Ba Mukhatabhaye Ashna or To Acquainted Addresses () is a book by

Ali Shariati Ali Shariati Mazinani (, 23November 193318June 1977) was an Iranian revolutionary and sociologist who specialised in the sociology of religion. He is regarded as one of the most influential Iranian intellectuals of the 20th century. He has be ...

. The book contains letters written to the author's family and friends during 1971-1977.

Introduction

The book is considered among the group of

Shariati Ali Shariati Mazinani (, 23November 193318June 1977) was an Iranian revolutionary and sociologist who specialised in the sociology of religion. He is regarded as one of the most influential Iranian intellectuals of the 20th century. He has be ...

’s books containing his strictly personal writings, and is not included among his lectures. The book is a collection of twenty-nine letters. The contents of the book were written to the author's father, wife, children, close friends and other acquaintances between the years 1971-1977. The book also contains a public lecture, a piece addressed to

God In monotheistic belief systems, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. In polytheistic belief systems, a god is "a spirit or being believed to have created, or for controlling some part of the un ...

, his two last wills and testaments and an incomplete note. Among these letters, approximately twelve are addressed to Ihsan, his son. Three letters are addressed to his father, three to his wife, two to 'Mr. Minach', two to an unknown woman, one letter to his daughters, one letter to Mr. HujjatI-i Kirmani, one letter to "the friends at Irshad," one letter to a brother, one letter to a friend, and one letter to "an unknown". The book reveals the political and mystical compasses of Shariati in such a way that it is possible to observe his opinions on different social, political and mystical issues. In a letter to his son, he considers several concepts including

love Love is a feeling of strong attraction and emotional attachment (psychology), attachment to a person, animal, or thing. It is expressed in many forms, encompassing a range of strong and positive emotional and mental states, from the most su ...

justice In its broadest sense, justice is the idea that individuals should be treated fairly. According to the ''Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy'', the most plausible candidate for a core definition comes from the ''Institutes (Justinian), Inst ...

and

freedom Freedom is the power or right to speak, act, and change as one wants without hindrance or restraint. Freedom is often associated with liberty and autonomy in the sense of "giving oneself one's own laws". In one definition, something is "free" i ...

is shown to believe that these three elements are strongly linked.

Attitude

Indeed,

tried to produce a new attitude and a commentary of

Ijtihad ''Ijtihad'' ( ; ' , ) is an Islamic legal term referring to independent reasoning by an expert in Islamic law, or the thorough exertion of a jurist's mental faculty in finding a solution to a legal question. It is contrasted with '' taqlid'' ( ...

and a symbolic interpretation of

revelation Revelation, or divine revelation, is the disclosing of some form of Religious views on truth, truth or Knowledge#Religion, knowledge through communication with a deity (god) or other supernatural entity or entities in the view of religion and t ...

)). Furthermore, he presented consensus or

Ijma Ijma (, ) is an Arabic term referring to the consensus or agreement of the Islamic community on a point of Islamic law. Sunni Muslims regard it as one of the secondary sources of Sharia law, after the Qur'an, and the Sunnah. Exactly what group s ...

and reason as foundations of

making use of this new attitude. He insisted on the impoTaghriirf the Taghriir and the method of Muhammad’s behavior compared to action and saying. He believed that the aspect of the prophet’s behavior is more sensible, immortal and general. However, he proposed to use “science and time” in place of “reason and consensus”. He believed that science could help the

jurisprudence Jurisprudence, also known as theory of law or philosophy of law, is the examination in a general perspective of what law is and what it ought to be. It investigates issues such as the definition of law; legal validity; legal norms and values ...

Part of text

In a letter dated the last night of the year 1976, and written on the last pages of KullTyat-

Shams Tabrizi Shams-i Tabrīzī () or Shams al-Din Mohammad (1185–1248) was a Persian * * * * Shafi'ite poet, who is credited as the spiritual instructor of Mewlānā Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Balkhi, also known as Rumi and is referenced with great rev ...

recounts how twice RümI's Mathnawï had saved his life. The case of the first incident is particularly interesting since it shows a direct influence of

Sufism Sufism ( or ) is a mysticism, mystic body of religious practice found within Islam which is characterized by a focus on Islamic Tazkiyah, purification, spirituality, ritualism, and Asceticism#Islam, asceticism. Practitioners of Sufism are r ...

on Shariati: And Mawlawïi twice saved me from dying: the first was the years of adolescence he years ofpsychological crisis. Because I had started reading primarily with the works of (Maurice] Maeterlinck. And onsideringthose dubious and aimless thoughts which maddened a genius like him, it is obvious what they would do to the mind of a twelve-year-old student of the sixth grade. This mental dispersion became stormier and more maddening in the world of Sufism that had strongly attracted me (in my state of] immaturity.(Ali Shariati, Ba Mukhatabhâ-yi Ashna, p. 99)

References

{{Reflist Books by Ali Shariati Iranian books