Abdolkarim Soroush (born Hossein Haj Faraj Dabbagh; born 16 December 1945; Persian: حسين حاج فرج دباغ) is a former professor of philosophy at the University of Tehran and Imam Khomeini International University.
Soroush stands as one of the most influential figures in Iran’s religious intellectual movement. Returning to Iran from England, where he studied and was exposed to Western philosophies amidst the Iranian Revolution of 1978-79, he swiftly ascended to a prominent position on the Committee of the Cultural Revolution.
Tasked with shaping Iran’s higher education system along Islamic principles, amongst other duties, he played a pivotal role. Directly appointed by Khomeini to the Advisory Council on Cultural Revolution, Soroush was instrumental in the reopening of universities and the restructuring of their syllabi. However, in 1987, he resigned from the Committee, citing disagreements over its purpose and effectiveness. Eventually, he had to leave the country when he started to critique the Shia clergy and ruling class.
In one of his lectures, Soroush expands on the extent to which the zindiq Khomeini believed in his own elevated status as a saint (wali) of God, considering himself to be of the highest rank. Khomeini held the belief that the Supreme Leader and Wali al-Faqih of Iran not only possesses the authority of the Prophet (ﷺ) but also that of God Himself. Similar to the Twelve Imams, he asserted that this position bestowed upon him the power and authority to legislate (tashri') within the religion. In his only letter addressed to a foreign leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, the General Secretary of the Soviet Union, Khomeini referenced figures such as Avicenna, Al-Farabi, and Mulla Sadra, as well as Ibn Arabi, the pantheist, but not once did he mention the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) as a source for Gorbachev and for the entire world, which was exposed to the letter, to refer back to! In fact, Khomeini wrote an entire exegesis on Ibn Arabi's 'Fusus al-Hikam' that is replete with kufr.
From Twelver Shiism to Shia-Sufism (Irfanism/Mysticism)
Not too uncommon amongst devout Twelver Shia intellectuals in Iran, Soroush eventually immersed himself in Sufi/Irfanic mysticism, with a deep passion for Ibn Arabi, Mulla Sadra, and of course Rumi. In fact, he is a world expert on Rumi and Persian Sufi poetry and has fervently defended esoteric (Batini) Sufism while acknowledging the heresies of certain fundamental Twelver Shia beliefs, such as mass-takfir (excommunication) of the Sahabah and ritualised cursing, in which he used to engage, as per his own words.
Soroush was named by Time magazine as one of the world’s 100 most influential people in 2005, and by Prospect magazine as one of the most influential intellectuals in the world in 2008.
However, his influence has waned significantly over the past decade, as disillusionment with religion and even apostasy have become rampant in Shiite Iran. This disillusionment is so pervasive that even Sufi-Shia reformists like Soroush, who have been fervently striving to dilute Islam, are viewed as overly religious and Islamic. The Shia clergy has undeniably caused irreparable spiritual damage to Iran, casting a shadow over its future for the foreseeable future.
Heretical Mu’tazilism on Steroids
Soroush is a believer in Western liberalism, which he, of course, tries to harmonise with Islamic traditions, including the Quran. He advocates for the secularisation of Islam, which he believes is not a form of changing Islam, drawing from diverse sources ranging from Islamic mysticism (Irfan/Sufism) and philosophy to post-positivist epistemology, hermeneutics, and liberal Christian theology. He aims to provide a ‘minimal’ and ‘faith-based’ interpretation of Islam. Despite describing himself as a Muslim, his theological stance has led him down a slippery slope, resulting in a creed marked by confusion, contradictions, and blatant heretical views according to the consensus of Muslim scholars.
Soroush is essentially a neo-Mu’tazili, portrayed as an intellectual and authority of Islam by Western institutes that support him. He has taken his former Twelver Shia Mu’tazilah-ish creed to the next level. He not only denies, negates, and distorts many attributes of Allah that he cannot reconcile with the restricted human intellect but also extends this reasoning to everything else in the Quran, such as paradise, hell, angels, Satan, etc., which are all considered metaphors by him, mere stories, dreams – albeit truthful ones – of the Prophet (ﷺ) whom he claims to respect and adore to this day. Soroush is, in fact, worse than the classical Mu’tazilites, as his beliefs go further than theirs, regarding the Quran not just as being created but as being created by the Prophet (ﷺ), something the classical Mu’tazilite heretics didn’t even dare to say.
