معارف عقلی

One of the most important social events in the lives of Iranians in the contemporary era is the Constitutional Revolution. The main question of this article is whether, in this revolution which sought to control political power, common Islamic philosophy played a role or not. This question is based on the assumption that any social transformation or change to stabilize and sustain itself requires prior theorizing or ex post theories. In Iran at that time there was, at least, three intellectual tendencies: first, Islamic philosophy, second, Western ideas expressed by those educated in the West, and third, Islamic jurisprudence. The answer to whether Islamic philosophy played a role in these developments, based on historical references, is that this philosophy did not play a role in this event. This role was assumed by some Western scholars and some jurisprudents, such as Naieni with his book Alert the nation (tanbih-al-Ummah) and Tanziah-al-Mellah. The reason for this absenteeism is the weakness of practical wisdom in Islamic philosophy and also the inattention of Muslim philosophers in this period to social issues. So, the importance of this discussion lies in paying attention to the historical experiences of intellectual movements and learning from mistakes.