The book Imam Musa Sadr’s Civilizational Theory, authored in Persian by Sharif Lakzaei, has been published by the Islamic Sciences and Culture Academy. Comprising six chapters, this work systematically examines Imam Musa Sadr’s perspectives on civilization, striving to present a coherent theoretical framework derived from his thought.
According to the book’s introduction, Imam Musa Sadr’s civilizational theory adopts a bipartite approach to analyzing the phenomenon of civilization. On the one hand, through a critique of Western civilization, he draws attention to its ethical, identity-related, and social challenges. On the other hand, by taking a favorable view of the civilizational heritage of the Orient, he underscores its potential for civilizational reconstruction and revival in the contemporary era.
The author demonstrates that within the context of his social, political, and religious discourse, Sadr delineates the prerequisites for the emergence of a modern Islamic civilization—a framework founded upon the synthesis of three fundamental components: rationality, ethics, and spirituality. This integration, serving as a core pillar of his intellectual system, plays a decisive role in the formulation of his proposed model.
A central premise of the book is to address whether Musa Sadr’s corpus of perspectives can be conceptualized as a coherent civilizational theory. In response to this inquiry, the present work systematically analyzes his writings and speeches to uncover the internal consistency and theoretical foundations of his ideas. Imam Musa Sadr was not merely an armchair intellectual; rather, his thought was actualized in the multicultural society of Lebanon, yielding significant practical outcomes such as the establishment of the Supreme Islamic Shia Council.
The research findings indicate that by synthesizing a critique of Western civilization, a re-evaluation of Islamic heritage, and the introduction of new horizons, Imam Musa Sadr’s civilizational theory offers an innovative model of civilization. This model transcends the confines of classical civilizational theories, proposing instead a pragmatic and theocentric-humanist narrative of civilization.
Ultimately, this book can be regarded as an endeavor to re-examine the thought of an influential contemporary intellectual, as well as a significant step toward indigenous theorization within the field of civilizational studies.
