In preparing the way for the unparalleled surge of Islamic revival in Iran, many factors have been at work. One of the most important is the legacy of Dr. Ali Shari'ati (1933-1977). A teacher, scholar and writer, Shari'ati and a dynamic influence on the young people of Iran with his classes, discussions, free lectures and articles during the 1960's and 1970's.
Shari'ati was a sociologist, educated in Mashhad and Paris, as well as a student of history and philosophy. He subjected contemporary society to careful examination, using the terms, experiences and concepts found in Islamic philosophy and culture for his analysis. He formulated and presented to his students and readers a coherent Islamic world-view and an ideology of social, political and economic change. His views have contributed much to the Iranian Islamic revolution.
Shari'ati works are constantly reprinted and eagerly studies through-out Iran. This anthology is the first systematic presentation in English of some of his major ideas.
Hamid Algar, born in England in 1940, received his formal training in Islamic studies at Cambridge Univrsity, from which he received his Ph.D. in 1965. Since 1965, he has been teaching at the University of California, Berkeley. He ia Professor of Persian and Islamic Studies at the University of California, Berkeley. He has published widely on both Sufism and Shi'ism.
