Ali Akbar Rashad
The book consists of the papers (and in some cases, lectures) mostly presented in various conferences and scientific seminars in Iran or abroad. The geographical focus of this collection is theoretical topics in politics and in particular its philosophical-theological infrastructures.
In such collections one cannot expect structural consistency and exact order seen in an essay, but the author, through proper selection and arrangement of the points, has tried to reach a relative harmony in this collection. The reader will see that the first articles will explain and criticize the backgrounds and philosophical-theological infrastructures of the secularism; the middle and end articles will explain the relations between religion with some political, human, and temporal categories (such as democracy, State, liberty, toleration, rationality, and ideology) and present Islamic patterns in these fields.
Since the main addressees of these articles and lectures had been scholars and thinkers and because of the nature of such conferences I had a narrow time to speak, some sort of brevity has been imposed on the concepts (though because of a little talent given to me by God I have sometimes lost control of the pen; and so I excuse for prolixity more than brevity).
The fifth article, in spite of its brevity, contains my desired and chosen picture of the structure and organization of politics and government. That is why I have titled this book “Sacred Democracy”.
If my involvements allow me, I aim to arrange two other collections of articles and lectures (in the fields of theology and study of religion- philosophy and epistemology) and seek for help from the Creator to success in both cases.