Soroush himself often refers to himself as a Neo-Mu’tazili (“Moʾtazeli Hastam”). He once proudly stated that his first attempt at interpretation concerned the Qur’an and an important Sufi text, Rumi’s Masnavi, with which, as he claims, he arrived at a relatively comprehensive hermeneutical theory.
The Prophetic Dream Theory: An Erroneous Heresy
Initially, Soroush argued that the Prophet (ﷺ) actively participated in writing and shaping the content of the Quran. Finally, it was in the mid-2010s that he proposed his theory on revelation as a sort of prophetic dream. The Prophet is considered the divinely chosen author of the Holy Text, narrating from an omniscient point of view. Soroush believes the Prophet’s (ﷺ) religious experience was sacred, but the language is not sacred at all, as the language is from the accidental attributes of religion, i.e., the Quran is the words of the Prophet (ﷺ) emerging.
He then came up with the idea that the Quran or any other divine scripture was not something that the Prophet (ﷺ) heard; rather, he witnessed and saw the Quran, and then he would narrate it to people. According to Soroush, the Prophet (ﷺ) witnessed all the events mentioned in the Quran while sleeping. These were all dreams according to Soroush; it is there where he saw all the events, the Day of Judgment, the stories of the Prophets, and so on. These were all true dreams; however, the Prophet (ﷺ) was a narrator of Prophetic dreams.
Since language, and therefore the text of the Quran, is from the accidental attribute of religion, not its essence, what makes up the essence of religion are meanings, while the words are by the Prophet (ﷺ) and influenced by his own historical experiences. With this theory, his entire hermeneutical system to interpret text differs, and he paves the way to reject many basic Islamic concepts based on the premise that they are not core issues of the religion (since almost everything can be reinterpreted).
According to Soroush, the Quran is something emanating from within the Prophet (ﷺ) rather than being revealed to him from outside. Soroush discusses the expansion of the Prophetic experience and considers the religious experience of the Shia Imams (whom he reveres, like many Sufis) after the Prophet (ﷺ), as well as that of the mystics, to be sources for understanding religion.
According to Soroush, one of the biggest fallacies made by exegetes is treating the Quranic text as if it were the language of someone awake when instead it should be interpreted and understood as a description of what one saw in their dream. Revelation is an internal experience.
By viewing the Noble Quran as a collection of revelatory dreams, Soroush aims to democratise the experience of revelation, making it accessible to a broader audience. When prophetic revelation is perceived as a dream, it no longer remains exclusive to select individuals throughout history. In the traditional understanding of revelation, the experience is so profound that only God-chosen individuals can attain it. However, if revelation is merely seen as a dream, then others can also access prophetic revelations through their dreams during sleep.
The consequences that can arise from Soroush’s theories include the eradication of God’s presence in the Quran. The deity portrayed by Soroush lacks any involvement in the spiritual realm of humanity or the natural world.
Soroush’s conception of God reduces to a mere title or label, a nominalistic God of Soroush, paving the way for charlatans for if we were to consider the Quran as the dream of the Prophet (ﷺ), this would set a precedent for others to claim that their own dreams are messages from God, and such deceptions are not uncommon in Sufi and Shia circles.
Soroush’s theories regarding the Quran render him a heretic (zindiq) of the apostate (murtadd) type. According to the consensus of the Ummah of Muhammad (ﷺ), all of his theories and beliefs concerning the Quran and prophethood constitute outright kufr. However, this should not be surprising, as his Salaf (predecessors) and sources of religious knowledge resemble those of Rumi, the pantheist.
The Rumi Effect
Soroush, deeply immersed in the teachings of Rumi, reflects the profound impact of this pantheistic Sufi sage across his ideas and literary endeavors.
In recent years, Soroush has not only delved into the claim of ‘Muhammad’s (ﷺ) Dreams’ in his lectures and teachings but has also explored and articulated it further. He asserts that Rumi received divine revelation (!) and introduced a new religion. Soroush’s conviction on this matter is unwavering, considering the revelation of inspiration to Rumi as “one hundred percent” certain and “confirmed” (source: ‘Explanation of the Preface of Masnavi – Session Four’, June 5, 2016, minutes 91-89).
