Ali Shariati and the notion of tawhid: Re-exploring the question of god's unity

This paper evaluates the intellectual roots of .Ali Shari.ati,the leading ideologist of the Islamic revolution in Iran. It focuses on his unique worldview of taw.id and places his writings within the broader context of both Western and Muslim thought. Shari.ati created a new merger between a holistic approach to Islam promoted by both Sunni and Shi.i reformists, and an existentialist worldview,tied to a religious-philosophical basis. Through this exchange withexistentialism, Shari.ati sought to transform Shi.i Islam into an all-encompassing faith, anchored in human existence and reaching itsfull realization through political action. His aim was to mobilise the Iranian intelligentsia towards an Islamic revolution by relyingon a dualist Muslim-existentialist vocabulary. The outcome was a new blend between ontology, ethics, society and politics, and a new inter-connectivity between God, man, this world and the hereafter, resulting from Shari.ati's effort to promote religious renewal and social justice, through his innovative interpretation to taw.id.