of people who voted for Khatami and called for freedom and justice have been ignored... Why should cultural activities and journalism be so risky in Iran?
If a group of people feels that it has been humiliated and that its honour has been trampled underfoot, it will want to express its identity and this expression of an identity will take different shapes and forms.
There are all sorts of cries that the leaders of the Green Movement should submit themselves to the supreme leader, but that won't take place. Both sides have to be prepared for a serious negotiation.
Goals and objectives are based on theories and foundations. — © Abdolkarim Soroush
Goals and objectives are based on theories and foundations.
Energy is a concept that has been coined by physicists. There is no observable thing known as energy anywhere.
Compromise has a negative connotation.
This site uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience. More info...
Got it!