According to Soroush, if the foundation of the religion of Islam is based on the Prophet’s (ﷺ) dreams, then why can’t the dreams of figures like Rumi serve as the basis for a new religion? He explicitly regards Rumi as amongst the prophets after Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) and sees Rumi’s Masnavi as possessing the same significance as the Quran. Thus, he openly discusses the emergence of ‘Rumi’s religion’.
However, Soroush views even ‘Rumi’s religion’ as worthy of an upgrade. He believes that mysticism and Rumi’s teachings rely on outdated metaphysics and natural sciences, rendering them incompatible with many modern scientific and intellectual advancements. Consequently, just as Islam requires an upgrade (which, to him, does not entail changing the religion but rather offering a new interpretation of it), so does ‘Rumi’s religion’. Better yet, the need arises for a new mysticism and religion that aligns with contemporary empirical sciences and philosophies, which, surprise surprise, are essentially Western standards rooted in secularism and philosophical liberalism.
In essence, while Rumi expands upon the prophetic experiences of Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) and introduces valuable elements, his religion falls short of addressing the needs of humanity today. Soroush suggests that our era should anticipate the arrival of an individual who, drawing from religious experiences such as prophetic dreams, can extend the noble legacy of Rumi and establish a religion suited to the demands of the modern age. He believes this is compatible with Islam and sees no contradictions in viewing himself as a Muslim while referring to the likes of Rumi as a prophet, and potential future charlatans as well.
The embrace of such kufr by Soroush, the Rumi expert, is hardly surprising, especially considering Rumi’s own belief that he and his work were superior to the Quran.
A Profound Resentment Towards Salafism
According to Soroush, Shiites and Sunnis are both equally Muslim, each with valid interpretations of Islam. However, despite claiming to harbour no anti-Sunni sentiment, he appears to still hold a typical Rafidi-Shu’ubi disposition towards Arabs, particularly the Atharis, the Ahl al-Sunnah who diligently adhere to the path of the Salaf al-Salih, causing him considerable unease.
In the best Jahmite manner, Soroush considers his own concept of God, as well as Rumi’s, to be non-personal and non-human-like, purely formless, unlike the description of God in the Quran. According to him, Rumi and other Sufis and mystics softened and refined the religion of the Prophet (ﷺ) by infusing it with love and moderation. According to his theory, they complement each other!
Soroush goes as far as to describe Rumi as a prophet and his works as a ‘non-jihadist freedom love letter’, which are, in a sense, superior to the Prophet’s ‘jihadist fear letter’, i.e. the Noble Quran! Soroush assigns superiority to Rumi’s ‘love letter’ over the Prophet’s ‘fear letter’ (as he calls it!), and implies that if Rumi had not created his love letter, Prophet Muhammad’s religion would have amounted to nothing but Salafism.
“Let me tell you this: if Islam truly reflected what was outlined in the Quran and practiced in the Prophet’s traditions, that is, the same jurisprudence as our scholars, it wouldn’t endure. It simply wouldn’t last. It would evolve into a rigid religion akin to what currently exists in Saudi Arabia. Philosophers and mystics intervened; they embellished its austerity, nurtured it, and enriched the prophetic experience. Over these 1400 years, numerous significant events occurred. This framework, embellished with such adornments and nourished with nutritious experiences, had the resilience to endure.” (from Abdolkarim Soroush’s lecture “Daeshis and Scholars”)
Futile Efforts: Diluting Islam via Hermeneutics
Soroush has held positions as a visiting professor at prestigious institutions such as Harvard University, where he taught subjects including Islam and Democracy, Quranic studies, and Philosophy of Islamic Law. Currently, he serves as a scholar in residence at Yale University and as a visiting scholar at the University of Maryland in College Park. Additionally, he has been affiliated with renowned institutions such as Princeton, Columbia, and the Leiden-based International Institute for the Study of Islam in the Modern World (ISIM), where he served as a visiting professor. He has also been associated with the Wissenschaftskolleg in Berlin.
