Political Implications in Ayn-al-Qudat Hamadani’s Thought

Ayn al-Qudat Hamadani, despite his short life, is one of the prominent thinkers of the mystic tradition of Iran and Islam. Most of the research about this famous mystic has been around historical issues related to his lifetime or his mystic and theological views. This is while Ayn al-Qudat Hamadani’s thoughts contain significant political dimensions that have been neglected so far. This study, adopting the framework of paradigmatic-implicative approach, intends to examine the way he dealt with the crises of his time and his interpretations of them. Accordingly, the study aims to investigate the most important political implications and intellectual potentials residing in Ayn al-Qudat Hamadani’s method of confronting the political and intellectual crises of his time. The results of this study show that Ayn al-Qudat Hamadani is a thinker who, while being immersed in mystic thought, has a precise and conscious analysis and explanation of political crises and circumstances of his time and has offered serious and vehement criticisms of them. The present article argues that Ayn al-Qudat Hamadani’s critical confrontation with the intellectual and political crises and challenges of his time entails obvious political implications in his thoughts. Accordingly, Ayn al-Qudat can be considered not only a prominent figure in the realm of mysticism but also a sagacious intellectual who is deeply concerned about issues in public and political spheres.