Despite being celebrated by orientalists and Western institutes as a sort of Persian Muslim Martin Luther and receiving support from numerous Western universities, his ideas have failed to resonate among Muslims.
As mentioned, Soroush audaciously claims that his beliefs are in line with the fundamentals of Islam, of which he asserts to be a part. Unlike other modernists (read: deformists), he contends that any attempt to reconstruct the fundamental principles of Islam is both futile and illusory.
According to Soroush, it is not Islam itself that must be changed, but rather the human understanding of Islam. However, this assertion is nothing but mere semantics, ultimately leading to the same end goal of diluting and distorting Islam by secularizing it (which is the goal of so many enemies of Islam). This is evident in his theory of Prophetic Dreams, which posits that the Quran consists of divinely inspired dreams of Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ), primarily containing metaphorical anecdotes.
To Soroush, Islam represents nothing more than a series of interpretations, with the most suitable form in modern times being that of the whirling dervishes who invoke buried saints. Conversely, he views the ‘rigid Islam’ of the Salafis and ‘Wahhabis’—who advocate for the worship of God alone and steer away from superstitions, as well as veneration of graves, tombs, and shrines—as the epitome of evil.
Meanwhile, the very Salafi/’Wahhabi’ Islam that the likes of Soroush so much abhor is still rising around the globe, without any Saudi-petro-dollars and despite all the opposition from various enemies of Ahl al-Sunnah, such as secular liberal figures in the Muslim world, the Islamophobic media in the West, and distorters of Islam such as Soroush and his ilk.
Be Careful Who You Take Your Religion From!
The ultra-heretical contradictions, emerging from Soroush’s confused mind, are ultimately rooted in his abandonment of the Salaf al-Salih. Instead of deriving the pure understanding of Islam from the Sahabah and their students, he adheres to the heretical philosophers and mystics of both the West and the East. His creed, resembling a cocktail of heretical beliefs, is based on the philosophies of figures such as Immanuel Kant, Ibn Arabi, Spinoza, Mulla Sadra, Farabi, Karl Popper, John Hick, and of course Rumi, from whom he derives his faith.
In summary, it is an inconsistent and contradictory methodology shaped by both Western philosophy and heretical Sufi-Shia Gnostic traditions that has led him into his heterodox quagmire. His entire contradictory theories stand in stark contrast to the sacred revelation of the Noble Quran. The only salvation for the likes of Soroush and those afflicted by his heresies is to refer back to the pious predecessors (Salaf al-Salih) of this Ummah.
Abdullah ibn Mas’ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said, “Whoever wants to follow a path, let him follow the path of one who has died, for the living are not safe from fitnah. I mean the Companions of Muhammad (ﷺ). They were the best of this Ummah: the purest in heart, the deepest in knowledge, and the most straightforward. Allah chose them to accompany His Prophet (ﷺ) and establish His religion, so recognise their status and follow in their footsteps, adhering as much as you can to their example of conduct and attitude, for they followed true guidance.” (Jami’ Bayan al-‘Ilm wa Fadluhu by Ibn Abd al-Barr)
The great Tabi’i Muhammad ibn Sireen (d. 110 AH) said:
«إِنَّ هَذَا العِلْمَ دِيْنٌ؛ فَانْظُرُواْ عَمَّنْ تَأخُذُوْنَ دِيْنَكُمْ»
“Indeed, this knowledge is the religion, so be careful regarding from whom you acquire your religion.” (Muslim)
Imam Ayyub al-Sakhtiyani (d. ~131 AH), one of the Persian Imams of the Salaf, said:
قالَ الإمامُ أيوب السختياني ت131~: إن من سعادة الحدث -أي: من سعادة الغلام الصغير- والأعجمي أن يُوفِّقهما الله للعالِم من أهل السنة (شرح أصول اعتقاد أهل السنة للالكائي)
“Indeed, amongst the bliss of the young and non-Arab is that Allah grants them success to be with a scholar from the people of the Sunnah (Ahl al-Sunnah).” (Sharh Usul ‘Itiqad Ahl al-Sunnah by Imam al-Lalaka`i)
– ℋ𝒶𝓈𝓈𝒶𝓃 𝒮𝒽ℯ𝓂𝓇𝒶𝓃𝒾
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